Daniel's Halloween Party Pictures

What a fun Halloween party Daniel had! He invited a few neighborhood friends (Jade, we missed you!) to come over for some fun games and treats. We started out inside decorating goodie bags and making a small craft. Then we played musical pumpkins. I laid out pumpkin shapes on the floor with numbers on them. When the music stopped I called out a number and whoever had that number got a treat and sat down. We also did some stick puppet "finger plays" to some songs on the Wee Sing Halloween CD. A CD I highly recommend to anyone with young children. It also has recipes and craft ideas. Fun CD! I also read some Halloween picture books at the beginning and the end of the party. The kids had a great time! 

Decorating Goodie Bags.

Making a pumpkin craft.

                                                                

                 Making a spider web with black yarn and my help!                 

    They loved these silly glasses!

           

       Taking a break inside for a festive snack. 

 Back outside for a game of "Ghost, Ghost, Witch!" 

                          

        

 The kids were acting silly and laid down during the game! 

                

          Ghost Bowling.  

        

Cute decorated goody bags. The basket had the treats and toys they received after playing a game:)

 Relay Race

Darling five year olds all dressed up!

                                                                      

                                         

                                                                          

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Here is a Halloween Scavenger Hunt I made for my kids. When they are done they get a treat! (Probably homemade since they will be getting so much candy for Halloween:) We live in a very festive neighborhood and lots of people decorate. Some very elaborate! So we do this each year a day or so before Halloween to add to the season's fun. They are only allowed to choose one thing from each house until they run out of houses. Then they can go back, but none from our own house. I don't know how to post a PDF file here for you to download, but you can copy and paste this onto your computer if you want to use it. There is plenty of room for you to add more if you want. Have fun!

Baby Gerbils (Two Weeks Old)

Here are some pictures our seven baby gerbils at two weeks old. Their eyes are beginning to open and they dig and tunnel. They are moving around so fast now that Shadow sometimes has a hard time keeping them in the nest because they are so interested in exploring.  It's so cute. She's going through what I went through with new crawling babies! :) Whenever we reach in to feed them or hold them Shadow comes running and tries to climb up our arm and sometimes when she is up on her box/house she has jumped out onto the cage "next door" to hers. I think she needs a "break from the kids!"

The kids have been holding ALL the gerbils everyday to socialize them. They are doing such a good job being "mommies and daddies." This is really teaching them to be responsible--even if it's hard and they would rather do other things. Cookie, the daddy, needs a baby boy gerbil to move in. He just hides most of the time. He needs someone to play with! Poor little guy. Four more weeks!

 Baby Gerbils looking down into their nest/house

 In the little pet carrier. They're too wiggly 

to hold them all at the same time!

Cookie. we had to take his
house out in order to take a picture!

Random pictures of the kids taken recently

 Payson Canyon

 

Playing Tackle in the back yard

 Daniel my soccer champ. (picking grass!)

 Daniel learning to ride a bike. It took him about 

30 seconds to get it!

The boys at Spanish Fork Resivoir

Our baby gerbils

 Seven Gerbil pups 1 week old.

We shred tissue and put it in the cage. Gerbils will

shred it more and nest in it. Shadow keeps her pups

warm in it.

 Shadow (mama)

These little pups are sooo darling! We're smitten and love them so much. Their mama, Shadow, used to be a "boy." Then he got pregnant and became a girl! Now we have 7 pups and 4 adult gerbils, a leopard gecko, and a cat. Plus our kids. We have a zoo!! We hope to keep a male gerbil to be a companion to the daddy (Cookie) and a female to be a companion to Shadow. I will pay to have a Exotic Pet Vet sex them for us so we don't have to go through this again. I just hope we can place the rest in good homes. I can see why gerbils do better in pairs or groups. Poor Cookie. He's all alone and IS NOT acting the same as he used to. Just not as active and playful. It's really sad. At 6 weeks old we can start introducing a pup to him. Apparently Gerbils will fight to the death unless you introduce them slowly with a split cage method. They will forget their companions/litter mates after a day or two as well. 

The kids are excited to start holding the pups. Laura has been really good about caring for them and mama. We have a towel over half the aquarium to help reduce stress. Usually the dads are around to help and make good parents. Poor shadow is doing everything herself. You can't help but fall in love with them when you see how "family like" they are. It's neat and this has been a good experience for us so far.

Family Reunion

Now that it's back to school time I guess I better finish writing about Summer:)

We had so much fun playing with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins for two weeks in July/August. We hung out at Greg and Tina's house in Highland, went to an adults only dinner, grilled and played. Uncle Mark kept the teenagers entertained downstairs. It must have been fun because we could hear all the laughing. He also took them out for ice-cream. Some of the extended family went to Boondocks, we had a visit from Cousins Kirk and Michelle with a mini wedding party for them, and we all shared Grandma and Grandpa Cooper as they split their time between three families. The highlight was boating on Utah Lake. My kids LOVED it and we even got Daniel out on the raft. I liked that there was a swimming/picnic area for those who weren't on the boat. What a fun time and happy memories!

Marching Band at Greg and Tina's

Daniel, Bryce, Adam, Patrick

Grandma and Grandpa Cooper

Playing Apples to Apples with Uncle Mark

Heather, Ryan, Laura

We went much faster, I just didn't 

get any pictures of it!

Uncle Eric and Laura

Jake, Daniel, & cousin Adam

Jake and Daniel 

Summer Fun!

I love Summer! Grilling, swimming, water balloon fights, parades, family reunions, and lots of great memories created. We came home from England about a month and a half ago and "dove right in" to all the summer things we do. Pun intended! Laura signed up for swim team even though it was only for the second half of the season, Jacob signed up for diving and swim lessons, and Daniel signed up for his first swim lessons. We are also finishing up homeschool. Heather has all her classes, but is rapidly completing them and is getting straight A's. The others just have math and will be done in time before summer ends. (I hope!)

Daniel loved getting in the water everyday and playing the little games they play for preschool swim lessons. He did well and passed, but needs to work on getting his head ALL THE WAY under. He was just a bit timid with that. I should mention that he is reading now too. But we need to practice more. Things will calm down when school starts. That doesn't have anything to do with swim lessons, but I thought I would throw it in:)

Jacob did well and passed swim lessons. Diving is another story. It was challenging for him and he never really got it. The poor kid had a red tummy after each lesson. (belly flops!) He never wants to take it again. I want him to learn, but not if it lowers his confidence even more. He seemed happy during the lessons though. We'll see.

Laura has done really well with swim team. She hasn't placed in the top three yet, but considering her circumstances, she has done well. She came into the season midway through completely out of shape and she aged into a higher level and longer workouts. Normally she is playing softball when swim starts and has played basketball and soccer during the year. She hasn't mastered all the strokes yet though. She excels in the Freestyle and is improving with the Butterfly. She has a very strong upper body (Like the incredible hulk strong! She helped Scott move our furniture) and seems built for the Butterfly. She says she doesn't like it but I think she just doesn't like being told to do it by her coaches or whoever. Stubborn.  For the final county meet this week she is only planning on swimming the Freestyle. She has so much ability, natural strength, and talent. I hope she changes her mind as she matures. The main coach this year is all work no play. Not a good strategy when dealing with kids--even teens and the coaches are just high school grads themselves. Laura has become bored, but still likes to swim and plans on signing up next year. It's hard to take pictures of kids swimming, but here are a few. There are also some pictures of Jacob at Pack Night and having a water balloon fight.

Laura and Ryan all wet.

Jacob and some friends filling water balloons.

 Jacob in a flag ceremony at Pack Night.

Jake reading to Daniel.

All hot and sweaty after rough housing.

Daniel and his swim friends waiting on their# for their teacher.

Ring Around the Rosy.

 Jake practicing a dive. He did well when he knelt.

Laura diving in during a relay race.

 A different race.

Freestyle