Happy Halloween!

All of this, plus Sweetie's bag, which weighs 6 pounds. (I need to put that in big writing and attach it to her bag whenever I'm tempted to steal candy from it.)

That would be the big finish to our Halloween 2012. Here's what happened along the way:

Sweetie and Mister both attended friends' Halloween parties. Mister broke his costume twice at his party. We went to our church's trunk or treat. (No pics, I was too busy holding all of the kids' winnings and costume parts.)

We carved pumpkins:




I helped in both of the kids' classes for their class parties. I agreed to do these for both classes (60 kids--I had some help, but I did most of the work and kicked myself the entire time. J shook his head at me and he had every right to. What comes over me when I'm at these party planning meetings?)

But I'm not the only crazy. Here's what another mom in Sweetie's class did with a meatball sandwich:

Mister and some of his friends, waiting for their turn in the school parade:

Sweetie, seeing how dry ice blows up bubbles as part of her class party:

And, the costumes! Our elephant, Mary Poppins, and Alien Abduction.

Jeff's Home!

The week before fall break, my nephew (and the kids' cousin) Jeff came home from his mission--the first cousin in the family to go. We were all so excited for him to come back and we were excited to see J's side of the family. They came and stayed with us for 5 fun-filled days. I managed to take a few pics in-between park outings, kickball challenges, meals together, hikes, swimming, soccer games, and so on.

Waiting anxiously

Here he comes!

The whole family together again.

Hiking the Hole in the Rock

It was 74 degrees this day--The water was WAY too cold to swim for me! 

 

All of the grandkids on J's side

Grandkids with grandparents

The entire clan!

We Are Now True Desert-Dwellers

Have I really not blogged for almost a month?! Well, time flies when you're . . . busy. And having fun. We've done both this month.

But this first catch-up post is not about fun times (despite the look on H's face). You see, after almost 8 years of living in the desert, we finally hit a major milestone:  we had our first scorpion sting. And the youngest, most-allergic person in the family suffered the scorpion's wrath:  H. The scorpion stung him on his knee while he was getting evaluated for speech at a local elementary school. Thankfully, H is also the toughest in the family, and after a 3-minute scream/cry session, he hardly mentioned it again except to complain a little 6 hours later (when the venom and pain reaches its height, according to Poison Control). Phew, hopefully we'll have no more encounters with the Dread of the Desert.