All Aboard!!!

My sister Mandy got me a great hook up on gingerbread train kits. It was such an awesome deal we were able to buy one per person. We always do a house together, but everybody has a different way of what they want things to look like, and they all want to be able to put the candy on, so this was SO awesome to let their own imaginations fly.

Tyler did so good, and he had enough patience to get his all decorated.



Trevor assembled his whole thing by himself. He of course had to pose for the picture :)



Dilan was really into it, but his kept falling over, and he eventually got bored waiting for it to harden enough to decorate. He is making quite the face too!



Bryson was having a bad day, and he really didn't seem that interested, but once he got going he loved it! He would tell his dad where he wanted the frosting, because he couldn't squeeze it out by himself, and then he would go to it. He couldn't wait to get it done, so he could eat it.



This last one is mine. I had helped with all the other boys, so by the time I got to mine I was kind of done with it, but I think it turned out okay :) Spencer didn't even do his, guess he kind of felt the same way. It was a fun activity with everybody though and it was nice to just let them have at it.

Gardner Elves!

I am so behind on this post, but better late than never!

We got invited to go to the elves with some friends. I had never been and letting the kids go play with friends is always fun :)

What is it with kids and ducks? It was cute watching them all look over this wall though.



The elves were very interesting looking, a little bizarre (on the creepy side)



Bryson trying to be a ladies man...ha ha ha




Dilan must love this thing, because this was his favorite for Halloween too



All the kids were just running around together, while we walked behind and talked. They missed this one, but all had to come running back to take a look and laughed so hard at this particular elf...it was so funny watching some of their faces trying to figure out what they were supposed to be looking at.



You can tell we were here early by looking at the sun rays, it was awesome! There wasn't any other people around, so the kids could just play together and have fun.



Trevor has been such a big helper lately. He pushed Tyler the whole time in the stroller. He is turning out to be an unbelievable kid, so glad he is mine :) and of course he had to pose!



It was a fun day, and a much needed. I was going to pass because I was trying to get us all packed for our trip, but I am SO glad I decided to go.

How lovely are your branches?

Tonight December 5, 2010 we finally got our tree up. It has been a super busy week, and Spencer working six days and sixty-six hours made for an even longer busier week. I would love to say Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are you branches! I am not sure this song applies to our tree. The boys were super excited to get it up, and they all helped this year, so it was up and done in record time.
Tyler was having so much fun adding on ornaments, but couldn't for some reason get them to stay on

Bryson was trying to hurry, because he wanted to put on the most

Trevor has been an awesome helper this year

Dilan had fun finding all his, and didn't want anybody else to hang them up

Kairi LOVED the tree. She kept crawling back to it no matter how many times we pulled her away.

Tyler had the least amount of ornaments to actually hang, so we decided he should put up the star...he was so excited, and Bryson was sooo mad :)

It was a little crooked....ha ha just a little!

The final product...notice the lack of ornaments towards the top...love it!

Bought these pajamas last year for $2. Tyler wore them for a little while, but I figured the best way to end the night was in Christmas pjs.

Trevor's Christmas program

How I wish I could put a video on here. The third grade classes at Trevor's school had a big Christmas program on Thursday December 2nd. It was one of the best programs I have seen in a long time. They had actions, props, and loud voices. They did this mash up of different snowman songs...it was AWESOME! Trevor was really proud of the performance and so was I. I did manage to video tape it despite being there alone with my five kids. My arms were exhausted after, but I really wanted Spencer to see it too. Here are a few pics I managed to get before it was over, blurry of course :)

Trevor picked this one as his favorite.

Happy Birthday Dilan!!!

Wow, six years sure have gone by fast! I still can remember Dilan being born, or really I can't remember much of that day after his birth..ha ha. Dilan has really grown up this last year. He is such a great kid and so much fun for our family. He is my sugar lover. Dilan confessed to licking the icing off the Halloween cupcakes, because "It was so YUMMY!" I love this kid though. He is a great big brother, and an excellent example to anybody watching him. He loves everybody and can make a friend anywhere. This year was a hard birthday, because I had region volleyball championship games on the night of his birthday. I was more than willing to pass the games for my little man, and I left this decision up to him. I sat him down and told him I had a volleyball game, but his birthday was far more important to me than any silly old game. I told him to decide if I should play or skip it. At about four that afternoon, he told me he really wanted me to play my game. What an awesome kid! I don't do a lot for myself, and this is one thing I really enjoy, so I was beyond grateful he was so loving and thoughtful towards me....who couldn't love him?

We took my mom with us to a Dairy Queen lunch....it was all about the blizzards this year :)

He got the at home Blizzard maker from us, with some itunes money for plants vs zombies and a few other games he has really been wanting. Then we took him to Incredible Pizza for dinner. He wanted to ride the go carts with Spencer, blurry picture, but I was holding two kids while taking this shot.

We had a family party for him on Sunday. We ate his choice of food.....hotdogs, chili, chips, pasta salad, cake and ice cream. He of course couldn't wait to open his gifts.






He wasn't too sure of this cake at first. He wanted a monster truck cake. I planned to make my own, but at 11 pm the night before the party, I knew I wouldn't have enough time, and I thought this cake was so nice. I bought the little monster trucks to go on it, but he wasn't happy at first when he saw the cake. He said "I didn't want a cupcake?" When he saw it was a cupcake cake, and Toy Story 3 and the little monster trucks, he couldn't have been happier (neither could I.)


It was "the best sixth birthday ever!" he told me later. Thanks for all the love and support from our families, a birthday he says he won't forget :)

Halloween Weekend!

Our Halloween weekend was so much fun. We really wanted to ride to a witch this year at Gardner Village, but we missed it again...DARN! We had fun looking around at the witches though, and Spencer hadn't ever seen them all, so it was fun walking around anyways.

They loved all the witches, especially the fire fighter.


Dilan liked all the dancing witches


Thought it was cute all of them watching the ducks, and of course quacking with them



I wanted a picture by the cornstalk, and I don't think this picture could be any cuter....I love my Tyler!


Trev wanted a picture by the hula hooping witch, and it wouldn't be a picture of Trevor unless it was posed....he cracks me up!


Bryson had to dance by his witch, and his fingers had to be in the picture, by this point he just wanted his picture taken!


Loved this picture of Kairi with the barely seen pumpkin in the back...ha ha

Despite missing the ride, we had a really fun night and plan to look at the calender next year, because this is strike two with us on missing the ride to a witch...BOOO!
Costumes were fun this year, because they really amazed me with their picks. Well, most of them amazed me, but they all turned out soooo cute!(except Trev's ha ha)


Dilan as "Captain America." I loved this costume, but was surprised he picked it, because I didn't even know he knew who this was.


Bryson as "Iron Man 2." He was the silver one, and he wanted this one specifically. He got the arm inceptor for his birthday, so it worked out great!


Tyler as a werewolf. He didn't want a costume at all. When we went to pick them out he said no to every single thing we held up, but he found a scooby doo costume that was $40 he liked, and I said ummmmm No. So, we had this and he didn't care when it came down to it, he just wanted to go with his brothers...and that worked for all of us :)


Kairi was a Butterfly Fairy. She is absolutely adorable, and it was so fun dressing up a girl this year.


Trev was "Scream"


He wasn't just any "Scream" but a "Bleeding Scream" I couldn't believe it when he picked this costume. He is finally growing up and out of the super heros and got so many compliments on this costume. He was so funny making all the older ladies grossed out with the blood. It was a really cool costume actually, and it was fun to have a really spooky costume for once.
Spencer took the boys Trick or Treating while Kairi and I passed out candy. Then we headed to our annual visit to our friend Charlotte's house. We always have so much fun here, because she has donuts, nachos, soup, chili, pop, tons of candy, and soooo many fun halloween things around. We stayed way too long and didn't get home till after mid-night! It has been a really fun weekend, and I have loved spending it with all my kiddo's, and the huz of course :)

Cupcakes?

So, I have really tried this year to have some real Halloween fun. I made Halloween cupcakes the other day. I even added applesauce instead of the oil making them healthier. I had them just sitting on the cooling rack on the counter for the kids to have after lunch. I walked up later to let Aspen out and found this....I could only laugh. How cute is this? I still have no idea what kid or kids have done it, and I don't want to ask, because I am afraid they will think they are in trouble. How can you get mad over a kid being a true natured, innocent, mischievous, sugar loving kid?

PUMPKINS!!!

To me Pumpkins are the root of Halloween. I know for my kids the dressing up and trick or treating is their favorite, but I love doing the pumpkins. We went to the same pumpkin patch we did last year, but it wasn't dark and cold, so we actually got to enjoy ourselves. The boys loved the free corn maze. I loved that Tyler could go by himself and feel so proud he found his way back out. We had a great ride on the tractor ride, which Trevor insisted was a haystack ride, loved it!

Our rule for picking out pumpkins is, if you can pick it up by yourself and carry it to the wheel barrow, you can have it.

The boys are super cute with this, because Bryson tried to get a bigger one, but couldn't carry it, so he said "Oh man, that one was way too heavy." Trevor always gets the biggest one he can and struggles to get it, but always somehow manages to get it up and in.


We got our pumpkins last week, but haven't had time to carve them until tonight. For obvious safety reason we use the knives, and most of the boys aren't strong enough for the safety cutters. We cut off the top and have the boys clean out the middles. They were pretending to sneeze out the goop, called it orange ghost poop, and acting like it was puke. I love how creative they were this year doing these pumpkins. We helped finish cleaning them out, let them draw what faces they want, and we cut out what they drew.



I love how cute they all turn out. It is so fun just letting them use their imagination and have fun. This years were some of my favorites :)



Dilan was so cute with his, and very impatient with the picture



Trevor of course had to pose with his, he is so funny!



Kairi's has the bottom tooth like her.



Tyler loved doing his this year, he was very proud!



Bryson wanted a Jack from The Nightmare before Christmas and I think his turned out so cute! He told us that is the pumpkin he always wanted...ha ha
Spencer and I actually dug out most of the seeds this year and will cook them up, yum! The boys can't believe that people eat the seeds, so hopefully they will actually try them. I am now more in a Halloween spirit and I am getting more excited with the boys. It is so fun with them getting older and loving to do these fun things, it was a really great fun family night!