Trunk or Treating

Tonight was our big Trunk or Treat carnival at the church and somehow I got roped into putting together all 12 carnival booths and rounding up all of the prizes for the evening. I spent all afternoon and evening setting up for the carnival and wasn't able to be home to help the kids get ready or take any pics of them. Dan did a great job though, he got all the kids ready on his own and brought GI Joe, a Boxer, Harry Potter, and a couple of babies to the church right on time for the carnival.

The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves tonight but it sure is amazing how weeks of planning and preparation and a days worth of setting up... provided a whole 45 mins of fun. I'm ready for a back rub :)

Preschool Party

Hudson had his Preschool Halloween Party this morning. I didn't end up buying a costume for him this year because I knew we could just go shopping for one out in the garage in our hand-me-down tubs. I went out and grabbed a few that I thought might fit him but he couldn't decide which one he wanted to be. So I told him to put each one on and I would take a picture of him and then he could look at himself on the computer and see which one he liked the best. Here's a few from this mornings photo shoot.

Do I want to be a dinosaur?

How about a doggy?

"TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!"

Oh yeah... Now we're talking.

This is the one Hudson ended up picking and he calls it the,

"muscle team punching guy to save the day" costume.

Here's Hudson at preschool flexing his muscles for all the girls at his snack table.

Pumpkin Carving

Dan had to work tonight but the kids were dying to carve their pumpkins for FHE. In years past this would not be something I would have even considered attempting, on my own, with 5 kids. But my kids are growing up and pumpkin carving with the kids gets better every year. This year I helped Hudson with his pumpkin and the rest of the family just plopped down with their pumpkins and drew, scooped, and carved all on their own. Good job guys!

The finished masterpieces.

Hudson made an angry Jack-o-lantern this year so he wanted to show me what face his pumpkin was making. ANGRY!

"Hang up your church clothes"

Every Sunday when we walk in the door from church it's pretty standard for mom to yell out... "K everyone, please go hang up all of your church clothes, get dressed and meet me in the kitchen for lunch." All of my kids can do this except for my 3 year old who usually drops his clothes in a pile on the floor and comes out to lunch in some kind of mismatched crazy outfit.

But today was different. It started out the same...We got home, I made the usual announcement and then went to the kitchen to start lunch. Next thing I know Hudson is screaming for me. Is he hurt or is he just throwing a tantrum about not being able to get his buttons undone? Either way I go running to his room to check things out. I swing open the door and at first he's no where to be found but then I hear him yelling again and it's coming from inside the closet. I swing open the doors and he says," Look mom... I hung up my church clothes!"

Underwear and all :)

Soccer Stud

Ky just finished up his soccer season with playing in a 3 game soccer tournament today. He had a great team and coach this season and had a ton of fun playing this fall.

Here's a few pics from today's tournament.

Hudson's 1st fieldtrip

Hudson and I just got back from his 1st preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. He had a blast running through the hay maze, petting all of the animals, going on a hay ride, picking out the perfect pumpkin just his size and driving a big red tractor. With no younger siblings tagging along this year we made it into a little date and stayed for lunch and an ice-cream cone after his class had left.

Seriously???

Ugh... 3rd time was definitely not a charm for us :(

Cuddletime

Some people have a favorite teddy bear that they snuggle with in bed, Hailey on the other hand can't choose a favorite.

Dan's 34th Birthday

Another year older for Dan today. We celebrated by having a little family birthday dinner and party for him. The kids were all excited to give him their homemade gifts and cards and couldn't wait to show him the big surprise from mom.

Dan finally gets his brand new, BADLY NEEDED, laptop. Hopefully his work time will be cut in half now that he doesn't have to wait 20 minutes for each page, email, or file to open. No more hour glasses and frozen screens for him :)

Root Beer Floats with a candle and a little happy birthday song.

Make a wish!

Astroturf

Hailey's soccer team got to play with the big girls tonight. They walked out onto the field with the Kamiakin High Soccer team and were announced and everything. Then at halftime they played a little scrimmage game on the big field with the stadium lights. Super fun experience for this group of 8 year old girls!

Camp Zarahemla

For the second year in a row, our ward has done a Ward Campout up at Camp Zarahemla, which coincides with a service project that is needed on the camp ground. Usually when we go up to Zarahemla, we choose to use a tent and gain full advantage of a Family Camping Experience. But this year, we decided to cheat. Our tent has a hole in it and we didn’t want to buy a new one just yet, and furthermore….these cabins have always looked fun. So, we decided to book one of the cabins and I am so GLAD WE DID.

Because IT RAINED ALL EVENING and ALL NIGHT!!!!! And when I say rained I mean POURED!!!!! UGGGH!

But…..we stayed tidy and dry….so all was well.

Before the rain hit, Ky prepared the fire pit like any good scout would do. Can anyone say BON FIRE. This was his kindling pile. You should have seen the pile of wood he had prepared for it once it was started. :)

Upon waking up, we noticed that the rain had passed and pleasant temperatures graced us. Dan went to do the service project of cutting wood, with the help of Alaina and Ky. The rest of the family stayed behind to clean up the cabin and pack up the car.

When the service project was done, we spent a little time hiking around and having fun by the lake. Although it was a quick trip, with a wet night…..we had fun and hope the ward continues the tradition.

Oh yeah…..lets not forget the story about the poor man who got chased up the tree by a mama bear. Hudson saw this on our drive up and was worried about the guy up in that tree all weekend. On our drive home we stopped and the kids went in for the rescue. Those brave souls. :)

Rainy Day

As soon as the kids got off the bus today they all came running inside screaming, "Can we go play in the rain?" I said,"Sure." The kids had a blast!

Now that's what I call cheap entertainment.

First weekend back to school

Even though the kids are back in school the weather is still feeling like summer. Tonight we had one last backyard movie night to celebrate the completion of their first week back at it.

School Pics

Ky 5th grade age 10

Hailey 3rd grade age 8

Kase 1st grade age 6

Hudson preschooler age 3

Alaina is having her individual picture taken on a different day so I don’t have a copy of that one yet.

Back to School Dinner 2010

We carried on a tradition we started last year called our Back to School Dinner. We prepare a fancy meal that our kids choose the menu for. This year it was Steak, Ceasar Salad, Potatoes, Green Beans, and 7 Layer Jello for dessert, YUMMY!!

The weird thing is….this is the same food they chose last year for their fancy dinner. You can tell we don’t feed our family of 7 steak very often.

Anyway…..it is a manners meal at the Ostlers where some of the glass dishes get used rather than the normal paper products that typically adorn our table. They get some bubbly sparkling cider to drink. We focus on etiquette and spend a ton of the meal time conversation reflecting on things that have happened to the kids the past year, we talk about the upcoming school year and anything else THEY want to talk about.

We also present a new Family Theme for the year. One that we will focus on as a family in many of our discussions, FHE’s, and reminders throughout the upcoming year. This year our new theme is “Return With Honor”. So, at the dinner we present it to the kids and discuss it’s meaning to us.

After the meal, Dan takes each of the kids individually to give them a priesthood blessing.

This hasn’t always been a tradition of ours, but for the past few years it has been something we have started and so far….we love it and the kids look forward to it as the summer comes to a close.

It will happen again next year…..but hopefully we can get more creative on the menu and change it up from year to year.