This Our Tale of Halloween…

So the last week of October started out with some of this…

We had to get to Target in a hurry for snow boots that fit the ever-growing feet of a certain someone that REALLY digs the white stuff (and is totally ready for the Christmas Tree now because SNOW=CHRISTMAS TREE)…

Gramma Jan came to town for a little stay and play—HOORAY!!  (Said Cael:  “Gramma Jan is nice-we don’t pinch her.”  It warms my heart to know that he has figured this out all on his own--the quality parenting is so paying off…) 

Lucky Gram even got to come to the elementary school costume parade, as did Dad and the “no school today” jr. high crew…

Miss Kendell got to get wrapped up like a mummy during her class partay (all in the name of education)…

Preschoolers+Costumes=Awesome…

Cael has been telling me for at least 2 months:  “Mom, you can be da witch and Dad can be da ghost.”  He actually told Paul he could be either a ghost OR a pumpkin, and then Paul went with “none of the above”—what?? Taking it all in at the fantastic ward trunk-or-treat…

Coach Paul and Offensive Lineman Curtis had their last game of the season this morning—to be completely accurate, this is actually how super tough they looked after last week’s win…

Coach Webb and Coach Paul after today’s game—to be completely accurate, uhh………..wow…………they’ve got spirit (yeah, we’ll stick with spirit), yes they do…

Halloween soup (yum) and breadsticks (also yum) at Aunt Tera’s…

The biggest night of Zorro’s year, getting to join in on the trick-or-treat-orama…

Swashbuckling Morgan and her buds ready for a night of tricks and treats…

**and at the very moment that I type, they are candy counting/trading/wheeling/dealing in the front room, it’s all very intense, very precise, and very exciting...**

Kendell and her buds called for Paul to come pick them up so they wouldn’t have to go past a scary yard again on the next street over, Kylie worked it for 143 “treats” in her ruby red slippers, Cael told the kids that came to our door “I like your costume!!  Happy Halloween!!”  Curtis put on a Harry Potter movie for me (we must have ambiance) and then went downstairs to watch some baseball.   Paul removed the bb’s that were glued to his forehead (he completely committed to his duck hunting look—hey, go big or go home), and I ended up with an orange and black apron that I l-o-v-e!!  All in all, I think we’ve had the full All Hallow’s Eve experience…

All a Buzz…

What our peppy pooch lacks in street smarts, book smarts, and pretty much smarts of any other kind, he attempts to compensate for with enthusiasm, friendliness, cheer, and good-sportedness…

Oddly enough, after donning the Zorro’s antennae, Cael  won our family game of “Apples to Apples”—that can’t be right-- and yet it was the  not-yet-super-literate-4-year-old who plopped down the red card “disco” when the green card said “funky!”Maybe these are magic Halloween bumble bee costume antennae…

Pumpkins, Patches, and All About the Brown…

So our crop of garden fresh pumpkins did not yield quite as many as we had hoped for (2 years ago we harvested 18 beauties!!); Kylie was still pleased with this one (of three) mighty, mighty pumpkin…

For some reason, pumpkin patches and pre-schoolers  are such a fabulous fall combination…

Hay bale mazes, corn stalks, pumpkins, and mom (who unwisely opted for capri’s on that CHILLY fall morning, bad call)—it’s so good to be 4 (and warm)…

Cael loves to spend his afternoons concocting various concoctions, and now I know why my special Pampered Chef wisk is just not quite especially right anymore…

The lighting  most certainly leaves something to be desired, but this is the fruit of my labor, not to be confused with loom—this week was our annual Visiting Teaching Conference at Church, and all of our Visiting Teachers got autumnal treats and a little bag of snazzy tacks because they are fanTACKstic!  Yes, they got tacks--that’s what I could come up with and I hope they all have some cork somewhere… 

We went to visit Paul’s cute Gramma Elaine, the #89 birthday girl… 

Much to our dismay, the kids noticed on the way out that Gramma Elaine’s decorative yard porcupines have seen better days!  Christmas is coming, however, and hmm, now where would one find something in the way of replacement decorative/ festive porcupines…

Today was new haircut day for the mother of the bunch!  My cute friend, Krista, is a master with the scissors and of the blowdryer/round-brush combo.  I, however, have zero in the way of round-brushing skills, so my girls have to soak in the smoothness of my hair for this one day,  at least until I do get my hair cut again, and then I will have another “smooth hair” day.  When we arrived at the appointed hour, I asked Cael what kind of haircut he thought I should get—he said “brown.”   Excellent call…

Our Happy Fall Place…

We absolutely have a happy place!!  Fall is a fabulous time to be happy in Disneyland!!  The new fireworks were spectacular, the decor is just fun, and grand photo opportunities abound!!  Just when you think you’ve got all 7 family members looking the same direction in the very same shot, it may not really matter…

Paul’s life-long (at least the last 5 years or so life-long) dream of having all 7 of us in the Splash Mountain picture came true!!  Of course certain family members were promised they did not have to do this again (this time) and of course we did buy the overpriced genuine photo…

The ambiance they have going there at the Happiest Place on Earth is so festively fantastic…

My carved pumpkins NEVER turn out like this…

It wouldn’t be a trip to Disneyland without Morgan getting some sweet headwear—she was gracious enough to let Miss Kylie try them out…

We finally got a shot with Jack and Sally, and Cael not hyperventilating at the sight of characters—MAJOR accomplishment!! 

Oh how we do love to go to Anaheim and we always wonder why we don’t just live there-the weather, the palm trees, the good times, DISNEYLAND, but then we get back in the car and back into the crazy/slow/fast/slow/crazy SoCal traffic and hmm,  Utah is fine, just fine and the fall weather here is just fine, too…