Bippity boppity Boooo!

This will be a long post, but I'll jump in and do Halloween. With me off work we lived up Halloween big time. There are so many fun fall activities in Utah and we exploited most of them this year. I already mentioned Frightmares at Lagoon but we did go there 3 times to finish out our pass for the year. It was very fun having the pass but I am not sure we will do it again next year--sister will be an issue, plus it is expensive and we have a Seven Peaks pass for next summer already. Anyway, the last visit I got to hit my fav rides (since I was no longer pregnant or recovering from surgery) and it was awesome. The swings are my favorite. The boys had fun too--lots of trick or treating prizes and the ride lines weren't too bad at all. Sorry these are in reverse order! The first few were just me snapping shots of my cute-stuffs.Smiling girl, I swear she is the most smiley baby. Generally content unless she is hungry, over-tired, or bored. Lowell calls her his feel good baby because she can cheer him up anytime. We sure love her!

She is growing so darn fast too, I hate it!

The boys came up with this idea all on their own but I thought it was darn cute. They really are super good with her, they always want to be with her and try to get her to smile at them all the time. Claire in turn adores them too. I would think all the pestering would get annoying but she smiles for them more than anyone else.

Just heading off to church with my 3 cute kiddos

So I of course hit the after Halloween sales and stocked up on half price candy and deco and these little numbers. So, no this wasn't their official costumes but Optimus and bumblebee have joined our dress up collection. Carter is holding a little notebook they insisted on having for a few days. They just "wrote" and colored in it and wanted Lowell and I to draw things in it for them.

So Claire was our mini-M&M for Halloween this year. Yes I made the costumes--if you call cutting out felt and hot gluing it making them. I am not a seamstress but I liked this idea and thought I could do it myself and pretty cheaply and I am happy with how it turned out. Though we just threw the boys' costumes away because they were so trashed, but since they were so cheap it didn't hurt too bad.

For the record Lowell has a bag costume as well, I just don't have a pic of him in it. Unfortunately the weather turned yucky just as we were going out to trick or treat. We did 2 doors (only one who answered) and were so cold and wet we threw in the towel to go to the other grandma's house for her trunk or treat (indoors!).

My m&m brothers. They got a lot of positive comments on their costumes and even won the costume contest at my work! So fun--they used the gift card to buy remote control cars and Disney play phones, after about 2 hours in the mall wanting to buy everything they saw. Man it is hard to let them choose! Halloween was a 2 day event for us and very full. Friday afternoon we went to my mom's work (Noni juice) and went trick or treating there where grandma could show them off and the kids could rack up some candy. They had so much it was ridiculous. Before that they trick or treated with their preschool class at the high school and I couldn't believe how many treats they got there as well. Then we visited my work where they won and finally that night we went to our ward's trunk or treat and chili cook off. That worked out very well as the weather was much more cooperative that night.

We carved our pumpkins in the middle of all that too. This was a special kid carving kit and I think they did pretty well. They were good at scooping out the guts and Davis even slept with his pumpkin that night he liked it so much.

Here's Claire handing out the candy at the trunk or treat. We have such a wonderful ward who care for our busy little boys so much. It was fun to see them interact with all their "friends" adults and kids alike. They are just so social and outgoing--quite the popular little fellows (funny as Lowell and I just are not that way!).

Here are the cupcakes I brought, the black frosting was thicker than I wanted, but I still thought they turned out cute.

So the Thursday of Halloween week we took the boys to Cornbelly's. My parents took them after their birthdays as well, so this was their second visit. There was lots of fun things to do--2.5 hours later we had done most of them but still had to drag the kids out. It was just getting very chilly to have a tiny baby out.

Running through the corn maze--which we actually completed without cheating this year!

Posing for me, gotta love those boys!

Laughing on the hay train ride--it was super bumpy but little sister was loving it. We think maybe she will be Lowell's friend for roller coasters in the future. It really was a fun night.

Just chilling in her play gym, I love her expression. She does enjoy checking things out and is becoming more observant and playful all the time.

Sunday night we had dinner at my parent's house and had yummy soup (I made French onion and it turned out great--I loved it!). Then we made caramel apples, it is such a mess but in the end I am always happy. So yummy. Thanks to Cyndel who made them with me.

Close up of my little snoozing princess. The boys were already asleep, partially why she is resting so peacefully (they love her so much it's hard to let her rest!).

We also went to Cascade Springs the week before Halloween and caught a couple of great shots of the boys. Sis was chilling in her stroller. It was a nice drive as well, the aspens were a vibrant yellow--I really loved how many times Lowell let us drive up the canyon this fall. The boys usually fell asleep or zoned out watching a show and Lowell and I got to chat and admire the view. We love American Fork canyon. I picked the perfect spot for family pictures, went and got the clothes to go with it, and then it snowed and everything just looked dead after that.

I love love this pic, except that they are looking so grown up to me! They had their 5 year old appointment around this time as well and have finally topped 40 inches (a key height for many Disney rides). They were both 40 i nches and just under 40 lbs. Their eyesight was great and our ped (who I love) was not concerned with their ability to function in a classroom. We're still addressing some anger and behavior issues but he wasn't too concerned. And most surprising of all (to me) they did totally awesome with getting 4 shots each. We talked about it ahead of time and they grimaced for sure but no crying or fighting. They got some great ice cream after for a reward. Such grown up tough little boys. I still can't believe they are 5.

And Claire turned one month old. I can't even believe how much she has grown in comparison to the bunny and wait until you see the 2 month pic.

As I have mentioned this fall has been gorgeous. Moderate temps allowed for lots of outside time. My mom and I walked the gardens every Wednesday (her day off) while the boys were at preschool. It is such a lovely place and it was nice to talk to my mom with random questions/concerns I had about Claire. She chilled in her stroller sometimes and this time I took her in the wrap. She fell right to sleep and was quite content. I also took all 3 to the dollar movie (Despicable me--very cute, I recommend it) with Claire in the wrap and that worked out great. I had 2 free hands for little boys who had to pee 3 (!) times during the movie and then just shifted her to feed her in the theater. Thanks Sina for loaning it to me!

We picked our pumpkins at a cute little old man's field in Lehi again this year. The boys were thrilled with their choices and of course got one for Claire too (and Oma).

The boys were playing out back one day while Claire and I took a few pics. I sure loved the weather this fall (as we have a blizzard warning in effect as I write this, ugh!).

I love little hands and feet!

They had free Halloween Saturdays at the dino museum which the boys really got into. They are in a witch's house here and also got to visit with a great vampire, he was so good with the kids. They played games for prizes too. It was a fun event.

More shots of Claire on another visit to the garden, this was an evening visit with my mom and BJ's little guy Jonny. We threw her in the flowers and snapped away. :)

Lowell took the boys to Barnyard Boo at the farm as well (I was cleaning) and he said they had fun. He wasn't impressed (i.e. bored) but I think the boys enjoyed the little crafts they made and pumpkin bowling, etc.

I think that about covers all their Halloween activities this fall, it sure was a busy time, but you all know that I love it that way! Now we're looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and I'm looking forward to Black Friday! It's craziness but I LOVE a good sale and since I go out with my mom and sisters it really is just a fun time. Not looking forward to the cold though--it's supposed to be very chilly. Wish us luck! :)