A.M.

I thought it would be nice to have school off today, and not deal with the craziness of everything for Halloween ALL IN ONE DAY, but maybe I was wrong. First of all-since it is a Holiday, the kids expect mucho excitement, but it is hard to find entertainment that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, of which we haven't already done! So we started off our day (after my LATE morning run of course), with a request from Ame. She wanted a Halloween Breakfast! Well since Mom didn't really plan ahead for that one, I had to pull some tricks out of my hat (or the pantry). Luckily things always seem more appealing with food coloring and cookie cutters. So we had pumpin spiced & shaped french toast, cranberry/orange muffins (which I happen to have a mix of in the pantry), and witches brew (green colored apple juice). The kids were pleasantly suprised and happily filled! We have watched movies, played games, had a picnic & LONG playtime in the park and now are just waiting...for the anti-climatic (for me anyway) part of the whole day...Trick-OR-Treating!

But I am sure it will be ultra fun for the kids, and we will have lots of candy, pictures and memories... to remember this Halloween night!!

Halloween-Round 1

In our school district, the teachers get a "prep day" on

Halloween (lucky them), so today was the day of

celebration for all!

Here is Ame as an Indian Princess

(THANK YOU sooo much grandma and grandpa-

you couldn't have picked out a better costume)

Kaipo as Jengo Fett, from Star Wars
Ame got the special priviledge of being the
"teacher helper" today, which meant she got to
lead the class in their parade around the school.
The girl directly in front of Ame is dressed
in the costume most people imagined, when
AMe said she was an Indian Girl
(she finally had to start saying a girl from india,
but even then some still didn't know what she meant )
After their parade, they did all sorts of fun activities;
this one was making spider cookies
(Ame came home sad because she put her cookie in her
cubbie to save and someone ate it-HOW RUDE, huh)
They also did pumpkin bowling, musical chairs-but they
were tomb stones, races and a few different activities.
I stayed with Ame part of the time,
then raced over to Kaipo's pre-school
to help his teacher. When I got there they
were getting ready to
eat donuts on string w/no hands.
Ms. Michelle read fun Halloween stories,
and made witches brew.

Another fun game was pass the pumpkin,

while the music played, and who it stopped on

GOT A PRIZE.

I am so grateful I could be there with both of my kids,

on their day of extra fun!

Quinn didn't tell me he had given his class a take home test,

which meant he got to stay home today. That sure made the

juggle of today AND Ash, much easier!

**Thanks for the surprise honey**

Happy Halloween to All!

pictures and ducks

Tonight Ame's hula group met to take pictures.

Ame has had a stomach ache ALL day,

but she was a trooper and went to put on a smile anyway! They were told to wear their favorite costume, which

looks quite nice with the whole group(shows off all the costumes),

but I don't think looks quite as good in their small groups pics.

While we were waiting, we walked down to the river

and found ALL these ducks!

As soon as we got close they were swarming us-

I guess their way of begging for food

(too bad we didn't have any).

Ame got scared and ran away, but Kaipo is a boy of

NO FEAR!

pumpkin decorating

Instead of carving pumpkins this year we decided to paint them.

This may be another NEW tradition, because it is so much more

enjoyable for the kids! THEY can actually decorate the pumpkins.

The kids decided to have a witch and a pirate this year.

Kaipo gave the ideafor his, but mom and dad painted

the majority of the pirate,most of his painting is on the back.

On the other hand, Ame did paint most of hers.

They are saying, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, hence the wierd

expression on AMe's face!

The cute hanging pumpkin spider was made

by Kaipo at preschool.

Ame really wanted a hat for her witch,

so mom ran to the $$ store this morning a luckily found one.

Now they are complete and decorating the front porch,

awaiting all the trick-or-treater in just a few days!

another empty space

This girl is losing teeth all over her mouth, and is breaking the Tooth Fairies Bank! On our way home from Provo last night, Ame was like... this thing sure is wobbly. I think I'm gonna pull it out. I gave her a napkin for better ease to grip the tooth, and sure enough she pulled it right out! That was tooth #5. She still has one more loose tooth in her mouth. Who knows how soon SHE will pull that one out!

Color Me Mine

Ame's cousin Ella had her 7 year birthday party at a place called Color Me Mine, which is a paint-your-own ceramics studio. It was a very cool place, with unique pieces such as vases and cookie jars, platters and bowls, dolphins and fairies, dogs and cats, you name it. For the party, the girls had a choice between a mermaid or a fairy. They got to choose what colors they wanted to use and away they went. Ame chose a fairy. In a few days (after they have been baked) their masterpieces will be ready to be picked up. Quinn's sister, Haruko ,was very kind to let her daughter Ella invite all the girls from her 1st grade class, plus her cousins. This was one loud and crazy group! But what a great idea for a young girls birthday party.
And of course, HSM was the cake choice.

We sure love cousin Ella and think she is such a cutie!