Halloween 2010

Halloween was so much fun this year! It all started with the parties we had in preschool. I dressed up, too, along with the kids. All I had were kitty cat hears and a tail, but the kids loved it. When they pulled on my tail, I hissed at them, which was soooo much fun for them. We stayed in our costumes all through class and had lots of fun. We made these spiders hats.

And then ate pumpkin cookies.

Here is Micah, the bat...

And Dalin the scary, skateboarding dude...

(He couldn't wear his mask to the trunk or treat party, so we spiked and painted his hair.)

And Matthew as Buzz Lightyear...

I tried and tried to convince Micah to be Woody, so their costumes matched. He wanted nothing to do with that. "No, Mom, I'm being a bat!" He never wavered from that, so Buzz and the bat it was.

These Halloween shirts glowed in the dark. They were fun!!

Here is Dalin with his buddies at Trunk or Treat.

We love carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. Not a lot of people still do this, but for us, it's a tradition. Dalin loves it!! And truth be told, Bryan does, too.

Matthew and Micah were finally old enough to understand trick or treating. They thought, of course, that it was great!! They loved going from house to house and rummaging through their buckets full of candy.

Here's Dalin's scary mask. This is the first year we let him be something scary, so he really enjoyed it. He loved scaring all of the little kiddos in the neighborhood.

Here's my popcorn eating bat...

Buzz sure loved the candy.

My boys loved the fire in the jack-o-lanterns...

Preschool Field Trip to the Zoo

Today we ventured on our first field trip with our preschool. It was a simple one at the Phoenix Zoo, but oh, so much fun! My boys loved having all of their friends with them.

Matthew and Jasmine checking out the snakes.
Hanging out with the frogs.
Checking out the prairie dogs. Isn't this an adorable picture?

Either they needed a foot massage or these were the only seats around. Lol!
Micah milking a cow.
Matthew on the carousel. I paid for the carousel ride as the teacher, since we didn't have to pay to get in. So many of my families have memberships that we were able to get in as guests and siblings. It was awesome!
This is another great picture. How funny!
Micah on an ostrich. Funny picture.
Matthew really got into the photo shoot with the animals today. That shows just how happy he was.
What a sweet smile.
My little pearl...
Look at Matthew's smile. He loves horses!!

The boys were crazy about these maps. They look so grown up!

What a fun day and a perfect field trip! Everything went off without a hitch. I love my job!!

Frogs in the pool

Every fall when it rains, we get frogs in the pool. They are LOUD, LOUD, which makes them easy to discover. I assume they get so loud because they get scared. They get trapped in the chlorine water and can't escape unless we rescue them.

With a house full of little boys, this is quite an adventure. They LOVE the frogs and spend hours playing with them before setting them free. Tonight, we had 3 frogs in the pool.
We put them in this bucket so the boys could see them better and play with them.

Micah is just a little excited, can you tell??

Dalin has been doing this for years, and loved showing his brothers all about the frogs. He was the one who did most of the holding of the frogs.

After, we had our fun, we put the frogs in the van and drove over to the green belt behind our house. We set them free while the boys were sad. They are going to miss those froggies!!!

Wayne Scott Ride

Today, we honor fallen officers, and remember Wayne Scott who was a Phoenix officer who was killed on duty several years ago. Bryan was "on scene" that night and remembers it like it was yesterday. Every year, officers ride in his name to honor those who died. Krista took our boys for the weekend, so we could go.

Half of the group is on motorcycles...The other half is in fancy, race cars...

The motorcycle group would head out first and scan for cops. Then, send word that it was clear for the cars. The cars would then race up the hill after them as fast as they could. It was crazy!! But it was lots of fun, too.

We took the scenic highway through Prescott and Jerome and Sedona, then on to Flagstaff to stay the night. It was a windy road that required a lot of Dramamine for me. But it was fun to drive and stop and hang out the entire way up. It was so different to travel without the boys. It was fun little date weekend for us!!

Prescott Trip

It was fall break and we wanted to get away. So, we spent the weekend in Prescott with Grandma, Grandpa, Eden and all of their new bunnies. The boys loved getting to pet and hold all of them. They have started breeding and training rabbits and have quite a collection now. Dalin holding one.

Matthew couldn't be prouder. Look at that face.

Micah was a little nervous.

Dalin loved putting this bunny in a blanket. Now it looks like his little baby.

We couldn't hold and love the bunnies without paying attention to the dogs, too. The goldens reminded me of our puppies. Gosh, I miss them. The boys got to spray them off and throw balls and frisbees to them. The dogs loved it and the boys did, too.

It's popsicle time with Aunt Eden. It was actually pretty warm for Prescott. But it was still much cooler that it would have been back home.

We wandered all around the court house. They were having a festival, so there were booths set up and music and dancing. It was really fun.

Dalin told the twins there were alligators in the grates. Poor kids were terrified!!

Dalin wanted to buy one of these fountains until he saw the price tag... $2000!

Micah loved watching the wax dipped roses.

The steps to the court house were a big hit. So much entertainment for my three boys. Dalin would run to the top and then shout, "I'm on top of the world!"

His rise to the top didn't leave him alone for long. Everybody followed him up.

We stayed later than planned and really didn't want to drive back home, so we checked in to a hotel and stayed the night. The hotel room had a whirlpool tub that the boys loved. It was huge and they played in it like it was a swimming pool.

Don't the twins look so grown up! They are just chillin' in the hotel.

It was a fun little getaway for us!! We can't wait to come back again.