Nice Pumpkin!

On Monday night we went to our friend's, the Barlow's for some Halloween fun! IT was quite the party with tons of kids and fun adults! There was a game room (Dance Revolution), a treat room, a movie room (Charlie Brown), and a pumpkin carving room (the garage!).

Rachel started the fun by grabbing a cookie and going to the game room to watch them dance!

I thought I would start carving the pumpkin (I love the guts!) and Jayden decided to join me.

After I got the top off, Rachel thought she'd check on me to see how I was doing. Then she proceeded to tell me what shapes to cut for the face, and then off to the movie room she went.

When she came back, I was done! What a great family effort: ha, ha!

Jayden had fun just roaming around the house. Every now and again she had to check on me to make sure I was still there, isn't she cute!

I just thought this was funny: some of the boys enjoyed carving more than the kids! Too bad Brett works swing shift, he couldn't be there. Actually he's not fond of carving pumpkins, weird, uh?

Carnival Fun!

Saturday night was our ward chili cook off and carnival. Rachel had a ton of fun, but she was definitely tired by the end of the night! I decided to have fun with Jayden while Brett took Rachel around to play all the games, so he took all the photos. Needless to say the majority of them were fuzzy and the ones posted aren't that good. I love ya honey, but next time, I'm taking the photos!

I made these for the cupcake walk, aren't they cute? Just ignore the watermelon tray:)

Jayden is our cute Daisy the cow (Rachel's costume when she was 1 year. I love having 2 girls!)

Rachel the Angel in the costume walk around the gym.

She won a cupcake and of course ate it right away!

Rachel bowling: Strike!

She went fishing and then had candy thrown over the sheet instead of on the rod (somebody was lazy!)

Brett and I always just dress in black and orange, I know so original right?

I had to add this last photo of Jayden the next morning before church: another Rachel hand me down, although this was her first time wearing it and it's already looking too small!!!!! Darn growing child!:):):)

Just a side note: Rachel really wanted to be princess Leia for Halloween, but there were no costumes, so we bought this angel costume thinking we could make it work, but after she got home and tried it on she wanted to be an angel, darn! Maybe next year she'll want to be Leia again, and then I can be Queen Amidala and Brett can be Anakan. Jayden can either be Yoda or an Ewok! I hope it happens!

Craven Farm

Off to the pumpkin patch with Rachel's preschool we go! We took the whole family of course: I was going to go to another pumpkin patch as well with the family, but I think one is good. We'll try another patch next year!

Rachel and Dad as we're waiting for everyone to show up Me and the precious angels: yes it was cold!!!! Everyone crowded around to meet the harvest witch I just thought this was cute of Rachel They have a small petting farm there and among the animals was this magnificent turkey! Rachel's Class posing with Cinderella in the background

Among the many pumpkin creations was this

and this: Punk-A-Hauntus

Rachel heading to the pumpkin patch to find herself the perfect pumpkin

Rachel and one of her best friends, Julia! They had such a blast! Last year it rained, so there wasn't much play time, but this year, we ran around for an hour! We then went home and drank some yummy caramel apple cider, don't ya just love fall? (or autumn as Rachel would say!) Our ward carnival and chili cook off is tomorrow night, so stay tuned for some more action packed posts...I guess I should find a costume for Rachel!!!

Let the Fun Begin!

Rachel was soooo lucky!! She was invited to her friend Naomi's birthday party, which was held at a beauty school! The girls received all the royal treatment!

Let's get started with a manicure!

Jayden, a little bored, roamed the salon and found her new favorite toy: the chair!

Rachel picks her hair style

Kailyn works her magic on Rachel The end result: beautiful! Now time for the make-up: this is a first for Rachel!

Here's some of the girls: there were 11!!!!!!

Rachel and the birthday girl. Thanks Naomi for the best night of Rachel's life!!

A whole lot of NOTHING!

My poor blog is probably feeling neglected! But the truth is , there is nothing fun or exciting to blog about! I've been trying to focus more on the family, so I've limited Rachel and I to one play date a week and the rest of the time is spent with family. She does swim lessons twice a week and preschool 3 times a week so I don't want to pile anymore on her schedule. I want my kids to be happy and content with the simple things in life. I don't want them to feel rushed in life; I want them to enjoy it. Now I know this will get a little trickier when I have 2 kids in swim lessons and so on, but for now it's working out great. Hence, the no posting. We've been hanging out at home playing games, doing puzzles, along with many art activities and playing outside. Rachel's new favorite pastime: watching Annie. Well, not the whole thing, just the singing and dancing parts. We both try and do all the dance moves; she's actually REALLY good! She even has me lift her so she can swing her legs from side to side. It's pretty cute! Do I get any cute pictures of these moments: NO! The last event I have pictures of on my camera are of Jayden reading and my brother Dylan's moving to California party. You're probably sick of Jayden photos, so here's my brothers going away party! blah, blah, blah!!

Rachel loves her Uncle Dylan: we miss you!

Jayden loves the helmet!

Rachel, Christiana (Dylan's wife), & Dylan

Christiana & Missy: a fun crowd!

A nice photo & a funny one: we're a crazy family!

Double solitaire anyone? We also played apples to apples and battles of the sexes! (of course the girls won!) We love games; just beware! at night we get super crazy!!!!

My little Fish!

Rachel absolutely loves swimming, or at least playing in the water! Here she is spinning off the diving board, one of her all time favorite activities at swim lessons! Sorry about the loud voice in the background, I was trying to keep Jayden from making noise, so instead you get to hear me:( Isn't Rachel fabulous!!?!

Green Lake - Finally!

Last week it was supposed to get to 80 degrees. I took the opportunity to go to Greenlake with the family (and the boy I watch: Jordan). It was overcast and not too warm, until we were about to leave! Needless to say we did not go to the wading pool. Rachel was a little bummed, but she loved the playground. We had a little snack and a fun jaunt back to the car. After Brett whining that his feet hurt we all relaxed in the car. I'm glad we went and we had tons of fun, but I was really hoping for the outdoor swimming experience one more time this year. Now fall is in tow and we're stuck with the indoor pools, which I am of course grateful for. Here's a few photos of our adventure (Rachel was getting tired and Brett is such a softie, so he carried her!).

Rachel is so proud that this summer she can FINALLY do monkey bars and rings by herself! (she could do them last summer, just not very well). Go Rachel!

I promise I was having a good time, Brett just took a bad photo! Jayden loved this slide and she was so happy that she could climb up there and slied down without mom's help. My girls are quite independent!

Here's my hottie and softie carrying Rachel to the car. Chewie was also so excited to go on an adventure with us. So many parks and trails are pet free, so it was nice to take him along!