November Happenings

November flew by.  We continued to work on our 4-plex flip and tried to squeeze in some festive Thanksgiving stuff as well.

I called the kids to lunch and here is how Tucker came... dressed up in pj's and superhero costume.  This kid loves to dress up and is such a free spirit.  He does whatever makes him happy without worrying about what others will think.  He continually makes us laugh!

 Vic and I go on a date about twice a year and I was dying to see Phantoms in concert so we went to that and it was SO good.  It reminded me how much I love and appreciate Broadway singing talent.  Afterwards we walked around the art museum.  Here is Vic trying to look fancy with his magnifying glass!

 Whitney lost her first tooth!  She was so excited about the magic of the tooth fairy that you'd think it was Christmas Eve!  

 She was not disappointed.  She was especially proud of her sparkly dollar.

 We didn't  have much planned for Thanksgiving break so we got a hotel in Utah and went swimming and shopping.

 On Thanksgiving day we made turkeys.

 Instead of lunch, I let the kids snack on this and they were tickled pink to not have to sit down and eat.

 After lunch time we went on our annual turkey hunt with the GPS.

 Tucker's led him to the neighborhood play area.

 Whitney took awhile to find hers in the rocks.

 Tommy found his farthest away in a tree. The kids loved it, as usual!

 Super mom and her kiddos ;)

 Mom went out to eat for dinner so we had our own little feast at our house.

 The next day we went to the latest Disney movie, Moana.

 Saturday we went to the Forgotten Carols.  It was a good way to get us into the Christmas spirit.  Then Sunday we went to Dad's house for a big feast made by Lana.  We had Jason here with us this year so that was fun.

Halloween Happenings

We did a lot of fun themed things throughout October.  My mom took them to a community pumpkin painting and Mark carved a pumpkin with the kids.  We haven't done one in years so the kids especially loved it!

 We had quite the dilemma trying to decide what our family should be for Halloween this year so we finally decided on classic Halloween characters.  Here is Vic and me right before our ward party.

 Tommy and one of his best friends, Rungi.

 I volunteered at the school carnival while Vic took the kids around to the classroom booths.

 In the spook alley they had eyeballs and bones for the kids to stick their hands in and feel.  It was pretty dark in there and Whitney decided to pick one up and start eating it...  eeew!

 One day while they were out playing in their tree house I dressed up as a witch and went out and sold them some enchanting witch broom sticks.  They thought that was pretty funny.

 Halloween breakfast

 I was in charge of games for both Whitney & Tommy's class party so Tucker got to do a lot of partying with me!

 The kids wanted to make sure I dressed up for their class so I did a half costume (the witch one got hot really fast!)

After school snacks

 I had the kids do some crafts after school to help the time pass. They were so excited!

 FINALLY.... Time to Dress up!!!!  Whitney was an adorable pumpkin princess.  I made her tutu and bows.

 Tommy's costume was the most time consuming.  I even had to dust off the old sewing machine!  He was a spider and he was SO proud that I made his costume, he'd tell everyone and loved showing off his 8 arms.

I had to have the 8 arms connected somehow so I made a web on the back of him which made him love his costume even more.

 Tucker used a costume I made for Tommy at age 3 so it fit him perfect!  I didn't have to do anything and the nice part is that Tucker actually left the head on almost the entire day! 

 We had the Drapers and Hills over for dinner and then went trick-or-treating together.  Whitney once again turned into a magical energizer bunny and ran from house to house they whole time.  She kept leaving everyone behind, but McKenzie was determined to keep up and they had a ball together!

This is the kids on a break... I had them do a ghost hunt in the dark with their flashlights.  Whitney loved it and made us do it a few more times after trick-or-treating.  She is at a fun stage where everything is super exciting and magical.

 For dinner I made a mummy taco wrap...

 spider taco ring, chips and spider web dip...

 and monster toes.  The kids especially loved these.

 Our friends brought jack-o-lantern pizza and bloody finger cookies.  They looked great!

 Some of our neighbors went crazy all out with special lighting, sounds, and fog machines.  The kids loved it, I was surprised how much Whitney was the one that wanted everything to be the spookiest!

 After a long walk all over the neighborhood, we came back and I made them "ghost" hot chocololate (each little marshmallow has a ghost face on it).

October Happenings

October we were crazy busy flipping 2 different houses.  We needed to spoil the kids with some attention so we took them to race go carts.

 Tommy had a mad face the entire time he drove!

 Whitney could have drove all day long!  She was the only driver out there in the rain and she was smiling away!

 We helped clean up one of the parks with Vic's work.

 We toured our favorite donut shop w/ church friends.

Tommy was sad he missed the tour, but happy we brought him home a treat! 

 We have a TON of leaves that fall in our backyard. Tommy was excited to find such a giant one!

 Whitney has a WILD imagination and Tucker and her are tied at the hip right now.  Here they are searching for a lost friend!

 I am all too proud to say that Whitney is a genius!  I thought Tommy was super smart last year as he was always doing everything first in his class, but Whitney is even more ahead!  Here is her 1 month progress report after school started.

 And Tommy did amazing as well.  He should be able to pass off 53 harder words by the end of the year and he passed off 152!  My kids make me proud to be their mama!

 At the end of the month we drove down to Utah to get my new car and went to Cornbelly's.  Here the kids are in the hay maze.

 This shooting arena was their favorite.

 Whitney & Tommy trying to duck and run.

 Whitney has been "best friends" with Tucker too much lately so it was nice to see Whitney & Tommy play together in the big kid area.

 Whitney got up on stage and sang the entire song from the Little Mermaid.  I was SOOO proud of her.  She wasn't shy at all!

I've loved going into paint and Vic's work decided to do a work party of painting so I finally got to paint with Vic! 

 Tucker is just learning to have his own friends and he loves to talk about his friend Everette.  Here they are below.