Halloween 2018

I just love the holidays with kids, and I'm especially savoring each one as they are growing older. And by "savoring" I mean I am still packing Halloween themed lunches for my high school and middle schooler. I wasn't planning to but they both said they wanted it, although they may have regretted their decision when they were sucking kool-aid out of a crepe paper wrapped mummy and eating ghost poop. The theme for this year's costumes was, "whatever you can find in the Halloween box". Kylie almost went with the size 3T Spider Man costume, except that it gave her a serious camel toe. She ended up as a life guard then changing into a zombie. Jayden came out in the doggy costume he wore when he was two and we couldn't stop laughing. He ended up wearing it to the ward trunk or treat and a Halloween party. All the girls loved it, as you can imagine. Maddox went with a zombie, once again I was grateful that Kylie did his makeup. Ryder ended up wearing Maddox's costume from last year and I was thrilled to not have to buy a single costume this year. We had Tyson and Dawn's family over for our mystery cafe. Maddox has been begging me to make homemade root beer for the past year. We tried making it at Janessa's house but we couldn't find dry ice and I accidentally doubled the amount of club soda. I was determined to redeem myself and make it for Halloween. I was excited to track down some dry ice, and Maddox was even more excited since it has been his dream to experiment with dry ice since forever. It was so fun to make it in our witches cauldron and it turned out really good, I think this may be the start of a new tradition. We took the golf cart around and ended up with way more candy than any child should ever have. Thankful for another memorable Halloween!

Before Halloween we had a Young Women's Halloween scavenger hunt. It was bittersweet because this was also my last activity as a laurel advisor. I have absolutely loved serving with these amazing girls and leaders and have especially loved having Kylie in my class. It will be sad to not see them every Sunday and Wednesday, but they'll always have a special place in my heart. And I'm looking forward to serving in the nursery, if I can't be with the young women, then playing with babies is the next best thing!

Better than Christmas

Aside from our wedding day and the birth of our children, I have never seen Jason this giddy and excited about anything. He has been so excited to get his new boat, I swear he spent that first day caressing it and whispering it sweet nothings. It was sort of adorable. We bought it at the end of the season so that we could get a good deal, but that also meant we wouldn't be able to take it out too many times before it got too cold. We managed to fit in a few trips and it got us excited for next summer!

 

Fall Bucket List

Make homemade donuts

Play in the leaves

Eat soup in bread bowls

Make homemade rootbeer

Decorate pumpkins

Make a pumpkin recipe

Watch Harry Potter and drink butter beer

Have a bonfire

Make caramel apples

Deliver fall treats to neighbors

Drink apple cider

Get a new Fall decoration

Ward trunk-or-treat

Roast pumpkin seeds

Decorate for Halloween

Make a Fall trail mix

Do a Fall craft

Light candles and read stories in bed

Watch a football game with yummy appetizers

Make homemade applesauce

Watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Go for a moon walk

Bake a pie from scratch

Decorate sugar cookies

Watch a movie outdoors

AND....

Visit a pumpkin patch

Go in a corn maze

It has been so fun checking things off our Fall bucket list. Vertuccio Farms has been a fun tradition over the years and a great way to get into the Fall spirit, even if it is still 90 degrees outside. Thankfully this year we had a cold front and lucked out with 70's and an overcast sky.  I was sad that this year Kylie and Jayden had no interest in going, it's weird raising kids in two different stages of life. But the little boys and I had a fun day and I'm grateful that I still have a few more years of Fall festivals with them before they outgrow them!

Ten

I just love this boy. He continues to be such a thoughtful and funny kid. He always makes me laugh with his latest phases. The plant phase will always be my favorite, but I did also love his exercise phase. He constructed his own barbells using a broom handle with two milk jugs full of water attached at each end. He created a whole exercise chart and called it his "get fit schedule" and was quite dedicated to it. I also loved his "cool" phase. I mean, this kid is already cool but it was cute to see his efforts to up his game. He really wanted Vans shoes for the first day of school. We finally found the exact pair he wanted and he was so excited. When we got home he wrapped the box up and wouldn't let anyone get near his new Vans. If anyone wanted to see them then he put on plastic gloves while he gently took them out of the box. He was nervous to wear them to school and every day when he got home he would take a magic eraser to clean the white rubber around the sole. He also asked for deodorant and hair paste and proudly remarked, "I've reached a whole new level now that I've got Vans, deodorant and hair paste. It's Maddox 4.0". I love that he still has an appreciation for the small things in life. Going through the car wash for the first time was the highlight of his year, along with getting new light bulbs in the kitchen. He seriously got excited every time he turned on the lights because it was so much brighter. I love that about him. He also spent a whole afternoon organizing his closet. He made cardboard dividers and labeled them with things like, "cool clothes" and "not cool clothes". He loves watching the King of Random YouTube channel and is always wanting to try new experiments. Mashed potatoes are still his favorite food and he tries to sneak Dr Pepper whenever he can. He started reading the Michael Vey series after Jayden recommended it and has cruised through every book! He has started doing his own hair and is very particular about "the wave". He still claims to be "the baby whisperer" and all the little kids in the neighborhood love him. Claire is still his number one fan as well. His teacher called the other day to tell me how impressed she was with how sweet he is to his first grade school buddy. He spent the recess going around finding caterpillars with her, and it made my heart nearly burst with love. He still continues to be my mama's boy and will randomly throughout the day tell me how much he loves me. So grateful to have Maddox in our family, it truly is a privilege to be his mom! Happy 10th birthday!

Birthday Boy, Belmont and Boats

There are pros and cons of always having your birthday during Fall break. Cons are you don't get to be at your own home and wake up to breakfast in bed and all the other traditional birthday things we do at home. Pros are you get to celebrate someplace cool! It was a bummer this year because Maddox's actual birthday would be spent in the car driving home, so it was a double whamie. But we tried to make the most of it by celebrating a few days early at Belmont Park. It worked because he thought it was the best birthday ever! We were planning to only spend a few hours at this small amusement park but ended up being there all day until the sun went down. It wasn't too crowded so they got to ride all the rides as much as they wanted, and they did just that. 

Jason and I took advantage of all the kids doing the ropes course and snuck in Dole Whip. We inhaled it as fast as we could then disposed of the evidence before they were finished. Ryder was like, "that was weird, I thought I saw you eating ice cream when I was up there". We got them burgers instead.

 The first time Ryder went on this ride I thought he was going to cry. He looked so scared, it took everything in me to not yell at the ride operator to stop the ride. But as soon as it was done he was grinning ear to ear and begging to go again. He was hilarious, he was running from ride to ride I could barely keep up with him!

Jayden got a hole in one on the final hole of the mini golf course and won a $5 game card, it was pretty impressive!

We finally were able to drag them away as the evening crowds started coming. I'm glad they had a blast, it was definitely a fun way to celebrate Maddox's birthday! The only bummer of the day was when we went to get jackets out of the car and noticed that someone had hit the back side of our car and left without leaving a note. Not cool. We met up with Jessica and John for dinner where we spent $80 on food court noodles at an Asian grocery store. Welcome to California. It was fun to see them and catch up for a little bit before heading to Temecula to stay with Shawn and Melinda.

We stayed a night at Shawn and Melinda's house where we kept an eye out on the forecast for the next day. We went to brunch in the rain but it cleared up just enough that we decided to go spend the night at their condo on the lake. We were able to cruise around listening to nostalgic 90's grunge bands for a little bit before it got dark, then we settled the kids in with pizza and Hotel Transylvania 2 while the adults went out for Thai food.

The next day was Maddox's birthday, and also happened to be the day we picked up our new boat. We arrived at the lake early that morning and were greeted with the most beautiful glassy water. Forget that the water itself was green and semi-toxic, but the mood was so serene and peaceful. We cruised around for a little bit to test out the boat then loaded up and headed home. We stopped for birthday donuts, birthday Subway and even birthday Dutch Bros when we got back to the Valley.  All in all, I would say it was a pretty great birthday. I mean, not many people can say they got a new boat on their birthday! We are in love with the new boat and can't wait to spend many more summer days making memories on the lake!

That night Jason took Maddox out for his traditional birthday dinner at Joe's then we celebrated with cake and ice cream. We sure love this birthday boy!