A Look Back at October

Fall greetings to one and all!

So we're a little behind the times. Did you notice we've been "m.i.a" from the blog scene for almost a month now? And if you noticed, did you wonder why? Well, we're here to tell you...October was one fun-filled, adventure jam-packed month for our family! Get comfy and read on for the complete details.

M began playing t-ball for the first time and lil' J started taking a soccer class for 2 and 3 year olds. They have both enjoyed trying something new. However, M says he’ll stick with karate and lil'J can’t wait until he’s old enough to join his brother (M’s instructor has a class called “Little Dragon’s” for 4 and 5 year olds, so for now lil’ brother will just have to be satisfied with imitating what he sees big brother do.)

Here are all the other fun things we’ve kept busy with this month:
*Early in the month we attended the ribbon cutting & dedication ceremony for M’s brand new school. To help commemorate the occasion, the boys and I got to paint tiles that will be hung in the school lobby.
*Shortly after the school dedication, M and I went on a field trip with all the first grade classes to a local farm. While at the farm we were taught all about the local corn crops, and just how much corn makes its way into our daily food supply. My favorite was the ear of “popcorn” Farmer B passed around—sometimes it gets so hot here in the desert the corn will pop right on the cob before it even gets picked! There was also a fun petting zoo, corn maze, and train ride. At the end we even got to pick fresh vegetables and pumpkins grown on the farm--to take home!
*We went to McPrincipal’s Night at our local McDonald’s to help raise funds for M’s elementary school and we even got to take pictures with Grimace—it was a fun and successful fundraiser, though not necessarily healthy. : )
*One morning I went with a group of ladies from my ward to get Halloween Pedicures. Each one of us got some fun Halloween “picture” painted on our toes (spiders, ghosts, pumpkins, etc.) I got a French pedicure with thin black stripes next to the traditional white stripes and black glittery spider webs across my big toes!
*Lil' J and I got to enjoy M home from school for a full week of Fall Break. I bought some clearanced sidewalk chalk, and we had a lot of fun decorating our driveway!
*Big J and I got to go on a fun date to an AZ Diamondback’s playoff game which they unfortunately lost and then well, perhaps you know the ultimate outcome. We had a good time rooting on our other favorite MLB team throughout the rest of the postseason however, the Boston Red Sox. Yes, we are part of that crowd many consider "obnoxious" (even M and lil' J…they have Red Sox jammies and hats they wear every time we watch a game!)
*Part way through the month I went to a “slumber” party at a friends house…we didn’t actually sleep over, but we did all stay ‘til well past 2 am! Picture ten women in their favorite comfy jammies, having facials, soothing foot soaks, hand paraffin wax dips, painting nails, drinking yummy Italian sodas and eating the most delicious chocolate mousse ever! We had a blast!
*I also attended book club to discuss a new favorite series. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this series as I think every blogger I know read it eons ago. So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and read the wildly popular, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series. And now, I'm hungry for more and can't wait until the next one comes out! Did you know she lives right here in the valley of AZ? I read an interesting article in the local paper about her, one of the things the article talked about was how even though this series was written for the teenage crowd it's amazing how multi-generations are reading it. The article also mentioned that often at her book signings, middle-aged women show up wearing T-shirts that say, "My heart belongs to my husband, but my neck belongs to Edward!" Hee, hee, hee!
*Due to unseasonably warm weather, we’ve been lucky enough to continue enjoying use of our pool!
*Went to 2 Fall Carnivals--one at M’s school and one in town. The dunk tanks at both carnivals were M’s favorite…well, who wouldn’t want to dunk their teacher, the principal, and the bishop? *Attended 3 birthday parties (one was a costume party); and our ward trunk-or-treat
*And of course, “trick-or-treating” the neighborhood on Halloween night and coming home with lots of candy. For the first time in five years Big J didn’t have to work that night—it was great to have him home, and he even dressed up! Big J went as a nerdy tourist, I was a black cat (simple, easy, no-sew and quickly thrown together at the last minute…my favorite kind of costume!) M was Dash from one of his favorite Disney movies, “The Incredibles”, though some mistook him for Mr. Incredible. And last but not least, lil' J was one of his favorite TV characters, Diego from the show “Go Diego, Go!” A big bonus to all the fun Halloween related activities was that we all got to wear our costumes more than once! And because this Halloween season was “unseasonably” warm, M got to wear three different costumes since his Dash costume was too warm for some of the activities. He got creative and used things from the dress-up box. For the costume/birthday party, which was held on a HOT Saturday afternoon, M dressed up as a pirate. Then, since each day of Halloween week at M’s school had a specific theme that the kids could dress-up for, and Halloween Day was designated as “Career Day”, M went as a lifeguard. He wore his swim trunks, swim shirt, a whistle around his neck, sunglasses, sandals, and he carried a towel…my favorite part about it was that he came up with it all on his own!

Well, there you have it--our lengthy report. Thanks for sticking with us through to the end!Until next time—Z