Spirit Week

This week was Spirit Week at the Elementary School. On Monday, they were able to wear their pajamas to school. They were so excited: On Tuesday, the kids learned all about staying away from Drugs. The theme was: "Don't Monkey around with Drugs" . All of the kids had to wear a shirt with a monkey on it:On Wednesday, they had to wear red. This day was a half day of school and it was Parent Teacher Conferences. I didn't get a picture. I was able to go to PTC however, and all 3 kids are getting straight A's! Woo Hoo! They are also doing great in Behavior.

Today (Thursday) was the Halloween Parties and Costume Parade. The kids all had a great time getting in their costumes, playing games, and eating! I took a picture of each of them as they walked around in the parade:

We don't have any school tomorrow due to Nevada Day. Hooray!

Mmmm.....Frosting!

This past weekend the kids and I made Halloween Sugar cookies. They each got to choose a frosting color and put different kinds of sprinkles on their cookies. They had a great time. Mason didn't get to frost any cookies, but he did get to frost something else...

Himself!

Unfortunately I had cleaned up everything before thinking to take pictures of the kids actually decorating the cookies. They all had a good time. Kaylee said the best part was eating them.

Tagged

I've been tagged by my sister-in-law Heather to play the following game:

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others. Here are the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? stressed
5. Your father? pain
6. Your favorite thing? scrapbooking
7. Your dream last night? dunno
8. Your dream/goal? skinny
9. The room you're in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? debt
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? sad
15. One of your wish-list items? grass
16. Where you grew up? Riverton
17. The last thing you did? Chauffeur
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? hamster
21. Your computer? busy
22. Your mood? relaxed
23. Missing someone? always
24. Your car? Honda
25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? Sees
27. Your summer? Extreme
28. Love someone? Lots
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Forgot

The seven others will be

Marilee
Mom
Katie
Kathryn
Kym
Andi
Cheryl

You can still take the challenge even if you didn't get tagged. I have actually done this game before, but it was in an e-mail.

Mom & Dad

My Mom & Dad came to visit us for a whole week. They left this morning and I already miss them. I don't think I was the best hostess this visit. They visit us at least once a year and I have run out of things to show them. I'll have to start making a list of fun things to do for the next time we have visitors.

Highlights from our visit:

1. Since Monday was a holiday the kids did not have school. We ended up driving to Las Vegas and going to a fun park that my friend told me about. It is a really cool park. I took some pics...
   
2. We watched "The Ultimate Gift". This DVD has been out for a long time, but this was the first time that we have seen it. It is really cute. I highly recommend this DVD if you haven't seen it before.
3. Playing Games. My family is into games big time. I remember each Christmas we would get 3 or 4 games. We would open them up Christmas morning and play all day while we ate our Christmas candy. So every day while my parents were here, we stayed up past 11:00 PM playing "Hand and Foot". For those of you who don't know, this is a really fun card game.
4. Cookies, Ice Cream, Brownies, and so on. My Mom loves to bake cookies. She has never visited my house without buying chocolate chips and baking cookies. She bakes cookies when she is nervous, bored, happy, scared, anxious, excited, and so on. I love her baking, but this week she was a nervous wreck over my sister moving to MN and so she baked all week long. She baked 2 different kinds of cookies, a sheet of brownies, and made root beer floats twice. Now those who are an avid blog follower of mine know that I am trying to lose weight. I only exercised twice this week on top of eating too much junk. I had lost 11 pounds in the past month and I'm hoping to have not gained any of that weight back. I'm scared to even check. Upon parting, we both vowed to lose 5 pounds in the near future.
5. The kids played the "Pillow Game" with Grandpa. When I was a kid my Dad would pretend I was his pillow and I would laugh. He would say, "Pillows don't laugh...Pillows don't move...pillows can't talk, etc". Well he has continued this tradition with my kids and they think it is hilarious. It gets them all riled up and Grandpa is the best. My girls told me they were getting all "fluffed up" for when Grandpa gets here. The down side....apparently Jordan jumped off of the couch onto Grandpa and he was in pain all week long. So...I need to monitor this game if they play it in the future. Sorry Grandpa!
6. Hair Cuts! My Mom has a talent for cutting hair. I wonder sometimes if she regrets having this talent because with 8 kids, their spouses, and 30 grandchildren this turns out to be a part-time job. Four of us got hair cuts this week. :)
7. Visiting. Although we didn't do much of anything it was fun to just spend time with my Mom and Dad!

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit us. (And a special thanks to my Mom for doing all of my laundry for me this week...woo hoo!)

Short but Sweet

Last weekend we had Doug's Brother Darren, his wife Crystal, and their adorable 1 year old, Judson, visit. It was fun to see them. Judson and Mason are only 5 months apart and they had a great time. I was afraid that Mason would bully him, but he didn't....hooray. (Mason has been known to push kids in Nursery before). They arrived on Friday, we visited for a while and then went to the High School Homecoming football game. Unfortunately, our team lost, but we did get to see the Marching Band perform their show. So that was fun. Sorry...these pictures aren't the best. The only down side was that it was COLD. There was a cold front that came in for a few days and the wind was pretty cold. We left after the half time show. That was about all Mason could handle.

The next day the kids played and later that night the adults were able to play games. We pulled out a game that I haven't played for ages...."Inklings". This is a really fun game and I enjoyed spending time with Darren & Crystal. Although, I learned that I don't know comic book characters or much about the wars in this country. Sad, but true.

We were sad that it was such a short trip, but we were very happy that we were able to see them. Thanks for coming to see us!

Family Night with the Band

The Marching Band held its annual "Family Night with the Band" this past week. Each year they perform their Marching Band show for friends and families in the community. You don't have to go to a High School Football game to see the band. The performance was short and sweet and it gave the choir an opportunity for a fundraiser. They sold Hot Dogs, Chips, and a drink for $2. My kids love it and I couldn't pass up dinner & entertainment for my entire family for less than $10.

Another favorite...the kids sat on the highest seat in the bleachers. I am thankful for the new bleachers at the High School...they don't have big gaping holes that kids can fall through...yeah!

Fall Fest Parade

Every year, near the beginning of October, our town has "Fall Fest". This includes a parade, carnival, entertainment, etc. This year was no exception. Doug's Marching Band marched in the parade. Jordan tagged along with them. Unfortunately, I got there a little bit late and missed the Marching Band...they were within the first 10 entries. BUMMER! I did however catch the girl scout float that both Kaylee & Lexi were riding on. Here are some pics...


With Doug, Jordan, Kaylee, & Lexi in the parade...that left Mason & I to watch the parade:
Mason had a great time, but mostly wanted to run in the street. Due to this fact, I left right after the girls went by on their float. Truthfully, I don't find the Pahrump Parade all that exciting. They don't have very many good floats and it's mostly politicians handing out brochures. I'll probably still end up going every year as long as my kids are still enjoying it though.


We didn't end up going to the carnival. It is soooo expensive. If you don't pre-pay for the tickets it is $35/person (pre-pay is $18/person). Also, the best night to go was on Thursday and I worked that night. The carnival does look fun, but I think I'll save a few more bucks and go to Disneyland. Doug's choir did sing a few numbers at the carnival and Doug also sang a few songs with the community choir.