Best Halloween Party

The Boyer's had a Halloween party on Saturday and it was fantastic. I could not possibly include everything that was there in this post. There would be hundreds of pictures to see all of the detail and enjoyment that went into this party! But most of all, we loved just hanging out with everybody!

I quickly got a picture of us before the party started. Can you guess what we are? Ben and I got creative with what we had because we are slackers. Katelyn is Dorothy and proud of it. Troy is Iron Man. Liam is Captain America. And obviously Ben and I are Russian ballet dancers. Props to Ben for wearing that costume when it is hot outside.  

Michael and Troy before they consume their donuts.

Katelyn was scared to death of the creepy guy in the front that removes his head and then puts it back on (electric.) But then decided to watch him over and over for 20 minutes with Liam. I'm not sure it was wise...

Liam took his costume off pretty quickly because he was too hot. He didn't like the idea of not using his hands either. Ben and I did the donut contest as well. He ate his faster but then it fell off... so I won. ;)

Katelyn has a big fan and is starting to love her back. A lot. Especially when she gives her donuts. (Alex)

They had a ghost pinata. Their family was all dressed up as ghostbusters. I should have gotten pictures of the other families. I loved their costumes. One couple was Skully and Mike from Monsters inc. She is pregnant, so she put a big eye on her belly. Hahahaha.

I didn't get a picture of all of the food, but here is a really bad angle of some of it! Oh it was so good.

That's ALL chocolate.... And I don't even have the jello "shots" pictured. 

I wish you could read these labels. I spent so much time just enjoying all of the decorations!

Happy Halloween!

Preschool

I have been loving Liam's preschool group. Kate, Ava, and Liam. 

After all of the crafts, coloring, worksheets, and snacks, we go outside. I LOVE having a yard! And so do these kids. They love to race.

We follow a pretty simple schedule. Books, letter worksheet, color find, craft, and lots of playing. Snacks of course and more worksheets/ crafts. We've been using the lesson plans from star-brite. I supplement a little, but it is so nice to have all of the materials already. Way less preparation than I had with Troy. I might try mother-goose lesson plans next time and see how they compare. I've heard great things about that one.

Liam looks forward to preschool and feels like he has something to talk about when Troy talks about kindergarten. Today he talked about the pumpkin cookies they had at Kate's house and how they wrote the letter s "like a ssssnake." I love that he is learning of course, but mostly I am glad he is enjoying being with the other kids. They have become good little friends.

Grandma and Brayden came to visit!

We had SO much fun with mom/Grandma and Brayden. We filled our weekend with fun and being together nonstop. 

I can't remember which morning Grandma gave the surprise costumes but it was one of Troy's favorite moments!

They wear them anytime they are home. Troy wears his as pajamas. Liam gets too hot. We are very excited for Halloween!

Katelyn loved her shoes. No surprise there. 

We went to the beach the first day. We took a fairy over to an area Ben went with the scouts. 

I can still feel the sun and breeze. It was so relaxing. 

Brayden with Katelyn. SO adorable. 

At night we talked, ate, watched movies and played games. I loved having a little vaca with Ben home. He chased Katelyn all over ;)

We ate at Brio (while the kids were being babysat) and some Mongolian place that the kids reminded us why we don't take them with us. 

But we got smiling pictures!

It's taking everything in me not to make a countdown to when we go home for Christmas. It was a little piece of heaven having our wonderful family here. 

FHE, Flies and Grapes

We had a wonderful family night on Monday. We made a family shield. Troy got very into it because he loves the shield that captain America has. I've been needing to put more thought into our FHE lessons, so that our boys would be better at listening. Elder Scott's talk gave me a push. Troy talked about the family shield in his prayers that night. Love that boy. Our neighbors, the Boyer's, made us the cute Halloween plate above the shield! 

We have had over 100 flies in our house the last two days. I'm serious. And that's gross. At first we just killed them one by one because we didn't know how many there were. After an hour we had killed around 40-50. We got a little too into it..

The next morning I discovered a bunch more on the lining of our windows. Auh! Get out of our house! I got wise and got the insecticide. 

This was one spray on one small window. 

Needless to say, I spent the morning cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning. Then we sprayed all the windows. I still see one every now and then, but I'm pretty good at killing them on the spot with a rag. I guess I got a lot of practice! I'm SO done with bugs. Katelyn got 9 mosquito bites outside that made her eyes and arm swell. I've just got to get better at prevention!

But let's end on a happy/funny note. Katelyn was so sad that we wouldn't give her more grapes. She has 5 in her mouth. 

Oh my goodness, is it bad that I can't stop laughing at this picture?

Letters and Legos

Grandma Jana sent us a letter!

It had stickers!!!

Troy promptly put all of them on his head and arms. 

Liam just liked looking at them. (Since I told him he couldn't put them on the walls. )

 

Thanks Grandma Jana!! We LOVED the letter and surprise!

Physics has been hard on Liam lately. I've been trying to teach him about making a sturdy foundation when he's building with blocks or legos. Not in those words of course. Me: "Make the bottom wider." Liam: "No! You don't build it like that!" 

Me: "It will keep falling if you don't put more on the bottom."

Liam disagrees, walks away, and then eventually comes back. 

"Okay, I'll try it."

Quick! Grab a pic while he is succeeding!

It quickly broke. But he's improving! And learning to try again and not give up. Hopefully. 

Love these Lego loving boys. I know what they want for Christmas. Real legos. Then daddy will have time to teach them all about foundations. ;) (I never used to use that word)