Halloween Festivities ~

Friday was a very busy day... I woke up early to start a pot of my delicious chili for our church Halloween party and chili cook off. I had to start it early because we all know it's best if it simmers for a while.

After the oldest two kids were off on the bus, the little man and I headed off to preschool for his Halloween Party. He was very excited to trick or treat at preschool. My little clone trooper doesn't like attention (until you get to know him... then he becomes quite the jokester) so he didn't want all of the parents looking at him - He got a strange look on his face when they were about to start singing their cute holiday songs, and I knew something was about to happen. He bursts into tears and runs towards me... I guess he is not quite ready to perform! I caught this picture about 25 seconds before the drama began! Lucky me ~

After the preschool party, we headed to the first grade Harvest Party.

We brought in these yummy treats for the kids... while working wonders on these little crispy treats, I thought to myself... "Why am I doing all this? They are just first graders!" Then, my little lady comes into the kitchen and says, "Mom - I love the beautiful detail of the orange swirls!"

That made it all worth the extra effort!

The fourth graders also had a harvest party ~ one that was the most boring party ever (his words exactly)!! They colored small pumpkins with markers and had cheese sticks, grapes, carrots and asparagus - with a small cup of sprite! I'm all for healthy schools... but let them have a PARTY!

We ended the day with our church Halloween Trunk or Treat and Chili cook off. The kids were excited to dress up in their costumes and get a head start on candy collecting. It was a fun party!

** Saturday Morning **

Holiday breakfasts are big in our house and usually consists of colored pancakes transformed into a holiday shape of choice. This year I shook things up a bit! We don't eat much sugared cereal in our house...

so I thought these would be a big hit!

Just before noon, my big kid and worlds fastest trick or treater got sick ~ the bad kind of sick, the kind nobody deals well with... thankfully for him, his dad took his trick or treat bag out for him to collect some candy!

Happy Halloween!

More Fall Fun

I took the kids to the local Amusement Park to enjoy Fright Fest!

It was a pretty cold day, so we layered up our warm clothes.

We love to walk around and see all the Halloween decorations.

The kids loved this pumpkin... it talked, well mostly insulted those who walked by - and was actually quite funny!

Another great part of Fright Fest is the little Trick-or-Treat route.

Although this year, I think they were trying to get rid of some of the junk that didn't sell in the vending machines or something. Each kid got two packages of Jalapeno Cheddar Tortilla snacks (sick!) - but the few chocolate bars and skittles that they did get made up for it!

The little monkey waited very patiently in the cold while his big brother and sister rode the big and more exciting rides, then he was able to enjoy his favorite - the motorcycles!

Cello lessons

We were given a beautiful cello by my parents... and look who is learning to play! He has a 30 minute lesson once a week at school with about ten other kids. This is what I get to listen to nearly every night. You'll get a kick out of the ending ~ also what I have to listen to every night!