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!