Halloween

 Halloween may not be one of our most favorite holidays, but we actually still had a lot of fun today! Kade had the day off from school so we enjoyed having him home. He was helpful with putting up more Christmas lights. I’m not sure if the Christmas light project will ever be done! 

Kade left tonight to hang out with friends and missed the traditional white chicken chili and cornbread meal. He actually hates chili so he was happy to miss it. Tenley had a friend over who loved the chili so that was nice! Then we met up with friends to do some trick or treating since the weather was so nice again this year. Tenley borrowed her friend’s cowgirl boots and ended up with four blisters! It was not a great idea. Everyone got way too much candy and I’m already itching to throw it all in the garbage can!

After trick or treating we made some donuts. They were a huge hit and we’ll definitely make it a new tradition!

Luke’s Wit

 Thursday mornings are the best. I love that it’s the last day of school for the week and that we don’t have anywhere to rush off to early in the morning. I let the kids sleep in this morning and I enjoyed a quiet morning. When we got around to school, Luke’s assignment was to figure out what time it was on the clock and if it was AM or PM based on the description. He got to one that said, “You ask your older brother to play with you, but he is too busy. He says he can play later, so you find something else fun in the meantime.” He turned to me and said, “This is exactly what happens to me every time Kade gets home from school! And it’s even the same time!” He’s a funny kid! Ryder had a unit assessment today and did a great job! And Tenley ended up getting the day off! Our internet was down all day and her classes are online so she was pretty happy about that. She earned the break though because she had to take a huge text yesterday and scored an A! 

Brad, Kade, Tenley and I went to the varsity high school volleyball game tonight. Brad’s hygienist Melissa’s daughter is a senior on the team. She’s pretty amazing! We had fun watching them win!

Trunk or Treat

 Our church had their trunk or treat tonight. Ryder and Luke were so excited to go and see their friends. They twinned with Otto and Thomas. They were all fighter pilots. Tenley and Kade had fun as well just hanging out with friends. I was so happy that the weather was nice and we didn’t have any snow on the ground! We’ve been lucky so far this fall to have such great weather!

Recording Devices

 The boys got their kiwi co builds today and as usual they opened them up to start building right away. Luke got a bubble lava lamp and Ryder got a recording device. Ryder’s has been the most popular. They can record themselves talking and then play it back fast or slow so it sounds so funny. We’ve laughed a lot!

Ukulele

Last week at co op Luke made a guitar out of a bottle and string. He was excited to have it and play it but it broke in the car on the way home. We tried to fix it but it was a pain! So I encouraged him to try and play Tenley’s ukulele instead. Tenley was nice enough to get it out and let them all play with it. Ryder was especially excited to try it out. He’s been strumming on it ever since and with the help of Tenley has learned to play Silent Night. I love hearing the strings get plucked all day!

The Primary Program

 The kids had their primary program at church today and it is one of the best Sundays of the year! They were all so adorable and the songs they sang were beautiful. My boys looked so handsome and sang so well and spoke their parts so well! On the second to last song they had some siblings sing solos together and then all the primary kids joined in for the chorus. It was beautiful! And then all the youth went up to sing “I’m a Disciple of Christ,” which is my favorite. I lost it seeing all of my kids up there singing my favorite song. It was such a good program.

Tonight we hosted the missionary transfer dinner. I cooked a ton of meat and I don’t even think half of it got eaten! But I’m glad we had plenty of food. I always leave these dinners feeling so uplifted. Our missionaries are incredible! 

I’m really sad that I didn’t get a picture of all my kids together or all the missionaries. I’ll do better next time!

A Licensed Teenager

 Kade actually got to sleep in today! I always feel bad for him and his hectic schedule so I love it when he’s able to have a day of nothing. When he finally did wake up, he helped Brad with more Christmas lights and then went to play soccer with friends. He also took the boys to a practice for their primary program and brought them home. He’s so helpful driving the kids around! 

While everyone else was outside putting lights on the roof, Luke and I were inside and I caught him drawing the cutest picture of our family!

Tenley was off at a party tonight but the rest of us enjoyed watching BYU win again! 

Fall Family Pictures

We got family pictures taken today. The original plan was to do them this past Sunday but it was so windy! So we rescheduled for today and it was a beautiful fall day today with no wind. I was so grateful! And now that they’re done I can stop stressing about outfits! Haha. The kids were so helpful. I love them. 

After pictures we all split up. Tenley, Ryder, and Luke went to be with the Budenbender’s for their trunk or treat and a hang out at their house after that. Brad, Kade and I went to the Crosstown football game but we went separately because Kade needed to be there early for a student government thing. The game was fun beside the fact that we had to watch our team lose. And then Brad took me out for ice cream afterwards. It was my kind of date!

Field Trips

 We took a little road trip to Craig today to hang out with friends at the corn maze. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the drive was stunning! We saw so many fall colors. The corn maze was awesome. The kids got lost for a little bit. There were a lot of other games to play as well. Luke beat a huge group of kids in Gaga ball. We had such a fun field trip!

Crunchy Leaves

 It has been such a beautiful fall so far! I am loving it! We even got to walk through some crunchy leaves on the way to piano lessons. The boys got their Halloween decorations in the mail and they look adorable in them. And Tenley, Ryder, and Luke put on a fun show for us while they’re trying out the flags up today. Brad had music going on while they raised them. First, America the Beautiful and then the Cougar fight song! It was hilarious and adorable.

Action Shots

 A sweet mom of one of the boys on Kade’s soccer team is pretty great photographer and she shared some of the photos she had taken from this season tonight. She captured well the move I hate to see Kade make the most. The one where he dives down and faces the other players feet head first while they’re trying to kick the ball in the goal and then they have to jump over him and barely miss kicking his teeth! Kade is a gutsy keeper!

Basketball

 Ryder and Luke had their first basketball practice of the season tonight. Luke’s was at the elementary school and Ryder’s was at the Salvation Army across town so thankfully I have a teenager driver to help me out! Luke was so excited that Kade got to take him to practice! The boys did well. I’m so excited for basketball season!

Slow Sundays

 Brad was able to come to church with us today. He was actually home for more of the day than Kade was. Kade and a ward youth council after church and then he took the  sacrament to a few older sisters who couldn’t make it to church today. But it was nice when he was home! Luke was in heaven having Kade to hang out with!

BYU Football

 We put our flagpole to good use tonight and put a BYU flag up. We were hoping it wasn’t going to be a bad omen and thankfully it wasn’t! The cougars beat Utah! Ryder and Luke got to stay up late to watch the game with us and we had a lot of fun game food for dinner. It was a fun night. And I think I take too many selfies with Luke! But everyone else hates pictures! Haha.

All-State Choir

 We got to go to another choir concert for Kade tonight. He had tried out for the all-state choir last Spring and made it! They choose 20 people for each section from all the schools across the sate. Different cities host each year and this year it was here in Great Falls. He’s been practicing since Wednesday night. It’s been a long few days filled with a lot of singing for him, but he enjoyed being with his friends and we enjoyed watching the performance tonight!

Our Flag Pole

 The youth hunt begins today so Brad had taken this day off work months ago to go hunting with the boys. But Kade is now too old and Luke is too young and Ryder wants and needs to go shooting more first, so no one went hunting today. But they did get a huge start on putting up Christmas lights! It was a beautiful day to spend outside doing that. They got the flag pole up and it looks so nice! It also looks very sturdy which will hopefully help with the Christmas tree that he wants to make with it.