Super Halloween

This year for Halloween I decided to go themed. I somehow convinced the girls they wanted to be superheros to match Adam who was Superman. Katelyn chose Wonder Woman and Megan chose Supergirl. I think in the process I agreed to let Katelyn get a Dorthy from Wizard of Oz costume sometime in the future. I think all she really wants are the red ruby slippers. That's easy.

It was a little tricky with Halloween falling on a Sunday this year. Saturday we just pretended it was Halloween. The girls really didn't know any different and we were able to keep our Sabbath day just for Church and family. So, Saturday, we finally carved our pumpkin to start off the Halloween festivities.

Then we went to Chris' parent's neighborhood Halloween party. It is always fun, hot dogs, chili, and carnival games for the kids. Even Adam figured out that if he did the cake walk he would get a cupcake. Then we chose about 10 families from our Ward that we knew would let trick-or-treaters come on Saturday and let the kids go trick or treating. They had fun and it was so nice to not have a huge load of candy at the end of the day. Turns out when you only go to about 10 houses you only get about 10 pieces of candy! Then our last trick or treat stop was Chris' grandparent's house. I think the kids had a really good time.

Then Sunday, we went about our day like a normal Sunday. After Sunday dessert night at Chris' grandparent's we let the kids dress up in their costumes again so they could show my parents on Skype their Halloween attire. In the process they were able to help pass out candy to trick or treaters that came to our door. Again, it was a great hit and the kids didn't even ask to go out on Sunday. They were satisfied with passing out our candy.

Dance, dance, dance

Along with the new school year, Katelyn and Megan have started a new dance year. They both grew so much as dancers last year, I'm excited to see what this next year will bring. The first two performances in the fall are the Zoowalk for Autism and the AZ State Fair. Chris had to brave the Zoowalk by himself with the kids this year playing the part of "dance mom." I had to be at the Primary program practice since I'm in the presidency and funny thing is I haven't figured out how to be in two places at one time! The girls performed dances from last year, so I tried not to feel too bad that I missed a show. Chris did a great job being a dance mom and the girls did a great job.

This year at the AZ State Fair, we got the royal treatment. Amy (Chris's sister and director of the dance company) road in our car with us and so we got the special fancy parking pass that let us park pretty much right next to the stage. We were there early and got to watch the other studios dance before it was our turn. I may be a little biased, but I think our company is the best! The girls had a great show. Then after the show we let the girls pick a couple rides to go on and they all got snow cones while the adults got pineapple ice cream....yum....can't wait for more of that next year!

Cute Megan getting ready to dance her favorite "Tiana" dance.

So, not the best picture of Katelyn, but it was a sunny day! I realized I didn't have any other good pictures of Katelyn that day in costume.

Adam enjoying a snow cone after the show. I love the look on his face. It says, "really Mom and Dad...yellow snow?"

A much happier Katelyn. And who doesn't love having blue teeth!

Katelyn turns 7!

Wow, Katelyn. 7. Really?! Here's my Katelyn at 7. Beautiful, tall, kind, friends with everyone, possibly a wee bit emotional (can't wait until 13!), a wonderful helper at home, smart, and loving. I decided that I didn't want to do "friend birthday parties" every year, so my plan is 5, 8, and 12. Random? Maybe a little bit. :) Nonetheless, even without a big friend birthday party celebration, we still had a lot of fun this year. Katelyn requested that I come have lunch with her at school and bring Sonic. It was so much fun to see her at school with her friends, and she was absolutely beaming that it was her special day to eat lunch with me and Megan and Adam. We invited Chris' family to come over for a family party the night of her birthday. Katelyn chose the family favorite Texas sheet cake for her birthday cake, so after opening presents, we enjoyed wonderful cake and ice cream.

Then Saturday I let her invite 2 friends over for a "late night" movie night and girl fun in lieu of a big party. Katelyn loved it and I love that it was no stress and way low key. I love the late night party. It's the fun of a sleepover in pjs but none of the staying over at someone's house (which isn't allowed in our home.) Katelyn and I went to Wal-mart and bought pretty much every movie candy she liked. Then when the friends arrived, we played for a little bit, then we did pedicures (OK, I did the pedicures...not too bad) then we watched Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, ate more candy than we all should have and then ate popcorn. I'm not sure how much movie was watched, but I know all of the girls had a great time!

Megan's parent program - Space unit

At Discover Club at the end of each unit, they have a parent program. This is where they can tells us all about what they have been learning and show us around their Club room. I love Discovery Club! Megan has grown so much over just a short time. She loves going to Club. She is learning so much. She has learned the names to all the planets in order, she's learned about gravity, astronauts, and so much more! And she's finally learning how to write her name...and she's wanting to do it! I was feeling a little bit like it was my fault as a parent that she couldn't do that yet, but really, she didn't want to do it and I didn't want to push her and make her hate it. Yeah for Discover Club for showing her that she can do it and it's fun!

Each day when they come home from Club, they bring home an information sheet. On this paper, there are questions we can ask about the things they learned that day. It is so nice to have that instead of the usual "What did you learn today?" (kid responds) "I don't remember, or nothing or I don't know." I'm amazed at all the kids are learning.

Here's some pictures of her club room. I also have some video of a couple songs in the program. Megan is in a pink BYU shirt with the big Y on the front.

Megan is in the pink BYU shirt with the big Y on the front. Here the kids are getting ready to start their program.

This is a special playroom off the main Club room. It is changed for each unit. This one is the space ship. Inside the cabinets there are space suits for the kids to put on. So fun!

The ceiling was covered in the kids foil body outlines. This one is Megan, of course.

Happy Birthday Grandma Long

Chris' grandparents took the entire family to Red Robin for Grandma Long's birthday. It was, as always, a huge hit. Chris didn't get there in time from work to eat at the restaurant with us, but we got him a to-go box. I'm always a little nervous at a restaurant with small kids because you never know if it's going to be good or bad. Today was good! I had Bradley next to me helping with Adam. He was a huge help because Adam loves Bradley. I think it's the first name Adam learned how to say besides mom and dad. It's still not completely understandable to someone on the "outside" but it's definitely his name.

After Red Robin, we went to Chris' grandparent's house for cake and ice cream. The kids played outside and the adults got to visit. So as to not break the nice silence of the kids playing outside, each great grandchild was invited inside one by one to get a picture with grandma and her cake. Then they each got to blow out the candle with her.

Then Saturday, the girls got to go out to our favorite restaurant Crackers. It was great food and great company. And the best part is spreading out the birthday celebration over 2 days. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Baptism day

My niece Eliana turned 8 this August and made the great decision to get baptized. So, my family made the trip to Vegas to be a part of the events. It was a quick whirlwind weekend for us. We left after school and work Friday evening. The baptism was Saturday morning with a wonderful luncheon afterward. I had the blessing of leading the music for the baptism, but I think one of my favorite parts was watching my nephew, Eli's brother - Ben, give the talk on the Holy Ghost. All of these kids are growing up so fast! The spirit was strong and it was a wonderful day.  Chris told me something Katelyn said after the baptism that I have to share.  They had gone to the lobby to wait for the rest of the group and Katelyn said that while the bishop was giving some remarks she felt really warm in her heart.  Chris asked her if she knew what that was and she said she knew the bishop's words were true because of the spirit touching her heart.  I'm so proud of how she's growing up and learning these important lessons.

I want to share a epiphany moment I had that day. At the luncheon I had the chance to visit with friends I have not seen in a long time. It is always good to catch up. At one point I was on the couch visiting with my sister in law Kristin's mom - Susan, and sister and others around. We were just talking about life and Susan was telling us stories about when she was raising her kids. As part of one of the stories, she was saying how when raising her 7 kids she had to have her date night every week and get out of the house with her husband. Kristin's sister made the comment that the kids needed them out of the house just as much as the parents wanted out of the house. I know this was meant as a funny retort to her mom's comment, but it really rang true for me. Our kids sometimes need breaks from us just as much as we need breaks from them to rejuvenate and appreciate each other more. I'm grateful for this insight. I have since tried to make date nights happen a little more often. I still have a hard time trusting a babysitter, but have gratefully found 2 girls that we really like and the kids like. In fact, the other day after a date night, Megan was asking when we were going to leave again so Briana could come back. Since then we've had some busy weekends and haven't been out much, but I know now that I can go out and I can have a date night, and really, I should do that not just for me and Chris but for my kids too.

As usual, I was terrible with taking pictures on this trip. We did however take some pictures of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. We can't wait until it's open and we can ride on it! It's supposed to cut the time from Phoenix to Vegas by 45 minutes! Yippee!!

Discovery Club

Megan had her first day of school this year too! She is in a preschool called Discovery Club. I have heard great things about this preschool from friends in my neighborhood. Club is only for kids who are getting ready to enter Kindergarten the following school year and is 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Because of how Megan's birthday falls in the year, she will only get this one year of preschool before Kindergarten, so I wanted it to really get her ready. She has not been interested to this point in writing her name or her letters. She knows all of them, she just doesn't care about writing them when I suggest we work on it. I'm hoping this year, she will get a love of learning and enjoy her class. Good luck, Megan!