OCTOBER

October is one of my favorite months...well, from October 1st until January 31st is my favorite month! There are birthdays and holidays galore and it all ends in the best celebration of all...my anniversary (cheesy, I know)! Fall colors, presents, cakes, sugar cookies, snow, and decorations...it just doesn't get any better!



November is almost over and I haven't posted any of October's excitement, so I decided to give it to you in one big lump...



It started off with Drew's 33rd bday!The boys and I had fun hiding his presents and making him solve clues to find them. He's a good sport.

Here is Michael's card to his dad.

Then came Michael's big day. My kids get pretty excited for birthdays. Michael made his teacher count down the days on the calendar in class everyday for 2 weeks. So he was a little bummed when October 22 came and we all woke up with fevers and sore throats.

We weren't about to let that ruin the day though...

We had birthday breakfast...cinnamon toast...birthday lunch...peanut butter and honey sandwiches... (Michael's taste is very gourmet) and then we headed to the park where we figured we could avoid the public and still party on!

We brought our rakes and made a huge pile of leaves (huge considering that we were all sick).

then took turns jumping in and getting buried.

About an hour into our adventure we were getting cold and tired so we piled into the van and headed home for birthday dinner (which may or may not have been mac and cheese) and then spider cupcakes and ice cream.

6 years with this smart, funny, creative, deeply thoughtful little man...I am blessed!

What would an October post be without Halloween? I know a lot of people won't agree, but THIS is one of my FAVORITE days of the year.

Here is Michael and some of his kindergarden buddies...

There was the most adorable schoolwide parade, but sadly my abilities in photography are somewhat lacking and nothing turned out. But I did get one of him with his teacher.

His class played this toilet paper mummy wrapping game that sounded like a great idea.... but quickly dissolved into a TP fight...

Halloween in Salt Lake REQUIRES a trip to Gardner Village to see the witches.

and pop into the candy shop...

I LIVE for moments like this.

I was too caught up in the moment to get any pics of trick-or-treating, but trust me, it was hilarious and adorable!

Almost all the cousins on the Goostrey side....

Did I mention I LOVE Halloween?!

Sun

I love Fall. All the colors and leaves and the start of all the great holidays...so much fun. But I will miss the sun and play of summer. Here are a few pics of one of our last summer outings. We had this random day at the end of Septemer that hit 90 degrees so we picked up Michael from school, swimsuits in hand, and headed for the park...

(Halloween pics to follow soon)

Belly Laughs!

October in Utah wouldn't be complete without a trip to Corn Belly's!

Another stroller shot!

Just me and the boys doin' what we do.

I think these corn husk guns were the boys favorite part.

After a while we headed for the corn "sandbox." It is this huge shed filled front to back with dry kernals. When we got there I saw this cute little family that looked like they stepped straight out of a GAP commercial just ahead of us. They had 3 little girls about the same age as my boys dressed in stripey tights and corderoy jumpers...all color coordinated. The mom took one look inside the shed and gasped, "Oh, girls...this is icky. You can't go in there! You'll need a BATH!"

I rolled my eyes, how dirty could they REALLY get?! Some moms...

Okay, maybe she was right! Oh well, they look like they had fun.

And of course, the corn maze...

In the DARK!!!

Look, we DO let John out of the stroller once in a while...

Good Times!

It BEGINS!!

It has been almost a month and a half since Michael started kindergarden. I am overwhelmed at how fast the time is flying by! That first day he was so excited. He picked out his coolest baseball shirt (influenced by his cousin Joey's love of the game) several days in advance. He woke up insanely early to ask if it was time to get ready yet...he goes to AFTERNOON kindergarden. He kept telling me all the new wonderful things he was going to learn. "Mommy, my teacher is going to teach us about spiders! I think we will learn how to build robots out of metal!" When I finally told him it was time to go he impatiently posed for a picture before racing to the van.

I was trying not to feel sad or sappy, but the closer we got the tighter my stomach felt. This was it, I was surrendering my innocent child up to the influences of the big bad world..(*ahem* I was a little over dramatic.) What if he got scared, or someone picked on him, or told him where babies REALLY come from? A few deep breaths later we arrived. Michael gave me a quick kiss and took off for the playground to make new friends.

Okay, this wasn't so bad. He had found a nice little boy to play with and I wasn't feeling sick anymore....THEN the bell rang...Kids were running in all directions. The kindergardeners were herded into a line by the door and told to wait for thier teacher to lead them in.

Michael stood there chewing on his backpack cords and looking at me with sad eyes. GULP!!

As the class filed in, Michael panicked and grabbed his teacher's sleeve. "I forgot to tell my mom something!" Mrs. Lund smiled and walked him over to me.

"Mommy, I love you." with tears rolling down his cheeks. He latched on to my leg and I ended up dragging him to class and leaving him in his teacher's arms crying "Mommy!" as I raced for the car.

3 hours of guilt and nausea later I picked up a very happy VERY talkative little boy. "...and we have our own cubbies, and we sang songs, and there is this boy that likes Wolverine..."

They grow up so fast!!!

Here are a few final pics from Matt and Sue's visit...
Michael and Joey were inseperable.

Duck duck goose anyone?

On your mark...Get set...

What a beauty...Such good genes in this family...WE need to have a girl!

The parental begging and dancing it took to get one decent shot here was pretty funny! But for one quick second nobody was running out of the picture or picking their nose or crying!