Halloween Festivities

Halloween is definitely one of our most favorite holidays. I have always loved Halloween because my birthday is on the 27th, and I often lumped my birthday party and Halloween together. My mom used to go all out. I remember one year, she turned our garage into a virtual haunted house and made homemade root beer in a big black cauldron, complete with spooky dry ice mist. She has always made holidays special, and I look forward to keeping up her traditions.

Pumpkin Carving:

Here we are carving our pumpkin...sort of. We hollowed it out, and Brandon got started, but our pumpkin carving knives are in storage, so he never finished.

This year we attended two Halloween parties: one that I helped throw at my friend Ali's house with some friends from our ward, and one I helped my sister Joy throw at her house.

Party #1:

                                    

 

                               

 

                                       

We played several games, including Donut on a String, couples style (the only way to go). It always makes for good pictures.

 

 

I like this one before the starting buzzer rings...Ali just had to get a little taste. Can't blame her.

 

 

1st, 2nd, and 3rd places overall

If you're wondering where we and our costumes are, that's a good question. I dressed up in my costume (which is really just an accessory to Brandon's costume), and Brandon showed up late because he was coaching at a football game. Well, he was supposed to go home and change, but he thought I was bringing his costume to the party, so in the end, he was dressed as Coach Fox at the Soiree.

Party #2:

The next evening was Joy's Halloween Hunt. It was a scavenger hunt all around town. There was a lot of planning and preparation involved for this party, taking 4 people to plan it. There were six different teams, each with a captain. We made stops at five different locations:

     Stop 1: Park where there were hundreds of tiny glow sticks scattered in the grass. Each team had to find  the glow stick with their team name attached to it.

     Stop 2: An abandoned Circuit City parking lot

     Stop 3: In-n-Out where one team member had to eat a "Scary, Hairy, Monster" (burger animal style) in 2 minutes

     Stop 4: A cemetery where the clues were frozen in a block of ice

     Stop 5: A semi-constructed house (this one was spooky!)

We came in 5th out of 6 teams, but had a fun time in the process. I didn't get any photos from this party, but my friend Ali did here.

Trunk-or-Treating, Halloween Day:

And now, the unveiling of Brandon's costume...(as he is getting ready)

 

The Lunch Lady

It was priceless to see Brady and Lucy staring at Brandon as he got all dolled up. Brady thought it was so crazy that his dad was dressed as a girl.

 

 

 

 

 

My 3 babies

 

Lucy couldn't grasp the concept of only one piece of candy. She would keep grabbing handfuls of candy out of people's bowls. 

As we were leaving the church, Lucy was fascinated with this guy dressed as a gorilla. When she saw him in the street taking off his mask, she went up to him and commented on how he wasn't really a gorilla. She is too cute.

 

 

 Showcasing the new smile

Lucy made herself right at home trick-or-treating. As soon as the door was opened, she'd let herself right in.

After trick-or-treating, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and went to bed.
We were exhausted!!!

Walk for Haley

This is the fourth year we've attended the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome in honor of my niece, Haley. It is a day our whole family looks forward to each year. This could be Brady's favorite day of the year. You'll see why.

First we take a walk on the trail around Lake Cunningham. The first year or two, we were worried about keeping pace with everyone around us. Now that we're old pros, we take our time and enjoy the walk, letting the kids stop and play if they wish.

Poor Brooke is pregnant and SICK. Daenen gave his mom a push in the stroller!

Aunt Jessie snuggled with Clark along the way

Uncle Mike's famous expression

Chasing Grandpa

This is Avery, a mascot for the local hockey team. Lucy was absolutely enamored with him. She had a hard time moving along once she met him.

Brandon's shot, of course

Now the real fun begins...

Lucy workin it to Haley's singing

Ooh...ouch

The Buddy Walk is especially special because it is always held in October, and Haley's birthday is October 17th. Her party is always at the Buddy Walk.

My dad's photo of Lucy's shoes...so him.

One of my favorite things from this year is when my dad told me about an incident in the bounce house. Lucy and Haley were jumping around, and one little boy started hitting Haley. Lucy went right up to the little boy, pushed him, and said, "Don't hit my cousin!" Aw, Lu, you're the sweetest!

See? That's why we wait all year for the Buddy Walk.

We can't wait until next year!

Hangman

Brady and Brandon have been playing Hangman lately. It's pretty funny to see the words that Brady chooses (or should I say gibberish, since he can't read very many words yet). Here are some photos of the first game the two played together:

Brandon's word:

(Brady's middle name)

Brady's "word":

Needless to say, it took Brandon a long time to guess Brady's word. One thing that made it a bit easier for him was when he realized that Brady was guessing the same letters he was looking at in his own word. So, Brady would ask, "Do you have a P?" Brandon would say, "No...do YOU have a P?" Got 'em every time. Since then, Brady has learned to spell actual words, not just random letters.

My favorite is when Brady came to me and asked me to spell his next word out for him. He said he wanted it to be "garbage". So, I spelled it for him and sent him off to play. Brandon later told me that he dropped his letter B in the letter pile and was trying to remember which letter belonged back in the word. So he asked Brandon, "Dad, is there a B in the word 'garbage'?"

Brady boy, you make us laugh.

Genius!

Raise your hand if you DETEST those thick, plastic packages we often purchase items in (like at Costco). They're called clamshell packages, and I considered blogging about them earlier because I think they're an awful idea. I have sliced my finger a time or two on their sharp edges, and scissors can never seem to be strong enough to cut through them.

Real Simple Magazine to the rescue! I love this idea I just read in their November issue:

I'm excited to try it out and see if it works. Pretty clever, huh?

My Favorite • Frizz-Ease Secret Weapon

There was a time that I used this product only when straightening my hair, mainly in my single lady days when I actually straightened it. So this bottle sat lonely on my shelf for quite some time until I realized it is equally useful on my curly hair.

This is the perfect finishing creme for hair. It is not greasy or heavy. When I straighten my hair, it transforms it from looking parched and slightly frizzy to hydrated and smooth. I use it on my curly hair on day two (or sometimes day three, don't judge me) to erase the frizz and reign in straggling hairs. Keep in mind that this is a finishing creme, not a styling creme.

I love it!