Pumpkin Carvin' FHE

Dad helping B with the knife

J&N getting out the GOO

B attempting to light the candle

We FINALLY carved a pumpkin this year! It's about time. J suggested it for our activity for FHE last night. We tried to give each boy a turn doing some part of the job. The boys thought the inside of the pumpkin was gross and laughed about all of the goo. T took a bite of a cut out piece of pumpkin and liked it. Who knew?? B tried to light the tea light candle, but that will take some practice to not burn himself in the process. We saved the pumpkin seeds, and Dad roasted them in the oven later that evening. We put out our pumpkin for the evening, but Mom & Dad brought it in for the night. Too tempting for teenagers to smash up. It's happened before!

Starburst Dice

Did you know that Starburst double as dice? Apparently they do. I did not know this until T had a handful of them today and shook them in his hand and dropped them. Then he said, "Mom, your turn!" Okay. We took several turns rolling the starburst. He was such a good sport because he kept saying, "Good job!" What an imagination!!

Ward Trunk-r-Treat

Last night was our ward's annual Trunk-r-Treat party. We had hot dog & chips for dinner. The boys loved that. There was a bounce house, a bounce obstacle course, a cake walk, fishing booth, face painting, a costume parade, a small spook house, and a cool hay ride. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. I even dressed up this year. I figured it's been a few years since I dressed up and that it was time. Anyway, we are able to have the party at a member's home in our ward because they have a lot of property. It's fun to be outside. It gets pretty dark quickly, so I always bring glow sticks to put on my kids so they can be seen. T's glow stick was absolutely necessary because he has this habit of running off to the next adventure! It was like a green stick floating in the air when he ran around! Since G sprained his ankle racing B after Pack Meeting a few days ago, he got to sit in the car to hand out the candy later on. I had the pleasure of keeping track of the boys. They had a blast. They loved being with their friends, and loved all of the activities, especially filling up their bags with candy. Thanks, Raimi, for all your efforts in planning the activity! We had a great time.

Soccer Saturday

"Captain" J right before his game

B taking a water break

Both J & B had soccer games today. It was such a beautiful day today. J was the team captain today and he just loved having the arm band on for everyone to see. J even played goalie for the last quarter of their game, which they won. His team had such good defense, so he only had to make 1 save. They had to work very hard to win, so the team was exhausted. B got to play forward today and has really been doing well there. He has such a long stride that he easily out runs many other players, which the coach loves. His team scored 2 goals, however, the other team scored 4. Darn! He still had fun.

We spent the morning doing household chores. Yeah, I know ... exciting. Everyone has to chip in around here, or Mom goes crazy. N helped me sort the laundry into piles for everyone. Just having 1 person help me there made such a HUGE difference. Now, I have to get on everyone to put away their pile. Not fun.

We are getting the kids ready for our Ward's Annual Trunk-r-Treating tonight. I don't know if T will actually wear a costume. We'll see. It should be really fun.

Fluffy World

Love those Kool-aid smiles!

Our boys like to build forts, especially in the corner of our living room. They'll pull off all of the pillows to the couches and build "Fluffy World", a name they made up. Usually they can't all fit, so they have to take turns wiggling in. They will grab pillows & blankets from their beds and use those, too. Sometimes, the card table and kitchen chairs migrate to make "Fluffy World" bigger. My siblings and I used to make elaborate forts, especially in our backyard. So, I can really appreciate the fun it is to make forts and to play together. Yeah, my house is pulled apart, but they are playing together and building memories.

Banjo Dad & Pillow Kids

G played his banjo during our Primary Celebration today. The kids got a real kick out it. G even taught the kids how to sing "I'm a Child of God" in Italian. He wrote out the lyrics on the chalk board earlier so we all were able to follow along better. He later sang another fun song about a cat who just wouldn't go away, one of our boys' favorites. That got a lot of giggles. It's sure fun to have G in Primary. He likes to play his own Boogie versions of many of the songs. It definitely gets the kids' attention. We had a fun Celebration today. Organized chaos??? Yes, that's a good way of saying it! The teachers really needed a break and I hope they enjoyed re-connecting with the other adult members of the ward. We presidency members had our work cut out for us today, but I hope all of the kids remember this day. We watched a couple of short church videos, ate fruit, played a church trivia game, and had a fun, free sing time .. oh and enjoyed Rice Krispy Treats. I joked that we needed to practice more for the program, and I about got boo-ed off of the stage!! We all needed a break from routine today.

After our Sunday Quiet-Time, B & J tried to see who could get the biggest with pillows and blankets stuffed in a huge T-shirt. Yes, they did a lot of Sumo wrestling, and belly bumping. It was hard for them to get up off of the floor when they fell down! Quite funny. Here's to making memories!