Ward Halloween Party

 Every year our ward puts on a neighborhood Halloween Party. I'm sure you've seen it every year for the last 4 years on our blog! I always look forward to this and this year it kicked off our halloween celebrations.

 

They had several bounce slides

 

And new this year they had a little bounce house just for 3 and under. Kenzington had no idea what to do in there but she enjoyed it none the less.

 

As always the hay ride through the neighborhood was a must and they did a wonderful job decorating it.

 

 

Kenzington's first time really trick or treating (I'm very anti babies getting candy from strangers, when they can't walk, let alone eat solid food). But this year she wasted no time getting to the goods.

 

And of course gotta be fair so this is the only pic of that night of Axton trick or treating with his cousins.

 

Things I didn't get pictures off include the barrel ride, donut eating (I will admit I had a handful of so myself!), face painting, haunted house (which Kenzington barely cried in, yep we're awesome parents like that), and a few other goodies like cotton candy, popcorn, etc. Needless to say when we got home around 9 my kids were wired, thank heavens it was Saturday night and church isn't until noon! Can't wait for next year.

Vertuccio Farms

 

Every year we have managed to go to Vertuccio Farms in October to start off the holiday festivities. We were going to skip it this year because it's a little spendy but then Brad and Ashley called us and asked if we want to join them and Kim's family for Family Home Evening there. We usually go on a Saturday morning so it was a nice change to do it on Monday night, the only downside is that my camera doesn't like the dark, we need a better flash for it. So here are a few pics to show that we were there.

 

Daniela, Brooklynn, and Vanessa

 

 

Followed by Talia, Greg and kenzington, and JJ.

 



 

Bringing up the rear was Axton, Ashley, Brad and Charlotte, and Kim. I was already super sick thanks to this baby so I opted to try to take pics and socialize with a few families from our ward that were there.

 

Axton is finally tall enough to pedal the cars by himself!

 

Their little bounce mat thing. The only decent pic I got because it was too dark so all the rest are blurry. Kenzington wasn't sure what to think of it, but all the cousins had fun bouncing each other. Sad that once again I couldn't get in on the action.  

 

Axton showing off his muscles!

 

We also did the corn maze and Greg thoroughly enjoyed it thanks to Ashley! He loves to scare people, especially when they react, and boy does she! We love her and her screams! We had fun and I'm sure we'll do it again next year!

Fair

 

Story of my life, I am once again playing catch up on this stinking blog! How am I ever going to manage it when the next baby comes? Hats off to those that stay on top of it! But I am loving some of the new changes blogger has installed like the fact that I can actually see my pictures now, no more guessing which one is which! And now they download relatively fast so maybe I will start doing this more! Downside I hate the new templates when trying to make my blog all cute. I actually locked myself out of my blog for a while because I erased the top bar, so I couldn't log in, I couldn't update posts, I couldn't do nothing! I finally found a way in through my moms and fixed it. So now to catch up.

 

At the beginning of Oct, AZ had their state fair. We had never been and decided that since it was $1 entrance on opening day before 5 or whatever we would head on over and check it out. I am realizing that I used to love fairs, not so much anymore, probably because the frugal side of me comes out and I now understand why parents dread them, they are money suckers! But the kids enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

 

First stop was "The Barn". The kids loved looking at all the animals and the petting area. Kenz wasn't afraid of the rabbits at all, but she has no idea what the word "soft" means, those poor bunnies!

 

 

 

She even tried to feed the goats, but they were a bit aggressive and she didn't stand a chance. Even Axton lost his cup of food the second they walked through the door to this same goat. He snatch it right out of his hand before he even knew what was happening.

 

The highlight for me was the kangaroo and joey. I had never seen one up close.

 

They had a reptile guy come and do shows, which we enjoyed. I was amazed at how long it lasted. I thought it would be a 10-15 minute thing, but it was closer to an hour. He does birthday parties too, so we might just splurge and have him come one year. He had all sorts of snakes, lizards, etc. Some of them cost upwards of $60,000! Now that is love.

 

After the animals Axton wanted to ride a few rides. Maybe the reason I don't like fairs anymore is because the last few times we have gone I haven't been able to ride anything, thanks to being a pregosaur. Maybe when the kdi are older I'll get to ride all the rides with them while Greg and his weak stomach sit and pig out, or play carnival games. But for now Greg gets to do the honors and first up was the giant slide. Which they kept going on so Axton only got to do one other ride. 

 

The airplanes.

 

Greg played carnival games, which to me are a complete waste of money but he enjoys them. I got the worst parent award because we forgot to strap Kenzington in the stroller and so needless to say she decided that night would be a good time to try to climb out. She ended up head diving onto the concrete, and ended up with a nice goose egg and scratches. She is definitely tough though and was over it in a few minutes. Needless to say she gets strapped in all the time now!

 

The one thing that is still true to my growing up, and maybe redneckness, is that I couldn't miss the chance to watch the cars race! They were doing the figure 8 race which I had never seen before and I enjoyed it, probably more than anyone else. Axton got bored after a while so we left about half way through, darn children. I didn't take any pics because I was enjoying it too much, and eating all of our fried food gloriousness.

 

 

Ok maybe I do still enjoy the fair, just have to expect it to cost a ton and plan for it next time, and not be pregnant. 

UNREAL Candy

The latest campaign I have been doing through bzzagent.com is a free trial of UNREAL Candy.



To see their website you can visit them here.

The basics of their products are:
No artificials
No hydrogenateds
No corn syrups
No preservatives
No GMOs

So far they have "knock off" candy bars of Snickers, Milky Way, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Plain M&Ms, and Peanut M&Ms.

If you are looking for a "healthier" kind of candy bar this might be right up your alley. So far my family has tried the Snickers, Reeses, and peanut M&M versions. My husband didn't like any of them, my 5 year old loved all of them, and I was somewhere in the middle. I definitely felt like they were lacking some sweetness, and the chocolate had a funky aftertaste in my opinion. The peanut m&m ones were lacking the sweet & salty aspect, they just seemed bland. The snickers version was my favorite, and I couldn't stand the Reeses version, one bite was all I could handle. They just didn't hit the spot for me, although I didn't think they were terrible (for the most part). To me I'd rather buy the real deal (which is cheaper than these ones and more ready accessable). I don't expect candy bars to be healthy for me, I want them to taste delicious since they are a rare treat! But I can see why health nuts would prefer these. And as a mother it is tempting to buy these instead so I can feel like my kids are getting a "healthier" treat.

But don't take my opinion for it, try it yourself and let me know what you think. I have B1G1 coupons if anyone is interested. I found them easily at CVS and Walgreens.

Axton turned 5!

Look at me being on top of things! Well at least if my computer cooperates!

Yesterday was Axton's b-day. I thought I had bought everything we needed to decorate the house and his cake on Saturday. Alas I was sadly mistaken! So the house wasn't decorated when he woke up like I had planned but he seemed to not even notice. We went to the store and bought what I was missing. Then he helped me mix the cake right before preschool and while he was off I got busy.

He came home to find his closet all decorated, and he has asked if we can keep it up forever! They are so easy to please at this age.

Since his big present this year was going to Disneyland we avoided a "friend" party for one more year! So we decided to have cousins who live here come over for cake. He requested a dinosaur one, and when he saw a picture of one with a hat his had to have one too.

Why do kids always enjoy licking off the bottom of the candles!

Apparently they couldn't wait to dig in!

Finally getting to enjoy what they had come for!

Axton was so excited to open his presents and his cousins were more than happy to help out with that! Thanks Aunt Ashley and Uncle Brad for the awesome "Cars" assortment of goodies!

Aunt Kim and Uncle Josh got him craft stuff. Finally a place for his markers, crayons, pencils, papers, etc, to be contained all in one place! He begged to sleep with it, but I knew he would be too tempted to open it up and start cutting and gluing things!

And although I think my mom was having serious doubts about the present we picked out from her, I must say I think it was his favorite! He got a fishing pole, complete with lures and hooks! He is already asking when we are going camping again (since he thinks you have to camp to fish). We'll be in trouble when he discovers he can fish next to his cousins house!

Since we took him to Disneyland for his major present, we got him two movies, and this awesome helicopter!

I bought it a year ago after he played with a friends, but we decided to hold onto it until he was either old enough, or until we were out of ideas/didn't want to spend money, etc! So after a spendy trip I decided now was the time! He has been flying it almost none stop and has almost perfected it. We were nervous at first because he kept crashing it, but Dad is going to be surprised when he gets home at how good Axton has become. He can land it softly, and make it go different directions with minimal crashing. He even managed to land it on the couch successfully.

Overall I think he had a great 5th birthday and I enjoyed it because all I really had to do was clean my house and bake a cake. Next year could be interesting when we finally do a "friends" party. He kept saying all day that, "this is the best birthday ever!" Oh please stay so easy!

HAIR!

While we were at Disneyland I kept seeing babies with their hair up in side pony tails and I kept think, "Kenzington's is that long!" So I finally bought the elastic bands and comb and decided to try it out today. It was almost a success.

She didn't like me doing it and so I have to find some way to distract her. She just might have to have a treat every morning while I do it! Plus her hair is still really thin and spotty up front, but at least I know I can start messing with it. Time to make more bows!

Of course Axton couldn't be left out, so here is his new hair do as of last night!

He has school pics today so I decided it was the perfect time to cut it. Unfortunately I cut it a little too short to spike it, so hopefully a little gel will make it look like its at least combed. I think I am finally getting the hang of cutting his hair and blending it. This one only took about 10 mins, and I only screwed up the very back because he kept wiggling. Maybe perfection will come in a year when he can sit still. He always complains he is itchy, so maybe I'll remember next time to wrap a towel around him!

Now if only my hair would grow out again!

Well after a second ultrasound, it is officially another girl! I am warming up to the idea, but I will admit I really thought it was a boy. So much for my instincts! It will be nice for Kenz to have a sister so close in age, not mention 6 of the 10 girls on the Leavitt side will be less than 2 years apart in age! I am getting excited, and she will be here before we know it. Now to pick a name.