Happy Halloween 2011!

The kids had lots of fun this Halloween.  Cooper was Spider Man, Carson was Buzz Light Year, and Laine and Ashlin were the cutest bumble bees you've ever seen!  Our ward had  Ward Harvest Party and Trunk or Treat, complete with carnival games.  It was lots of fun, and the kids received WAY too much candy.  We also attended our community Pizza Party, where they had lots of pizza, loud music and dancing.  And what Halloween would be complete without some old fashioned trick-or-treating?  We only went to 5 houses and still came away with a bucket full of candy.

Carson's Frankenstein jack-o-lantern

Cooper's scary jack-o-lantern

Lainee's sweet pumpkin

ToysRus Wishbook

The kids were looking at the new ToysRus Big Toy Book that came in the mail, trying to decide what they want for Christmas. Lainee was looking at a doll and asked me, "Mom, do you think Santa can help me get this little girl doll out of this book?"

Oh... My little Lainee bug... She's such a cutie pie!

Grape Juice Galore!

A very kind lady in our ward dropped off 2 large bushels of grapes and her juicers.  Having never made grape juice before, it was a bit of trial and error.  The first 2 jars I tried to fill led to a purple kitchen.  I had grape juice everywhere!!!  After that I came up with a better method to avoid getting burned  by the boiling hot grape juice, and ended up with 60 jars of delicious grape juice.  Here's to purple smiles!

A trip to Southeastern Idaho for Spud Harvest

Fall just wouldn't be complete without a trip home for spud harvest!  This year we almost didn't make it.  The kids asked me everyday for weeks when we were going, so we finally slipped away for a quick trip.  The kids always love riding in the tractors and picking up potatoes.

Carson's 1st day of Preschool

Carson has been waiting for his first day of preschool for over a year now!

He was so excited and kept asking if it was his day yet.
His teacher is Mrs. Draper
There are 20 kids in his class, and more are still being added (How did my boys end up in the large classes?)

I'll be volunteering in his classroom as often as possible, but when I'm not, it will be nice to have some girl time while the boys are both at school!

Cooper's first day of 1st grade!

I can't believe Cooper is old enough for 1st grade!

Last Tuesday was supposed to be Cooper's first day, but since we went with Randall on a work trip to Oregon, he missed the first two days and didn't start until Thursday, August 25th.

His teacher is Mrs. Goodman
He'll tell you he doesn't like school, but he really does. He's a quick learner and does really well in school.
He has a large class (I think there are 29 kids in his class! Compare that to the class underneath him- only 15 kids.)

They changed the bus routes this year, and I have to say- I don't really like them that much. Last year the bus came super early in the morning- 6:40 am. So, I just took Cooper to school every morning. Then he rode the bus home. He was the 2nd stop in the afternoon, so he was only on the bus for about 10 minutes.

Now, the bus comes at 7:20 am, but he rides a different but in the afternoon and doesn't get home until 5:10 pm! Crazy! So, I'm trying to get him up and ready so he can ride the bus in the mornings, but I'll probably end up driving him in on the days Carson has preschool. And there is no way I'm letting him ride the bus for that long in the afternoon, so I'll be picking him up from school as well. So, on days that Carson has preschool, this is what my day looks like:

7:55 am: Drop boys off at school
11:50 am: Pick Carson up from preschool
3:50 pm: Pick Cooper up from school

I don't know how I'm going to get anything done this school year!

A trip to Grandma's

While Randall was in China for work, the kids and I ventured over to stay with my mom and dad. The kids had fun playing with cousins and aunt Shalani, and it made the time pass quickly. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, because Randall took my little camera with him, and I forgot to take our other camera.

Some fun things we did while we were there:
Visited my friend Emily and her kids
Went to the zoo for cousin Abby's birthday
Played with all the Raymond cousins at Jera's house
Went to the Terreton fair parade and Abby's birthday party
Picked raspberries at Great-grandma Wilcox's house and met her "new pet"- 'Henny Penny'
Ok. I have to explain that last one. My grandma is 90 years old, and she looks amazing! She still gets out and about, takes care of her garden, etc. Anyway, a chicken randomly took up residence at her house. She says she doesn't like it 'cause it makes a mess in her garage, but she lets it follow her around the yard and calls for it, "Come here Henny Penny." It's pretty funny. She has been adamate that she doesn't want a dog or cat to keep her company, so everyone teases her that she has a pet chicken now.

While we were picking raspberries Cooper said, "Mom, these raspberries need to shave, because they have whiskers." I couldn't stop laughing!

Anyway, we had a fun week and I'm glad we were able to see so many of our family and friends during our visit!