Hunger Games, Finished

I finally finished this series!

Loved it!

The third one was a little bit harder for me to get through, but I ended up really enjoying it, kind of a sad story. I felt bad for Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Well, actually I felt bad for everyone but especially those three. Overall a great read!

Annual Witches Weekend

I know, I know I'm a little late on my October posts. But, how can I not post all the fun times we had?! We started off our annual witches weekend by waking my MIL up with silly string. We celebrated her 60th birthday along with all of our "witchy" activities. We had something fun for her every 60 minutes throughout the day. It was a lot of fun surprising her with flowers, balloons, gifts, and memories. Happy Birthday!

We had a big group of witches! Grandma Ball, my MIL Pam, Aunt Nancy, SIL'S Ari, Brenda, Kristy, and Amanda; cousins Stephanie, Michelle, Roxanna, and Becca; and myself!

We always wear fun socks or tights when we dress up!!

I made "witches wands" as my treat. Some of the other treats were snickers fudge in cute witch cups, a giant witch hat rice krispy treat, candy, halloween trail mix (it had a really cute name but I can't remember what it was). We never have a lack of yummy treats when we get together!

Some of the vinyl crafting I did!

We take turns providing meals. This one was super cute. They decorated the table, had fun menus, cute labels on the water bottles. It was such a cute idea!

Waiting for lunch.

We spent all day crafting away. We made rings, necklaces, wooden pumpkins, mason jar halloween lanterns (like the ones I made a little bit ago), and did vinyl lettering crafts. So much fun!!! I wish I had gotten a picture of all the cute, fun stuff we did.

Not Because I'm Not Thankful

It's been a whole week since I've posted. It's not because I have nothing to be thankful for, but it's because I've been so sick. Last Sunday I started getting sick. By that night I had a bad fever, chills, and soar throat. Pretty sure I had strep. Then, Thursday I started losing my voice. What a mess I was. But, I'm finally almost back to "normal", if there is a normal. So, today I'm thankful for:

~medicine
~a brother who can call in meds for me
~a warm bed
~friends who brought me fudge and other yummy treats
~a friendly phone call
~kids who let their mom recover
~dad who helps me clean the studio
~prayers
~fall decorations
~warm soup
~homemade bread

I'm Thankful, Day 5

Today I'm Thankful for:

~Hubby's day off!!

~laughter

~game night with friends

~computers

~poly chicken

~beautiful weather

~pumpkin spice scent

Fun With FHE

My Mom has had the kids help her put on some very fun Family Home Evenings. S was in charge this week. He did a great job reading his lessons and having everyone do their parts. He was so excited to be in charge. I definitely need to let my kids help out with FHE more often.

We talked about putting on the "Whole armour of God".

Everyone got a drawing and a quote and had to make their "armour" out of foil. It was a blast!

Papa was the first to try everything on! He couldn't stop laughing.

Then everyone else needed a turn.

T specifically asked for the chair so he could get in his stance. Crazy boy!

Warrior girl!

Our cute lesson giver. For dessert we had yummy banana bars with cream cheese frosting.

Great FHE, yummy food, family, and lots of love!

Last week J was in charge of treats, and M gave the lesson. J made these cute "spider" treats.

Our lesson was about how Satan is like a spider and he tries to trap us in his sticky web. We named things that Satan tries to tempt us with and stuck them in our web to remind us to stand up for what we believe and what we know is right. M did a great job!

Then we played the spider game. J was the spider and we were the flies flying around her. If she caught us we were stuck in her web. Super cute! I love FHE and am so glad to have kids who enjoy it also. Ange, Em, Tal, and Reg joined our fun evening.

I'm Thankful, Day 4

How beautiful is this? Wouldn't you just love to live here?!

Today, I'm Thankful for:

~good food

~my home to keep me warm

~hugs and kisses from the kids before they walk out the door

~a clean house

I'm Thankful, Day 3

Today, I'm Thankful for:

~toothpaste (I love clean teeth!)

~activity day leaders

~scout leaders

~friends who don't mind if I just stop by

~a nice talk on the phone with a friend

~my sisters

~seat belts

Springville Pumpkin Patch

We a few fun trips to a pumpkin patch. This one was in Springville and we went with Mom, Dad, Ange, Reg, Em, Tal, Dani, Greg, and Tate! It's so much fun being with all those babies!

Playing in the corn box. This was very cool, the kids loved playing in it and getting buried!

J hanging out on some giant hay bale stacks.

S had fun jumping down from these bales into piles of hay. He is one crazy boy! After the kids played we went out into the patch and each kid picked out their pumpkin. We also went and cut some baby pumpkins and gourds. They look so cute in my house. The trip was a success!

Cross Country

T ran cross country this year. This was his first year trying it. He really liked it. He enjoys running, unlike his mom. He's pretty athletic and does well in most things he tries.

He looks so small compared to those big 9th graders, but he held his own!!

Picture Picture

My MIL has a game called "Picture Pictue". It's a very fun game. There are pictures with a bunch of random stuff in it. Then, you set a timer and you have to name things that are in the picture that start with the letters of the alphabet. You want to try to have original answers because if you match someone else, you don't get a point. My MIL turned 60 this month, so all the kids gathered up pictures, and we made our own "Picture Picture" for her. She loved it. The girls were having a tea party, so I added a few things to it and had the boys join in for a picture. This one is my favorite!

This is the bookshelf in the boys room. They have a ton of stuff on it, so I thought it would work perfectly. I added a few things and tada, you have a perfect picture for the game!

We wanted to have people from our families in the pictures. One day when DH got home from work, I had him hold a few things and snapped his picture. Love it! The game turned out really cute. A lot of fun pictures were added to the game. I can't wait to play it!

Read Yourself to Sleep

T fell asleep doing his reading the other night. He doesn't love reading and he was super tired. So, when you put those two together, you get one sleepy little boy!

I'm Thankful, Day 2

I'm thankful for:

~friends

~tap class

~scriptures

~jobs

~transportation

~little dancing girls

~beautiful autumn days

I'm Thankful, Day 1

I love the holiday season. I can't believe it's upon us already. Today I put up all the Thanksgiving decorations and we are trying to get in the mood. So, with that said, today (this post is for Monday since I haven't gone to bed yet, even though technically it's already Tuesday) I'm grateful for:

~fall leaves

~notes from neighbors saying the kids were polite

~FHE

~Mom & Dad

~laughter

~my sweet hubby

Zupa's

When Anna was here we met up at Zupa's for lunch one day. I love Zupa's, super yummy!!

I think this picture of Ange, Yoho, and Reg is so cute!

If you look closely enough at a baby Joneaux, you can see that he just tried a lemon. It was hilarious. He made the funniest faces. It may be kind of mean, but I think it's so funny to let babies try lemons. They make the best faces ever!

He wasn't mad at us for too long for giving him lemons.

He was ready to give his cousin a big hug and kiss!

Love those babies!

Nitro Circus

My sister Andrea got tickets for the whole family to go to Nitro Circus through APX. We had food from J Dawgs, got candy and drinks, and enjoyed a great show.

Travis Pestrana

What a crazy guy! I can't believe all the stuff that these guys are brave enough to do.

We had a great night. M and Katie even came away with free t-shirts!

J's Fort

J loves to build forts right now. This particular fort is under our coffee table in the dining room.

She hung out under there for a long time. Sometimes her forts are big and sometimes they are small. Sometimes they are in little corners of the house or underneath things.

And, she always has a cute set up in there. Toys, books, blankets, and pillows. Sometimes little snacks. I love to see the kids imaginations at work.

T's First School Dance

T went to his first school dance a few weeks ago. This is something I hadn't thought too much about, so I wasn't prepared when he asked me if he could go. I remember going to school dances in Jr. High that were either during school or right after. And I had fun. DH went to dances too. So, I told him he could go. Of course I had to lay down some ground rules first. He agreed.

He was so excited to go. It was pretty cute. He came home from school and wanted to change. So, he changed, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and put on some cologne. He was all set to go. He looked so handsome. It was very strange dropping him off. When we first got to the school, he sat in the car for a minute trying to talk himself in to going. First he asked if he looked stupid. Then he was nervous about what to do. Finally he decided it was actually okay to go. I told him to call me if there were any problems or when he was ready to come home.

He stayed the whole time and had a blast!

Pictures from the Airport

So, Mom and Dad have been here for almost a month. CRAZY! We were all so anxious for them to come home. We had the whole crew at the airport waiting for their arrival.

Ange and Reg!

Baby Joneaux

The kids barely let them come through the doors before they were right by their side.

They were thrilled to have them home!

S has been missing his Papa like crazy. Ever since he was little he had a special bond with Papa. He cried and cried when they left. he cried when they talked on Skpe. He cried because he missed him, he cried when we talked about them coming home because he was so happy. And, then when he saw his Papa he cried a little, but he smiled and smiled and smiled!

Happy to have them home!

The Case of the Stolen Flip Flops

The other day I was teaching my dance class at the high school. The cheerleaders had left their stuff in the room and they came in during the class to get it. I asked them to hurry so they wouldn't interrupt the class too much. When my class was over, I was gathering up all my stuff and went to put my flip flops on. But, they were gone. I thought maybe they had been moved around when the cheerleaders were getting their stuff. But, they were no where to be seen. I guess one of the cheerleaders thought they were theirs. Which makes me wonder, how do you forget what shoes you were wearing? Or, did they take my flip flops on purpose? I loved my black flip flops. I wore them all the time. Luckily they were only a couple of bucks.