It's Bunko Time!

Friday night, we had our now annual Halloween Bunko Party! First, I must mention the instigator of all of this bunko madness. Without Camie starting the Bunko tradition while she lived here just a few short years ago, none of this ever could've happened...so, a shout out to Camie!

This is the 2nd year I've hosted Bunko at my house. Thanks to Gaia for hosting with me this year. We had a great turnout, 20 people - that's FIVE tables of 4.

I had each person draw to see what costume they would wear, and had the costumes ready for them. The costumes this year included: Girls: cheerleader, cat, angel,

flapper, bunny, devil, punk girl, movie star, princess, and a Southern Belle. For the Guys: coach, pirate, cowboy, cop, rat, geek, clown, Jason, wizard and an ambiguous super hero.

I wish I would've taken a picture of the food. It was really yummy. I made my cheeseball with crackers, we had veggies and dip (thanks, Livia!), chex mix and punch (thanks, Gaia) and a chocolate fountain. Yumm. Dipping items inlcluded: pretzels, marshmallow, strawberries, bananas and peanut butter balls that I made. Those were my favorite! After everyone left, I dipped the rest of them in chocolate and put them in my fridge. Better than Reeces if you ask me. I then shared them with my visiting teachees.

If you want to see more pics, you can visit Livia's or Sammy's blogs. I'm not pictured in the group photo I posted but am in Livia and Sammy's. I couldn't leave out our Bishop's wife.

By the way, our bishop had the highest score. He also told me that he reads some of our blogs. So way to go, Bishop! (now you have to leave a comment!)
Thanks to everyone for making it a great party!

Art Class & Pumpkins

We enrolled Ava in an Art Class for 2-3 year olds through our Parks and Rec dept. Tonight was the 2nd time for the class. Ava LOVES getting messy and being creative. It's so fun to see your child go for it in a new environment. I think every house needs a messy room like this art room - somewhere you can just be creative and not worry about paint on clothes and furniture, etc. (On a side note - one mom got splattered with paint AND then her kid put a big dark purple handprint on her white shirt. The teacher said it was supposed to be washable but I don't know. I guess we'll find out next class.)
We came home and did our pumkin decorating. We found this light/peg set, similar to a lite bright idea, and thought it would be good for Ava since no cutting was involved. She did get to use a mallet. You'll notice the cheapy one in picture 1 and then the heavy duty one in picture two.
I didn't get a great pic of the pumpkin lit since the light it came with is a flashing one. You get the idea though.

GROWTH SPURT

Elise woke up this morning looking like this...we're not sure what happened.

MEGA BLOG

I'm finally updating my blog...since I'm so behind, this will be a MEGA BLOG! Since I like to use it as somewhat of a journal, I want to highlight certain events of the last several weeks.

1. OKLAHOMA TRIP, Labor Day Weekend
We took a trip to Oklahoma City to visit my grandmother. We really enjoy our visits and always leave feeling uplifted. I love spending time just talking to my Grandma. She is so positive and so spiritual. Love her! We also got to spend time with my Aunt Ann, her husband, Doug and my cousin, Karen and her family. We had a great time playing Grunt, a card came, aka President or Scum, etc. Above you'll see Ava doing a puppet show at the Omniplex in OKC.



2. ELISE TURNS 6 MONTHS OLD!, Sept. 27th
My little baby is growing up! I know I've said it before, but she is SOOO sweet. She loves being social and watching everything around her. She's now sitting up very well and saying, "Da-da-da-da-da-da." She's in the 91st percentile for weight and the 96th for height...following in her sister's footsteps. She has the most adorable, dimple-filled, smile. We love you Lise!
3. MOMMY'S PRESCHOOL
This fall a group of girls from church and I started a Mommy's preschool for our little girls once a week. We take turns hosting and teaching, which has been fun. Ava and Payton are our 2 year olds and Claire and Erin are 3. They are already learning so much!

4. DONUT GIRL

One special morning, Daddy took Ava to Dunkin Donuts to pick out some yummy breakfast treats. Ava had a blast peering over the counter and pointing to her tasty selections. She was so excited to dig in when she got home. The nerve of Mommy making her smile for a picture first.

5. GIRL'S NIGHT, October 2nd

My sister, Heidi, was getting married on Oct.5th in Nauvoo. We had a "Girl's Night" Party for her a few days before her wedding. It was a blast! We did a Name that Chick Flick game, a 20 Questions game where we asked the groom 20 q's and saw how many Heidi got right - except I video-taped Luke's responses without her knowing. It was fun to see his reactions on tape. We did a few more activities including Karaoke, Heidi's favorite. We had to take a pic of our mom and all of the sisters and sisters-in-laws while we were all together.
These girls were singing away! We'll have to do it again sometime.

6. NAUVOO WEDDING, October 5th

Heidi and Luke were married at noon in Nauvoo. Chris, myself and the girls, and some other family members, were able to travel to Nauvoo to be a part of the festivities there. Activities included: staying up late to make Heidi's temple bouquet -silk this time, a big family breakfast, (Kelly set off the smoke alarm with her bacon cooking - luckily not for long), swimming, touring a little bit of Old Nauvoo, and eating at Alpha's on the River after the sealing. Congrats Heidi & Luke!


Heidi & Luke in front of the temple.
We got back from the temple, mind you it was HOT that day, and the kids were cranky. We were all ready to change and get ready for our late lunch/early dinner. Of course the maid service was cleaning our room right then. We waited out in the stairwell until they finished. Elise didn't seem to mind.
Do you know the difference between a cow and an ox? Do you know why early pioneers often opted for oxen over horses to lead their wagons? Well, I didn't before - but I do now.

7.PUMPKIN PATCH, Oct. 15th

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch this year. I love seeing my girls getting measured. Each year adds more inches and even a new little pumkin this time - Elise! Ava really got into the patch this year. On the hayride she said, "This is fun!" She picked out a baby pumpkin for Elise, a big girl pumpkin for Ava and a Mommy pumkin and a Daddy pumpkin.
Heidi put Elise in her jacket to help her keep warm. It was a very cold and windy 60 degrees.
I Spy with my little eye...what do you notice about this picture? Look carefully. (You may need to click on it to make it bigger.)
Our little family.
Still more updating to come - but this is a start!

stay tuned

In my short absence from blogging, I've thought of lots of things I could be blogging about...yet haven't made the time, but hopefully will soon. My sis, Heidi, was married this past weekend at the Nauvoo Temple. Upon our return, I am sick, again. I'm so done with being sick but things could always be worse. OH, and Elise now has pinkeye - Ava had it 1-2 weeks ago as well - absolutely hated the eye drops. Other news I hope to write more about soon: Our trip to Oklahoma in Sept, RS Project night at my house, my fall project list, Heidi's "Girl's Night" party I hosted, Elise's 6th month check-up, things I've learned about marriage in general, thoughts on my 10-year high school reunion and why I'm not going, all the cool craft blogs I've been finding, our Mommy's preschool for Ava and friends, and other random tidbits.

Stay tuned faithful blog readers...