Halloween Fun!!

We just love Halloween around here! The house has been decked out for a month, inside and out, and the kids have anxiously been awaiting their time to trick-or-treat! They couldn't wait to get their costumes on again and pose for a few more pictures.
Zoe was a 1950's Diner Girl, complete with some fun saddle shoes...

Cooper was a boxer this year, and loved getting his black eye "painted" on...

We had the neighbors over for our annual chili and cornbread feast...

By the time it was getting dark all of the kids were ready to go! Joe and the other dads stayed home to pass out candy, while the moms had a great time going all around the neighborhood watching the kids. We had a few cool haunted houses and tons of decorations. There were so many kids running through the neighborhood and we had perfect fall weather!
Once we got home the kids wanted to dump out their candy to pick a few pieces to munch on. They decided to save their "trading" until tomorrow!

Then we headed over to Todd's for some more fun, fire pits, snacks, and music...
The girls had a great time dancing to Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift...

Now comes the worst parts: the weight gain from all the candy, and putting away all of the decorations!! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Party...

Every year our Clubhouse puts on a fun Halloween party for the kids. I wasn't planning on going this year, just a lot going on, and I had kind of forgotten about it. Well, Zoe reminded me this morning that today was the day of the party and she really wanted to go! So we quickly got made up and put costumes on to head over.
The kids had a great time playing games, eating hot dogs and popcorn, winning prizes, and doing the costume contest.

It was time for the costume contest. Zoe loves this kind of thing and had no problem strutting her stuff down the "runway"...
Cooper on the other hand, doesn't enjoy the spotlight, so he wanted it over quickly!
They ended up taking 1st and 3rd place in the originality category!

Pumpkin Faces

Cooper had a fun evening at the Long's annual Halloween Party. Once he got home, Zoe was anxious to get started on cleaning out and carving their pumpkins!
Cooper is not a huge fan of the pumpkin guts all over his hands! Zoe, on the other hand, loves it!

The kids spent time drawing their creations and Joe and I carved them. Joe had fun creating his too. Here's the finished products:

Red Ribbon Week

The school is celebrating Red Ribbon Week and it has been full of fun and excitement! We actually kicked it off last week with two awesome assemblies. We had students from Great Oak High School put on a "Say No to Drugs" pep rally full of cheerleaders, the dance team, stomp team, and some of the band. They did a great job getting the kids pumped up and excited.
The next day was followed up with a neat assembly put on by some D.E.A. agents. We had several undercover agents and a few highway patrol officers come onto the field with their sirens going, as well as a DEA helicopter come in and land at the school. The kids were so excited to see it come in and land. We weren't allowed to have our camera's out since several of the agents are undercover, but Chessa's son got this one from the street! (Thanks Brennan!)
The kids learned a lot about the origin of Red Ribbon Week, as well as what it takes to become a DEA agent. They also had fun seeing the k-9 units with the drug sniffing dog and the bomb sniffing dog!

This week was full of fun "dress-up" days for the kids:

Monday: "When I Grow Up I Want to be Drug Free!", so they dressed up as something they might like to be when they grow up.
Zoe went with a dancer, and Cooper picked a basketball player:

Tuesday: "Follow Your Dreams, Don't Do Drugs!", so they got to wear pajamas. (This was my personal favorite day of the week!!)
*Picture to come***

Wednesday: "Drug-Free, the Healthy Way to Be!", so they wore athletic attire (jerseys, uniforms, or work-out clothes).
They both went with their football jerseys...

Thursday: "I've Made up my Mind, No Drugs for Me!", so they had to wear a hat, crazy hair, or something on their head.
Zoe and Cooper can never resist some crazy hair and spray hair color:

Friday: "Let Your True Colors Shine! Wear Red Day!"


It was a great week to have a little fun. I enjoyed getting to "dress-up" with them each day. It made some crazy days in the classroom though. Let's home next week is a little calmer! :)

Fall Photo Opps...

We sure are enjoying the "Fall" weather we have been having lately. Cool temperatures, rain, wind and even a big lightning/thunder storm that knocked out our power the other morning. (It makes for an interesting time trying to put makeup on by flashlight, and no "power" tools to get my hair done!)

The other day Zoe said, "Mom, Halloween is in 10 days and we haven't even been to the pumpkin patch yet!" I told her we would work on that and try to fit it in this weekend. Cooper had an early morning baseball game (and got his 3rd home-run of the season!), then we headed out for an early lunch with the team. Afterwards, we seized the moment and hit the pumpkin patch. Thankfully, the kids indulged me in taking lots of pictures! I know I don't have much more time left that they will let me do this, so I take advantage when I can!


They love playing "dead" in the "graveyard"...

I love taking their pictures in front of this sign to see how tall they are getting from year to year...

They kept trying to see who could pick up the heavier pumpkin too...

One of our favorite things to do is the corn maze. We started out all together, but split up into girls vs. boys. Unfortunately, Zoe and I took a wrong turn and the boys beat us out. We'll get them next time Zoe!

Before we left, Zoe decided to get some face painting done. Cooper wanted to skip that and head to the ice cream truck to get a dessert (that's my kind of kid!)

Visit with friends...

Shloe, Roger, Cora and Callie were in town from Minnesota, so we got to enjoy a nice visit together over dinner. It was so great to see them and see how much the girls have grown over the last year!
We got to catch up a bit and play with the kids. Cooper was a trooper with all the girls, and Zoe had fun sharing her old polly pockets.
Shloe and I were telling Zoe that we have been friends since were just a little bit older than her!

Cora, Zoe, and Callie...

Roger, Coop, and Joe...

Wish the visit could've lasted a little longer, but we are grateful we at least got to see everyone!

Much-Needed Fun Day!

I felt the need for a fun, mommy day with the kids. I have been working around the clock and we have been overwhelmed with our busy schedule. Although I am really enjoying my job, there are days when I miss just being a mom. Since our Disneyland passes expire this week, I decided to take a day off and let the kids skip school and we could have a fun day together at the amusement park. I wanted to surprise them, so I talked to their teachers ahead of time to make sure they weren't going to miss anything important, and to get any work they could do...
When they woke up in the morning I told them we were taking the day off and heading to Disneyland. Their reaction wasn't quite as I expected! Zoe was quite shocked. She was sad that she wouldn't be getting perfect attendance and afraid she would get behind in her work and would miss something important. Cooper was disappointed that he would miss his math facts quiz, but otherwise was ok. I told them that it had all been worked out and that it would be fine. On our drive there, I looked behind and saw Zoe crying. I honestly didn't realize she would be this upset! Since I have never taken them out of school for anything other than them being sick, this was a new experience for them. Zoe is very much a "rule-follower" and wasn't comfortable with missing school. I told her that it was ok to have a "fun" day once in a while, and that she deserves a break sometimes too!

Once we got to Disneyland, everything was better and we had a great day together! Grandma joined us for a while, then left to get Jax and came back with him. The park was all decked out in Halloween decoration galore...I loved it!

Of course our favorite ride this time of year is the Haunted Mansion since it is re-done with the 'Nightmare before Christmas' decorations. As we were getting in line Zoe spotted the Jack and Sally characters, so after the ride we went and got in line to meet them. They were great characters, Jack was so animated and spent a lot of time talking to the kids!

Grandma left to get Jax, and the kids and I stopped for lunch. They wanted to get some corn dogs from the corn dog cart, and they loved them!
Then we hit a few more rides before Jax joined us...

We had a ton of fun on the roller coasters, especially Thunder Mountain...

We had a great dinner at the Orleans Cafe (our favorite place to eat!) and hit a few more rides. After Mimi and Jax left, we stayed a little while longer. It had been a long time since we'd stayed at Disneyland until dark, so we were enjoying the lights and scenery. We finally left about 9. We were exhausted, but had big smiles on our face. It was worth the effort, and even the tears. We had a fun day!!