Back to school

It is hard to believe that another school year is starting and I have a kid in jr. High!!

I didn't want to embarrass Garrett by taking pictures at the bus stop. I was still in jammies when he left ;)

visiting santa 2012

This year we went to our usual place to see Santa. We have gone to Bass Pro Shops every year that we have been in Arizona. They have a great Santa and lots of fun activities for the kids to do while we wait in line.

They also have a free carousel for the kids to ride. I think Garrett decided that this would be his last year riding it.  He is getting a little to old for that, of course he will still be part of the Santa picture. He really has no choice about that. :)

happy birthday jack!

I am not sure how it is possible that my "baby" is 7 years old! This year we just had a low key dinner and presents at home. Jack got a lot of fun gifts to play with, but I think the highlight was the hamster cage. Of course we had to go to the store and buy some hamsters to go in them :) We ended up with two panda bear hamsters. They are adorable and very popular with all the kids!

jack {the artist}

During the month of October, Jack was selected as one of the few art students to display a piece of art at the school district building. We were super excited as only a handful of students are picked from the whole school each month for this honor.

Jack and I were able to go down to the building and check it out. He was so excited to see his work up on the wall and recognized it from down the hall.

The description of his piece simply says "Sharpie and Crayon". Jack really has a knack for drawing and I love seeing his work come home. I need to come up with a better way to display it, though.

halloween 2012

Phew! We made it through all the tricks and treats this year. We all decided on a pirate theme for our family and we just went with it. I made the tutu skirts for Grace and myself so we could be pirate princesses, of course!

The boys got good old store bought costumes because I ran out of time, but I think they look great! I picked up all the eye patches and swords at goodwill for cheap to complete everyone's look. 

I even got extra ambitious this year and made coordinating trick-or-treat bags for everyone. I think they were a big hit!

As you can see, I even got into the spirit of things and dressed up myself. It is hard to see in this photo, but I have a skull and crossbones painted on my shirt and a big pirate princess skirt.

And of course we made it out to Glendale for Erika's annual Halloween pizza party and trick-or-treating. This is our 3rd year going and we always have a great time. 

A bunch of cute girls!

And a great group of boys!

And lastly, here is our annual girls photo. It is fun to think that we used to trick-or-treat together when we were kids growing up and now our kids get to do the same thing!

mother nature's farm

Gosh, so much has happened since school started, I am going to try to update a little of what has been happening around here.

Garrett and Grace had gone to the pumpkin farm with a friend earlier. Of course, I promised Jack that I would take him as well. We went on the first day of fall break early in the morning and it was perfect. It wasn't crowded at all and he had the pick of the patch for pumpkins.

We went on a trailer ride around the farm and got to see the farm animals. We fed the goats and saw a turkey and rooster just wandering around the farm.

In previous years when we have visited this farm, the stickers for the pumpkins were all in plastic tubs on the tables. It seemed like a lot of them were getting dropped on the ground and ruined. This year they got smart and gave each kid their own baggie full of stickers for their pumpkin. I would say it was a great day for us!

disneyland - day 2

Our first official day at Disneyland was a huge hit! We got to see lots of characters and we made it through about half the park.

For dinner we had late reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. It was so great! There were a bunch of characters walking around to each table so that everyone had a chance to meet them without the craziness of the park. By the time we got to our table, Jack was totally worn out. He fell asleep at the table and we could not wake him up!

Monday was also Kyleigh's birthday and we celebrated in style!

Stay tuned for day 3 at California Adventure! If you want to see more pics you can visit my fb page.