Curtis Family Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween!

Thursday Things

It's been a busy week and a busy day. I worked late and got up early and worked so I could finish everything up and not have to worry about going into work in the morning. The kids are out of school tomorrow so hopefully we can have a relaxing morning and fun day.

Tonight the kids at their Halloween Carnival at school. I was hoping they would forget about it so we wouldn't have to go but of course they did not forget. The 2 neighbor kids came over and asked if they could come with us and luckily R got home from work 5 minutes before we left the house. I counldn't have survived without his help. He took care of A while I followed the older kids around and visited with other moms. The kids had a great time and ate lots of junk and as so full of energy but also very tired.

S had her creative dance class after school. I'm going to have to stay and watch the entire class next week. When I came to pick her up this evening she was sitting on the side of the class just watching. She did this one other time and it drives me crazy. I asked her if she wanted to take the class, which she says she does so I don't understand why she sometimes doesn't participate. I told her if she doesn't want to participate then I will take her out of dance because she is wasting my time and the teacher's time (not to mention wasting money). Next week I will watch the entire class and see how she does and also talk to her teacher.

Saturday we are going to Logan for Danni's birthday party. She turned 7 on October 20th and is having an ice skating party. We should try to stay up overnight but I am supposed to teach YW on Sunday so I'll have to see what I can figure out.

The Mittens

Today I was going through some winter things and A got ahold of her mittens. She had me put them on her hands and wore them around the house for about an hour. Then I look over and she has put them on her feet and is slipping and slidding on our hardwood floors. Funny!

Pinewood Derby 2008

Last night Z had his Pinewood Derby. Z had fun helping his dad make the car. Z won the award for the "Classic Hot Rod."

The Pumpkin Patch

Last night R came home from work early so we could go do something as a family. When Z got home from Cub Scouts and S was finished with her tumbling class we bundled up and went to Pack's Pumpkin Patch. Of course the kids had a ton of fun and thought they should each bring 5 pumpkins home. It was just so hard for them to pick out a pumpkin. After the pumpkin patch I thought we could try out the Pumpkin Walk in Syracuse, I had heard it was really cool. With bathroom and then a dinner delay we didn't get to the Pumpkin Walk until just after 8:00pm. I had wanted to get there by 7:00pm because I thought the line would just be starting and it we wouldn't have as long as a wait. Getting there about 8:00pm, the line was sooo long and we waited forever. By the time the entire family was back to the car it was 10:00pm. Luckily it was to cold but the wait was difficult for the 3 kids, espeically A. Finally towards the end she feel asleep on her dad's shoulder but when we finally started walking through the carved pumpkins she woke up and wanted me. She was so heavy and it was hard to hold her for so long so I finally just cut through the line quickly and waited in the car for R and the 2 kids.

The Pumpkin Walk was cool although I haven't decided if it was worth such a long wait. Behind the Syracuse Fire Station they have the path lined with a ton of carved pumpkins and some of them are done by kids and some are really cool. I think my kids enjoyed walking through them once we got through the line. Next year we will go on Thursday night and be there by 7:00pm and I don't think we will have as long of a wait.

Happy Birthday Patty!

The Powder Mess

Doodle somehow found a small babypowder and hid on the other side of our bed so she could dump it out. This is what happens when it is quiet for a few minutes. Although it could have been much worse and it just took me a few minutes to clean up. About 30 minutes later I caught her dumping snowcone syrup into the dog dishes and the floor. That took much longer to clean up and I still feel sticky in different places. She really keeps me on my toes.

Camping Pictures

Home from Camping

We got home last night about 9:00pm from our fun camping trip. We hurried and cleaned out the suburban and a few things in the trailer while the kids were in the tub. After we all were clean we feel into bed exhausted and happy to be dirt free in our own beds.

We went camping in the desert at the bottom of Cedar Mountain down in Emery County. I like mountain camping but we were trying to stay away from the hunters and the cold so Dad and Denise said this area would be fun for the kids and they assured me there would be trees. The kids loved all the dirt and there were lots of places to ride the 4-wheelers. There were a few Cedar Trees and luckily we had our awning from the trailers for shade. I'm not complaining but desert camping is not my favorite type of camping I still prefer the mountains. I know R and the guys loved the 4-wheeler trails they found and they happened to be to dangerous for the kids so Z had to wait at the top while they explored a trail yesterday. I felt like we were all covered in dirt even after my quick showers in the trailer but the kids weren't complaining about it. My favorite part of the the tirp was my hot shower last night in my home shower. The kids came home with lots of rocks they found and then were trading with the cousins on the drive home. They were so bummed that they had to get up for school this morning. When we are camping they can pretty much ride the 4-wheelers whenever they want for as long as they want and for Z this is heaven. He is safe and and good driver so I don't worry about him and he just has so much fun. This was the first time S insisted on the driving the 4-wheeler and she was a little crazy but did good. R said by next year we will get her a 4-wheeler of her own.

Z has a book report due tomorrow that we have waited until the last minute to work on. I have a ton of laundry and the trailer needs to be empited and cleaned, including all the bedding. There is lots to do and just me to do it. Wish me luck.

The Dirt Pile in our Front Yard

Wednesday Wishes

Last week I went to our local Farmer's Market and bought some cute things. There was a stand of bread and I choose coconut bread that was eaten up by bedtime that night (although I never got a piece). I found a cute Potato Bag made from cloth that you put in your microwave to make baked potatoes. There was also found a Scentsy stand so I picked some new bars to melt and they smell so good.

I am trying to get work stuff done today so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow. I'm not having much luck because I'm also working on laundry and baking cupcakes and cookies for our camping trip. Friday morning we are getting up early and going camping with my family down to Cedar Mountain in the San Rafael Swell. It should be warmer there then if we were heading to the mountains. We are taking our 4-wheelers and the kids are so excited. It will be our last camping trip of the year. Tomorrow I need to pack, load the trailer and go shopping. I also need to get the house cleaned up because it is a disaster and R's mom is coming tonight to stay overnight and the spend the day with us tomorrow. So much to do and so little time.

Last night my friend Tammy took our family pictures. We went to an area behind Lagoon hoping for some fall colors. The leaves hadn't changed much but the area was so pretty and the few pictures I saw were still beautiful even without the fall colors. It's such a challenge taking kid's pictures and A did not want to cooperate a whole lot. I think Tammy got some pictures of her but she did not want to look at the camera. While Tammy was snapping shots of A on the bridge I asked A who was pretty and she pointed to herself and said "I pretty." It was so cute. She loves to point to her clothes and hair and say pretty and have me add bows to her hair to be even prettier. So to hear her say she was pretty while pointing to herself was so cute and funny.

Fall Into Reading 2008

Hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days

September 22 through December 20

Do No Harm by Gregg Luke

Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyers

From The End of Heaven by Chris Stewart

The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyers

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Flower of the Winds by Dorothy Keddington

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Clear as the Moon by Chris Stewart

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Snow

This is what we woke up to this morning. I'm glad it will melt by tomorrow because I love fall and want to enjoy some more cool days and crunchy leaves. I'm not quite ready for snow the first snow storm is always fun.

Snowy Saturday

This morning I woke up with big plans to get a ton of stuff done. R got up around 5:30am to go to work so I thought although it would be easier if he were home so he could help me with the kids I can do it. I was able to get some work stuff acomplished until A woke up and then I started around the house with laundry and cleaning. We've had a busy week so my house has suffered (what's new?) and I have so much laundry to do. I also started working on my YW lesson and S's Primary talk. Finally I draggged the kids out in the rain for a much needed haircut for Z. After his haircut we went to the library. I promised S her own library card next time we went so we did that and checked out lots of children books, luckily we found a bunch of fall and Halloween books to read this next week.

We had talked about doing something fun with family in the evening so I had also been trying to find a fun indoor family activity. When R got home from work around 2:00pm he suggested we call Tiff and Allen and take Allen out for his birthday dinner. They were already enjoying a birthday lunch so we invited ourselves up to Logan to join them for some bowling. My kids had been begging to go bowling, they love it so going bowling with their cousins was great fun for them. After bowling we grabbed dinner at Cafe' Rio and went to their home so the kids could run around and play. We finally made it home about 11:10pm and now the kids are in bed and I'm supposed to be finishing up my YW lesson.

It is snowing outside. It seems like an early snowstorm this year.

Happy Birthday Allen!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Relaxing Weekend

I had hinted that I might paint S's room this weekend but that didn't happen. R started cleaning out the garage yesterday and was looking for our paintint stuff and wallpaper remover stuff. Hopefully soon we will get started on her room and then work on Z's room.

I spent the morning listening to conference while I worked on laundry and going through clothes that don't fit the kids anymore. I have so many boxes of clothes and it's so challenging to keep it all organized. Patty invited us to her house to watch the afternoon session of conference and eat dinner. The kids were excited to see her kids since it's been about a month and a half since we've visited with them.

When I got to Patty's her house smelt so yummy. She was pulling homemade bread out of the oven and making potatoe cheese soup. Brian was making two pies; a peach pie and an apple carmael pie. When I left I felt like I had eaten so much food. Along with the yummy soup we had sandwiches and then ate yummy pie. It was all so good and then it was wonderful to just sit and talk with Patty (maybe when they move it will be closer to us).

Today I am cooking a turkey, stuffiing and mashed potaotes and rolls. The house smells so good and I can't wait to eat. Z also asked if I would make cookies so I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Besides cooking I'm trying to just enjoy conference and the day instead of cleaning like I should be doing. We have a busy week with lots of kids activities so maybe I will use some time this evening to organize my week a little.

Book-N-Bag It Lunch

Today Z's teacher hosted a Book-N-Bag It Lunch. Parents were invited to the classroom to read and eat lunch with their kids. It was fun. After we ate Z shared a book he had written in class called Diary of a Fly. He wrote the story and drew the pictures, it was cute. He also has a writting journal and he shared his other stories with me. One is a chapter story and again the writting is his own and he had pictures. I have to admit his spelling was awful and I had to look past that as he read the stories to me. I was good to spend 40 minutes as school with him and see his classroom and the things he has been doing.

Wednesday Wonderings

We gave soccer things three nights this week but next week it will be four nights. I am sometimes amazed at how busy my kids keep me. Our soccer game tonight was in North Ogden and next week we have 2 Ogden games as well. The previous games and the remainder after next week are in Centerville which I prefer since the games are 5 mintutes from our home. Z was excited to have Grandpa come to his game tonight. What a great grandpa because he came to his game last week also when he was up visiting.

Saturday R took Z's bike in for a much needed tuneup. Z has been sad all week to not be able to ride his bike to school. I think it's great that he enjoys riding his bike so much especially since his ride home from school is uphill. While at the bike shop R bought S a new bike. My sister gave her a purple bike last year but it's a little big for her so she has been riding Z's black and red bike and has seemed fine with it. At the bike store she picked out a blue bike with flowers. I thought for sure she would get a pink bike so I was surprised by her choice but she loves it. While Z and I were at soccer S and her dad picked up her new bike. I love to watch her ride her bike. She peddles and peddles so fast, her little legs just go and go and she is a speed demon and loves it.

We are planning our final camping trip of the year during UEA weekend. My sister and her family will join us along with my dad and his wife and maybe my stepsisters. We had such hopes of lots of camping trips this past summer but we only went once so you can imagine that R is very happy to be going again. We are looking at the desert since the mountains will be so cold in a few weeks. We've also talked about going to Disneyland this month. We had so much fun last year when we were there the week of Halloween. I don't know if we will actually do it or just talk about it.

S and I are talking about getting her room painted and she showed me some colors she would like. My hopes are to go pick out paint and maybe get started this weekend. We will see.