This is Halloween....

As always Halloween came and went this year and it sure was fun! During the day on Halloween, I went to Karmindy's classroom to host the class Party since I was the room mom. Mark was able to get some time off from work and came with me to help me out. It was fun to have him there with me at the school. Before the class party, the school put on a Costume Parade and all the kids in the school got to walk through and show off their cool costumes. I love the costume parade and it is so fun to see the kids and their friends walk around and show off their costumes.

After school and the class parties, we raced home to get ready for Trick or Treating. I made chili and gave making Homemade Root Beer a try! The kids loved it and the mist that comes from the Dry Ice. We called it "Witches Brew!" Kaleb and Karmindy sure got a kick out of trying something new. We may just make it a annual tradition and make Root Beer every year from now on, since it was such a hit! 

After dinner the kids got all spiffy in their costumes, Mark and I like to dress up too. We decided to go as characters from a reality show called, Duck Dynasty. It was so fun! Even Kozette our puppy was dressed up with her Halloween neckerchief. 

 Mark took the kids trick or treating while I stayed home to greet the Trick or Treaters. I love seeing all the kids costumes. Kaleb and Karmindy made off like bandits with all the candy they got!

Halloween truly is one of my most favorite holidays. I can't wait till next year!

Room Mom Halloween Party

 This year, I volunteered to be Karmindy's Room mom for her kindergarten class. It has been so fun to not only volunteer and help out with centers every other week but it has been very fun to plan her class parties. I have really enjoyed it and Karmindy has enjoyed having me come into her class room to help out. On the day of Karmindy's party I had several fun centers for the kids to rotate around too. The kids played boo bowling where they rolled a Styrofoam pumpkin into paper towels dressed up like ghosts, the kids made spiders out of paper plates, ate donuts and apple juice, read a spooky Halloween Story and colored cute coloring pages. The kids had such a fun time and seemed to enjoy all the centers that I had planned. I love being a room mom and hope to be Kaleb's room mom next year!

Halloween Dance Party

Karmindy has truly enjoyed taking dance this year. She has been going on Tuesday mornings before kindergarten. She does tap for 30 minutes and ballet for 30 minutes. It has been so fun to watch her improve since signing her up for dance in September. For their class on the Tuesday before Halloween, Karmindy's teacher, Mrs. Charlee Mascaro had the girls dress up for dance class. Karmindy was so excited to dress up in her cute little witch costume and show it off to her teacher and classmates.Karmindy has also been so lucky to have her friend Madison Jackman in her ballet class. The two are inseparable.

Witches Night Out

Witches Night Out happened again this year! This is the 4th year of hosting Witches Night out with a few of my neighborhood friends and I love to do it! This year I kept things simple and we met at my house and then took off to go and get some grub at Zuppas. It is always so fun to go into places all dressed up and see all the customers stare and ask us questions. We are quite the crew too!! I have perfected my witches cackle and its fun to get into character. After diner, we ended up splitting up and going to do different things around Gardner village. Some of us girls shopped, while a few of us went and danced to the Halloween music that was playing. We all met up later and a few of us got our fortunes told. It was such a fun night out with the girls!

Picture: Top Left to Right: Nicole Rowe, Myra Smart, Crystal Albrecht, Michelle Jackman, Ashley Waldrum, Marcie Ward and Amy Trimble.

Bottom: Natalie Bradford, Ashlee Frisbey (me) and Liza Hood.

Witches Brew Ha Ha!

I love all things Halloween and Witches and so when I saw that Gardner Village was putting on a Witches Brew Ha Ha 5k, I thought it would be fun to get a couple of friends together and sign up for the race together. Nicole Rowe, Crystal Albrecht and Liza Hood joined me. We decided we would just walk the race and it was fun. None of us are really long distance runners so it worked out well to just walk it. Plus, the four of us, along with a couple of other gals in the neighborhood had been going walking 3 times a week in the mornings so walking a 5k wasn't too difficult for us because we had already been doing it!

The 5k was such a fun event, we dressed up in our running gear and donned our witchy tu-tu's and witch hats and took off. All the participants were given light up necklaces so we could find our way on the trail. It was so fun and I hope we can do it again next year. When we finished we got a cute little finishers medal and a darling Halloween shirt. It was such a fun night with friends!

Fall-Time Fun!

I truly love the Fall! Growing up in Southern Utah we didn't have the four seasons, so when we moved to Northern Utah it was a nice surprise to be able to enjoy each of the season! Another thing that I have enjoyed is being on A Track. The kids get several breaks throughout the year from school and their first break falls in October. I truly enjoy having them home with me! I really try to make their time off count. I enjoy spoiling my kiddos while they are off track and love surprising them with New Halloween Shirts to wear and field trips to some fun venues across the valley. Our favorite places to visit each year are Gardner Village to enjoy the witch displays and also Thanksgiving Points, Corn Belly's Pumpkin Festival. 

The first day that the kids were home, I surprised them with a new Halloween Shirt. The kids loved their shirts this year. I also was able to find some Halloween Cereal to eat and they LOVED  having their own boxes of cereal that they could call their own and not have to share with each other. 

The kids love helping me decorate the house for the Holidays. This year we went all out and DECORATED the fireplace mantle. It gave our Living Room a fun and spooky atmosphere that we enjoyed all month long.

 They love visiting the PUMPKIN PATCH and picking out their pumpkins and carving them.

DECORATING SUGAR COOKIES-(Kaleb loves to decorate them and not eat them. Silly Boy!) I didn't get Kaleb in the picture because he had left to go and play at a friends house.

We were able to get a pass to CORN BELLY'S at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. The kids and I went several times with friends (Nicole, Brandon and McKenna Rowe) and then we had Mark come with us one evening after work! The kids sure enjoy all the games, tractor rides and they even liked the Haunted House they had this year. Its so fun to take the kids places and enjoy time with them and make memories with them.

Ward Halloween Party

Each year our Ward puts on a fun Halloween party for the families in the ward. In years past, we have done a trunk or treat and chili and pie cookoff; however, the past couple of years they have changed it up and done a carnival throughout the church. Our kids have loved this and look forward to going. All the ward members are encouraged to dress up and we love dressing up as a family. This year, Mark went as a Vampire and I went as Rose the Riveter from WW2 era. We both got lots of compliments on our costumes and so did the kids. 

Little Monsters...

 Today was the annual Trick Or Treat Fest at Mark's Office at the Church Office Building here in Riverton. The office totally shuts down at 2 pm and the families of the employees come in and trick or treat to all the cubicles and offices there at the building. The kids loved the Trick or Treat Fest last year and have been looking forward to going this year for as long as I can remember. After Kaleb got out of school and off the bus at 2 pm, I got the kids dressed in their darling costumes and we headed out. The kids had a blast visiting all the cubicles and filling up their buckets. They really got quite a load, in fact, while we were waiting for one of the elevators to go home, we got talking to a family who said that their daughter got 7 lbs of candy last year! Wow! We didn't get that much because we were only there for under and hour but the kids had plenty of candy. I am pretty sure they would have stayed longer if we had let them. Karmindy really got into it this year and loved going from cubicle to cubicle. 

 The kids and Mark on the lookout for Cubicles with Candy!

 Mom with her cute little Spooks!

Dad with his lil' Munsters!

It was so fun to go and visit Dad at his work and have another Halloween activity to do as a family and make  fun memories.

On another note, the kids have been so excited for Halloween this year!! Kaleb has enjoyed changing our family Count Down to Candy Countdown and will proudly tell me each day how many more days till Halloween. Karmindy will tell me everyday that Halloween is coming and that it will be "Very Sppppooookkkyyy! She says it in her very spooky voice and It makes me giggle.

The kids have also been super excited to dress up. Kaleb chose to dress up as a Jedi Knight  this year and he is so handsome in his costume. Karmindy has been so excited to dress up in the Bee Costume that I found last year. Karmindy has loved dressing up in it and pretending to fly around the house buzzing and pretending to sting Kaleb. She has such an active imagination and it makes me laugh. I have to wonder where she comes up with the stuff she says! :)

The kids are so eager for Halloween to come and truth be told, I can't wait either! I love the whole excitement of Halloween- the weather, pumpkins, candy, yummy baked goods, decorations, and dressing up! Such Fun. It truly is one of my favorite holidays!

The Buzzy Little Bee is Off to Get More Candy!

Corn Belly's At Thanksgiving Point

I love having Kaleb home for several weeks during October (he is off track), it has become a tradition for our family to jam pack as many Halloweenie Activities in before he heads back to school. I love the holidays and I love making it fun for Kaleb and Karmindy. I hope they will always remember the fun times we have had as a family and the fun memories that we have tried to make for them. This year since the kids are getting older, we decided to forgo the Barnyard Boo which is held at Farm Country at Thanksgiving point (Carnival type games directed towards smaller kids) and head across the street and check out Corn Belly's the kids were just the right age and we had a blast! For the past couple of years, it has been a tradition as well to buy the kids a Halloween shirt to wear to all of our Halloween Activities. The kids always look forward to having a new shirt to wear!

 The kids loved sitting in and Driving the Old Fire Truck!

Kaleb and Karmindy enjoyed jumping on the big pillow (inflated trampoline), discovering the different play area displays, eating deep fried snickers bars, going on a hay ride and just having fun. It was a fun outing for our whole family. The kids are looking forward to going again next year and so are Mark and I.

It's Witch "Craft!"

 I am loving Pinterest. Pinterest is like having a virtual bulletin board where you can pin fun ideas/crafts so you can revert back to them at a later date. Since Witches Night out was just around the bend, I wanted to try my hand at making myself a mini witch hat to wear for that night. I got together with my friend Misty Pidcock one afternoon and we made ourselves some pretty cute witch hats. I was proud of my crafty abilities!
 Another thing I wanted to try courtesy of pinterest was a vintage hairstyle for witches night out. I love anything vintage and wonder sometimes if I was born in the wrong era. I love the 1940's era and loved the barrel roles the women used to do with their hair. I decided to dress up as a vintage witch for Witches Night Out this year. I was pretty proud of my 1940's Vintage Witch hairstyle. It came together nicely!

For Witches Night Out this year, I thought it would be fun to put a little dinner party together for my friends. I had so much fun planning it and putting it together. I thought it turned out really cute and I thought my friends had a fun night. I look forward to doing it next year but maybe on a different night than Witches Night Out. It was almost too much work to do all on one night!

 

 I truly am grateful for all the dear friends that I have in my life, especially, this gal- Misty Pidcock. I am so grateful for her friendship. This is Misty and I all dressed up for our Witchy Dinner Date with the Girlfriends.

Witches Night Out

 It has been a tradition with a few of my friends to attend "Witches Night Out" for the past 3 years at Gardner Village. I always look forward to getting dressed up and going out with friends. This year a few of us friends made Tu-Tu's to wear. I also got together with my friend Misty Pidcock and we made mini witch hats. It was so much fun! 

Nicole, Misty, Becca and Heather

Witches Night out At Gardner Village is always so crowded and we never can find a place to eat, so this year I decided to have a little dinner party at my house before we left for Gardner Village. Unfortunately, it ended up raining and we headed to Wal-Mart to goof off and have fun indoors. It was a really fun evening!

Natalie, Ashlee, Michelle, Chantal and Annalee

Gardner Village & The Witches!

 Each year at the beginning of the Halloween Season, it has been a tradition to head to Gardner Village and go and see the Witches! The kids look forward to going to Gardner Village and so do I!! There is just something so fun and Magical about walking around a historic village and be surrounded by all these darling witch displays. It is definitely a way to get into the "HALLOWEENIE SPIRIT!" Normally, I just take the kids and we go during the day or while dad is at Priesthood Session but this year Mark said he was missing out on all the fun! I agree, he has been, so we went for Family Home Evening!

 The kids always love to search for their favorite witch display. "Sit- A- Spell" witch is always a favorite. As you can tell Karmindy isn't quite so sure if she trusts sitting next to a witch with a big fat hairy spider! Eeeek!

 Checking Out the Witch on the Raft in the River is also always a highlight!

 I think our favorite witch of all time, at least for me, is the Witch pushing her pet frog in the stroller! We had to capture a few pictures as a family to prove we were actually there and saw our favorite witch display!

 Me with my little Monsters! I love them!