Halloween 2012

Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, so the kids got out of school at noon.  At 10:15 I went to help in Kate's class during her Halloween party.  Ty got to come too.

 

Then we went to Jack's class party at 11:00.  They did two readers theaters for the parents.  Jack got to be in both of them. 

After school, the kids had some friends over for a playdate.  It was a beautiful day, so they played outside all afternoon.

After dinner we went trick or treating around our neighborhood.  I forgot to take pictures.   We went trick or treating with another family and they were waiting for us to clean up dinner so we could go.  The kids got tons of candy from going around our neighborhood.  Their favorite things were the little windup animals that our next door neighbor, Brooke, bought just for them. 

Ty had so much candy halfway through our neighborhood that he stopped trick or treating and said that he didn't want to get too much candy.  I think his bucket was heavy. 

Downtown Trick or Treating

After Jack's cross country race we went downtown trick-or-treating.  We didn't stay long, only about ten minutes or so...for several reasons.

1. It was cold!  Ty was wearing shorts at the race (because he refused to wear pants) and he got really cold.  The kids bundled up to go trick-or-treating, but Ty was still shivering.
2. Our ward had their trunk or treat the previous weekend and so the kids had already had plenty of candy.
3. It was crowded.  We waited in line to get these nice flashing glasses from our dentist friend's table.

We decided to meet Dave at Smith's (Dave had been at work).  We bought stuff to make hot dog mummies and rented a movie and went home. 

I guess you can't really tell from the pictures what the kids were dressed up as because it was cold...Kate was a gymnast, Ty was a pirate (he'd only wear his pirate hat, but it got in the way of his glasses, so he took it off) and Jack was Ironman.

Junior Cross Country

The high school cross country team had a big meet and invited the elementary kids from the county to come run a one mile race.  Jack was one of the few kids from his school to run.  

 Jack and his friend Eddie (#63) and some of Eddie's friends from White Rock.

 They ran a one mile course around the golf course.  Jack's friend, Rocko, is #69.

The course had a few hills.

 Passing a girl.

 Almost to the finish.  He and #78 tried to race to the finish.  Jack passed him.

 Waiting at the finish line. 

Jack gave up going trick-or-treating at the hospital to run the race.  He can't wait to do it next year. 

Respectful Kids

I went to the school today to eat lunch with the kids.  They had told me that today was the awards ceremony at lunchtime.  I hadn't heard anything from their teachers about them getting awards.  I told the kids that I was only coming to eat with them and that they weren't getting awards.

However, both Kate and Jack got rewards for being respectful.  I'm glad I was there.  They were very surprised!  I loved hearing their peers tell them congratulations.  It's a big deal in elementary school.

In with the new...

Grandpa Judi came last Sunday (October 7th) to help us with our kitchen cabinet installation.  Monday was Columbus Day and so Dave and the kids were home from work and school, so they got started on the cabinet installation. 

The rest of the week Dave went into work early so he could come home early and work on the cabinets. 

Here's how our week went...

Monday -- they installed the bar base cabinets.  They had to do some plumbing work since the sink is right there.

Tuesday -- they finished installing the rest of the base cabinets.

Wednesday -- the countertop guys came and reinstalled our silestone cabinets.

Thursday -- they hooked up the sink, so no more washing dishes in the bathroom!  They installed some wall cabinets. 

Friday -- they moved the washer and dryer back into the laundry room.  I celebrated by washing six loads of laundry.  The previous Friday I washed two loads of laundry at my friend, Juli's house.  They installed more wall cabinets.  I picked up Marianne from the airport and brought her to our house.

Saturday -- They finished installing all the cabinets.  They hooked up the oven and pushed the fridge into its hole in the cabinets.  They hung up doors and put in drawers and shelves. 

 We still need to install handles and door stops on the cabinets. 

 And put up trim and tile the floor, etc. 

And install the laundry room cabinets.  Quite a few of the laundry room cabinets were damaged, so we have to wait until they deliver new ones. 

Thanks to Vaughn for all of his help!  The kids loved having Grandpa around all week.  He played with them lots!  After Marianne got here Kate spent the weekend snuggled up by her on the couch reading. 

Jack's Soccer Season

I didn't get any pictures of Jack playing with his team, since his last game was cancelled.  I'd been planning on taking pictures of the last game.  Oops! 

Luckily, at Kate's last game the other team didn't show up since it was cancelled at the last minute and her team didn't know it until later, so Kate's team played against their parents and siblings.  Jack loved playing with the big kids (and dads).

After Kate's game we went to Jack's team pizza party at the Coffee Booth.  Grandma and Grandpa Judi got to come with us too since they were staying with us.

Three of Jack's 13 teammates weren't at the party.  Jack had a great season.  He loved playing on a team with first and second graders.  He played hard!

Kate's Soccer Season

Kate played soccer this fall season.  Two of her best girlfriends, Annika and Sophi were on her team.  They had lots of fun playing together.  Their team was made up of 3rd and 4th graders.

Kate played hard and ran lots!

 Annika, Kate and Sophi

Pumpkin Fun Run 2012

Kate and Jack participated in their school's Fun Run.  It was Dave's Friday off, so he got to run with the kids.  Ty and I watched from the curb. 

Jack ran 7 laps (each lap around the school is about .6 or more miles).  Dave said he ran pretty much the whole way.

 Ty wanted to run with them...

 but then he stopped at the park...

 Ty ran two laps with Jack and Dad...

Kate did great too.  She ran 5 laps.  Her group didn't have as much time to run as Jack's did. 

Hole in the Floor

We had to repair some old water damage in our laundry room (from the roof leaking when the previous owners lived here), so Dave replaced a lot of the crumbling, rotten subfloor.  The boys loved helping Dad in the big hole.

Out with the Old...

Our original plan of just replacing the tile in the kitchen has led to replacing the cabinets too.  So, last weekend, we got rid of the old kitchen...

We had a stone company come on Friday and remove our silestone countertops, since we want to use them again.  Dave was flying home from Australia, so I got to make sure that it got done.  Our friend came over the night before and disconnected our kitchen sink so it was ready for the countertop removal. 

On Saturday, Dave forgot about jet lag and ripped out the old cabinets. We threw them in the back of the truck and took them to the dump. The cabinets were actually homemade (we assume by the first homeowner). They were over 35 years old and ready to be retired. 

Here's our current kitchen...(taken after the first visit from our drywall guy)

 I'm happy to have a working fridge and oven.

 The pantry side of our laundry room. 

The kitchen side of our laundry room (which looks a lot better after some work from Dave and the drywall guy -- we had some water damage from the previous owner's not taking care of a roof leak)

A few weekends ago Dave replaced our door that goes to the garage.  I didn't realize how much I hated the old nasty brown door. 

So, for now, we're doing the dishes in the bathroom, which isn't too bad if we use paper plates and bowls, so I don't have to wash so many dishes.

We had food in boxes stashed in different places in the house.  And most of our kitchen stuff is boxed in the kitchen. 

It works.  I miss the sink and the microwave the most, but it'll be worth it.

September Recap

September flew by and I didn't take hardly any pictures, so here's a little recap of what we did.

Soccer -- The kids have soccer almost every day, except Tuesday.  Jack has practice on Monday and Thursday and games on Friday.  Kate has practice on Wednesday and Thursday and games on either Friday or Saturday.  Every other week they have practice in White Rock, which makes for a long night. 

Piano -- I teach piano lessons mostly on Tuesdays.  I have 7 students that come on Tuesday and one that comes on Friday.  I've been teaching Jack and Kate too. 

Travel -- Dave went to Pittsburg on Sept 5 and 6th.  Then he was in Australia from Sept 20th through the 28th.  (He took pictures that I'll post sometime.)

Baby -- I've had doctor appointments and a follow up ultrasound from my 20 week ultrasound.  We couldn't get all the views of baby brother's heart at my 20 week ultrasound, so we did another one.  It was reconfirmed that it is a boy!  And he is super wiggly.  He had his hands and feet up by his face.

Bike Rodeo -- The kids got to stay after school on Wednesday the 19th and participate in the bike rodeo.  They ate a picnic lunch and then got to ride bikes around the big parking lot for an hour or so.  They loved it.

Primary Program -- the primary program was last Sunday, Sept 30th.  Both kids had short parts, but Jack overcame his shyness and memorized it and said it no problem. 

House Projects -- we tore all of our tile out in our kitchen, so I haven't had to mop for a month now.  I just sweep and use the shop vac on the subfloor every once in a while.

Teeth -- Jack and Kate both lost a tooth during September. I didn't get a picture of Kate's though.  Jack lost his other front top tooth (on Sept 3rd)

 Jack snapped this lovely picture of Ty and I on Sept 3rd, so I was 24 weeks along.

 Ty has been wanting to read every train book we can find at the library.