Trick or Treat

Happy Early Halloween! Tonight, our ward, did its annual trick or treat party. We took some pics of Lex (as Minnie Mouse), Christine and Us before the party, before Lexi looked like she had fun, if you know what I mean :) Then, we were off. It started off with a pizza potluck dinner. We brought Little Caesars pizza, and so did most of the ward. We ate and then the festivities for us began. The kids all went around the gym, dancing to music, kind of like a little parade. Lexi had fun, but she made me hold her hand the whole time, she was acting shy tonight for some reason. After that, we went trick or treating. Each family took a room in the church building. Chris went to our family's room with Christine to pass out candy. Lexi and I made the rounds. I was so impressed with how well Lexi said, Trick or Treat, and how many times, without me prompting her, she said, "Thank you." I was so proud of my polite little girl. Lexi had a blast! She only got scared once, and so I had to get her candy for her. This nice man in our ward dressed up as a wolf. He had the mask, furry hands, etc. She would not for the life of her go to his cauldron and get candy. I held her hand and started leading her towards him and she started crying and said, "No mommy, next room please." So, I got the candy for her and went on my way. Later that night, he took of his mask and we showed Lexi he wasn't scary. Then he put it on again and spoke to her telling her it was still not scary. She didn't buy it, she still thought he was scary with his mask on, even when she saw him unveiled, oh well. We ended the night eating donuts and drinking cider. It was a lot of fun! Christine was pretty chill the entire night. I just loved how her bow I ordered for her turned out. It is a little big for my taste, but still super cute! Tonight Christine wore a black turtle neck with black pants, candy corn socks, and her cute bow. On Halloween night, she will wear a onesie that her Grandma Glidewell got for her. I am so glad our ward did this, Lexi really enjoyed it and since Halloween is on Sunday this year we will not be trick or treating, so I am glad she had her chance tonight. She got lots of candy, she filled her treat bucket! By the way, I embellished a one dollar bucket I got at Michaels with ribbon and chipboard letters to create her own personalized Halloween candy bucket. She loved it! I liked how it turned out too! Anyways, I will post more pictures of our pumpkin, which we are carving tomorrow night, and I will post pictures of the girls in their Halloween pjs that their Grandma Farrelly got for them  later. Happy Halloween Weekend everyone!

Halloween Silhouettes

I made these three, black Halloween silhouettes to add to our fall decor. I never just decorate for Halloween, it is always just fallish, and I leave it up until Thanksgiving. Well, I saw these silhouette templates on a blog and I just knew I could and had to make them. They are really cool looking, if I do say so myself. They look really neat above our rain gutter bookshelves. Lexi thinks they are neat, and even Chris told me it looks really nice (Normally he doesn't care about decor, but he noticed these on his own). Anyways, I really like them and they were so easy to make. Just tracing the outline with sharpie marker, and filling it in with black acrylic paint. Then, stick them in a dollar tree document frame and hang em up! It is that simple. I made all three in 20 minutes, plus drying time. I am really loving cheap, fast, easy crafts these days. Gotta love Halloween!

Lexi's First Real Haircut

Yesterday, Lexi went and got her hair cut! She has gotten her bangs cut many times before, but never the back. So, I decided she needed to get it done professionally. We went and Sister Ketchum evened it out. Lexi had a lot of weird layers going on and as a result, I could never leave it down because it looked not quite right. Now, it looks great down. Sis. Ketchum even gave her a braid that looks like a headband. Lexi loved that the most! She kept saying, "I pretty" in the mirror. I was worried her curls would disappear from cutting her hair, but just the opposite happened, her hair is now curlier! I sure do love her natural curls. I might even be a bit jealous of my daughter for my hair NEVER curls. Oh well, that is why she gets genes from a mother and father, I suppose :) The best of both worlds. Lexi held so still while getting her hair cut and really enjoyed it. When we got back in the car, she asked me if we could go get her hair cut again tomorrow! It was cute! My darling girl is growing up so fast and her hair really makes her look older. She is definately NOt a baby anymore!

Spidery Treats, Crafts, and getting boo'd

Alexis and I did some fun spider activities today! First, we made these really cute spider snacks, thanks to my friend, Jenny. I saw it on her blog and realized I had all the supplies on hand, so we gave it a shot! They turned out pretty good. Alexis helped me with every step, and she thought they were cool and rather yummy as well. Then, we attempted to paint spider webs on black construction paper. I drew an outline with white chalk and the idea was for Lexi to trace the chalk outline with paint. Well, she had more fun just painting everywhere and so although it doesn't really look like I had imagined, she had so much fun, nonetheless, and was proud of her spider web. We glued little plastic spider rings for a finishing touch. The first thing she did when Chris walked in from work today was show him her spiderweb. It was cute!

Then, tonight we got boo'd! We went ghosting ourselves Monday night, but I forgot to put a ghost on our door, so now we have been boo'd and we get to pick some more neighbors to boo! It is fun so we don't mind doing it again! Lexi was so happy with what we received. We got a plastic pumpkin filled with candy, glow sticks and some bubbles and toys! It was great! I wonder who it was that boo'd us? We may never know! If it was YOU, thank you! It made Lexi's night so special.

FHE: Ghosting

Tonight for Family Night, we talked about serving and loving our friends. Then, as our activity, we went Ghosting! I am sure it is safe to post this, because the three families we picked do not look at my blog, I think :) It was fun! Lexi helped me make the sugar cookies and Chris printed off the poem and ghost papers at school, (I love free printing). Then, we put them on cute Halloween plates and delivered them to our friends. Chris was the "door bell ditcher/deliverer of cookies." He did a good job, he did not get caught. This was a tradition my family did when I was a kid that I kind of forgot about, until recently it was posted on my fav. food blog, sisters cafe. It jogged my memory and so I thought we would do it! Lexi thought it was so cool! I think this will be our families tradition for now on. I hope the people we picked continue it on, for it is so much fun! I just thought I would share a picture of our cute little sugar cookie jack-o-lanterns. I liked how they turned out! Anyways, I am so excited Halloween is coming up and am looking forward to the festive weekend it will be. Halloween really kicks off the holidays for us and brings us so much fun and joy!

Magic Milk Colors

I found this idea at a blog called, Our Best Bites and had all of the supplies on hand, so I decided to give it a try with Lexi today. Boy, this is a cool idea! Lexi liked it a lot! This kept her entertained for a good 25 minutes! She thought the "magic" toothpick was just about the coolest thing. She kept saying, "Look Mom, I a magician like Franklin!" (She is obsessed with the book Franklin and the Magic Show hence the reference to Franklin the turtle). I am so glad she liked this and we will definitely need to do it again on another rainy day.

How to Do this Activity (with pictures):

Place milk in a shallow dish and add some drops of liquid food coloring.

Now grab a *magic* toothpick.  What?  You don't know where to buy magic toothpicks??  Just dip the end in dish soap :) And let your kiddo touch the milk with it.  

the colors instantly shoot out at lightning speed creating a wake of rainbows!  Try dipping the toothpick in the color first and then the milk and you'll make rings.

Do it a few more times and then just sit back and watch.  As the soap disrupts the surface tension of the milk, the colors dance around all by themselves.  Kind of like a funky kaleidoscope. 

Fall Family Fun at Blakes

 

Our family's favorite fall tradition since living in MI is going to Blake's Apple Orchard and Cider Mill. Normally, when we go, we pick apples, eat homemade cinnamon donuts/drink fresh apple cider, and pick out our pumpkin for Halloween. This year we did everything except apple picking. We decided instead of using money for apple picking we would use it for the kid's funland area. This was a good choice! Alexis had a blast! Chris had a blast! Heck we all had a blast! Inside the funland were so many things to do. Just to name a few: Petting Farm, Playground, Gemstone panning, Storybook Barn, Haunted House, Free Unlimited Hayrides, Giant Corn Maze, etc. Seriously, this is not the comprehensive list, but I will stop for reader's sakes. We spent a good 2 hours in "Funland."

Like I said, Lexi had a blast, EXCEPT for the Haunted House. Although designed for kids, Alexis did NOT like to be scared. I told Chris he shouldn't take her in, I told him she was too young, but did he listen? No, of course not! He said, "No daughter of mine is a wimp!" So, he took her. I stayed out because Christine had fallen asleep and I did not want to wake her. So, I waited impatiently outside worrying that Lexi was freaking out! Well, when they came out, big tears were rolling down her face and her poor little hands were shaking, literally. I gave Chris my best evil eye, and he knew without me saying a word, that it was a mistake. Lexi started saying, "I was scared mommy, I don't like it, I want to go home!" Well, I calmed her down and convinced her that we were going to stay, but that she didn't have to go back in. It worked, we stayed and she enjoyed the rest of the time, having a ride on the hayride, picking out our pumpkin, and eating donuts and drinking cider.

It really was the perfect day for fulfilling this tradition. It wasn't super hot, like our first year, it wasn't raining and cold, like our second year, it was just right! We arrived as most people were leaving too, since it was early evening, and so it was not even that crowded! It was great! Driving home, Chris and I realized this would be the last time we would get to enjoy this tradition, since next fall we will be back in AZ. We were actually sad at the thought. Geez, I wish apples could grow in AZ! Oh well, for now, we have such fun memories to hold on to.

Relief Society Training with Sister Allred

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend a Regional Relief Society Training with Sister Allred, First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency. This was so what I needed to help me with my calling in Church. I learned principles that will help me be a better leader and I learned how to run and be part of a counsel. It was very informative to say the least. Before the training began, we were able to meet her, hug her, and talk with her personally for a few minutes each. We even took a picture with her! It was neat! Now, don't mind the fact that I am the tallest one in the bunch and that I didn't have time to blow dry my hair, and that I forgot to wear makeup. Don't pay attention to that. That is not important, meeting her and learning at her feet was the important and neat thing :)

From Left to Right: Irina (RS Teacher), Callie (Committee Member), Sister Allred (1st Counselor in General RS Pres), Me (RS Meeting Coordinator), and Sister Hawes (Our RS Pres)