Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This year we have...

Sally, from Nightmare Before Christmas...

SplendorMan (he tells me he is from a video game)...

 Flo, from the Progressive commercials...

and Mary Poppins in her Jolly Holiday finery!

We also had a yummy dinner of witches brew, brain matter, baked intestines, giants' eyes, and worm sandwiches!

I was kind of hoping for a repeat of last year when all my costume making was finished a few days before Halloween. But alas, I was finishing up last night. I can't decide which costume is my favorite this year. I was really excited about how the Mary Poppins costume turned out (and Pyper LOVES it!), Hannah makes a really great Sally, I don't think there is a more perfect "Flo" than my Bug, and Seth looked really awesome and the costume looks just like SplendorMan!

Baby you can drive my car...

Monday Hannah went on her last "drive" for Driver's Ed. She was pretty nervous! This was THE drive that would decide if she was a good enough driver to be able to get her license. Sunday night, Grandma Charlene came and took her to practice her skills (thanks Grandma! You're a brave soul!)    Grandma must have done a good job, Hannah's teacher told her he was having a Proud Teacher's Moment. Apparently she has some mad parallel parking skills, he told her it was the best he's ever seen. 

She had to wait until the 19th to actually get her license (you know, that whole "having a permit for 6 months" rule), so yesterday we went to the DLD and she's now completely legal! To celebrate, she and Seth drove to Logan last night, ALONE, to get pizza for dinner.

Congrats my Hannah! I'm so proud of you!

Poetry Reading

Tonight, Bugga's 5th grade class did a poetry reading for their families. They all had to choose a fun poem to share. Bugga read "Lost" by Shel Silverstein. I was pretty excited, he is one of my favorites!  Here is a little video of her reading. It is a cute poem.

My Chauffeur

I'm not really sure I'm ready for this. On a positive note, I haven't driven us anywhere for about a week!

First Day of School 2012-2013

We did more things this summer, honest. But my camera sat tucked safely away in the cupboard. It was a rough summer for me, and I will admit I spent most of it focusing on getting through it and taking care of my family. We are home now, and life has settled down a bit. School started on Thursday.  Here are their first day pictures!

Pyper, 2nd Grade

Lyra, 5th Grade (I love this girl's sassiness! In case the shirt looks familiar, that's because it is! They are both 10's in my book!)

Seth, 7th Grade

Hannah, 10th Grade (this was actually her second day of school. She had went the day before for a Sophomore orientation and I forgot to take her picture. I can't believe she is in real live HIGH SCHOOL!)

Most of them had a great day at school, and they all like their teachers, can't ask for much more than that!

North Dakota Petting Zoo

 We did an event in Mott, North Dakota.  I am NOT a fan of North Dakota. The sun comes up INSANELY early (like 4 am early), it's hot, and flat--not even a small hill in sight. But, my girls sure did like the animals in this little petting zoo! Bugga manned the camera, I'll spare you most of the pictures that she took, but here are a few.

Our July 4th fireworks

Over the 4th of July, the kids and I were at home for camps and such. So we went up and spent the day with Grandma Charlene and Grandpa Brent, who were camping with some of our other family. We had a fun time, but missed out on doing fireworks. (Silly fire bans!)  We met back up with David in Duck Valley, Nevada the next weekend for a Pow-Wow. Since we were on the reservation, fireworks were legal. And Nevada didn't have a fire ban. So we bought a bunch and had our own fireworks show!

We shot Roman Candles,

had the biggest sparklers I have ever seen,

 And a bunch of mortars, smoke bombs, flowers, and whizzers.  We had a great time lighting them all off.  Then one of the owners of the fireworks stands came out and put on a HUGE display!

I think we did a pretty good job celebrating!