Frightful Friday

We had a very eventful Friday. First Gavin and Mason and I went to Pumpkinville, a local pumpkin patch with Gavin's preschool class. We go every year and the kids love all of the fun slides, feeding the animals, and riding on the hayride. This year it was cold! After we got home, I headed out to Cameron's little class Halloween un-party. As room mom again this year, I got to come in and decorate "monster" cookies with the kids and we had a game of Halloween memory. I just love being able to do these kinds of things with each of my kids and even though it can get busy shuffling kids around, it sure is worth it!

A Halloweekend

We had a fun and busy weekend. Our weekend started on Friday when we took off with the kids planning on going to Busch Gardens but had to change that plan when we got there and found out that our season passes had expired :( We decided to go to Jamestown instead since the last time we were there Cameron was 6 months old. Boy, oh boy has that place changed since they had the 400th anniversary in 2007. We went to the Jamestown Settlement where the kids got to play in a replicated Indian town, climb aboard 3 recreated boats, and run around in a copy of the Jamestown Settlement, complete with settlers in costume doing things like blacksmithing, carpentry, and the boys favorite- musketry demonstrations. I sure wished I had brought my camera, I did try to take some pictures on my phone, but I can't figure out how to get them off! Suffice it to say it was really cool! The kids could've spent all day there.Then on Saturday we had a community Halloween Party and our Ward's Trunk or Treat. I made Cameron and Gavin's costumes this year which was a first for me and I was really glad that they turned out! It was great to get a dry run in them before the big day. All three boys completely filled their buckets with candy- what are we going to do with it all? We just might be recycling some to give out on Halloween. Here is a preview of the little goblins:

That's all you get until next week! Sunday night we had the Tolers come over for what has become an October tradition in our home, making and decorating donuts! They are really tasty and really easy! The kids decorated some masks and we played boardgames until past the little ghouls bedtimes! What a treat. I just love this time of year!

For My Little Lego Lover

When I was a kid I loved Legos. So it came as no surprise that my kid feels the same way about them. Since Cameron has two younger brothers that like to destroy his stuff, his legos stay in his room away from their grubby little hands. The problem came when the legos threatened to take over his entire room as I found little creations stowed away in his desk, his underwear drawer and under his bed. Clearly something had to be done. We had this old coffee table down in our basement covered in paint cans just begging for some love. There used to be 4 pieces of glass in the top until someone (me) sat on top of it and went bottom first right through one of the pieces of glass. Jeremy and I cut some pieces of wood for each of the 4 squares on top and also closed in the sides so you couldn't see the Lowe's buckets we put inside to store the legos in. A coat of red spray paint and 4 ten inch green base plates glued on the squares and it was finished. Now Cameron can simply lift any of the plates on top to sort his legos into one of the four buckets and keep everything inside the table and not all over his room. He can build towers right on top of the table and they stay put. We're both happy now :)

A Visit with Grandpa Murray

This week my dad stayed with us while he was in town for my Great Uncle's funeral and also doing some sight seeing across the country. The kids couldn't be happier than when Grandpa is around to build forts, make chocolate milk and tell wild stories. Today Gavin told me he was feeling sad and when I asked why he said it was because Grandpa left. We sure did enjoy his visit and hope to see more of him soon.

This is how we Douthat

Another Douthat weekend has come and gone and another pile of memories has been filed away for safe keeping. The Turners invited us to join them for the third year in a row along with the Seldens, Loveridges, and Hills. Our boys have learned to look forward to this trip and ask weeks beforehand when we will be going to "the mountains." The weather was once again perfect which is our Douthat miracle. October can be a bit tricky with the weather, but somehow our weekends are always filled with blue sky and warm temperatures. We attended the apple festival, hiked several trails, and even tried our hand at fishing this time but were not at all successful. We rented a row boat and had a big bonfire where we roasted as many marshmallows as we could handle. The nights were late and the mornings painfully early, but it has all become part of the tradition. This place is a real jewel and we are so glad that the Turners introduced us to it!

Johnny Appleseed

Today was the day for our annual trip to Stribling with 4 R's. Yesterday it rained HARD all day long and well into the night so I was surprised the field trip wasn't cancelled, but it ended up being prime fall weather with hardly a cloud in the sky. As a special treat, I got to take just Gavin while Mason stayed at Luke's house and I savored the time with just my middle guy. He caught up with his friend Owen and we picked some Golden Delicious which have fast become my absolute favorite. I never thought I liked green or yellow apples until one year when I tried these on our field trip. Now I don't pick any of the other 13 or so varieties they offer, it's Golden Delicious for our fam! After picking we headed up to the picnic area which is on this hill that overlooks the orchard and the surrounding hills. It was breathtaking today and in a few weeks when the leaves change it will be even more amazing. I could've sat there all day with the breeze blowing and the crisp autumn air finally here. I sure hope it says like this for a while, my boys and I just love to be outside on days like today!