The day before Halloween (the last day of school for the week) arrived and it was time for our school Halloween parties! Reagan was a Grecian goddess and Cole - no surprise - was Darth Vader. Since they aren't allowed to wear masks or take weapons to school, Cole was very concerned that he wouldn't fully look the part of Lord Vader. We searched the internet and came up with some ideas for some makeup. I think it turned out great!
There ended up being four Darth Vaders in Cole's class. There were several in the other 2nd grade class as well - one of them was a little girl..... you go girl!!! Cole's best friend Nolan was also dressed as Darth Vader - they are both Star Wars enthusiasts.
So, a couple of the other moms and I pretty much pushed our way into doing the party for Cole's class. I was in charge of every party in Reagan's class last year, so, Cole begged me to be in charge of one of his parties this year. I went early in the morning and took a picture of their class. Then, I had the pictures printed up and the children painted a picture frame and decorated it with ribbon and jewels and stickers. Then, they had a donut (provided by the school - they won't let me bring anything in - drat!). After that, we split up into four groups and we used a bag of supplies to turn one member of our group into a Jack O Lantern. The students really got into it. We had so much fun!!!
Reagan's bestie's mom was in charge of Reagan's class party. She wanted to do the same thing I was - with the picture frames, but she works. So, I went in and took a pic of their class and had the pictures printed out. (Truth be told, I did that for four other classes in the school as well - they know I'm the picture girl and that I'm happy to get the pics printed off for them.)
Everybody had a great time at their parties. I had 8x10 pics printed up of the class pictures and I put them on card stock with Halloween stickers for the teachers to hang up in their classrooms. For Cole's class, I made a whole posterboard with pics from their party. I've had so many moms ask how I get into the classroom to do the parties. Truth be told, I just ask the teachers way before the holiday and tell them that I have some great ideas for the party. They are so busy, I think they are happy to have someone else take it over.... Yep - that someone is me!!!!
We headed straight from the school parties to the church - the Primary is in charge of the Ward Halloween Party tonight and guess who has to decorate all of the tables? Yep - we packed up most of our Halloween decorations and hauled them over to the church. Let the parties begin.... er...continue!!!!!
I can't believe Cole is eight years old and ready to be baptized. He has really been looking forward to it and preparing for it. We've tried to stress to him what an important step this is and we've talked, at length, about the covenants he will make when he is baptized. He is super excited. There was a boy in the schoolyard who was using bad words a month or so ago. Cole told him "Dude - I'm getting ready to be baptized - I don't want to hear words like that!" Love it!
You'll remember that when Reagan was baptized, we had the luncheon after the baptism in our yard. It was super hard and stressful. Plus, we served Cafe Rio salads which require like 10 ingredients. So, we were running up and down the hill, refilling skillets, getting additional tortillas, and just servicing our luncheon. So, we decided this time, we would reserve the park pavilion at Hidden Valley Park (next to the church). It is a beautiful park - on a flat ground - with gorgeous views of the mountains right behind it. Plus, it has electrical plugs, bathrooms and a water fountain. Also - to simplify, we decided to have a brunch instead of a big, multi-ingredient, meal.
Everything turned out wonderfully. I wish I had pictures of the room we had the baptism in. We had a table at the entrance to the room with a white tablecloth on it and a white basket with Cole's programs in it. Then, we had a white picture frame with a pic of Cole in it also on that table.
Finally, we had the book that my friend Kelsey made for Cole - it was on that table with pens so Cole's guests could sign the book and leave him a little thought or congratulatory message. The colors I decided to use were white (of course) and navy. I was going to throw in a baby blue, but it just didn't work with anything I tried to use it for, so, the day before the baptism, I just scrapped that color. My friend Kelsey helped me SO much (just as she did for Reagan's baptism). She and her family were out of town for the actual baptism, but she helped me prepare everything. Her book was adorable - it had Cole's invitation on the front, lots of pics of Cole in different sizes, lots of navy and white and I bought navy pens for people to write with.
The programs also turned out great! I copied Reagan's exactly. Cole's were navy folders that were wrapped with a navy and white ribbon. When they folded open, there was a picture of Cole with velum on top that had the program printed on it. Below, there were three cards of varying height. The back two had the words to the songs we were singing in the program. The front one was a handwritten note from Cole thanking them for coming to his baptism. They were fabulous! On the big table in the room, we had a white tablecloth and in the center of the table, we put our Lladro Christus statue. Then, scattered around, we put white picture frames of different sizes with pictures of Cole at different ages in them. It looked great!
The program went well. As with Reagan's, we had all children involved. Our niece Megan played the piano, our granddaughter Ansley directed the music, our grandchildren Anistyn and Stockton gave the prayers (well, Stockton got scared at the last minute, so, Rachel came up and gave a beautiful prayer). Our nephew Drew gave a talk and Reagan gave a talk. It went so well.
After that, we headed over to the park for brunch. Cole's friend Gracie - from school - is getting baptized in a week and I was talking with her mom about what she was going to serve at their luncheon, etc. She went to culinary school and was going to make quiche. She offered to make some for us!!!! No way!!! She made us 6 quiches. They were delicious!!! We also served donuts, pumpkin bread, fruit, juice, milk and water. The weather was getting cold (after all, it was the end of October), and we were worried about it being too cold. We were thinking about getting a bunch of heaters to have under the pavillion. I decided to add a hot coca bar. We had hot cocoa, cups, lids, sleeves for the cups (stamped in navy with the words "Congratulations"), blue and white striped straws, marshmallows, shaved chocolate, crushed peppermint, rainbow sprinkles and navy sprinkles, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. Luckily, it was a cool, beautiful, sunny day and I don't know that we needed the hot cocoa, but it was a nice, fun touch.
I wrapped plastic forks, knives and spoons with a navy and white striped straw in a white napkin and tied it with a navy and white striped ribbon. I put 100 of these in a white basket and tied the sides of the basket with large navy ribbon and small navy and white striped ribbon. It looked great! On the tables, we had white tablecloths. I tried several different runners and none seemed to look right. I ended up laying a navy, wide ribbon down the middle of the table. Then, in the middle/end of each table, we had a stack of navy Books of Mormon with a white, standing picture frame on top of them. The picture frame had two sides so the people sitting on each side of the table could see a picture of Cole. Then, I had white flowers in small, glass, square vases. I think it all looked great!
We ate and chatted and sipped hot cocoa while we celebrated Cole and his decision to be baptized. We were so blessed to have so many family and friends come to support him on his big day. He loved it and so did we.
Way to go Cole! We are so proud of you for making this decision and for trying to prepare for it. We love you!!!!
Cole's fall soccer season came to an end. He was on a really good team that had fairly aggressive and competitive players on it. I'd say this was one of his best seasons yet.
He continues to be a great defender, even though he loves to play striker and try to score. He will go after any ball or any player (even if it means he ends up on the ground).
He is very fast and usually can outrun the other players in order to protect the goal or to score. Our friends, the Bowmans, came to support him and he loved having a cheering section. That was one of his best games all season.
Now, we head into winter soccer which means indoor practices and games. Cole loves the indoor because the ball never goes out - they play and play and play. Stay tuned - I think we have a week off and then we start indoor.
As I was planning Cole's soccer, birthday party, I couldn't help but reflect on some of the great parties we have been to lately.
There was the Nerf gun war party. They have a whole facility in Layton where the kids gear up and go into the dark. They have teams and they try to get the other team out. The parents have tv monitors in the party area so that we can see the kiddos via night vision cameras. Cole LOVED it!
There was Reagan's bestie - Sophia's - horse riding party. The girls got to ride each of two horses, to learn how to guide them inside the stable and then out on a trail ride (led by one of the employees).
Reagan had a fabulous time and now wants to learn to ride even more.
There was our granddaughter's party at Airborne - a trampoline park. We go there a lot, but it was even more fun to be there with our grandchildren and their friends.
There was the impromptu party that our swim class friends had when they rented a huge water slide. We played in the sprinklers, went on the slide and had snacks - so fun!
There was Cole's friend - Nolan's water slide party. I had to laugh that after an hour or so on the slide, I found Cole, Nolan and a few other guests on the Sport Court playing basketball - those boys!
Then there was the spy party for our friend Ben. His mom is amazing and had the kids go on a secret mission to try to solve a mystery. Each spy had a bag with a disguise, invisible ink message pads, and all sorts of tools for solving mysteries. They had teams with secret messages and a scavenger hunt all over their house. Reagan and Cole loved it!!!!!
Yep - we've been to some great parties lately. Hope everyone had as much fun at Cole's soccer party as we had at their cool parties!
It's no secret that Cole is SUPER into soccer. Well, we've been to a few birthday parties at Soccer City (this indoor soccer facility) and we've had fun. So, Cole chose this place for his birthday party.
We had friends from gymnastics, friends from school, friends from church, friends from karate, and family there. We decided to hit the field for the first hour. The facility had a huge volleyball tournament going on, but we had our field to ourselves. Soccer City provided the balls, the goals, the pinnies and the rest was up to us. Our guests joined up into teams and they were off!
Our new granddaughter slept through most of it, despite the noise :) Cole had a great time. Steve and our SIL were out on the field, playing with the kiddos and they had so much fun.
Our next hour was in the party room. Cole wanted a Star Wars theme (no surprise there). So, we had a Star Wars cake and paper products. I also had Star Wars gift bags filled with Star Wars stuff for our guests to take home. The only hiccup of the day was the pizza being delivered way late. But, we just changed it up, opened gifts first and then ate. No worries! Cole's guests must have known how much he likes Star Wars because he received 3 of the same Darth Vadar Lego thing that we had given him for his family birthday. No worries again - we can return and exchange.
All in all, it was a great party. The kiddos had fun, Cole had fun and we get to leave and go home to a clean house (not one that has been destroyed by 20 kids at a birthday party) - it's a win/win!!!!
It's Cole's birthday and I can't believe he is eight. Wow - where has the time gone? We celebrated his family birthday by going to have family pictures taken for our Christmas card. (I know - boring, right?) Then, he wanted to go to Bonsai for dinner. We headed out and had a great dinner. Of course, they took our picture and they let Reagan and Cole put it up on the wall of the restaurant. Cole remembered that we went to the same restaurant for his birthday last year and that we had gone with Steve's parents. He and Reagan quickly found the picture of them with Grandma and Grandpa that they had put up on the wall of the restaurant.
Tomorrow, we have Cole's soccer birthday party and, later this month, we have his baptism. We are just getting started with this celebration! Happy Happy Birthday Cole Cole!!! We love you!!!!
Just a little note - I had to laugh that two days before Cole's birthday, he woke up and was so happy. I asked him why he was so bouncy. He said "Well, I'm happy because it is my Birthday Adam." We all stopped what we were doing and looked at him. "What?" He said "Well, tomorrow will be my Birthday Eve, so, isn't today my Birthday Adam?" We laughed and explained that it doesn't really work that way, but that he was being very logical to try to figure that out :)
It's fall time!!! That means the decor in our house changes to pumpkins ..... lots and lots of pumpkins. I bought these copper looking pumpkins from Tai Pan over a couple of years and I have loved them. They can be classy, campy or just a neutral behind more colorful decorations. They are some of my favorites and they come in so many sizes and shapes. I've tried to add to my collection for the past couple of years, but I haven't seen them again... anywhere.
I was sad a couple of years ago that Bath & Body Works got rid of my favorite scent there - Pumpkin Patch. Luckily, I stocked up and bought like 10 of their big, three wick candles there before they discontinued the fragrance. I've tried several different "pumpkin-y" scents there and elsewhere, but never found something I liked as much as that one. It wasn't too heavy, it didn't have cinnamon or other scents complicating it - it was just pure pumpkin. Well, I was lamenting about it to Steve and Reagan walked up and said "Mom, why don't you look on e-bay?" I hadn't thought of that. I check and - whoooo hoooo - there were several items for sale that were in the Slatin (Bath & Body Works) Pumpkin Patch scent. We are now stocked up until the end of time :)
New additions for this year are the candle luminaries from White Barn (a division of Bath & Body Works. I put them on the half wall between the entry way and the dining room. They are bronze color and have slats and dots in the metal in the shape of pumpkins and leaves. When it is dark and the candles inside are lit, you can see the shapes of the pumpkins and leaves. Love them!!!! I bought the three that they had in the store and then (after taking these pics), close to the end of the holiday, I bought four more and put them around the jetted tub in our bathroom. I have candles with timers in them, so, they just turn on at dusk and stay lit for 5 or 6 hours. I love to see the shapes of the pumpkins shining through. These are my new, favorite things this year.
I love fall - it marks the beginning of the holidays, the beginning of leaves changing and weather getting cooler and harvest time. Yeah!!!!
Alrighty - bright and early and we were at Disneyland before it opened. I love Disneyland this time of year. There are pumpkins everywhere. The decorations are all fall and harvest and Halloween - it is amazing!!!!
Cole begged to go to Star Tours first. Like yesterday, I went to get Star Tours Fast Passes while Steve and the kiddos went to get in line for Star Tours. Like yesterday as well, they were almost to the front of the line by the time I joined them. After we were done at Star Tours, the line was less than 20 minutes, so, we went on it again. After that, we hit Buzz Lightyear's Blasters and tried to defeat Zurg!
Then, we walked over and got on the short line for the Matterhorn. With Cole in the front of our sled and Reagan and Steve bringing up the rear, we zoomed through the snowy peaks and tried to get away from the yeti.
Since we were right by Small World, we headed over there for a less than 10 minute wait. This is always one of my favorites.
Next, we decided to hit Pirates of the Caribbean as it usually has a long line, but has no Fast Passes. It was closed ... drat! So, we headed to the Haunted House. This time of year, it is transformed into a ride about the Nightmare before Christmas. (I have to admit that we haven't seen the movie, but we loved the ride nonetheless.)
After that, we went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. With almost no line, Reagan and Cole were elated. We rode it twice in a row.
Since we were right by the rafts, we decided to go to Tom Sawyer's Island. This is always a favorite of Reagan and Cole's. I swear that they could stay here for hours. They explore, go all through the caves and the forts and Steve and I wait. I insist that they stay together and we make sure one of us can see them go in and one of us can see them come out. We were on the island for over an hour. It was getting pretty close to Jedi training time, so, we headed back. I waited in line for Jedi training while Steve took the kiddos to the gift shop. Cole had already decided on the toy he wanted to get to remember this trip. He wanted to make his own light saber and he thought he needed it for Jedi training.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't let Cole use his own light saber. They had a standard issue one for the Jedi padawans. Just as they were starting their training, stormtroopers and Darth Vader showed up. Next, Darth Mal came and the padawans had to fight him.
Each of the padawans fought either Darth Mal or Darth Vader. Reagan went first against Darth Mal, but not knowing what she would be doing, she opted out of this fight. After she saw others execute the form they had already been taught and practiced, she wished she had fought him. Oh well, she will know for next time. Cole was thrilled to fight. He looked more comfortable than any other padawan there - I think it is because he is used to twirling and fighting with his staff in karate. He was twirling his light saber before the fight even began - way to go Cole! He was clearly pleased with himself by the time the fight was over.
After our Jedi training, we hit the parade. I always love these. They have great music as well as beautiful costumes and amazing floats.
After the parade, we checked and Pirates was still closed - UGGH!! So, we headed over to Space Mountain (which this time of year has been renamed Ghost Galaxy). After that, we ran back to try Pirates. It was a no go on Pirates, so, we hit Splash Mountain. I love the pic of us on the big slide down - Cole can't even open his eyes and then the rest of us were bracing for the big, wet landing.
We were pretty wet and it was about 3:00, so we headed back to the hotel to change into our costumes for the Mickey party. Even though the party didn't start until 7, you could get in with your party tickets at 4 (we could get in all day since we had bought passes that day anyway). After 7, if you didn't have a party wristband, you couldn't ride the rides.
We got dressed, stopped at McDonalds for dinner and then headed to the party. It was funny - we wore our pirate costumes from our cruise last year, but Cole wouldn't have it - he insisted on being Darth Vader. So, when we walked places, people would say "Oh - it's the pirates..... and Darth Vader." So funny.
One of our friends' favorite things about the Mickey Halloween Party is that there are "Treat Trails" all over the park. You basically find the "entrance" and they have a walkway where you wind in and out of buildings or around rides and you have 4 or 5 treat stations that you go by as you walk through the Treat Trail. Each station has two or three kinds of candy and they give you a handful as you walk through. It is super fun. They also had a healthy snack at each one (carrots or sliced apples or a granola bar) and I had to laugh that Reagan and Cole had to ask to get the healthy treats. There must not be very many people who want those because it was almost like the Disney people forgot they were there. Reagan would ask "May I please have some carrots?" and the people would look at her and say " Oh .... yeah... sure." and they would give her a package. Love that she wants candy AND healthy treats ... Cole too! I thought it was a cute little thing - the Treat Trails, but Steve was not amused. For the price of the Mickey Party, he wanted to hit the rides, not walk through Treat Trail lines. He kept telling the kiddos "Look, for $13, I can get you a whole bag of treats at Costco - let's not do this now, let's get on the rides!" We hit Star Tours again and checked on Pirates - still closed. I was beginning to lose hope and it is one of my favorites!
Cinderella's castle had animated skulls and characters shining on it - it was great! We walked right on to the Indiana Jones ride.
Next, we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again and again. The best part about it, at night, was that the fireworks were going off. We could see them so well and we were zooming through the rocky mines as we rode the runaway train!
After the fireworks, we headed over for the electric parade. So many lights!!! Luckily, we found a park bench that we could sit on and we watched the parade go by.
After that, we headed over to the Monster's University Dance Party. Cole and I were pretty tired, but Reagan wanted to dance and Steve obliged her. They were so cute dancing out there - daddy and daughter.
Once we were done dancing, we checked and were told that Pirates was open. We headed over and, even though there was a fairly long wait, we were glad to finally get on that ride. It was, as usual, fabulous. I was so glad that we could finish our night with that ride.
After Pirates, we made our way to the entrance to head back to our hotel. With the exception of an hour or two when we went to change and have dinner, we had been in the park, going at full speed from 8 that morning until 11:45 pm. My Apple Watch said that we walked 16 miles that day. Whoa - 16 miles!!!! That's Trek!!! We effectively walked Trek - with Treat Trails, pirate costumes and rides. We had a great time. Best of all was the crowds - on Thursday, we had very few crowds all day long. On Friday, there were very few crowds until about noon. After noon, it was crazy busy until the party started. Even then, there were more crowds than I had expected. Our friends, the Nichols, usually come to Mickey's No So Scary Halloween Party on a weeknight. If we had to do it again, I would come on a weeknight as well. It isn't worth fighting the crowds. Mid-week is really the way to go.
Thanks again Mickey - it was another wonderful trip - Happy Halloween!
Saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast and headed to the airport to return home. It was a quick, but great, trip!
"Mom on the Run" is the title that best describes me these days. After practicing law for 11 years, I had two little ones and am now a full time Mom and loving it. With a 14 year old and an 12 year old, life is full and crazy. Each day we "run" whether it is to the gym, shopping, guitar, karate, piano, school, lunch with friends, institute class, family activities or church functions. Reagan and Cole keep me crazy busy and we have lots of fun.
Steve (the love of my life) and I have been married for sixteen years and we live in Sandy, Utah. Playing with the kids is our most enjoyable hobby these days. We also try to fit in snow skiing, walking and hiking, and playing in our yard. We love to spend time with Steve's three daughters (and their spouses/kids). We traveled much more before we had our kiddos, but still try to travel when we can. If we are away, we can most often be found on one of the Hawaiian islands and we love to spend time at the beach.
