Hayden and Harrison

If they aren't on field,

they're in the back yard playing.

If it's raining outside

they play it on the Xbox.

If it's Saturday, they find it on TV.

They can't get enough FOOTBALL!

 

Love these two boys!

 

on a not so side, side note: Both Hayden and Isaac won their play off games. Which means they are both going to the Superbowl for their age division. Hayden (QB) lead his team to a 18-6 victory, scoring all 3 touch downs. Isaac (halfback) played fabulous getting all of their first downs and scoring a touchdown with a final score of 19-6. It's a great day to be a Gardner boy! 

Finally a real Saturday

Tomorrow will be the first Saturday since the beginning of August that we get an entire Saturday off! Both boys have byes this week before they go into the playoffs.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE, Love, love watching my boys play football, but after 2 1/2 months of having my Saturdays completely tied up... I'm excited for the break. And to top it off Aaron has this weekend off.

OH HAPPY DAY!!

 

I have a nice list of things to get done.

Yard work: pulling up the almost dead flowers, cutting back the perennials, mowing

Deep clean the house

Reorganizing the storage room
BYU football game

Grocery shopping
Piece Isaac's quilt top...I've had it cut out since April.

2 birthday parties for the boys to go to.

 

Busy, yes, but at least WE will be home to get it all done. So in preparation, today I am doing 7 loads of laundry...trying to make some headway before tomorrow.



The Activity Day Girls planned a "Daddy and Me" Halloween party. One of their Faith in God projects was to plan an activity, make invites, plan the entertainment, food, decor, etc. Then they had to divide up the work and carry it out. Caite's job was to make ghost cupcakes all by herself.

She did a good job. They turned out cute. She was so proud.

Aaron and Caite had a good time and we were all grateful Aaron was able to make it to the party.

I love my, party-planning-cupcake-making girl! 



First Day of "Real" School

She's ready to go and SO excited!

She had to pick out the perfect "fashionable" outfit...socks and glitter shoes included.

She was up and ready with hair braided by 7:30.

She doesn't leave until 11:30.

"How much longer?"

(we are both asking that question)

Oh this girl KILLS me...

...but I LOVE her to pieces! life would be very dull without her.

Neiderman Farm with the Family

In my mind Neiderman Farm is the symbol of Fall. Not only do the boys play football on their fields, but they open it up to the public with a corn maze, hayride, pumpkin patch, pipe swings, train rides, inflatable jumping pillow, playgrounds, fire pits, and petting farm.  Good old fashion family fun. They also have the worlds GREATEST homemade donuts. We had to take Nana, Papa, and Travis.

Hayride

(They brought BYU sweatshirt for all the kids)

 Pumpkin Patch

Everyone found their perfect pumpkin

 Corn Maze...in the dark

 flashlights were a must if we didn't want to get lost.

This farm really does have a special place in my heart.

Thanks for joining us Travis, Nana, and Papa! we had a wonderful time.

Football Visitors

We got a call from Papa saying they were coming for a quick weekend trip to see the boys play football. AND they were bringing Travis!

The boys (especially Hayden) were elated!

 I think it's safe to say he played his best and made our special visitors proud.

 Leaving everyone in the dust...no one can catch him!

 He had 2 great touchdowns that day and brought his team to victory.

 Then on to Isaac's game

Although the 6th graders didn't win that day, Isaac had a great game and also scored a touchdown.

(I'm going to cheat and put in pictures from a different game)

 

Salsa

Growing up, my mom made and canned the best homemade salsa. It was a staple in our pantry. When I was a BYU, I brought a case with me and my roommates quickly fell in love with it. I don't know why I haven't thought of making it myself, I guess that was just something my mom did.

My friend brought me some tomatoes, peppers, and jalapenos from her garden. Bingo! I called mom, got the recipe and Halle and I got to work. I made 15 pints...not near enough, next year I will have to make multiple batches. It's a little piece of heaven every time I open the jar.

Scouts

Isaac worked hard on his Scouting this summer. He enjoyed Scout Camp (wahoo!!) and has a few good friends in the ward that make it more fun to go every week. We had a Scout Court of Honor a few weeks ago and  he moved up 3 rank advancements (Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class). We are proud of him. Tradition has it that for every advancement the Scout is supposed to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. I should have gotten 3...fat chance from Isaac. So I tried to kiss him, this was what I got...the shaft.

Cedar Point

Ever since we moved here, Isaac has had Cedar Point on his bucket list. When Papa and Nana came and went to the Hill Comorah Pageant with us, we had a day set aside to go to Cedar Point. Unfortunately the day we were supposed to go there were thunder storms so it shut down for lightening. Oh the disappointment! I think the only reason the kids didn't throw fits was because we had already prebought tickets so we HAD to go back.

We picked a weekend in September when Aaron had the whole weekend off and we headed up. The boys missed their football games (their teams lost without them), but we had a good time!

They had it all decorated with Halloween.

The girls and Hayden wanted to ride the farris wheel while Isaac and Aaron went on the Raptor. 

They waited almost 2 hours to get on this crazy ride. We got to hit lots of smaller rides while waiting for them.

We had a great time. The weather was fabulous, the crowds and lines were huge, but we got to ride almost everything we wanted to. Our boys and Halle are quite the thrill seekers...Caite, not so much! The kids are already talking about when we can go again.

Aaron scored on a hotel room. Maui Sands Resort. It was super cheap because they are redoing the indoor water resort. We didn't have time to use it anyway. The best part about this hotel is the Family Suite. There was a king bed for us and a separate room with 2 sets of bunk beds and a TV just for our little people. It was fabulous.

 

So our mini vacation was wonderful. The kids got to cross of an item from their bucket list and we got to spend the weekend together. Win. Win.

Sundays with Dad

It's not too often Aaron has a Sunday completely free. He usually had 2 Sundays off a month, but they are usually filled with Church responsibilities and meeting. Not too fun for us (or him). Every once in a while he has the whole day free to spend with us. And this is what the kids want to do.

Gardner Wrestle Mania

Halle and School

Last year for pre-school we did a little co-op with 6 other mom's in the ward. It was fabulous. This year some of those kids went off to kindergarten and the others wanted to do a more formal pre-school to prepare the kids for kindergarten. I knew our budget didn't have room for the expensive pre-schools around here so I  kept Halle home and have been diligent at doing our "home school". She loves it and loves to learn. She has worked hard on writing her letters and numbers and is doing a great job.

 My friend Rachael mentioned she has always put her kids in a pre-school ran by high school students (supervised by real teachers). It's 3 days a week and only costs $35. I was excited until she said that it's in the afternoons when I have my 4 daycare kids either napping or getting on the afternoon kindergarten bus. So that wasn't going to work either. Well sweet Rachel called last week and said "just listen before you say no." She has talked to 2 other moms in the ward who are going to take their kids and they have all agreed to pick up Halle so she can go! At first I felt a little guilty not pulling my weight in carpooling, but I'm thrilled she gets to go. And I am, once again, blessed to have wonderful friends who see a need and fill in where I lack. So starting Tuesday, Halle gets to go to pre-school. It starts this late, because the high school kids have been "training" and getting lesson plans together. We are ALL thrill!