Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Revelry! PART ONE

Party Food!

Oh, my goodness! It has been a very busy, but fun (and exhausting!) week for our family.

Well, I guess the beginning of the week was not too bad. We spent most of Wednesday deep cleaning, in preparation for the homeschool classes at our house the next day. Then mutual happened later that night, and the seeds of our Halloween celebrations began to sprout...


There are now THREE people that attend the Teacher's Quorum activities in our family, because Russell was recently called as the Teachers' Adviser. They spent Wednesday night carving their entry for the ward pumpkin-carving contest, and then left it on our kitchen counter until the ward party on Saturday night. (I thought the mold that formed inside of it was a nice touch.*wink*)

Grayse, doing crafts in our Love of Learning class on Thursday. (Note her new haircut, which was provided by her older brother Ronan. *sigh*)
So, Thursday came with all it's wonderful fun and chaos. We LOVE having so many amazing homeschoolers in our home each week! While the big kids (ages 12 and older) attended Key of Liberty, Sword of Freedom, and Shakespeare class, the Core and Love of Learning kids (ages ranging from babies to eleven years old) created some adorable pumpkins out of fun foam, played games, colored with sidewalk chalk, and even had a water balloon fight!

Pumpkin Face Relay Race



Another big event that happened in our Renaissance classes on Thursday, was the big Gettysburg simulation for the Sword of Freedom class. Some of the students brought friends, and some of the younger kids (ages 9 and up) also got to join sides on either the North or the South, in this awesome experience! (I wish I had pictures to show of this!)

Brennan was the General for the North, and he and his Yankees barely licked the Johnny Rebs. Munitions consisted of water guns, squirt guns, and water balloons. Much carnage ensued!

Then in Shakespeare, we had a hilarious "Banter Battle" where we split into two groups to sling Shakespearean insults at one another. Later, we participated in an Elizabethan battle simulation as part of Brennan's presentation on "Elizabethan Weapons and Warfare."

Brennan demonstrating the inaccuracy of matchlock guns during the Elizabethan Age.


Team One making battle plans...


Team Two discussing strategy.

Team One is ready for action!

Duke giving out orders to his grunts and ammunition foragers.


Dressing Up for Maggie Party!!!


After collapsing Thursday evening, we spent Friday preparing for our Homeschooling Teen Benefit Party. We had a GREAT time!! In the end, we earned $109.80 for Maggie and her treatments. Below are some pictures of that awesome night!

Bonny as Juliet

Brennan as Scary Death

FOOD!!!

Yummy Food and Cute Kids!

We love these peoples!

Morganne as Hermione


Lliam as Link (Can you believe how tall this kid is?!)

Sisters Kimberly and Becky as Middle Earth Dwellers

Eric and Ruth-- Our great friends!


Cotton-Eye Joe!

Kick those heels, Preston!

Morganne is a pro at this dance!

 
I'm with my former student and dear friend, Kristina (ala' Midsummer Night's Dream)!!!

And here, with the lovely, talented, organized and wonderful Shauna! (Mom of Kimberly and Becky)

Funny Girls!

Whew! I'm sorry this is such a loooong post. I'll post more pictures of our holiday fun later.

(Ward party pictures, coming up in Part Two...)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Four Months Old!

Sweet Eryn
 Little Miss Eryn is now Four Months Old!


Nummy Fingers, Cute Hat


 She's showing us more of her personality every day. It's so fun!



She gets her cool hairdo from her great Grandpa Pike.


She is surrounded by lots of adoring fans every day.

Here she's being held by Dierdre, and admired by MacKenna.

Dierdre is on her list of admirers.


The camera always seems to surprise her.


"There's that flash of light again!"


She is not interested in pacifiers, or even in her thumb.


 Instead, she has opted for the two-finger approach.




We sure love this little sweetheart!
The eyes... the hair... the cheeks...!

Saturday, October 09, 2010

The Decorating Bug


I love making my home beautiful!

I'm not as focused on decorating my home as some other ladies I know, but I do still catch the decorating bug now and then. Usually, when the seasons change, or as my life and ideas change, I want to re-vamp one or more rooms.


 Right now, my dark living room is totally dragging me down, man! So I'm hoping to brighten things up a bit. I  replaced (well, okay-- my husband and big boys moved them!) my dark couches with the lighter ones that have been residing in my family room. I'm planning on making or buying a white slipcover for the smaller, darker loveseat, and I'm going to re-cover all the pillows on both couches.





I'm also going to take down my heavy, dark curtains, and replace them with white ones I'm going to make out of a battenberg lace bed skirt I have that no one is using.




 I took out the dark baskets and other accessories I've had in the room, but my black bookcases and dark piano will remain in the room. I think the black accents will still look nice with all the white I've got planned.




And, hopefully, our landlord will let us paint the room a very light yellow. But don't worry, I'll ASK before I do anything that drastic! ;-)

I'm so excited to share this process with you! I'll post more pictures as I change things.



Happy Autumn!!!