Happy Halloween!

Tonight was our ward's Trunk or Treat party (actually there were two wards and a branch). It was a lot of fun and the kids really raked in the candy. Baylie got even more because each time someone gave her a candy, she'd ask "And one for my grandmother?"

I was shocked that Jalen left his headpiece on all night. We tried to work on his wolf howl, but the wolf sounded pretty much like a lion.

I know I'm biased, but my kids were freaking cute!

Halloween Preview

When my niece, Ashley, was about four years old, her mom made her this amazing Little Red Riding Hood costume. Ashley is now 16 and I finally have a little girl big enough to wear the costume. I think Baylie is the sixth girl to wear it, but it looks like new and is still my favorite costume of all time. Baylie is a Beautiful Little Red Riding Hood.

A friend of mine had a werewolf costume that she generously gave us (thanks, Sarah), so we cut out the scary face and made Jalen the Big Bad Wolf. He is the cutest little wolf I've ever seen.

David is going to be the woodsman and I will be the grandmother. I'm still undecided as to whether or not photos of that will get posted. I guess it will depend on how they turn out.

Hope you have a Happy Halloween!

Primary Program

In our church, once a year the children put on a program during the main Sunday meeting. I have been waiting a long time to have child of mine sing in the program. Technically Baylie is not old enough, but they let the nursery-aged children sing one of the songs. Baylie was so excited. She kept asking if it was her turn yet. She sang with great gusto. And me? Well, I cried. Like I said, I've been waiting a long time.

View From The Top

The University of South Carolina had a graduate student association activity for graduate students and their families. It was definitely not a BYU activity since there weren't very many people and not really anything for kids.

The best thing at the activity was a high ropes course. I am terrified of heights and even looking at this contraption made me feel sick to my stomach. David, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get up there. 

David is one of those people who can go years without working out and yet still have incredible strength and stamina. While other people got stuck about half way up and struggled the rest of the way, David zoomed up the entire 50 feet. (He's on the right in a red shirt.)

Then he zipped down where Jalen was anxious to greet him.

Jalen's favorite part of the activity was the Marble Slab ice cream (best part of the night). For some reason, I thought chocolate would be a good idea. I'm pretty sure both of our outfits are ruined.

He also made a new friend - who pretty much just wanted to share the chocolate ice cream.

Baylie spent most of her time on the sand volleyball court.

I think she has great potential.

Children's Museum

On the second Tuesday of every month from 5 to 8 p.m., our local children's museum - EdVenture - is only $1. We checked it out last night. I don't think I would ever want to pay full price for it. It's a little run down and smells more than a little funny. I'm also surprised at how some parents let their kids behave (some kids are mean!). That being said, the kids had a lot of fun and I survived.

EdVenture is home to the world's biggest kid. You can climb and explore and slide all over inside of him and learn about his body. Baylie was a little too scared to try it and I was afraid I'd lose Jalen in a large intestine or something. We'll wait and do that one with Daddy.

Baylie and Jalen's favorite part was the grocery shopping. Rather ironic since I usually leave them home when I shop because they're miserable the entire time we're in the store.

Jalen drove a tractor.

Baylie drove a fire engine.

She loved the outfit (not so much the fire fighter).

We grocery shopped some more (we went a total of four times!).

We explored our African roots (I put Jalen's tunic on backwards - I don't have any African roots).

The kids rode a camel. (Is it inappropriate to yell "Yee-Haw!" while riding a camel? I do have cowboy roots.)

They played musical hop scotch (this room would have been David's favorite had he been with us).

After the museum, we picked up David and went to the temple to celebrate the anniversary of Baylie's sealing day.

Did I mention that I love my kids? I do!

Pumpkin Carving

I always think pumpkin carving sounds like so much fun, but then when we actually get to the carving, I remember how gross the whole thing is. Fortunately, Baylie and her daddy think it's great.

This year we invited the missionaries to join us. They were very enthusiastic.

Jalen was mostly excited about the cheesecake that Elder Delai made for us. He ate his, half of Baylie's, parts of mine and then tried to beg some from Elder Thayne. Somehow I missed the shot of his extremely messy face or the one with his pleading look (I have to post a picture of that look sometime because it's hilarious.)

The missionaries loved their pumpkins (you can see Jalen's cheesecake here).

David and Baylie carved their pumpkin. I painted mine. I call it "Ode to Picasso." Jalen was too busy eating to bother with pumpkins.

I am NOT a fan of Extreme Couponing

I love to coupon shop. In fact, I just updated my blog post on Couponing 101. However, I am NOT a fan of extreme couponing. I was going to do a lengthy post on it, but I found an awesome blog that already addresses everything I wanted to say. So I'll just summarize and then link over to her blog.

• I don't think the store should owe you money. Just grab something that costs the same as your overage amount.

• Only buy what you can realistically use. I'm all for buying enough to have an emergency supply of food, but don't buy more than what you can use. Let other people have some as well. For example, I probably have 20 tubes of toothpaste in my cupboard right now. I got most of them for 25 cents or less. Even if they are available for free, I'm not going to be buying any for a while.

• If you get something for free, don't turn around and sell it to someone else.

I could go on, but instead, read this. At the end of her post, she lists some additional links that are also great.

People that abuse couponing, make me want to do this: