Carving Pumpkins

Yesterday afternoon, we carved pumpkins.
The boys did a pretty good job of cleaning out their pumpkins with just a little help from Jeff.

Lily, on the other hand, watched Jeff.

She didn't want to get dirty.......

which she told us over and over again.

Then I helped Lily draw a face on her pumpkin and helped her carve it.

Which basically meant she stuck the carving thing in a few times and then I carved it for her. =)

Riley carved out his eyes and nose, but I did the mouth for him.

Zach drew the face for his and carved it.

Jeff tried to help him a few times, but Zach wanted to do it all by himself.

And here are their pumpkins!!

Aren't they cute???

Happy Halloween!!!!

Halloween Activites!!

We have been busy doing lots of fun Halloween activities!!!
Last night we went to Jeff's Grandma's to Trick-or-Treat early.
The kids got lots of candy & then they got yummy cookies & juice.

There were also fun games for the kids to play!

Thanks Great Grandma for inviting us!!!!

After we left there, we went to "Halloween Street".

We love to go every year & look at all of the cool Halloween decorations.

Today, we went to the library to the Books & Spooks Halloween Carnival.

The kids got to play more fun games!!

They also got their faces painted.

(By their cousin Lindsey who was volunteering!!)

Their was a fun game where you had to stick your hand up a troll's nose.

You either got a trick or a treat.

After seeing someone's hand get slimed (the trick), Lily refused to stick her hand up there. Both boys stuck their hands up the nose & both got slimed!!! (Riley way more than Zach) They got to stick their hands back in and get a treat though. =)

Then the kids sat down for story time with apple cider & treats.

Thanks Aunt Amy for telling us about this!!!

We have had a few fun packed days and are more than ready for Halloween to be here!!

Halloween Craft Day 3

We had our last Halloween Craft Day yesterday.
We started out making Boo Cups.
Here is what you need:

Small cups (I painted them black to look more Halloween-y)
Craft sticks, small paper ghosts, and Halloween foam stickers.


First we had the kids glue their ghost onto a craft stick.

Then they decorated their cup with the foam stickers.

Then we put a small slit in the bottom of the cup,

put the stick in the slit, and the ghost pops up and down!

Lily was booing people all day yesterday.

Then we made jack-o-lanterns.

The kids got paper pumpkins that they colored and then added eyes, noses, and mouths.

Here is Lily's:

And here is Johnny's Monster Pumpkin:

Then it was time for Halloween cookies!

The kids had a lot of fun and are super excited for Halloween in a few days!

Fishing, Horses, and Four-Wheeling

Or as my kids would call it: The Perfect Day.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to my cousin Phil's house with my brother Bill & Sister-in-Law Tonya.
After seeing how the horses where Lily likes to take a walk ignore her, Bill thought we should all go to our cousin's house where Lily could pet the horses!
We could also go fishing in their pond.
And as a surprise, the kids also all got to go for a ride on a four-wheeler.

We started out fishing:

Lily caught the first fish!
She is quickly becoming an expert fisher!!

Not too long after that, Riley reeled in his first fish!

Zach gave up on fishing for awhile when he found out that he could ride on this with his cousin Blake.

When Riley saw that, he just HAD to have a ride too!

The boys loved it!!

Then the horses walked over to where we were:

I think Lily was a little intimidated by their size close up.

They were such sweet horses though.

Zach had no fear of the horses........

which isn't exactly a great thing.

We had to tell him several times to not walk behind them.

He had fun petting them though.

Riley was on the four wheeler when the horses came up & they had left by the time he got back, so he didn't get to pet them.

He did get to see them though & hopefully next time he can pet them too.


Even Lily got on the four wheeler with her girl cousins (Corey & Morgan).

I was surprised because she does not usually like loud noises or riding on my dad's riding lawnmower (like all of the other grandkids). But she wanted to ride this. She even went twice!!

When Bill caught a fish, he had his feelings hurt that I didn't automatically take his picture like I did with the kids. ;-)

So here you go Bill:

Yes, he is kissing his fish.


Then he gave it to Zach, who carried it around for awhile......

and had Lily touch it.......


Finally Zach got back to fishing and caught a fish too!!

It was a beautiful day to go. The weather was perfect!

Thanks Bill for the idea!

The kids had a lot of fun!

Colorado

Last week, Jeff & I headed off to Denver for a conference for his work.
I had never been to Denver.
Well, I have been to the airport for a layover, but I don't think that really counts...
Anyway, while Jeff was in meetings, I ventured out of the hotel to the 16th Street Mall.
Which luckily was just a few blocks from our hotel & the convention center.
The weather in Denver last week was BEAUTIFUL!!!
Here are some pictures I snapped while checking out all of the shops.

One afternoon we ate lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant.

There was memorabilia from the movie Forrest Gump all over the place.

It was really interesting....and they had good food! ;-)

We had a lot of fun going to dinner and parties with different people, and just being able to hang out together by ourselves......with no kids...... =)

We also got to go to the Denver Art Museum and see the King Tut exhibit.

I didn't get to take any pictures there though.

They literally followed people through the museum making sure no one took pictures.

It was a very interesting exhibit and I am glad we got to see it.

Before we left we were able to drive up into the mountains.

I wanted to go really far up......

but I discovered that winding roads plus high elevations equals me not feeling well at all.
I made Jeff turn back after awhile because I just didn't think I could handle it anymore.....

and he is pretty particular about keeping his car clean..... ;-)

Next time I will defiantly have to have Dramamine.
I did get some good pictures of the mountains before we turned around though:

We got home on Thursday to three very energetic little kids.

It was nice to get away for awhile, but it is always nice to come home.