Arizona State Fair

As I'm sure you have noticed I'm a little behind in my blogging. My goal was to get caught up before Thanksgiving but obviously I didn't make it. Maybe I'll set my sites on Christmas!

On Halloween we decided to take the kids to the Arizona State Fair. We pulled Seth from school at lunch time then picked Chris up from work and headed off. When Kyle & Caleb found out that we were going they said that they wanted to ride the roller coaster. I only hoped that they would be tall enough.

The first thing we did when we got there was ride the giant slide. Everyone went down by themselves but it was obvious about half-way down that Caleb wasn't having a good time. Caleb was sobbing but Kyle was grinning from ear to ear. We all went again but this time Caleb went down on Chris's lap. Then he loved it!



Our next stop was the midway to shoot some hoops. On his first shot Chris won a huge elephant. We played a couple more games but Seth was anxious to ride some rides (go figure) so we headed to the haunted house (is this my child?). After that it was on to the fun house and then to get some corn dogs. We also went and looked at some animals and played in the kid zone for awhile and then it was time for the roller coaster.



Chris tried to take the boys over to the kiddie section to ride the "baby" roller coaster but Caleb wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to ride the "big green one" so that's where we headed. After measuring them we found out that Kyle & Caleb were just barely tall enough to ride. Hurray!!! Seth doesn't like rides so much to my surprise he said he wanted to ride also (we must have picked up someone else's kid from school because this isn't the Seth we know and love). Kyle and Caleb rode in one car while Chirs and Seth took the first car. When the ride was over all three of them wanted to go again. We were running out of time and ride vouchers so we decided to let the kids go down the giant slide one more time. The problem was we only had enough tickets for the kids to go so Caleb would have to go by himself. He didn't want to go but he didn't want to miss out either so he headed to the top, crying the whole way. Chris and I were waiting at the bottom for them and could see that Caleb wasn't going to go down. I thought that one of us would have to go up and get him but the worker at that top made Seth take him down on his lap. Boy was Seth mad! Before he had a chance to complain though I thanked him for being such a great big brother and then I promised him ice cream!

As were heading out Chris and Seth stopped to use the bathroom. While the rest of us were waiting we went over to listen to a story about Thomas (the train). This poor guy was really having a hard time getting this huge book ready to read. He had just gotten it all set up when Chris and Seth came back so I made them stay and listen to the story. The story took a lot longer to read than I thought it would so by the time we left we were running behind. It was Halloween after all so we still had to get home and get ready to go trick-or-treating. We had such a fun day at the fair none of us minded having to rush a little when we got home. The kids are already talking about what rides they are going to go on next year! I guess they had fun!!

Halloween at Hogwarts

This year Chris and I hosted a Halloween party, which of course had a Harry Potter theme. This was the first Halloween party we've hosted and I had a blast planning it. It seemed like every time I went to the store I found something else I "needed" for decorations, prizes, etc. including Aragog, a 4' spider I found at Fry's an hour before the party.



To start the evening off we had a special treat for everyone. My friend Meaghan asked her dad, who is a magician, to come and do a magic show for the kids. I have never seen a group of kids sit so still for so long. He was great and the kids loved it. This gave me time to get the rest of the food out and Chris was able to get the hot dogs cooked.

Our feast wasn't quite as elaborate as that at Hogwarts but we did have Butterbeer, Trecle Tarts, and Chocolate Frogs. For our Muggle friends we had hot dogs, a pudding graveyard, fruit and a ton of other fingerfoods.

After eating we started some of the games we had planned. One of the activities we had planned was a costume contest for both kids and adults alike. We had three catagories; best Harry Potter character, funniest and scariest costume. Unfortunately I was busy doing who knows what and I didn't get many pictures and there were some great costumes. Alison won the adult Harry Potter character with her great Prof. Umbridge costume. Rob was a close second with his Kingsley Shacklebolt impersonation. We were also joined by Tonks, Mrs. Weasley and a few students. Other costumes included Belle, Spiderman, Little Red Riding Hood (played by the very cute Eryn) and many others.


While I got the little kids started with Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin Chris took the older kids and adults out front to start the pumpkin relay. After that we headed to the backyard for the donut eating contest. For this we hung donuts from the monkey bars and then you had to be the first to eat your donut off the string without using your hands. This is hilarious to watch and pretty fun to play too. However, I did learn that you don't want to use cake donuts for this because you can't chew and swallow them very fast. I think the sugar coated ones work the best. They are easy to eat and they leave sugar all over your nose. We finished up the games with a game of Harry Potter trivia. This time I made the game multiple choice so it was a little easier, maybe even a little too easy for some.









I was exhausted by the end of the party but I had so much fun. I can't wait to do it again next year! I think that I'll start planning now so I can come up with new games and trivia questions. I have to keep it fun and exciting for everyone!

Block Party

Chris and I hosted a neighborhood block party one Saturday evening. Knowing how much we like to have parties Marie had asked if we could do it here and of course I readily agreed. Marie and I provided hot dogs and hamburgers and then everyone else brought something to share. If you have come to a party at our house you know that there are always games. This was no exception. I had a couple of games planned as well as some crafts for the kids if we had time. We also had a visit from a couple of Mesa Police officers.

After eating the games started. The first one was a pumpkin relay. I had gotten a couple of small pumpkins and Chris set up a course in our front yard. The object was to carry the pumpkin on a serving spoon, around the cones and then hand it off to the next in line. After watching the first round one of the officers wanted to play so we picked new teams and played again. Seth was actually doing pretty well and was ahead of the officer so Chris yelled out to him, "Run Seth your being chased by a cop". It was pretty funny.



After the relay we played a doughnut game. We didn't have enough doughnuts for everyone to play so this game was just for the kids. The object of this game is to eat your doughnut from a string without using your hands. You can't touch the doughnut at all! Even if it falls on the ground. The kids loved it and the officer decided to stay and watch. I'm sure he was disappointed he couldn't play. After all cops and doughnuts go hand in hand, right?!?

With the food gone and the games played the kids and Chris played monster until the neighbor kids all had to go home. Our kids were pretty exhausted and dirty so it was into the bath and then bed for them too. Ryan had come over and was staying the night so it was a little harder to get him and Seth to bed but they were pretty tired too and were willing to watch a movie to help settle them down. I think that everyone had a great tie and it was really nice to be able to just sit and chat with our neighbors . We are truly blessed to have moved into such a great neighborhood!!

Decorating Cookies with Grandma

Every year Grandma has the boys over to decorate cookies or cupcakes for Halloween. Seth and Ryan went over on Saturday afternoon to decorate cupcakes. Grandma found the perfect candy for the boys to use; gummy body parts, eyeballs, etc. They had a great time making their cupcakes as gross as they could. Seth made one that looked like a mouth eating an arm or something. Yum! They also made Pokéballs and other "boy" things. There isn't a better way to spend an afternoon at Grandma's though.


Kyle & Caleb go to Grandma's house after school two days a week so she decided that they could decorate cookies after school one day. The first day they made spider cookies out of Oreo's and pretzel sticks.

The next day they made ghost cookies with Nutter Butter's and mini Hershey Kisses. While decorating the cookies Caleb said "These Kisses look like a volcano. They look just like Krakatoa." When my mom was telling me this storoy I had to ask what she was talking about. I had not heard of this volcano. I was feeling pretty stupid at this point since my 4 year old knows more about volcanoes than I do. Turns out he learned all about the volcano from none other than Spongebob. And they say TV turns your brain to mush.




The cookies turned out so cute and the boys had such a good time making them. I know that this is a tradition that they will not want to give up any time soon. I wonder if Eryn will get to participate next year. I bet her cookies won't have gummy body part dangling from them.

Watch out for that Bear... Scout that is

When we moved Seth joined a Scout troop with his friend Cole from next door. Because he didn't start until March he only had six months to complete all the requirements for both his Bobcat and his Bear badges. You usually have a year to do this so Seth had to work extra hard. He not only worked hard enough to earn both of those badges but he also earned two arrow points as well.



To earn each achievement Seth had to complete several things within the chosen topic. For example one achievement is called What Makes America Special. To complete it he had to do the following things:
1) Write what makes America special to you
2) Find out something about the homes near where you live and go to see two of them
3) Find out where places of historical interest are in your city and visit one of them with your family
4) Learn how to raise and lower a U.S. flag properly for an outdoor ceremony
5) Participate in an outdoor flag ceremony

To earn the Bobcat you only have one achievement (with eight requirements) but for the Bear he had to do 20 achievements, each with a different number of requirements from three to six. For each Arrow Point he had to do 10 electives so he had a lot of work to do in a very little amount of time. Fortunately we do a lot as a family so some things weren't too difficult for him. They did work on some of the requirements at den meetings but for the most part he had to do the stuff himself. It was a lot of work and we are really proud of him for being able to complete everything. Way to go Seth. It's now on to Webelos.

Seth with his new Scout Master