Halloween 2012

My crew getting ready to go trick or treating...

 We have one SCARY ghost .....

 One FIERCE lion.....

 And one CHAMPION football player.....

 Off to the first house (we left right as the sun was setting)

 Yes.....I put jammies under my kids costumes.  Kept them warm and didn't have to change them for bedtime that night :)

 Such a pretty and warm Halloween night

 It was a great night!

Fall Festival

This was at our ward fall festival.  Had lots of fun.  There was a chili cookoff, cornbread and pie cookoff.  At the end there was pie eating contests (which Breanna participated in :) My dad came and so did my sister Michelle, visiting from CA, with her kiddos Pax and Caleb....these are pictures from that our Bishop took, so I don't have any of our guests, but I love these pics!

Ethan's bed

I wanted this for memories when the kids get older.  Two nights ago when putting Ethan to bed I was in awe of the amount of things in his bed.  I asked him if he wanted them moved, he said no, he likes them there.  It includes the following:

- His special blankie
- Flashlight
- Swimming goggles
- His money bank (empty)
- All of his money (coins) scattered across his bed.  He sleeps on them.
- A magazine from the mail that has halloween costumes in them. (I tried to throw it away the other day and was caught and it got returned to his bed.
- His newest truck from a garage sale.
- At least one of his toy guns
- A football book from the library (he gets 2 every time we go)
- One or two more toys to "play" with during the night.


All of these things are very special to him.  I figured he was uncomfortable, but apparently this is what make his bed wonderful :)

Conversation

Today I overheard Breanna asking Ethan to play with her (some type of made up game, I'm not sure which one).

He said no.

Then, she proceeded to tell him in a low voice, "If you don't play with me then I will put your blankie in the mouse trap."


Too bad she got caught, but wow is all I can say.  This girl is so kind and loving to her brothers 90% of the time, but I definitely heard the fiesty side come out of her today.

I tried really hard not to laugh.

I know Ethan will get her back someday.

Halloween Activities

Rob had the kids make some awesome sugar cookies a couple nights ago for a family activity.  I don't like sugar cookies, but these were really yummy.  He got the recipe off of Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog.  We will definitely repeat this recipe.  He said that Ethan had so many sprinkles that he couldn't lift his off the plate without an avalanche.  (I had to leave early for a YW activity). Also, notice in the top pic that we are definitely rolling in the money right now :) Pretend money that is!  It was a fun activity!

10 days left!

Update on the no spending month.  We have spent a total of $387.55 in 20 days.  We leave in 10 days for our cruise.  We have to keep our spending under $112.45 in the next 10 days to meet our goal.

This is great b/c we had some special things happen this past week.  We had a family event that we attended and brought food for, so that was extra food.  We also had some wonderful friends from Hawaii come and visit us for 3 days.  We made meals for both families (5 in each family) for 3 days and still have spent the $387.55.

A couple of the splurges were:

$4.00 at McDonalds for ice cream cones for the kids and Rob - everyone worked really hard to clean the condo when we left and they deserved a treat!  Breanna mopped the floor, Ethan vaccuumed, they picked up and helped with the baby on the drive.

$15.00 for Chipotle on the way up to the mountains.  So yummy and helped us all be happy and endure the extremely crowded roads and extra long drive.

$7.00 for Deantonio's - Rob got a calzone and this was the one argument we had.  I said no, he wanted it badly, so I eventually gave in and felt bad b/c he works so hard for our family and the money we do have. 

We have spent $50 in gas for the family travelling around and also short trips around our house.

We also spent plenty of money at grocery stores.....but were able to feed lots of people yummy food and not need to go out to eat.

So far I have learned that our biggest problem is eating out.  We love to eat out.  Even if it's cheap it quickly adds up.  Also it's cheap, but it only lasts one meal versus spending that in a grocery store where it can be a couple meals or the whole family for the same price.

Do you think we can make it til the 15th?

I do!