Halloweekend Part III: Trunk-or-Treat

Trunk-or-treating is an annual tradition at most LDS churches. Yesterday was our first time. Jamin and his cousin/best buddy Brock always trick-or-treat together, so Charly and I planned a joint evening for the kids.

First, we went to their stake center. We arrived a few minutes late, and the local kids were chomping at the bit while we attempted to set up. Charly handed out candy while I took Brock, Jamin, Travis, and Libby around the parking lot.

After one time around, the kids helped pass out the rest of the candy:

At this point, Charly joined us as we walked around the outer loop of the lot. The kids got a lot of loot! 

They were having such a great time that we decided to refill the candy bowl and go to our church building next. By this point, the sun had set, and the parking lot was packed. 

It was hectic, to say the least. But it was a gorgeous evening, and the kids had a blast. 

Next year, we may just stick to trick-or-treating.

Halloweekend Part II: Costumes

My boys love the movie How to Train Your Dragon. So it came as no surprise when Jamin asked to be a Monstrous Nightmare, and Travis wanted to be a Deadly Nadder for Halloween. When I searched for the official costumes, though, I was disappointed at how cheap they seemed for the price. I decided to do something completely new for me: make costumes myself!

 Though my idea was simple, the entire process was a learning experience. Just shopping for materials was a dragged out mess. I spent two rainy, cold afternoons lugging the babies from store to store, discouraged that no one carried what I needed. We lost shoes, socks, and binkies-- and took over an hour retracing our steps to find those items. After spending way too much money settling for the less-than materials I could find, I just happened to stumble across exactly what I needed!

Then, I assembled for several hours. Much of that time was trial and error (not to mention lots of starting and stopping while watching the kids). When I finished at 2:30 this morning, I felt very proud of myself. I realize this is a basic project, but it was completely out of the norm for me.

Here's Travis' costume, pinned and setting:

 And Jamin's:

 Hand stitching the details took hours. But I like how it turned out:

(Please excuse the funky colors. The lighting was dim, and my photo editor doesn't allow me to manually adjust levels. I can't wait to have Photoshop again!)

The boys also have coordinating fleece pants that they'll wear. Libby's costume was by far the easiest: I bought a graphic tee and a hat from Target's $1 section. More pictures to come!

Halloweekend Part I: Pumpkins

We have a fun, busy weekend ahead! 

We decided to kick off the festivities by carving pumpkins. At 7:30 this morning, our pajama-clad clan rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

Jamin took off his shirt to help scoop out the guts:

Hulling five pumpkins is a lot of work! Scott and I were up to our shoulders in pumpkin paste. The kids ate and colored while we scrubbed ourselves clean.

 Then, we got to carving. 

Here they are! From left to right: Travis' silly face, Jamin's cyclops, Libby's kitty, Scott's traditional pumpkin, and my ghost.

Boo!

Happy day

Scotty and I took a one-day trip to Portland this weekend. We had the opportunity to do my brother's temple work. 

What a sweet, special experience.

There are no words to express the beauty of this day. Thanks to all who helped make it possible.

Other highlights of our whirlwind trip:

• Dinner with my dear friend Char
• Scott's visit with Jason, Kristen, and baby Georgia
• Burgerville
• Gorgeous fall weather and foliage

Due to the time constraints of our visit, we were unable to see other great friends in the area. We hope to head out there again sometime soon. Catch you then!

Dirty Thirty

Happy 30th birthday to my amazing man!

We celebrated with family and Coldstone ice cream cake on Monday. Scotty's schedule is way too busy for anything fun today. Boo. We'll be lucky if we cross each others' paths. We have a little trip planned this weekend, so that will make up for it.

 Thank you so much for all that you do, Scotty! We love and appreciate you more each day... even if you are old.

Personality

Travis is in such a cute stage in his development... even though he epitomizes age two. I feel a need to record a bit about our Mr. T and his personality at this time.

• He now primarily speaks intelligible English (intelligible to me, at least). Once upon a time, he would walk up to you and jabber on and on in his own language. Though I miss the cuteness that was Travish, his English is also simply adorable. There's an innocence and excitement behind his speech that melts our hearts.
• He calls his messy diapers "stinky doom." Yes, he came up with that completely on his own.
• He often bounces his whole upper body for rhythm and emphasis when he speaks.
• He loves cartoons. He sings along with the theme songs and cracks up at the littlest things.
• He stumbles and laughs when he runs. He can be a serious klutz and dives into life head first... literally.
• He tattles on himself. I frequently hear Travis shout, "Mama! Dabis is dawing on da counter!" or "Dabis is spashing in da baff!"
• He is such a snuggle bug. He loves to sit on my lap and cuddle or snuggle up next to me with his head on my shoulder. Travis also gives the longest, tightest hugs.
• He tackles everyone. Even Libby.
• He eats anything I put in front of him. Not only does he eat it, he enthusiastically tells me that it's "dee-yish-is!" (I took this as a complement until he did the same thing with dirty bath water. ) 
• He loves to draw-- as you can tell from the above picture. Every day, he begs me to "color paper!" If he's using markers, he draws all over his face and hands. If he's using crayons, he eats them.
• He also loves to read, especially if he can cuddle on someone's lap. His favorite books of the moment are Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Green Eggs and Ham. He has both almost memorized.
• He absolutely adores Libby. They're becoming great friends. Travis plays with her, "feeds" her, and makes her laugh whenever he can. He calls her "Lala," "Leebee," or "Leebee Deen."
• He is polite! He says, "Peez!" and "sank ooo!" for every little thing.
• He is a great helper. Travis is eager to "keem up" (clean up), whether that means attempting to mop or chucking dirty dishes into the sink.
• He wiggles his fingers-- in a manner reminiscent of baby birds' mouths-- when he wants to be picked up. He sometimes uses the "Trav hands" or "magic fingers" when he really wants something out of reach.
• He is our little Houdini. He seriously finds a way to get into anything! Once he's in, he finds a way to make a mess or get into trouble. Though this can be admittedly irritating, we've reached a point where we just shake our heads and laugh; he's truly innocent about it.
• He sings and hums throughout the day.
• He's a people person. When I take him to the store, he holds conversations with anyone we pass. As we walk away, he says, "Bye-bye! See ya soon!"
• He knows his colors and loves blue. 
• He exclaims, "Ta-da!" when he's especially proud of himself.
• He likes to "dump" (jump). Travis squats as low as he can and then shoots up, arms to the sky, feet never leaving the floor.
• He calls pirates "yo-ho pirates" and most bread products "bagels."
• He called his vitamins "poop" for about 6 months. We have no idea why. We also have no idea why he started using the real word last week.
• He asks for pizza and a chocolate shake for breakfast every morning. And he seems genuinely surprised when I don't give it to him.
• He has no fear of the doctor but is terrified of animals (except bugs).
• He is a total mama's boy. And I don't mind one bit.

Sunday sick day

Our church had its annual Primary Program today. Jamin is a Sunbeam, making this his first year. We were very excited to watch him and share a picture of him in his Sunday best.

Instead, he woke up with a fever and a nasty head cold. 

Bummer.