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. 

Happy Birthday Brooke

And just like that our sweet girl is 3 years old. Its hard to describe in words how much I love this girl. We enjoy her so much. She changed all my ideas of how much I enjoy being a mother, I just had no idea I could enjoy all of these stages like I have enjoyed them with her. She is kind, hilarious, funny, sweet, loyal, and her own person. We feel so blessed to have her in our family and can't imagine a life without her. She talks all.day.long and wants to cuddle constantly. She helps me with everything and loves to color and play with her babies and play doctor. Brooke loves the phone/ipad - she's pretty obsessed. She also loves Daniel Tiger and Nemo. But most of all Brooke loves her big sister, Camilla. They are the very best of  friends. 

For her birthday she wanted to swing on the swing, go and get a birthday cake with a rainbow - just like Camilla's (luckily Costco makes plenty :), and have lasagna and french fries for dinner. Aaron would agree, whatever Brookey wants, Brookey gets. I simply cannot say no to this girl. She asks for them so sweetly. 

I let the kids each pick out a present for her. Camilla put so much thought into it and loved what she picked out for her. Carson thought about it for about 10 seconds and picked out the first thing he saw - well Brooke loved both gifts. 

Happy birthday to our beautiful brown eyed girl. I so wish I could freeze time and keep you just like this forever. 

Ragnar

So a few months ago our friends decided to put together a team for Ragnar this year in Austin. Somehow Aaron convinced me to do it. (You read that right, Aaron had to convince me to do a running race. Not because I didn't think it would be fun I just wasn't sure about leaving our kids, running on trails, and cost, etc.) But I am so glad we decided to do it! Training through the summer wasn't super fun and very hot. We would come home from runs and jump straight into the pool but weather ended up being gorgeous for the race so we really lucked out. This is a trail Ragnar so that means we camp out instead of drive around in a bus and start and end all of our runs at the same spot. 

My sister took on our 3 oldest kiddos. She was a gem and threw a small birthday party for Brookey. They loved their cupcakes. 

Spencer came with us. He was a trooper as it got super cold at night, we slept in a tent and he pretty much had no schedule (which meant there was a lot of nursing). This was after our first legs. Aaron ran 8 first and I ran 3 miles first. He rocked it, he was nervous about that run but he did awesome. Then we had the most amazing gyros for dinner. We still talk about those. :)

It was a rough night. We didn't get much sleep and poor spencer was so cold. We finally had to sandwich him between us and keep a big fleece blanket over everyone's heads to trap in the warmth to keep him warm and let him get some sleep. Our middle of the night legs were 5 miles for Aaron and 8 for me. This run was my absolute favorite. It was a gorgeous night, I just loved being out there running in the dark, seeing the stars and the trail was fabulous. 

We were up early so we decided to take Spencer down by the fire to keep him warm until our early morning legs. 

Aaron head out for his 3 miler!! He did it, 15 miles, he's amazing. Then passed off to me for my sunrise 5 mile run. It was the toughest run for sure but it was still beautiful and fun. 

Spencer was a big hit with everyone at the fire. Poor guy was so worn out though and fell asleep in Aaron's arms. 

Here is our team. We sure had a blast together. Our team name was Hopdizzle fo shizzle. Because well we all love Hopdoddy's. :) Everyone did great and I hope we all come back next year. I haven't run a race with Jamie and Jeana since Boston 2014! 

My favorite team. 

This is my favorite picture from the race. We are cheering Jeana in from her first leg. This is just how I remember the race, everyone having fun, gorgeous sun and lots of running. 

After all the packing...and packing... finally it was time to head home. We stopped on the way to eat dinner at Hopdoddy's of course where I had a burger with all the toppings, large fries and a Nutella milkshake. I was famished. 

Such a fun experience, can't wait to do it again! 

Updates

This boy, he would swim in 60 degree weather I think. Aaron was working in the yard and the kids insisted they wanted to go for a swim. 

This is about as far as Millie got. 

Birthday Party games. 

We are enjoying making new friends. 

One day I made this delicious salad for lunch. Brooke told me we would share...she lied. She only had eyes for her big bowl of Pirate's Booty. :) Love this girl and she can have whatever she wants. 

Crazy morning hair. We get so happy every day when this girl wakes up. 

And Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon. Carson is still obsessed and all consumed with Pokemon.  

I love him. 

I really love him.