Thanksgiving Feasts

It is that time of year again - time for Thanksgiving Feasts. First up we had Brookey's sweet little school. We had homemade food and Brooke was thrilled with it. She was so excited to have us there. She couldn't stop smiling and telling me how much she loved everything. 

  

Then Daddy came. I was so happy. This is just the sort of thing that Aaron never used to come to and now he can. Brooke just followed him around beaming. 

We sure love our Brookey. 

Then we decided to stay for music time. Brooke ran around singing, jumping up and down and being thrilled. She sure loves school and we sure love her. 

Aaron went to Camilla's feast and took her Wendy's. She spent the whole time waving at her friends. 

I joined Carson, also with Wendy's. He inhaled his food and looked around for more and couldn't wait for lunch to be over to play with his friends. 

They started running around the gym together. Carson sure has a nice group of friends this year. 

I can't believe its already time for Thanksgiving. 

November

November has been a beautiful month. We are finally enjoying some cooler weather and spending as much time as possible outdoors. 

This laugh. I mean, I simply cannot get enough of this baby boy. 

A date night (Spencer was there as well). We went to this fancy restaurant, Uchi for dinner and then ice cream for dessert. It was a fun night. 

This was our favorite dish. Delicious steak. 

I love playing with these kiddos. 

Brooke takes good care of Spencer and loves to play with him during the day. 

After my long runs I sometimes get into the pool to ice everything all at once. Carson really worries about me getting frozen in there so one day he joined me for a minute. 

Carson has started running with Aaron some. He absolutely love it - so does Aaron. 

They sometimes make stops to play in the river...

or climb rocks. 

Camilla continue to enjoy school so much and love her friends. They planted a garden and Millie thought it was fantastic. 

The kids are all in really fun stages right now allowing us to do lots of fun stuff. 

Annual S/mores Taste Test

Each year after Halloween we take advantage of the candy bars and do a s'mores taste test. This year it was a big hit with our kids. 

First place - Twix

Second - Snickers

Third - Milky way

Aaron thinks we should make this a semi-annual event. 

Planetarium

Man I am knocking this whole Mom thing out of the park lately. :) A second study trip, this time with my boy, who was much more excited that I was attending a study trip than his younger sister. We went to the Science Museum and it was a good trip. Carson was all buzzed up on the drive down and very worried that I didn't know where we were going. But we joined in with his class and first learned about species and the origin of the earth. 

Then it was time to learn about power and energy sources. 

Then the grand event, the Planetarium. The kids were so excited with this part and loved learning about and talking about the stars and sun and galaxy. 

Carson with two of his best friends, Jax and Enoch. 

Brooke was at preschool and sweet baby Spencer did great. He fell asleep on my chest during the movie and I may or may not have teared up a little bit watching him while everyone else watched the movie. I just love him so much. 

Carson wanted to ride back to school with me too, love that boy. We had a fun trip!! 

Halloween 2016

I really enjoy Halloween. I love seeing my kids and everyone else's kids. I love all the activities and games and carnivals. And of course I love all things with a pumpkin flavor. :) It is a busy time of year but it is a lot of fun. 

On Friday night we had our ward Trunk or Treat. The kids got all dressed up and ready to go. Millie was so excited to be wearing make up. 

We had Jackson with us and he reluctantly agreed to get dressed up so we could go and get some cake. The kids played games, bobbed for apples, and did the cupcake walk. 

Then it was time for trunk or treating. The kids got a lot of candy and Aaron and I passed out candy to many, many kiddos. The kids came home with a lot of good candy. 

Then on Saturday after soccer we head to NYOS for Fall Fest. That was hours of bounce house hopping, game playing, face painting and snow cone eating. 

The kids both had parties at school. In Camilla's class they did all things pumpkin and even got to eat some pumpkin muffins. 

Then we had some friends over for dinner and made our own pizzas and played a few games. The highlight was the donut eating competition. 

I had to help Brooke a little bit.  

We also had a Dad's competition and Aaron won! It was epic. So we have  no pictures of our kids all together in their costumes or of them trick or treating. #parentingfail but the kids did all decide to write notes to the switch witch fairy to exchange their candy for gifts. LOVE this tradition. 

Brooke was our most hesitant to give up her candy. She really loves candy. 

Carson was all over it and counted exactly how many pieces he was going to offer in exchange for something he wanted. 

After the kids went to bed Aaron and I picked out all the candy we wanted (pretty much all the chocolate) and Aaron took the rest to work. 

Well the fairy did not disappoint and it was like Christmas morning when the kids woke up. They insisted they all go down the stairs together. 

Frozen dolls for Brookey. 

A Pokemon book for Carson. 

And a small tent for Camilla. 

Until next year Halloween. 

Just because....

And just because I love her so very much. Brooke got to celebrate her birthday at her school with cupcakes and wear her birthday crown. 

She seriously might be the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. 

Pumpkin Patch

I went on my first official study trip with Camilla's class. I can't believe I have had children in school for almost 2.5 years and this is my first study trip. I know what you are thinking, aren't you a stay at home Mom? Isn't that what stay at home Moms do, go on study trips??? Well usually the answer is yes but it just never worked. Either I was pregnant, or Brooke was at a hard age for study trips, or I had a busy teaching schedule or really it comes down to it just sounding too overwhelming for me to pull off with my kids. But I made a commitment to attend one trip with both kids this year and I decided the pumpkin patch would be perfect. I knew Brooke would love it and Spencer is easy so I just went for it. Millie wasn't sure she wanted me to go on the trip. She didn't want to miss out on riding on the bus with her friends. But Ms. Erhart told her that she could still ride on the bus and I just followed them there. She did seem happy to see us, which I wasn't sure if she would be. :) 

First off we decorated pumpkins. Brookey jumped right in like she was a part of the class and that never changed the whole time. 

Then we head off to see the animals and play some games. The girls walked like this the whole time. They were just the best of friends. Millie took perfect care of her sister and made sure she was okay at all times. It might have been the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

A little tug of war. 

They did the hay maze. I'm telling you Brooke was on cloud 9 on this trip. She was just thrilled with everything about it. 

Then we found some shade so the kids could learn about pumpkins and their life cycle. This is one of Camilla's best friends, Natalia. 

Camilla was chosen to stand in front of all the classes while they learned a song about pumpkins. Ms. Erhart explained that these two were a package deal and Brooke went right up there with her. She was the cutest thing ever, she just pretended like she knew all the words and like she was the kindergartner who was picked.

Then we were all ready for the train ride. 

Sweet, sweet baby Spencer. 

After a few more games it was time for the hay ride, a spooky hay ride. Brooke roared at all the scary parts. 

Millie wanted me to sit right next to her. This really was so much fun. 

Camilla's class. 

The outing was a success, big success. We all came home wiped out.