Halloween

Halloween!!  My kids love Halloween, especially Lilly!  That girl loves all thing spooky!!  The kids have literally been counting down the days till Halloween!  I set up a Halloween calender on the wall with stickers on all the days with activities planned and Halloween was all decorated up.  Every night we would cross off the days counting down to Halloween!  The day before the big night we carved the pumpkins that we got from the pumpkin patch!  

I'm not sure why Lilly looks so sad but she did decorate her pumpkin all by herself!!

Matthew's getting very good at drawing pumpkin faces!

Rick being silly with his pumpkin

And little Jax with his first pumpkin!

Our spooky pumpkins all lit up!!

This year we had a Knight, a Princess (Sleeping Beauty) and a Dragon!!  Both Matthew and Lilly picked their costumes out again this year, they just happened to fit together nicely in a theme!!  Jackson wore the same costume Matthew wore on his first Halloween. 

Lilly begged and begged me to put make-up on her, so I told her I would for Halloween.  She was sooo excited!!

Sir Mattamus

Early in the day on Halloween my mom and I took the kids to the Mall to go trick'or'treating!  Then we went back to Grandma's to rest, have some dinner and wait for Daddy to get home so we could go trick'or'treating for real!  As soon as Rick got off work we headed out!  After 5 blocks Lilly decided she was done, I think Matt would have continued on all night if he could!  We headed home after 2 more blocks and sorted the kids candy.  Then like the best parents we allowed them to go on a candy binge.  

Now that Halloween is over bring on the Holidays!!  

Last Soccer Game and Skating

We did it, we made it to the end of the Soccer season and we didn't give up!!  Matthew was so excited about his very first trophy!!  It is very special to him, it currently sits on the shelf next to his bed with his other prized possessions!   

As soon as Matthew's soccer game was over we headed to Rollerama for the a Birthday Party!  The kid's cousin Jonathan turned 8!!  Happy birthday Jonathan!!  Matthew and Lilly had never been skating before so they were very excited to try!  Lilly took to it right away, Matthew had a bit of a rocky start but he soon had a handle on it!  I think they would have skated till they fell asleep!!  We will have to go back soon!

I don't always get pictures of Jackson when we are out but here is he is in all his cuteness!

We also attended the ward Halloween party the night before but all my pictures turned out blurry.  The kids did have a great time though!! 

Fall

I love fall!  It's the gateway to the best time of year!  Fall brings with it the magic and promise of all the fun that will soon follow!!  (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!)  Not to mention the coming reprieve from the heat!!  This year we packed in a lot of fun fall activities!  Apple picking, the fair, and the pumpkin patch to name a few!  Traveling to Tehachapi to pick apples has been a long time family tradition for as long as I can remember, and it is something my children now look forward to with excited anticipation!  This year we went with our friends the Minors.  We had a lot of fun picking apples, then headed over to the park for a picnic lunch!!  The kids love our annual apple picking trip!!

We also attended the fair somewhere in the craziness that was fall, but I guess I didn't get any pictures...since I had Jackson I feel like I have slacked a little on the picture taking, but in my defense I am grossly outnumbered when I take the kids places by myself! 

Another fall favorite is Grandpa's birthday and our newest tradition, our newest tradition.  Our Stachetober pictures!!

This year our whole family went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch with families from Matthew's school!!  We went to Murray Family Farms and enjoyed their October fest!!  We road the hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick our 5 little pumpkins!! 

Then we hit the butterfly house, where Rick caught butterflies for the kids to hold.  Then we navigated the corn fields!

By far the kids favorite was the giant jumping pillow!

So far our fall has been great!!

Our Little Princess is Growing Up!

Lilly has turned 3!!  Where did my baby girl go?!  Time is just flying by and I wish it would stop!!  She is such a sweet little girl, most of the time.  This year has been all about My Little Pony for Lilly, so it came as no surprise to me when she requested a Pony birthday!  This year we decided to have her party at Pump It Up, and we loved it!  There was little to no planing, 0 prep on our part just show up and enjoy!  The kids all seemed to have a great time, Lilly had a huge grin on her face the whole time!  

Matthew loved it so much he has requested to have his next birthday there!

Lilly had a truly perfect day!!  She loved her party and playing with her friends!!  The below picture is of her just after she fell asleep that night, the picture says it all!  The perfect end to her special day, and in Lilly's words "Best Day Ever"!!!

A few things about Lilly:

As I mentioned she LOVES My Little Pony!

Her favorite ponies are Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie

Her favorite color is pink

She loves chicken nuggets

Her best friends are Amy and Matthew

She is still very much a Daddies girl, and he lets her get away with everything, and we love this sweet sweet girl sooooo much!

Kindergarten and Soccer

                    

It has happened, our baby boy has grown into a stinkin' cute young man!  This year Matthew started Kindergarten and Soccer!  He has been excitedly waiting for the end of summer so that he could start both!  Soccer has been a little rocky for Matt considering everyone on his team is nearly a year older than he is and they have all played before, but Matthew gives it his best and everyone is very patient with him.   

Kindergarten has been a fairly smooth transition for Matthew.   He's enrolled at Valley Oaks Charter School.  Their program allows Matthew to work at his own speed and he is able to take some amazing extra curricular activities!  He has already worked through half of his Math book, which was his curriculum for the entire year!  He is reading and writing all on his own!  This programs seems to be perfect for him!  We are so blessed to have access to Valley Oaks!

They even allow miss Lilly to participate in some of the extra curricular activities, and they both love the social aspect of going and enter acting with the other children!  

And of course little Jackson gets to tag along as well, the program is VERY family friendly, we absolutely love it!!