Mmm...Hot Chocolate

I was taking pictures of hot chocolate for my food blog and Nick came over to see what was going on.  He had a little taste...

 And went back for more...

 and more (I wish this picture wasn't blurry because I love his little mouth)...

 and more!  Yum!

Halloween 2013

Halloween celebrations were spread out this year.  The kids got to dress up several times.  Kate was a clown (our neighbor gave us the clown costume that she made 20+ years ago for her kids).  Jack was a policeman.  Ty was a dinosaur (even though he is convinced that dinosaurs are real and is really scared of them).  Nick wore his lion costume a few times, but I guess I didn't take a picture of him.  His blue full body coat has ears on it, so I guess he was a bear too. 

Our ward trunk-or-treat was two weeks before Halloween, but I didn't take any pictures.   Then we went downtown trick-or-treating the weekend before Halloween. 

 

On Halloween day, the kids had parties at school.  Ty actually had a "Where the Wild Things Are" book party and got to wear his pajamas to school.  Nick and I got to go to Kate and Jack's parties for a little while.

 

After school we went to visit one of my favorite people, "Grandma Ruby" or Sister Mason.  I visit taught Ruby for a few years.  When the ward was split in June, the kids and I have tried to visit her often.  She reminds me a lot of my Grandma Cox.  She is from Aurora, UT and has lived in New Mexico 10+ years.  My kids love to visit her, play her piano pieces, play with her dog, Piper, and have a treat when it's time to leave (usually a Dum Dum sucker or two). 

After we visited Ruby, we went home and got ready for trick-or-treating.  Ty took a nap on the couch.  Kate did homework and then helped Jack and I make mummies out of little smokies and crescent roll dough.

When Dave got home we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Ty ended up in the double stroller with Nick after a little ways.  After a while Kate and Jack decided that they were cold and had enough candy, so we went home. 

Pumpkin Carving 2013

We carved pumpkins the night before Halloween.  Kate and Jack did a great job of carving their own.  We started carving kind of late in the evening, after Kate's swim practice, and they finished their pumpkins at 9:30. 



I helped Ty carve bats in his pumpkin.  It was my first attempt at carving something other than a jack-o-lantern face.  Ty loved it.

 Nick was "cheesing" it when I pulled out the camera.

 

 Ty and his bats..

Jack and his jack-o-lantern face... 

 Kate and her owl...

 

 

 

4th Annual Doughnut Making

We've been making doughnuts once a year around Halloween.  This was our fourth year.  I mixed up the doughnut dough and Kate and Jack helped with the rest.  They cut them out and laid them on the pan to rise.  Then after I fried them, they were in charge of their "dipping stations" and made sure the doughnuts were properly glazed. 

Thumbs up for doughnuts!

 Nick cheesing it!

Mmm...chocolate is my favorite.

 Or maybe vanilla...

 All gone!  Can't wait until next year to make more.

Cross Country Race 2013

Kate and Jack ran in the elementary school one mile race that was sponsored by the cross country team.  Jack ran in it last year and loved it, so Kate decided to run with him this year.

The race was on the day of downtown trick-or-treating, so the kids gave up going to trick-or-treat at the hospital so they could run.  Ty wore his dinosaur costume since it was cold and we were going trick-or-treating right after the race.

 Kate and her friend, Annika.

The start of the race.  Next year the kids will have to get a good place in the front.  They were in the back.

 The start!  I didn't get Kate in the picture...too many people!

 The race was around the golf course.  We ran back and forth so we could see them run a few times.

Kate...I cut off a bit of her body.  I was running to see Jack at the finish line. 

 Running to the finish!

 Kate running to the finish!

 Waiting at the end.

The kids did great!  Can't wait for next year.  Ty can run then!  

 

Nick at 10 Months

Nick is 10 months old! 

He's crawling all over the place.  He crawls normally on the carpet, but when he gets on the wood or tile he crawls with one leg straight, so his knee doesn't have to be on the ground. 

 He loves his glow-in-the-dark binkie.

 

He can wave and say, "ba" (bye...sometimes).  He can clap and loves it when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It". 

He didn't really roll over much until he started crawling.  If he was laying on his back, he would just lay there instead of trying to move. 

Nick loves to eat!  He grunts and clenches his fists and shakes his arms when he wants more food.  And he yells.  And he tries to grab my plate.  And he grabs my shirt and pulls on it when I'm not feeding him fast enough.  (This is Ty's "give me some food!" face.)

Bobcat Bolt 2013

Kate and Jack ran in the school's Bobcat Bolt fundraiser.  The running course was around the soccer field right next to the school.  It was bumpy and a little soggy from rain the night before, so Dave and I took turn running with the kids and staying with Ty and Nick in the stroller. 

Kate (in the maroon hoodie) ran 6 laps.  She did great!

Jack ran 7 laps.  I ran the last lap with him and had to run really fast to keep up with him.  He was passing his friends and running really fast to pass them.  He can run much faster than his mom! 

Jack's class won the coveted "Golden Sneaker" award for having the most laps out of the second grade classes. 

Jack's Fall Soccer Season

Jack played on a 1st/2nd grade soccer team.  His coach was Tony Hinojosa, who was Kate's P.E. teacher when she went to Mountain Elementary.  He didn't know many of the kids, but had a good season.

These pictures are from his last game when they played one of the teams with mostly kids that Jack knows from Barranca Elementary.   

 The last few games were pretty cold.  Ty took a few pictures of Nick bundled up in his bear suit.