Carvin' Away

We were invited to the park for a pumpkin carving party with some friends today. Sierra and Zane were so excited. Luckily, Wes was clueless so I didn't have to worry about him trying to carve a pumpkin with a knife in his hand. Cause you know he'd want to do it "ALL BY HIMSELF." Luckily, he was more than happy to swing and play at the park while the middle two kids carved away.

I was really surprised at how long Sierra worked on hers. She was one of the last ones done.


It took a lot of concentration for all the kids. They all seemed so intent and focused on what they were doing. Zane worked hard carving out the top of his pumpkin.

Then, he had some fun with the gooey insides.

But, then he got tired or bored. So, he skipped the carving of the features and put on some Mr. Potato Head features instead. Whalaa. He was done and off playing at the park.

Sierra stuck it through and did hers the ol' fashioned way. She was pretty proud of the fact that this was the FIRST pumpkin EVER that she carved all by herself.

Lance, being cool and mature, just hung out in the distance with his buddy, Brock.

We ended the afternoon with some junk food for dinner - chips, pizza, pop, and popsicles. Now, that was a great afternoon! We're sooo glad Kelly called and got us out there. I had hoped to get a big group shot with all the friends and their pumpkins, but I got too carried away eating my pizza and popsicle and forgot. ....Next year.

Bonding Brothers

Nothing bonds brothers more than a nintendo ds and a blanket early in the morning.

LOST

Please call if you find any of Zane's right foot sandals.

Zane is well known in our household for losing shoes. He often ends up wearing mismatched flip flops throughout the summer because he can't find a matching set. But, now he can't even do that. What are the odds of losing all left sandals? Even after we bought a specially designated shoe basket for him, nothing changed. Oh well. And, yes, I will still go out & buy him a couple more pairs of flip flops because here in sunny Arizona we are STILL wearing flip flops with our shorts at the end of October. LOVE IT!

Our Insane Asylum

We had fun decorating our home for Halloween. With our "Insane Asylum" sign our our door, the kids had to act the part.

And then, we made our graveyard. So, we needed some dead people.
What do you think? Do my kids have a future in acting?!

Another One to Clean Up After

Cash is a great dog. Let's just get that out there. He doesn't chew nearly as much as Kota did. Shoot, Kota chewed up all the palm trees. Kota even chewed on our house trim. Cash prefers to stick to his toys, thankfully....Well, I should say that he does most of the time:) I don't know if it's instinct or what, but Cash loves to debowel his stuffed toys. I often find the insides of his latest chew toy all over the floor. He doesn't rip and shred the whole thing. It's like he methodically gets a small hole in it and then very carefully pulls out all the insides. I wonder if he'd try to do that to one of the chickens next door.

So, I'm a Sucker for My Girl

After last month's 12 hour ordeal....her first P.O.A. show....I said I'd only do it every few months or so. But, here I am again...the very next month. Sierra was all excited to go to her 2nd show. And since the location was closer and she agreed to only do english and gymkhana, we went. That meant that we were only there from noon to 6:30:) since we skipped out on the western pleasure showing all morning. What can I say? I'm a sucker for my girl.
Unfortunately, her pony, Pepper, was onery. He kept taking the wrong lead, etc etc. But, she still had fun and seemed to enjoy it. We were able to register Pepper, so they were up againest more girls and ponies this time.

Wes and Todd went off of a food search during our long afternoon.

Zane and Wes spent a few hours playing in the dirt hills behind the arena.

Sierra and Pepper did best in the gymkhana games, as usual. He's really not a show pony. They did best in Single Pole and Handy Horse, where they earned 2nd places. It was a lot of fun.

The Arizona State Fair

We LOVE the State Fair! Since we couldn't get out of town for fall break (due to Todd's busy season at work), we headed to the fair one afternoon.

Our highlights -

Started off with some good grub including corn dogs, fry bread, sandwiches, and ice cream. YUM!

Then, we headed off for the best part - the rides.

Lance and Todd dared to do the SLINGSHOT! It was amazing. I couldn't believe Lance actually got in it. They loved it!
The Zipper was Sierra's and my favorite ride!

Zane said his favorite was the gravitron ride. Wes' favorite was....well, I think Wes just loved all of his rides.



After our rides, we stopped in to see the chickens. You can't believe all the different kinds of chickens that there are. Catherine was hoping to see the rabbits, but they were already gone. Maybe next year. And then next door, we found this cool lego place. Even the big kids enjoyed stacking the legos. It gave us a nice break from walking.

Wes was throwing a fit about something...this is his "I am angry" face. Watch out!

We ended our night at the Macy's Petting Zoo....a definite favorite. We loved feeing the giraffe and the camel. What a cool place!

We can't wait to go back next year!

Happy October!

With October and Halloween, comes corn mazes and lots of family fun! We started off our fall break with a Saturday afternoon at this local farm. I forgot my camera, but luckily, I had my phone. The quality is not that great, but it's better than nothing. I'm just glad that this made me finally learn how to even get the photos off of my phone in the first place:). Lance was off on a Grandpa and Grandson day so he wasn't with us (will post later about that when I get pics from Gpa). But, the younger three sure had a blast.

We picked out our BIGGEST pumpkin ever. Todd had a great idea. Each member of the family gets to design one feature on the pumpkin. After we carve it, we'll be sure to share our family creation. Woo hoo!

The corn maze was fun, but too big. Zane tried it himself without my knowledge. When I noticed he was missing, I called out to him. He answered "Mom, I'm in the corn maze and I don't know how to get out!" He was a little worried. So, then we went together:).

They had a teeter-totter there that the kids thought was sooo fun. They were just busting up laughing as their Dad played with them. You can barely tell that Wes is in front of Sierra. You should have seen their smiles and heard their giggles. Way too cute!

One can't turn down an ol' cow train ride. Toot, Toot!

The ol' hay bale maze was just the perfect size for Weston...even though the big kids seemed to enjoy it just as much.

They had these pedal cars and a race track. So, whaddya do, but RACE! It was fun. Although, I was sadly surprised at how quickly my thighs started to burn and wanted to stop!

Here is Sierra during our BACKWARDS race. Gotta love it!

Happy Fall!

Speechless

So, Todd and I took a Love and Logic Parenting class over the past six weeks. We really enjoyed it and we think that it has some great concepts for parenting children. One of the main ones being that a child should have logical consequences for his or her wrong choices. Especially, that a child should be given choices to make, instead of the parents being drill sergeants making the child obey. And, then let the natural or logical consequences follow.

Todd and I actually took a mini-class a couple years ago so we were already somewhat familiar with the program. I think we were already using some parts of it, although there is always room for improvement....especially on my part:).

I have to admit that Todd and I sometimes say our one liners with a wink to each other...almost sarcastically, but in a fun way. Hey, you gotta have some fun with it!

Anyways. Tonight, Lance shocked me once again. I can't believe how much he has grown up in the past year. Proof that everyone should have hope:).

Here's the scoop. Lance called me today from school saying that he needed lunch money. Already??? I thought that it sounded too soon. So, I go check my checkbook after I get off of the phone with him. Sure enough, he had burned through his lunch money way too quickly. Later, I got to school and simply said something about XX amount being spent too quickly when I saw him in the hallway (he actually yelled out hi to Weston and I too...he didn't run the other way?!). Then, I proceeded to the cafeteria to talk to the manager there to get the whole story. She was able to pull up his account and print off what he had spent the money on over the past five weeks.

Later, I went to see Todd at his shop to pick up some checks and so I told him about the situation. We agreed that if Lance spent his lunch money irresponsibly, then he should pay for his lunch when the money runs out...or make PB&J sandwiches at home to take with him.

So, tonight after dinner, I approach Lance and show him his excessive spending totals for various days. And, before I can get my new plan out, HE COMES OUT WITH THE EXACT SAME PLAN. HE SUGGESTED IT!!! I was so speechless and so proud. WOW. Was this really my boy? He didn't complain... he didn't say it was unfair... he didn't say that so-and-so gets to spend whatever he wants. Lance thought that he should use his own money, if he spent too much too fast. Once again, my jaw hit the floor. He really is growing up into a responsible young man despite my shortcomings.

# 1 Reason to Have Your Child take the Life Skills Class

Lance is taking Life Skills (aka Home Ec) at the Junior High. So, the other day he brings home this Orange Julius recipe and makes some for everyone. Yummy! We just had to share this recipe with our family and friends. (We had the drink again this morning for breakfast:). We think it tastes just like the original drink, too.

Orange Julius

1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup ice or as much as you want

**we like to add one banana and a few strawberries to this.**

**Then, my blender actually holds double this recipe - and you will need it, if you have a big family:).

Double the Trouble

This is a regular occurrence at our house.

The kids, well, mainly Wes, love to get Cash all riled up.

I'd say "Poor Cash", but I think Cash enjoys it just as much as Weston does.

They play keep away.

They wrestle.

They play tug-o-war.


The worst is when Wes plays tug-o-war with Cash using the dog toy in HIS OWN mouth....just like Cash does it. EEEWWW!

Every puppy should have a boy.

**The video is not the best. Wes stopped when he saw the camera. Usually, they go on and on running around that table!