Halloween

What a busy day! Both boys had parties at school, then we went to the Eagle to trick-or-treat in the newsroom and finally, we had a neighborhood block party and the kids went around the neighborhood.

This morning I helped in Brett's class. I was in charge of Halloween bingo.

Brett and friends playing bingo.

My friend Janette and her husband Chris helped the kids make cute pumpkin wreaths.

Brett and Janette at the wreath-making center.

One of the other moms that helped in Brett's class is very crafty. Here she is wearing a cute Halloween T-shirt she created by making ghosts out of her kids' footprints in fabric paint.

Isn't this a cute idea?

She also made an adorable turkey for Brett's teacher. It's made out of a large styrofoam ball and has 120 crayons stuck in it for the turkey's feathers.

This would be a really cute gift for a

kindergarten teacher.

This afternoon, I helped with Casey's class party. There was a costume parade, then a relay race and treats.

Casey on the right with his two best friends, Kole and Nathan.



Class photo.



Casey competing in the relay race.

Brett and Casey were both characters from the newest Star Wars movie, The Clone Wars.
Brett was a clone and Casey was Anakin, the young Darth Vader.

Brett and Casey

Our neighbors all decided to have a block party during trick-or-treat, so we all sat outside after the kids went around the neighborhood. The weather was great, and it was so nice not to have a bitterly cold Halloween for once.

A Halloween tiki party

The kids had a great time hanging out and playing with light sticks one of our neighbors was handing out.

Casey



Brett



Carson

Trunk-or-Treat

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Trunk-or-Treat event at Mike and Beckie's church. The kids got a ton of candy (maybe we can just skip Friday night!) and got to walk around trunk-or-treating with their friends.

It's always fun to see how people decorate their trunk to get into the Halloween spirit.

A fiesta themed-trunk



The trick-or-treaters
The Averys, Lovings, and Adams kids



This trunk had a curtain with holes in
it and the kids reached in for their candy.



Visiting Shrek



Casey, Carson and Brett
in their Clone Wars outfits.



Jack, Carson and Brett

Halloween party

Tonight Dan and I were invited to a Halloween party at the Wenzel's house. I haven't been to many Halloween parties, but I knew this one was special. I had heard that they only have this party every two years because of how much work they put into decorating for it, but I had no idea until we got there.

Their house looked like a Hollywood studio decorated it. EVERY inch of the house was decorated. They even emptied their garage and made it into Frankenstein's laboratory. It was unreal.

This greeted us in the garage.



This mannequin came with a switch
and you could actually control the electric chair.




This giant furry spider and web
were strung up in a tree in the yard.

Once we got to the basement, we were in for more.

This small room was where all the food was laid out.

Also laid out was a skeleton in a casket.




We were warned the Witch's Brew
would kick our butts, but I still drank it.

Now for the costumes. Jeff and Kathryn came to the party dressed as Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon, the Gotham City librarian. They looked very swanky.

Gotham City's elite
Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon

A little while later, we suddenly noticed Jeff and Kathryn were no where to be found. We soon realized where they had gone...out to change. Man! TWO costumes for one party??!!

Batgirl and Batman

Joe and Melissa came as Autumn and a party monster. Very clever!

Melissa and Joe

Our hosts, Doug and Terry, were the Nerd Patrol.

The hosts with the most.

There were several other really creative costumes:

The naughty nurse and the Alzheimer's patient

Dog the Bounty Hunter and his sidekick

Dan and I decided to take our cue from the presidential campaign. Can you guess who we chose?

I made these campaign buttons
and wore them on my jacket.

You guessed it...

Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin

New couple on Dancing with the Stars?

Hopefully Barack will be too busy leading the country to dance with her...

Pumpkin carving

Here's a fun site if you love to carve pumpkins but hate the mess!

http://tinyurl.com/y3cn4l

Field trip

Today Brett's class took a field trip to CityArts. They had a full day of art--making clay sculptures, stained glass projects, drawing and making stamps.

I stopped by for a little bit to see Brett's progress:

Brett made a bear with clay the kids made

from white bread and paint.



When the kids had made their animal
or flower, they were all added to this scene.

Next, the class got to make stained glass items. Brett chose to make a caterpillar. He chose blue, green and yellow glass stones for his.

Brett gets help soldering his caterpillar.



What a cute caterpillar!

Brett also got a drawing lesson and even go to sketch a real model!

Sketching his model.


Lilly, by Brett

Scrapbook guilt

With two young boys and not much free time, I sometimes feel guilty for not keeping up with my scrapbooking. I have at least started books for both Brett and Casey, but I haven't really progressed much past their first birthdays.

I think that's one reason I'm especially happy that I started this blog. It's a lot more detailed than a scrapbook and lots of friends and family get to keep up with the boys.

Tonight my friend Amy turned me on to a neat Web site that allows you to turn your blog into a book. The site is called "Blurb," and you can make up to a 440-page book. I don't think this should be a problem for me! :)

Now, maybe we can have the best of both worlds!

Here is the site:

www.blurb.com

First birthday

On Sunday afternoon, we helped celebrate the first birthday of Natalie, my friend Amy's little girl. They invited everyone to Exploration Place where we got to "explore" the exhibits for two hours, then we enjoyed pizza and cake in the cafe.

Casey was really excited to get to go, since he's very into science right now.

Casey and Brett in a flight simulator.

Don't fly with them, they crashed the plane.




Casey looking at some germs.




The boys inside a giant bubble.




Natalie and her mama.
I loved her blinged-out first birthday T-shirt.




Amy wanted a photo with all of her
bridesmaids and Natalie.




"Hey! This isn't a tiara!"

I must say, Natalie was a little tentative at first when she got her cake. She poked it and licked her finger a few times. Then she caught on.

Mmmm!



The money shot.

Soccer

This is a posting of some photos Brett took with my camera at Casey's soccer game Saturday morning.

The team is beginning to gel---just in time for the final game next week!

Casey and Caleb getting ready to play


Going after the ball


Coach Dan


Casey