"Please" our version of Trunk or Treat

Thursday night was our wards annual "Trunk or Treat". It was a lot of fun and the girls really had a good time. I didn't know if I would get any Halloween pictures tonight so I took my fair share photos of their customes last night. KyLee is a She-Devil and Sawyer is Minnie Mouse. I bought both of these outfits at KyLee's dance studio and then bought the "bling-bling" at various Halloween stores. I think their customes turned out great, and they were definitely one of a kind.

They first started the trunk or treat out with a dinner and games. They had hotdogs, chili, nachos, and corn bread. There was a Scooby Do bounce house inside the gym. They had little games for the kids to play and a station to frost and decorate their own cookies. Once everyone was done, everyone went outside to Trunk or Treat. KyLee was off like a mad dash with her friends (notice the lack of pictures) and so Sawyer and I was off to get the goods while Cody stayed at the car and handed out candy. At first Sawyer didn't know what to expect and I thought I was going to have to carry her to each car. Once we hit the second car she got th hang of it. She walked up to the next car, and instead of saying Trunk or Treat, she stuck out her bucket and said "please". She then raced off to the next car, and again it was "please." As we walked I would talk to some of our friends and then I noticed she was double dipping the candy. If there were more then one person handing out candy at the car, she started saying please to each of them. She is so stinken cute, they couldn't resist and would give her another piece. Once we made it around and back to our car, she wanted to go again. In the end the girls had a ton of candy and we headed off home to stuff their faces with candy and watch a movie. Glad there was no school today!

The birth of Jake

Wednesday night the girls carved their pumpkins. Can I just say, there is nothing worst then carving a pumpkin when it is still 90 degrees outside! I have learned my lesson, don't put the pumpkins outside in the heat. When we purchased our pumpkin, I did what we always do, but the pumpkin outside with the rest of the Halloween decorations and then brought it in to carve. When Cody cut the top off there was a strong smell of pumpkin. Not bad, but just warm pumpkin. Sawyer took one smell and said; "cucky"! She has a thing for smells these days!! KyLee was basically left with carving the pumpkin once Sawyer saw the insides of the pumpkin and didn't want anything to do with her pu pu. Last year she was in the midst of it all, but not this year. KyLee cleaned out all the guts and then Cody helped KyLee and Sawyer carve out the face, and Jake was born. KyLee was a trooper, maybe next Sawyer will help.

McKee Ranch...a little home to me

With the Fall season approaching us, I have been filling a little home sick. It's expected since it is our first "official" holiday seasons away from our small town roots of Tooele. It was a family tradition each year to attend the "Pumpkin Walk" in Stansbury Park. The tradition started years ago when KyLee's singing group would sing at the festival and even though KyLee only performed two years we kept going back year after year as a family. The Pumpkin Walk was a cute little craft/boutique festival that they held every year at the Benson Grist Mill. It had hay rides, a little hay maze and carnival games for the kids, great craft booths and always yummy food! For the past couple of weeks, I have been missing our little tradition so it was off to google I went to find something in Vegas that could satisfy my home sick sadness :-)
On google I came across McKee Ranch which wasn't to far from my house, so Cody, the girls and myself set out on Saturday for a little family fun. When we arrived we noticed that this little old man has turned his farm and ranch into a cute little pumpkin patch and petting zoo for kids. The admission to get in was $20.00 a family and the girls each got a bucket of carrots to feed the horses. Sawyer didn't want any part of carrying her bucket so she decided to put hers in this old beat up toy wagon that she found at the home made playground for kids. The wagon didn't push very well on the dirt so after awhile she gave up, but still refused to carry her bucket. We went over and feed the horses. Sawyer didn't mind standing by the horses, but she was not going to have any part of feeding them. KyLee got a little nervous at first also feeding the horses. She was actually holding the carrot and almost tossing it to see if the horses could catch it. Cody showed her how to lay her palm out and put the carrot in it and let the horses take it from her palm. What city girls we are raising! After the had a cute little area for the kids to enjoy some lemonade and crackers. My favorite part was the wheelbarrow that had a piece of fabric covering the inside of the wagon and it held a mountain of popcorn. There was an old coffee cup and you just scooped up the popcorn and put it in the paper sacks. It was great. After we enjoyed some snacks the girls walked around picking out their pumpkin and playing with the chickens that just roamed the area. They found a decent size pumpkin and then it was time to head home. We had a good time and it feed my little homesickness for now.

Who Am I.....

Well, I finally caught the Twilight bug!! I love to read (when I can find the time) and so I have been wanting to start the Twilight series. I was at Walmart the other day and all four books were on the shelves. So I decided to get them and start reading. I am on book 2 of 4. At this rate I will a be done with the series in two weeks. This is my goal!! I want to read them before the holiday buzz begins or I will never finish.

My friend Rachel had a post of what Twilight character see was. I have seen this before on other blogs, but now that I know who each of the characters are, I wanted to see who I was....

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

This is how they described Esme on the quiz.

"You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is a great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcomed. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a gret capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgement and appreciate the kind way you always handle things."

I think it's a fair and accurate statement. This was a fun little post, something off the wall. I am definitely looking forward to the movie!!

FuN FrIdAy..

We've been busy this past week. With work, school, PTA meeting, church callings, dance, and KyLee's social schedule, our calendars have been a little full. It is getting to the point where I am having to keep two calendars, one on my desk and one with me at all times. KyLee had a school fundraiser and I was thrilled to see they had a wipe board daily calendar. It has a spot for moms, dads, and kids to write down what they have for the week and you hang it on the fridge. I need to find a mini one for Cody's office at work! So I ordered it with a few other things. My order cannot get here fast enough.

Anyways on Friday, KyLee has dance and of course little Sawyer is along for the ride. Well Sawyer experienced her first major trauma "bo-bo" of her life. Sawyer is like a tornado when I take her to the studio. She almost thinks she owns the place. Anyways, there is another little girl there (about 7) and she loves to play with Sawyer when we get there. They will usually go in the little dance room and play on the mats or bounce on the trampoline. There is a glass door to the room, so we just let them two go in there and play since I can watch through the door. Thank you Donna for letting Sawyer run wild. While we were sitting there I was watching Sawyer run around like a mad man and then I saw her trip and slide, not a little slide, but a long slide from one end of the room to the next on her stomach dragging her little chin on the ground. When she finally came to a stop she let out this blood thirsty scream and started crying. I ran in and grabbed her and she was yelling ouch, over and over again. I couldn't help from laughing. She was pretty dramatized. She is going to make one heck of a volleyball player with that type of sliding skills across a floor, minus the chin as a kick stand. Needless to say, a little water and paper towel and the bleeding stopped. She will point out her "ouch" from time to time and then will walk away picking at her scab. That's our Sawyer.

So after the trauma was over and all the dance girls made sure Sawyer was going to pull through her ordeal, we were off and heading for home. I was ready for a much needed break so after I headed off with my friend Stephanie to Marissa's house for a nice girls/craft night out.I had a blast with some wonderful ladies from our ward. Thanks girls for a great Friday night! It was bring whatever craft(s) you need to get done. I jumped all over this!! I have been putting off and putting off the newest craft idea that I saw the other day in my favorite scrapbook store, Julie Janes Paper Co. The picture to the right is what I did. Basically you buy the FAMILY template, cut the paper out and glue it to the cardboard template and then attach what ever embellishments you want. It is supposed to be a sort of family album, but I just decorated it to put on my shelves that Cody will one day hang for me! :-) As you can see above the F is the shortest letter and each letter gets longer and longer to where on the Y you could actually put a full 5x7 picture on the board side ways. I was quite happy with the way it turned out and I was proud to get it all done in one night. So I wanted to post it so my mom, Jackie, Wenda, and Heidi could see. Girls I'm getting better!! :-). The night that I bought the template they were getting all their stuff together because the next day (Saturday) they were doing a class for this FAMILY pic frame. When I checked out she asked me if I was interested in attending their Saturday class. I thought about it for a minute and I asked her how much for the class. She said $38.00. Ah, yeah, no thanks. I did notice, however, she had some really cute embellishments that they were putting together that would match my living room. So I asked her, if I didn't attend the class, but I purchased the kit how much would that be, and she said $38.00. So I bought my $8.99 template and said thank you. I walked out the door and kind of hysterically laughed. Why, don't know. It was funny at the time. She said it with such a serious face. This little project, put all together cost me all said and done $14.99. Anyways, we stayed at Marissa's until about midnight and then Stephanie brought me home. We started talking when she dropped me off and we sat in her car until 2:30 a.m. just babbling about everything! I loved it and it was much needed. Thanks for listening to me. I am definitely looking forward to another girls night and the much need ear to chew off. :-)

PTA and Safe Passage for our Kids

Tuesday night I was elected as the Vice President of the PTA for KyLee school, Reedom Elementary. I am pretty excited for this. Since KyLee was in Kindergarten, I have always tried to find ways to be involved in her school and education. Cody and I are firm believers in a good education and we do whatever we can to make sure KyLee excels in every aspect of her schooling. My mom was always part of the PTA while my sister and I were growing up and I always enjoyed having her come to my school for different activities. I am definitely excited for this new challenge. I think it will be a fun year. The other people who are on the board are great and KyLee's principal is awesome. He is so excited to have a PTA at this school. It is nice to see the principal so involved in every aspect of this new school.

While we were at the meeting last night one issue that was brought to our attention was the "Safe passage for our kids" that parents in Mountains Edge are trying to promote to the Public Utilities committee. Currently there is no road that crosses over the railroad tracks over to Desert Oasis High School where our children in Mountains Edge attend or will attend in the future. Currently these students have to walk down Buffalo or Rainbow to Blue Diamond and then up to the high school. This is about a six to ten mile walk home. There are buses that will transport the kids, however, if they attend before or after school activities and they live in a home where both parents work they could be forced to walk home. If a child is caught crossing the railroad tracks they will be end up with a $300 fine and serious discipline, they could even be expelled.

There will be a Public Utilities Consumer Session meeting on October 20th at 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Southern Highlands Preparatory School. The Public Utilities Commission will be there to hear concerns, comments, suggestions, etc. The following day on October 21st at 10:00 am. the Public Utilities Commission will have a public hearing and all involved parties will be in attendance. Parents of the high school are asking that everyone in Mountains Edge who can attend either one or both of these meetings to attend. Their goal is to get a road built that goes across the railroads so that our children will have a safe place to walk to and from school.

If you know of anyone who would like to attend this meeting please pass the information along. I know for our family Desert Oasis High School is only about 5 minutes from our house if we were to cross the railroad tracks. I am in favor of a road being built. It's only 4 short years before KyLee will be a Freshmen at Desert Oasis, and I would feel better if I knew that if by chance KyLee had to walk home from school she would have a safe place to do so.

If you want more information on this let me know and I will get it for you.

Let The Holidays Begin...

I am so excited for the holidays!! This time last year we were trying to sell our home in Tooele so I wasn't able to put up our Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. We were in Vegas for Christmas, but I just kind of threw everything up that it didn't really feel like it normally does during the holidays. So...... needless to say I am totally excited about the holidays and Cody will probably say I am going overboard!! Over the past couple of weeks while KyLee has been at dance, Sawyer and I have been out looking for some ideas for the holidays. My friend Heidi told me about a really cute website that gives tons and tons of decoration ideas. I also came across a "60 Super Saturday" website. I fell in love with both of these!! Thanks for the tip!! For my mom, I posted the two crafts that I did over the weekend. The BOO and the EEK were two ideas that I got from the website and my table with the scarecrow was all thrown together with little things I found in our Saturday journeys. I am excited with the way that the decorations turned out and I am enjoying the warm Fall feel of home.

Kidz Rule

On Friday the kids were out of school for Teacher/Staff Development day and so I thought this would be a great time to take them to this place called Kidz Rule that my friend Ashlee told me about. My friend Stephanie meet me over there with her kids and at first the older kids weren't to excited about the place but Sawyer liked it. There was a small play area for toddlers and then a large play area for older kids. Sawyer kept running back and forth between the two play areas to play and stopped in between trips to take the shoes out of the bind and try them on. She had others peoples shoes scattered all over that place. There were some arcade games that the older kids to play. They probably enjoyed this part the best. The kids played around for a little bit and then we decided to take them over to Taco Bell for some lunch and then come back for them to finish playing. When we got back there was only one family there and they left soon after so our kids had the whole place to themselves and they ended up having a great time. Stephanie's little boy Dillon was really cute with Sawyer and he was playing with her while the other girls were off playing. She really enjoyed playing with Dillon and him making her laugh was histarical! I think the kids had a good time and I enjoyed the adult company! Thanks for hangin with us!!

A Service Lesson Learned

Me and the girls decided to go ahead with last Saturday's idea of making cookies for our neighbors. It was an idea that I came up with after coming home from the General Relief Society Broadcast. When KyLee got home from school we whipped out all the stuff to make these great cookies. It is a new recipe (one that you can't mess up, it even says so..) and they turned out great. I will share the receipe. KyLee and Sawyer did most of the preperation and making of the cookies. They had a great time. Sawyer kept (trying :>) to put her hands in the cookie dough, but big sister stopped her. Finally KyLee gave in and gave her a little taste of dough to satisfy Sawyer's curiosity. There was one time when we were cleaning up that I wasn't fast enough and Sawyer grabbed the spoon that I used to scoop out the shortening and she took a quick lick. Yucky came out of her mouth pretty fast.

While we were waiting for the cookies to cook ( I am loving my double oven) I made little Halloween tags to go with the cookies. There were a total of 6 families that we were going to take them to and each one of them we had something special to say. The one tag in the picture is for our neighbor across the street who let me use her phone to call Cody the day I locked Sawyer and I out of the house when I walked KyLee to the bus stop. Different story, different day. KyLee put little Trick or Treat napkins on the plates and then once the cookies were cool we put plastic wrap over the top and put the little tag with our names and phone number.

About 6:00 we were out and about to meet our new neighbors. Some of them I have met and some I have waved hi to, but it was nice to stop and visit for a minute and I thinks some were shocked that we had brought a little gift. Our neighbor next door is so sweet. She has one daughter that is one year older then KyLee and then another little girl in first grade. We probably spent the most time talking to them. She is just really bubbly and cute. The next house was our neighbor who helped me with the lock out crisis and her little boy is in KyLee's class. The last house that we went to was KyLee's little friend that she has been playing with lately. I was finally glad to meet her mom and talk for a few minutes. Out of 6 plates of cookies we were able to deliver 3. More tomorrow. In all of this it was great to see KyLee wanting to do something good for our neighbors. She was excited to go to each home and had no problems knocking on the doors and offering them their treats. It was good for us to get out and meet some of our neighbors. It's just a great way to make this neighborhood feel like home.

General conference Packet for Kids

I thought this was a great idea and I wanted to share it with you. My dear friend Heidi sent me this website link http://www.scribd.com/doc/6177170/October-Conference-Packet and it is a packet for Saturday and Sundays General Conference. It designed to help our little ones watch and enjoy the Conference talks with their family. Adults can even join in. Who as adults hasnt colored in Sacament a time or two.... :> enjoy