Ahsoka Halloween

The kids all wanted to dress up as Ahsoka characters for Halloween this year.  They have been watching the show with Bob. 

I haven't seen it but the kids and Bob told me to wear this and tell people I'm a night sister.  We had to be a little loose on the characters because I wasn't about to buy 8 costumes.  So some are more star wars and less Ahsoka, but everyone was relatively happy with their costumes.  Penelope and Scarlett took turns being Ahsoka.

We did both a ward trunk-or-treat and went trick-or-treating and now we are swimming in candy.  We also way over bought and have two giant bags that we didn't even pass out.  We heard our neighborhood was popular, for trick-or-treaters, and it was.  But we were expecting about twice as many kids.

The kids had a blast and saw some friends from school.  

A few of our neighbors went all out with the decorations and some were giving out full size candy bars.

We also carved pumpkins.

Beatrix got to wear her costume to preschool that day and they did a little parade.  I got a lot of comments about her Darth Vader costume.  I guess it is unusual for a little girl to want to be Darth Vader, but she really did want to.  As far as star wars goes I listed several options and she wanted Darth Vader.  Then when it was time to wear her costume to school I asked if she wanted to wear one of her princess dresses and she definitely did not.

I love Halloween, but I'm also glad it is over.  I don't know why but this year I was itching to get the decorations down and have the house look normal again.

Tucker's Cross Country

Just like the girls and track I forced Tucker to do cross country.  My friend is the coach and she always talks it up so much.  They started practice before school started and so I thought it would be so good to meet some friends before school.  Its is also good for him and will probably help with soccer, which is what Tucker really cares about.

Unlike track the cross country meet I went to was short.  I showed up, Tucker raced, and twenty-one minutes later we were done.  There was another race after that but Tucker's part was done.  It was nice.

The start:

Finish:

This was Tucker's first time running long distance and he improved a lot during the season.  He beat his personal record on each race.  He started out on the JV team but was able to work his way up the the varsity team.  They have championships this weekend and he is excited to go.

Penelope and Scarlett's Track Season

Penelope and Scarlett are finishing up their track season now.  It is their first time doing a middle school sport.  They have mixed feelings about it.  They did not want to sign up, but I made them.  In the past sports have really helped my kids make friends.  Sports also get them outside and are a great form of exercise.  Now that they are almost done the girls are both glad they did it.  Penelope is going to try out for soccer next and they are both talking about cross country in the spring.

Their running styles were very different.  Penelope is one of the shorter kids on the team but she runs so hard that she is on the faster end.  Penelope has been doing the 200 meter, the hurtles, the 200 meter relay and the javelin.  Scarlett is happy if she isn't last in her heat.  Scarlett has been doing the 100 meter and the javelin, and said she is only happy she did it because of her friends.

Penelope's 200 meeter:

Scarlett's 100 meter:

Track meets are long!  I had no idea.  I showed up to the first one expecting to hang out for like an hour.  It was about three hours later that we were sneaking out before all the events were completed.  Of course they have events during the beginning middle and end so leaving early doesn't usually happen for us.

I'm not sure if we will do track in the future.  I probably won't make them, especially if there is a different sport or club or something they would rather be involved in.

Braces

Tucker finally got braces.  I say finally because he really should have had them earlier.  We just couldn't commit to living in the same place for two years until now.  We need to hope and pray that his teeth respond well and he can get them off in a year and a half when he graduates!  He wants to go on a mission right after high school and the church asks for ortho work to be finished.  Right now he says he can't eat anything.  I remember that feeling.  

Point Defiance Zoo

On the holiday we went to the zoo!  The kids had summer passes from the library that let in one child and accompanying adult so I planned on using those.  When we got there the lady at the counter told me they expired the day before and it would cost us $175 to get in!!!!!  We could have totally gone two days earlier, but because I didn't check the date we were going to be out $175.  I seriously felt like crying.  Why are things so expensive?  Bob has a good job we should be able to afford to take our kids to the zoo.  

Now that we are back in the states and paying rent we are tight on money.  It was a blow, but jokes on them we decided to get the year membership.  The household year membership only cost $165.  So I guess we will be going to the zoo often this year.

Anyway, after we got inside I tried to forget about it and we actually had a pretty good time.  Astra the polar bear was pretty entertaining.

On a side note, I totally have the same hat and bag as Penelope and that sweater used to be mine, so it kept tripping me up because she looked like me.

Pumpkin Patch

Before I post about the pumpkin patch check out the leaves!  They are so pretty this time of the year.  I keep pointing out all the pretty trees to the kids.  They mostly think I'm crazy, except Scarlett who seems genuinely interested.  I love the fall leaves!

I'm not sure what these berries are but the bright purple was so pretty.

On to the pumpkin patch.  We went to a local one this year and it was cute and fun.  The older two thought it was a waste of time and made it known, over and over again.  But I tried to not let that ruin our fun.

Scarlett is always up for a picture.

They had a small corn maze and a few goats and chickens. 

We each picked out a goard to bring home and chose a few pumpkins together.  I wanted several different kinds so I can save the seeds and try to grow them.  We got a green, pink, and really muted orange pumpkin this year.   I'm also going to try to plant the seeds from the goards.  I have no idea what I'm doing though so I'm not sure any of them will grow.

The weather was perfect for fall.  The air has just a bit of crispness to it.  It was nice to spend the morning together outside.

Tucker's 16

Ok so I'm a little late, but we moved across the world and my camera was packed up for months.  Tucker has an appointment to get braces on so I thought I better hurry and get pictures of him at age 16 before braces.

I really wanted to push his hair down some for these pictures, and believe me I tried.  But it wouldn't stay down and Tucker was not interested in wetting it down.  He was not happy about taking pictures at all.  We were having a family game of Catan but I made him do this between turns.  

A little about Tucker at this age.  He is busy.  He rides his bike all around even though he now has his driving permit.  He takes himself to seminary then school then stays after for cross country. 

Tucker likes working on his audio production class and has been making music on the computer.  He is pretty responsible about getting all his schoolwork done on his own.  He is really into soccer.  Bob and I are encouraging him to think about career options and now he is saying he wants to be a pilot, or do something with digital animation.