Neighborhood Halloween Party

Our neighborhood always has the funnest Halloween Party. Each street is assigned something to bring (soup, apple cider, rolls, etc.) and then we all meet in front of one house and talk and eat. They get two bounce houses for the kids, play scary music and have a scary movie going. It's so much fun to see everyone in their costumes and to let the kids play together.

After Ethan and Courtney bounced for a while, and had a little bit to eat, they were ready to go trick-or-treating. I went home to give out the candy...or pencils in our case (I am boycotting candy right now)...Bryan took Ethan and two of his friends while Courtney went with the mom and dad of one of the friends that was with Ethan (did that make sense?). Anyway. Bryan rode Ethan's scooter to try and keep up with Ethan and his friends. When they got back Bryan walked Carter home and saw Courtney coming up the street, so he went and finished up trick-or-treating with her and her friends. They had so much fun!!

When Ethan came home we watched a BYU volleyball game while he handed out candy when the trick-or-treaters came. He said that was more fun than going house to house because he was helpful. ;)

Here's some photos:

Ethan's Halloween Parade and Party

Ethan had his Halloween Parade and party today. He was Spiderman and loved it! Courtney and I met my parents at his school at 9:30 this morning and waited for the classes to come out. They did a parade through each classroom so they could see each other, so it took a bit of time for them to get outside, but it was cute. All the 1st grade teachers, but one, were dressed as ants with signs on their backs saying "Where's the picnic?" and the other teacher was dressed as the picnic. It was really cute. The Kindergarten teachers were dressed as the Three Little Pigs with someone else as the wolf. So it was a fun parade to watch. Here's the video:



After the parade, I went into Ethan classroom to help with the party (I'm one of the room moms) and my parents took Courtney back to our house to play. The party was so much fun. The kids played "Binghost" with M&Ms as their markers (although a lot of them needed more M&Ms before the game was over). They played that three times with the last time being "Blackout" but since they all had the same cards they all got blackout at the same time. It was cute to watch them all yell "Blackout" at the same time. Then we split them into three stations. One station did a craft, another station decorated cookies (that was my responsibility) and another station played "Wrap the Mummy" with toilet paper. It was hilarious and the kids had a lot of fun. Here's the video of Ethan being wrapped as a mummy.



Here's the photos:

Courtney's Party!

Today was Courtney's preschool Halloween Party! Courtney wasn't too sure about going to the party. When I got her into her costume, she was a bit nervous about going and she actually cried all the way there. It took me about 15 minutes to finally get her calmed down to where I could go home. Then she had a great time!! The moms went the last 30 minutes to listen to their songs and trick or treat. It was so cute and Leanne Kemp (the mom of the week) did an awesome job.

The kids sang the days of the week song, itsy bitsy spider song, "What are you going to be on Halloween" song, and did a little skit of "Little Miss Muffet." It was great and the kids had so much fun. They even took a bow at the end. When we got home Courtney asked if she could switch her costume and be a BYU cheerleader "just like my best friend Hayley." I told her that she could be a BYU cheerleader next year and she seemed fine with it. But she kept cheering "BYU" all day long after that. Cute!

Here are some videos:

Best Teacher on the Planet!

A couple of weeks ago I was driving the kids home from Ethan's piano lesson and there wasn't anything good on the radio so I was channel surfing trying to find something to listen to (I had forgotten my Sansa). I stopped on a station called Planet 94.1 and they were announcing a contest called the "Best Teacher on the Planet." Ethan immediately perked up. It said that you had to get on their internet site and nominate your teacher for the award by telling why he/she is the Best Teacher on the Planet. When we got home Ethan instantly asked if I could get him on the radio station's site. So we did a search and found it. Then he asked if I would help him nominate his teacher for the award. I helped him fill out the form and he told me what to type in the essay part. He said that she was great because she didn't give them very much homework, was nice, made school fun and was a great teacher. It was sweet.

When we had submitted it, I made sure to tell Ethan that they probably had a lot of entries and that his may not be chosen so not to be too disappointed if we didn't hear anything back from them. He wanted to go to school and tell all his friends to get online and nominate his teacher also, but I think he probably forgot. He was so excited about it though. Then we forgot all about it.

I ran errands with Courtney today and when we got back the elementary school's name was on our caller ID. I was nervous that Ethan was sick or something, but they hadn't called my cell phone. I noticed there was a message and so I listened. It was Mrs. Feltwell, Ethan's teacher. She called to thank me for nominating her for the Best Teacher on the Planet. Ethan's entry had won!! The radio station gave Mrs. Feltwell a gift certificate for a pedicure and some other things (I think).

When Ethan got home he was so excited. He told me that they were doing worksheets in their classroom when some people walked in and asked if Ethan was there. He said he was a little nervous because he didn't know why they were there, but then they explained that his entry was the one that had won and that his teacher was the "Best Teacher on the Planet." Ethan got a gift certificate for a free meal at Ruby River Steak House, a coupon for Cinnasticks at Domino's Pizza and another gift card (I don't remember what for now). And the entire class got cookies...right before lunch! ;) He was so happy about it and said that his teacher was so excited and he felt so good making her happy.

His funniest comment was that he met "read people who are on the radio." That seemed to thrill him too. Mrs. Feltwell, in her message, said that this had made her year and I certainly hope so. She has really made school fun for Ethan and he just loves her so I'm glad we could give something to her that she will enjoy (who doesn't enjoy being pampered and told they are wonderful?!)! And I'm glad I have a considerate son who thinks of others!

Bedtime Stories

I think Courtney has to have the best big brother in the world! Ethan has books from school that he has to read each night and then I sign the paper saying he has read them and the next day he gets two different books to bring home. He loves reading these to me and calls them my "bedtime story by Ethan." Usually he reads to me while Bryan is putting Courtney to bed and it works out really well. But tonight Bryan was at Mutual and so I had to put Courtney to bed. Ethan wanted to be helpful (Sharing Time on Sunday was about Service Stars and Ethan has been really working on serving others since then) so he asked if he could read his take home library books to Courtney as her bedtime story. She loved the idea and then cuddled in her rocking chair while Ethan read her a story about a Dentist and a story about a hole in a yard. It was cute.

After he finished reading he put Courtney in her crib and sang her a song then gave her a big hug and told her he loved her. It was so sweet and she was in heaven with all the big brother attention she was getting. I hope, for Bryan's sake, that Courtney doesn't request this every night because Bryan loves his Courtney time.

The Haunted Gingerbread House

I bought a Wilton Haunted Gingerbread House to decorate with the kids. Last year we did Christmas Gingerbread Houses and I thought they would like the spooky version. But they take so long to do right and we lack patience in our family (at least the kids and I do). When you put the walls together you are supposed to wait 1 hour to let the icing set up before putting the roof on. When you do it correctly, it takes about 3-4 hours ot glueing and then waiting before you can put candy on. Anyway, Bryan helped me glue the house together Tuesday night and then tonight I let the kids decorate it. I didn't want to mix up the black frosting to decorate, so we did it all in orange, but I think it turned out cute. Ethan just wants to eat it, but Courtney got her fill of the candy while we were trying to decorate it. She really likes black licorice jelly beans. Now I have to keep Ethan away from it until Halloween so it doesn't eat it!

Carving Pumpkins

Bryan had mutual tonight and the kids have been begging to carve their pumpkins. We couldn't think of another night when we wouldn't be busy, so I helped them carve pumpkins. It actually wasn't so bad. We had the two pumpkins sitting outside on the porch for a couple of days and today they were right in the direct sun. When I cut the first one open, it was really warm inside. I think that made it easier for me to get all the seeds out because it wasn't as hard as I had remembered, or as messy. Then Ethan drew faces on the pumpkins and I cut them while Courtney cut up a piece of paper (I don't know why, don't ask!). On Ethan's pumpkin he drew a tooth hanging down and when I cut it the tooth ended up a bit loose. Ethan thought this was so cool because it's in the same place of the smile as his loose tooth! He told me he is going to pull his tooth on Halloween, and I think it's ready to come out!

When we finished, I got out my lilac scented tea lights (the only tea lights I could find in our house) and we went outside to light them. They looked great, although it was still light.

So now we have jack-o-lanterns!