Trick or Treat!

What a nice night for Trick or Treating! Not too cold, and it was still light outside.





Anyway...this year was Mackenzee's first year to go out begging for candy. :0) We only went around our little circle, as that was about all she could handle. Even with just the few houses we hit, they got quite a load. We took Toby with us for his first official "walk". It was horrible. He hated his leash and Jaysen ended up having to take him back home and bringing out the pooper scooper as Toby felt the need to "eliminate" on a neighbor's lawn. Sigh. Needless to say, we did not ring that doorbell!


We did end up having to completely cover up Kenzee's cute costume with her coat. So, nobody got to see how completely adorable she was. Landon's costume had plenty of padding and so he kept warm just fine. He was such a good big brother too, helping Mackenzee ring a few of the doorbells. She really wanted to do her part, but she's just not quite tall enough. It's a good thing she's got Landon. :0)
The best part about the whole night was Mackenzee's excitement over all of it. She was in awe that all she had to do was hold out a bucket and people would give her candy. At each door, as soon as someone answered and brought out their big bowl of candy, she would scream, "canny!" It makes you wonder what must be going through her mind. ;0)
Landon was sure that we needed to go to more houses. That he didn't have enough candy. But, he got to finish the night off by passing out the treats to the kids that came to our house. "I'm the best candy giver, huh mom" So, I guess the night turned out good anyway. ;0)

Class Parties

One of the best things about holidays when your kid is in school is the class parties. Especially when you're not really in charge of anything. Your just the helper. You show up, and help the people that actually planned the party. Good stuff.

The kids get to dress up and they have a little "parade" through the halls of the school. You know...to show off their costumes. I will have to say there were some interesting costumes. Some were truly creative though and I was very impressed. Me? I buy mine at the store thanks!

After the parade, it's party time! The kids got to play bingo, pumpkin ring toss, and bobbing for balloons (not with their mouths!). The kids had a blast! And got too much candy!

My favorite part? That most of the kids in his class know who I am, and those that don't, when they ask Landon.....he grins when he tells them yes. I know it won't last for long. Soon enough he won't think it's cool. But for now...I rock! ;0)

A Boy And His Dog

"I've never had a dog before."

This is what Landon said to me as we were talking about our new puppy in the car yesterday. I had to go and pick him up in Burley and on the way home I asked him if he was excited about having a new dog. That's what he told me. "Yeah....I've never had a dog before." As if I didn't already know that. ;0) He didn't let that poor dog leave his side for one minute and there was a perma-grin on his face all night. "I think he need me more than I need him mom" That's the other phrase I got from Landon last night too. As much as I am hating puppy breath right now....I can't say that I am regretting this. Everyone is in love with Toby and he seems to be adjusting quite well.

Sigh. Now we just have to find a dog house. Where do you get one of those things anyway?

And Toby Makes Five

For those of you that weren't aware, we picked out a dog several weeks ago. It was only a couple of weeks old, so we have had to wait four weeks to actually bring it home. Jaysen has been so ancy about it. So, he called them a couple of times yesterday like a stalker would, until they gave him an exact date as to when the dog would be ours. As I figured, we still had to wait a bit as they wanted to make sure that they got the puppies their first set of shots.

Well, late this afternoon they called back and said that they were able to get it all done and we could pick up the puppy at any time. Which, for Jaysen, meant that very moment. So, we drove out to Wendell to pick up the newest addition to our family.

Meet Toby. He's six weeks old. Isn't he a beautiful dog? He's a Golden Retriever. Mackenzee is already mauling him. And the poor puppy has been stepped on a few times as well. Sigh. Landon doesn't get home until tomorrow night, so he hasn't been able to play with Toby yet at all. In fact, he hasn't even seen him as he didn't go with us to pick him out. So, he is super excited to come home and see the newest member of the family. ;0)

Anyway...if anyone else is wanting a Golden Retriever as well, there are several left. Then we would have sibling doggies! Come on....you know you want one!

Harvest Festival

So, last night was Morningside's annual Harvest Festival. We decided this year though, to make it a little bigger than usual and have some carnival type games for the kids to play. The whole point of the night is to get parents to the school for the Book Fair, to help support our library. And to draw them to the school, we have a party! Good idea, right?

Anyway...we had the bean bag toss, face painting, fish pond, ring toss, and Turkey in the Straw (treasure find) for the kids to play to win prizes as well as a ginormous pumpkin there to guess the weight of. Of course there were lost of sweets to eat as well. We had Krispy Kreme donuts, popcorn, cotton candy, and apple juice. I think I gained 5 pounds just breathing in the air. ;0)

Jaysen brought Landon and Mackenzee to play the games as I was there setting up already. They had so much fun! The prizes were great too. I really liked how the games were suitable for the younger kids like Kenzee as well. It made it fun for everyone. And we all really appreciate those that planned the event and came to help out. It took a lot of moms to make sure everything was covered. Though I am completely exhausted after six hours of Festival Fun, it really was fun.

Pumpkin Contest

Being as involved as I have been this year does have its upsides. I do at least know what is going on all the time at Landon's school. For example, every year they have a pumpkin contest at the school that coordinates with the Harvest Festival. Go figure. I'm sure I got some note in Landon's backpack about it last year amongst all the other stuff and it ended up in the garbage. I cringe saying that, because I know realize how much time and effort go into each of those "notes" that go home. We do realize that most parents do just that...throw them in the garbage. But at least we know they can't say that we didn't try to inform them!
Anyway....back to the point here...I was a little more on the ball about the pumpkin decorating contest this year and so Landon and I set out to make the very best pumpkin that we could.
I'm going to be very honest with you. Though I love fall and pumpkins and all of that stuff, I HATE carving pumpkins. Well, not necessarily carving the pumpkins, just removing the guts of the pumpkins. It doesn't gross me out or anything, it's just annoying. Those strings of guts in there will not come out for me. I can get the seeds just fine....But the rest...sigh. I'm not a patient person. Never professed to be. So, instead of carving a pumpkin (which we did anyway, but kept that one at home) we decided to buy a craft pumpkin and paint it. Michaels has had these babies on sale for a while now at 50% off. So, it was actually cheaper for me to buy the craft pumpkin there than to buy one at the Pumpkin Patch. Go figure.

Again...back the the point....we went on Michaels.com and found this cute idea for making a Frog Prince out of a pumpkin. So, I got all the fixin's for it. Landon had such a good time painting and decorating the pumpkin too. More fun than carving! Though I will tell you that when you have a 7 year old paint a pumpkin, it takes about five coats of paint to get it completely covered. So, be prepared. It took us over a week to get this baby totally done because of it. Well, because of that and also a pesty little sister that really wanted to help. Let's just say that green paint doesn't come out of shiny red Wonder Woman capes very well. Sigh. Anyway...Between the cutting out of the legs, and making froggy feet and eyes, Landon had a ball and was so excited about the outcome. We did change one aspect of the design though...the crown was supposed to made out of yellow foam like the legs....and though I did buy the yellow foam, I knew at the rate that we were going we weren't going to get this dang pumpkin done in time if we had to do any more hand made stuff. So, luckily in Target's Dollar Spot they had this awesome crown. And tah dah! A little hot glue to secure it and we were done!

I took the pumpkin to school just before the end of school yesterday so that Landon could show his friends like he wanted to, and he got the oohs and aahs that he was looking for. Anyway...long story short...his pumpkin won "The Great Pumpkin Award" for his class, which is the 1st prize! He was thrilled! The pumpkin got to stay out in the hall all night during the Harvest Festival too so he could show it off.

This seriously made it all worth it. Look at how proud he is. Isn't this what it's all about? You get to stop running around with your head chopped off for a few minutes and just watch. Can I just tell you that I LOVE being a mom?

Join in the FIGHT Against Drugs!

So, this week is Red Ribbon Week. For those of you unaware of what that is, it the week we set aside in our schools to teach kids the dangers of drug abuse and how to say no when offered any. Today was pledge day at Morningside. And since there were no volunteers to head up this thing, the PTA "Presidency" got to do it. Looking through the catalog of ideas for themes we could use this year I came across tons of items that had camoflauge on them. It immediately caught my attention because of Landon's obsessiveness with army stuff right now. The phrase they were using for this army theme was "Join in the FIGHT Against Drugs". I approached the others with the idea and they took it from there. We were able to get a couple of soldiers from the reserves to come to the school with their HumVee and my brother in law loaned us his H2 as well. So, we were stacked with fun stuff.

We told the kids to wear Camoflauge and they signed their names pledging to be drug free on a big poster we are going to hang in the school. Each got a sticker to wear as well. We made a big sign on the fence back by the playground with styrofoam cups that said "Drug Free!!!!!" The best part though, was that the soldiers let the kids actually climb inside of the HumVee and check it out. The kids had so much fun!

Hopefully they remember the reason for all of this though. This kind of stuff hits kids earlier and earlier and it makes me scared for my kids.

What Holiday Treat Are You?

You Are a Trifle

No doubt, you have many intricate layers. But deep down, you're a little squishy.

What Holiday Food Are You?

This will mean something to all those Caspersons out there! Yummy trifle!

Fighting for Justice!

Since the kids got to wear their costumes, I snapped some pics of them. One less thing to have to worry about Halloween night! Now, I need to explain the costumes....Landon really wanted to have matching costumes with his sister. You know...they went together like when they dressed as Darth Vador and Princess Leah. So, clear back in September when he was stressing about it, we went online to see what we could find. We start looking and he tells me that he'll just be Moe Doodle from the Doodlebops because he knows that Mackenzee will want to be DeeDee Doodle. She loves the Doodlebops and watches this childrens show every day.Yes, this is Moe Doodle. If you haven't seen the Doodlebops on Disney, be grateful. Anyway...It's a toddler show. So I was really worried that poor Landon, in his attempt to be a good brother by matching his costume to his sisters', would get made fun of when he wore his costume to school. Kids can be cruel and my Landon is awfully sensitive. It would have ruined his whole day. We did look to see if they had the costume (I was humoring him), and thankfully they don't make this costume in his size. They stop at 5T. Go figure. ;0)

So, the next step was to figure out what Landon wanted to be and try to find a costume for Mackenzee that would match it. Much easier to do it that way than the other way around. And, of course, he still wanted to be a superhero of some kind. He's 7! Of course he'd rather be a super hero than a Doodlebop! He's started to get interested in the Justice League. So, I told him to pick a hero from there and I would have Mackenzee be Wonder Woman, who is also a member of the Justice League. He chose Captain America. So, there you have it. The saga behind this years Halloween Costumes.

And don't they look adorable? The mask doesn't work so well over Landon's insanely long eyelashes, so we pulled up the mask. And Kenzee's costume did come with the awesome boots that Wonder Woman wears, but instead of coming up just under the knees, she was wearing saggy thigh boots. So, we pulled them off and put on her sparkly black shoes instead. We'll have to figure out something for her to wear under that mini skirt to keep her warm!

Yes, my children....the superheroes of Justice! Too bad it's only a costume...I could use kids who only did the right thing right about now. ;0)

Halooween fun

Landon has been so funny about Halloween this year. First he wanted to put out the decorations in September. Then he wanted to start wearing his costume WAY TOO early. And then he wanted to have a party. So, we decided to invite some friends from the 7th ward over to have a pumpkin carving/costume party. We wanted to invite several others, but our house just isn't big enough. Hopefully next year our basement will be finished so we can really live it up! ;0)

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us, and we were forced to move the carving into my dungeon of a basement. But, it worked out ok.

And I was so pleased that everyone (almost everyone anyway....)came in costume. It's always harder to get the adults to dress up. For me...it's just good clean fun! Had I thought about it way in advance I might have coordinated all of our costumes to match. Maybe next year....but all the kids were so cute!

There was a costume contest for the kids, and a pumpkin contest as well. All the kids got to go home with oodles of candy though I'm sure they were already sugared up. ;0)

Thanks to everyone for coming! Hopefully it will be bigger and better next year! Start planning your costumes! ;0)

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we go to the pumpkin patch. I've been taking Landon since he was two. The past couple of years we've just gone down to Kimberly Nurseries because they have fun things for the kids to do there.

This was the first year that Mackenzee has gone that she's been able to fully participate. Last year she was barely one, and still working on the walking thing, so she mostly just sat in the hay. This year...it was a different story. Anything Landon did, she could do too.





As always, they had their pumpkin "train" for the kids to ride. Kenzee was all for it, so we threw her in one of the "cars" with Landon. She was all excited until the man started the engine of the 4 wheeler. Check out the look on her face in the second picture. She's scared of them. Ask Grandpa Burnham. ;0) So, the crying began. Jaysen, being the awesome dad that he is got into a car with her, so that she could ride without being scared.

Anyway...between the maze, the tower of hay, the pumpkin train, the treasure field, the scarecrow, and picking out pumpkins, the kids had so much fun. We are ready for pumpkin carving tomorrow!

retro

I just love this outfit that Kenzee got from her Grandma Burnham for her birthday. So trendy....but it makes me laugh. It sooo reminds me of the 80's with her leggings with the lace cuffs and the LONG shirt to cover the tush. Everytime an old style comes back I always wonder if the designers out there are just running out of ideas, or did they really think that some of the stuff from the 80s was cool? Because honestly...I was hoping a lot of it never came back. Thankfully, I still haven't seen the football player shoulder pads.

Photo Shoot

So, inspired by my friend Alicia who took her kids out for a photo shoot....and knowing that our nice fall days were numbered...I took the kids down to Shoshone Falls yesterday afternoon. I wanted to get shots of them by themselves and then a few of them together if I could. I didn't know how well it would all go over but figured I'd give it a shot. Landon is turning into Mr. GQ and was so studly in so many of the pictures. I had fun snapping the pics of him and he was such a good sport.

And then there was Mackenzee....sigh. Let's just say that we're going to have to do this again with her.

She would pose and say cheese...but let's just say that I wasn't really going for that "look". I swear...is it impossible to just look straight ahead and smile? Honestly...at a certain point, I didn't even care if she smiled anymore, just look at me. Yeah....not so much. The jumper didn't help either as she kept doing a spread eagle with her legs....sigh. Notice the crossed legs in the pictures...I had to cross them over and over again. We won't be wearing this for the next pics.

I did get a few cute shots of them together, though I think I'll leave those up to Jessica when we get our family picture taken next month.

Happy Birthday Mackenzee!

Mackenzee really wanted to wear this dress up skirt for her birthday party. Don't ask me. I guess she just wanted to be really pretty. So, after a little negotiating (as much as you can get away with with a 2 year old), we compromised on her putting it on and getting her picture taken. I know...I could have just let her wear it, but 20 minutes into the party she would have ripped it off and then I would have had a naked baby running around the house. ;0) Something had to be done!
She acted like a pro opening up the presents this year. She did get a little practice in last weekend out at my mom's house, so maybe that helped. Either way....she ripped through them quickly and loved all of them. As much of a stinker as she can be, she really just loves EVERYTHING. And I'm not kidding.
She got so much dress up stuff. She's stocked for quite a while. She got some last weekend, and then a big bag full from me, and then her Aunt Beckie got her this awesome trunk full of even more stuff. I think it has five outfits in it with jewelry and a couple of pairs of shoes. She's set. Here she is with her cousins, as they are trying to get her all dolled up. Kenzee was in heaven.

As a side note for family members who were at her 1st bday party but unable to attend this year...no burnt fingers, but apparently she has lingering memories of the trauma because she wouldn't even blow this year. She started to cry when I asked her to blow on it, so Landon did the big brotherly thing and blew them out for her.

And we have decided that we don't need Christmas at our house this year. Mackenzee has so much fun stuff now, that she's set. ;0) I won't know where to put anything else!

Birthday Cake

So, here it is. Mackenzee's birthday cake. I finished it a little while ago. Even though her birthday is today, we are having the party tomorrow. So, that's when we'll sing and she gets to blow out the candles. (Hopefully she knows not to touch them like she did last year)

Anyway....this is the first "elaborate" cake I have ever made. I've plopped toy figurines on top, or just frosted a cake...but never actually created something. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's not bad, I guess...but not what I had envisioned. Oh well. I don't know that I will do this again though. Do you know how many hours this took? Between baking, making the cat head shape, cooling, first layer of frosting (for the crumb layer...I did watch Martha Stewart on how to do this!), cooling again, frosting again, drawing the face on, painting the face on, smoothing the shapes, creating "fur", you get the idea....I don't have the patience for this kind of stuff. I think I'd much rather pay someone else to do it. I'm good at cookie bars and cupcakes...;0)

Volleyball Senior Night

Before I forget...
Last night we went to Jerome to Jordan's Volleyball game. It was senior night, which is the night they recognize the members of the team that are graduating. Side note here: I can't believe she's 18 and graduating....This picture is of Stacy (Jordan's mom), Jordan, and Jordan's grandpa (Stacy's dad). Did that make sense?
Anyway...They won their game, so it was a good night overall. Congrats Jordan!

Mackenzee is 2!

Mackenzee is two! Can you believe it? Not that she hasn't been behaving like a terrible two year old for a while now...but that's besides the point. She is so excited it's her birthday, though I'm sure she has no idea what it means. She just knows it's all about her...and that's all that matter to her! My sister took these pictures this last weekend. They were taken consecutively in the order shown. Mackenzee just kept posing, so Melanie just kept snapping. Sigh. Can you say little diva?