Halloween Festivities

For not being very big Halloween fans, we had a fun week of parties. I hate the scary part of Halloween, but I can handle some fun stuff. On Monday night, we did FHE with several other young families in our ward. We had a pumpkin carving contest and some silly competitions.

Here's me trying to eat a donut on a string without hands. It was a lot harder than it looked and I think I only got one bite before another girl had finished the whole thing. I wasn't trying very hard though, because I really don't like donuts.




The guys had a root-beer chugging contest. The winner finished his bottle in about 4 seconds. Alan was a super close second.




Growing up, my Mom always decorated a Halloween tree with felt ornaments. I got her patterns this year and started making some. I only finished 4 of the 8 in time for Halloween, but I think they turned out pretty cute anyway. Hopefully I can finish the other 4 before next Halloween.




These Monster cookies are my one Halloween tradition. (I still use your recipe from college, Christina!) They are SO yummy and SO bad for you! We can't have them around the house because Spencer can't have the peanut butter in them, so I took them to another party.




Some friends from our Hillsboro ward do a huge Halloween party every year. They decorate every inch of their house - it's pretty crazy. Alan and I aren't huge party people, but I figure it's good for us to go once a year. You have to dress up to come. We were bandits this year. I'm not sure why Alan is pointing the gun at me in this picture!




They have all kinds of fun games at this party. This was "The Cake Walk of Doom." They also had a candy morgue, bat hunt, life-sized Operation game on a zombie, a Halloween video game projected onto a wall, and more. These guys are true Halloween fanatics.




We won this caramel apple for finding 26 bats hidden around the house. It was so good!




Finally, the three Sherwood wards did a trunk-or-treat last night. We were able to convince Spencer to be Bob the Builder as long as Alan dressed up too. Spencer wouldn't wear his tool-belt, but he did carry a hammer around until it got in the way of his candy collecting. The hard hats turned out to be a great idea since it was raining the whole time we were there. My straw cowboy hat didn't keep me as dry.




Once we got to the church and he realized he was going to get candy, Spencer was all over it and had a great time. On the way home he said, "That was fun!" Maybe it will be easier to get him to wear a costume next year now that he knows the true meaning of Halloween. :)



Now on to the real holiday season!

The Giant Pumpkin Regatta

On Saturday, we got to go one of the funniest races I've ever seen - The Giant Pumpkin Regatta. We didn't stay very long, but it was quite entertaining. Farmers from all around our area bring giant pumpkins and dump them into a man-made lake in the middle of Tualatin. They then hollow out their pumpkins - with chain saws and shovels I'm sure. Then, someone actually climbs in and races around the lake with a paddle!

Getting ready to race. The guy in the middle attached a motor to his pumpkin, but he didn't even come close to winning.




I'm sure maneuvering a huge pumpkin is never easy, but I don't think a windy fall day would make it any easier. A few of the racers dressed up. One guys' pumpkin got flooded and sank so he had to be rescued by a canoe. A guy with full scuba gear on got last place. An oxygen tank can really slow you down.




There were a few pumpkins just on display. Maybe they were too oddly shaped to be able to race? I thought Spencer would like them, but he was way more interested in pushing his stroller around. I couldn't even get him to touch a pumpkin.




Jumping off a pallet. Jumping is one of Spencer's favorite things to do right now. He will just randomly start hopping around numerous times a day.




Checking out the rest of the festival. They had live music, concessions, clowns, pumpkin decorating and bouncy houses. We were feeling cheap and settled for just watching. We did get to see Alan's cousin Lindsy, her husband Ben and their cute kiddos though. I have Lindsy's blog to thank for telling me about the Regatta. I didn't know it existed until she wrote about their trip last year. I'd been looking forward to seeing it for myself since then. Thanks!




Throwing leaves in the lake while waiting for the race to start.



We were so lucky that the rain held off until we were about ready to leave. It was such a fun way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon!

October Sunshine

Do any of you get a sense of urgency to experience every minute of beautiful fall weather during the short time it lasts? I sure do. A lot of housework has been getting neglected lately while Spencer and I play outside. I think we've been to the park 5 times in the last week. That's more than we ever went during the summer. The leaves and the air are just so lovely right now. And, I know we'll be trapped inside for the winter all too soon. (I did buy Spencer a rain coat this morning in hopes that we'll be able to get outside a little more this winter, however.)

Here are some cute pics of my Spencer:











We are fortunate enough to have a cute, little park just around the corner from our house. The playground is small, but it has an awesome forest section with lots of leaves and sticks on the ground right now. Little boy heaven!




This "truck park" is Spencer's favorite. There is a sand pit full of big trucks. You know you live in a nice town when toys like that actually stay at the park and don't all disappear.









I hope all of you are getting to enjoy some fall weather too!

No-sew tutus

Super Saturday is over - hooray! Here are some basic instructions for the tutus I helped make. They are so easy and cute! I was really tempted to make one even though I don't have a little girl to wear it, yet.

Materials:

scissors or a rotary mat and cutter

elastic

tulle (we used two colors, but you can use whatever you want)

ribbon (optional)

small flowers or bows (optional)

1. Measure out a piece of elastic. (I used 1/2 inch white elastic. It rolls up as you tie on your tulle, but that's ok.)

2. Cut out your tulle. You will need about 2 yards for an infant size tutu and 4 yards for a little girl's. I cut my tulle into 4" by 18" strips.

3. Tie your elastic the ends of your elastic together and stretch your band around the back of a chair.

4. Tie on your strips of tulle:

a. Fold a strip of tulle in half.

b. Loop the strip around the back of the elastic and pull the ends through the loop the fold makes in the tulle. (This step is hard to explain with words. If it doesn't make sense, you-tube has a lot videos. Here's one.)

5. Embellish (optional) There are a lot of different ways to do this, so be creative. This is just the option we used for Super Saturday.

a. Cut four 18" strips of white ribbon.

b. Hot-glue a small bow or flower to end of each ribbon.

c. Tie the ribbons around your tutu just like you tied the tulle.

The Great Pumpkin Patch

We braved the stormy skies on Saturday to visit a pumpkin patch with some good friends. And, we got super lucky. Even though it had rained all morning, it quit as we were driving out to Sauvie Island on the Columbia River.

My handsome man!




This is Spencer saying, "No!" and stomping his foot every time I tried to take a picture. I don't know what's gotten into that kiddo!




Our tickets included several fun activities. We tried out the fire-roasted corn first. This picture is dark, but the corn was SO yummy. Spencer even liked it.




Next, we tackled the corn maze. We didn't realize there were maps and stations we were supposed to find until we were almost finished, so we just wandered around for awhile. The paths were slippery, sticky clay so Spencer road like this the whole time. I even had a little trouble keeping my balance at times.




I think Hailee is Spencer's best friend. Never mind that she's 4 years older than him. He adores her.




We wanted to ride this tractor pull, but got tried of waiting for the next trip around the farm so we just settled for sitting on the benches for pictures.




Alan's pumpkin.



My mud snow-shoe after hunting down my pumpkin in the patch.




Spencer helping me pull the wagon with our pumpkins.




Trying to get away from the camera.




We saved the yummiest for last and ended the day with caramel apples. This was the first one Spencer has had and my first in years. Spencer and I shared. He liked it so much (or else was so hungry; hence the near-meltdown just before this) that he ate all of the apple and most of the core.




Caramel really sticks to your teeth.



We had such a good time at the pumpkin patch that I think this is definitely a new fall tradition. Buying a pumpkin from the grocery store just doesn't compare. We have been missing out all these years! Thanks so much for inviting us Todd and Nicole!

6 Months Later...

These pictures of our house are long overdue. I kept waiting until we had finished _____ (you fill in the blank), but finally realized that we'll never be finished with everything so it was time to post pics. We've been in our house for about 6 months now and have made some progress - not as much as I'd hoped though. Things just go really slow. (Look here for before pics.) We are really liking our place however. A lot of my walls are still bare because I've been busy with other projects. I have ideas and I'll have to post some of them when they're finished.

Master bedroom: Our room still needs a lot of work. The walls are still bare and we are in serious need of some new furniture and bedding. I do LOVE my yellow walls though. They remind me of the sunny even when it's gray outside.




Spencer's room: I'll probably be replacing the changing table with a bookshelf and the crib with a toddler bed sometime in the next 6 months.




Spare room: This one is kind of embarrassing. We still don't have any shelves in our garage, so most of our boxes and food storage just gets thrown in here.




I only included this picture so you could see the white banister and stair rail. They took me three evenings of painting a couple of weeks ago. (Notice Spencer's legs at the top of the stairs. He followed me all around the house as I took these pictures, but refused to look at the camera.) All of our new trim is up and the downstairs trim is all caulked and painted.




Living room: We got a new couch and love seat right after we moved it. They're not as comfy when you're sick as our old hand-me-down couch, but they sure look nicer. I like everything in here except for the rabbit ears on the TV. We're too cheap to pay for cable.




Back of the living room.




Dining room: We need a table with matching chairs.




Kitchen: I really don't like the tile counter tops or the lack of counter space period, but it is wonderful to have a small pantry.




Back yard: No, we still haven't installed our sprinkler system or planted grass. All of this was just dirt until is started raining a few weeks ago. A lot of the old grass came back up despite having been sprayed with Round-up twice and rototilled. Too bad all of the weeds have come back up too. Our first garden did ok. We've had a hard time keeping up with the zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes, but nothing else did very well. It's still been fun and delicious though.




Looking back at the house.





Front yard. We did plant grass in the front and it also didn't do very well until it started raining. Now we have 8-inch tall grass and gigantic weeds. Time to get a lawn-mower.




We are loving Sherwood. It is such a fun, family-oriented town. It seems like they're always having little festivals. We've yet to make it to a single one since moving here, but I've wanted to go to them. :) I love how I can walk or jog anywhere in town and how safe I feel running early in the morning.

Our ward is huge which is good because it means there are lots of people to be friends with. Our callings keep us pretty busy. Alan is an assistant scout master in the Deacon's Quorum which means scouts every Tuesday night and camp-outs once a month. I teach a challenging group of 8-year-olds in primary: 5 squirrely little boys, and two girls (one with autism). Alan comes to my class every week to help the little girl with autism. I'm also currently in charge of Super Saturday that's coming up next week. I have zero crafty abilities, but I'm mostly just in charge of the organizing part. I do have to teach how to make some super-cute tutus. They don't require any sewing, but I'll be glad when it's over.

Hopefully we'll be able to make a lot more progress on the house in the next 6 months.

Alan's Races

Alan has directed two 5k races in the last 3 weeks. The first race was a charity race sponsored by Farmers Insurance (where Alan works). It was nice for me because Farmer's supplied all of the volunteers so I just got to run with Spencer in the jogging stroller. There were about 80 runners and Alan got a lot of local businesses to donate raffle prizes, so they wound up making about $2,300 for March of Dimes. Alan's motto of, "It doesn't hurt to ask," paid off once again. I bought 12 raffle tickets and wound up with 3 prizes myself - not too shabby.


Spencer "helping" Alan get of the runner's entered into the computer before the race started.




Ready to run! (He's going through a refusing to look at the camera stage.)




Mmm. Panera bagels after the race. We got to bring home all of the leftovers. The bagels were great, but I had to get a little creative with the 30+ leftover bananas.




Announcing the winners. The benefit of small races is that it's a lot easier to place in your age division. I got 3rd place in mine even though I had a fairly slow time. It's a little tricky to push a stroller through gravel and over speed bumps.




Spencer thought my medal was pretty awesome and swung it around until it broke.





Alan also held his Fall Finale 5k for the NW Running League yesterday. This was the final race of the season where he awarded all of the cash prizes for the league. The turn-out was lower than he had hoped (about 90 runners), but everything went very smoothly and I think he generated a lot of new interested in the running league when he started handing out money. :)

He had a hard time getting volunteers for this race and had to resort to bribing people with gift cards. We had plenty of helpers show up though, so it turned out ok. I was busy with registration and the finish line so I didn't get many pictures of this one.


Heading to the starting line.





Alan's Dad and Aunt Terry cooked pancakes for all of the runners. Sharis Restaurant donated the pancake batter, butter and syrup. They were SO good! The only problem is that now we have about 100 packets of syrup and probably 500 packets of butter taking up most of my fridge. I have no idea what we're going to do with all of it! I did a better job of getting rid of bananas this time though - we only have about 10 left.




After the 5k, Alan did an 800-meter kids race. Most of the kids were 4 or 5 years old and running two laps around the track was pretty tough for some of the them. It was fun though. Maybe Spencer can do it in a couple of years.




Alan does all of the timing for his races himself. It's pretty easy with small races, but he might have to think about hiring a timing company or buying timing equipment himself when his races get bigger.


I want to give a special thank you to Alan's parent who got up super early to help us. Debbie watched Spencer the whole time and Darwin helped set-up and cooked A LOT of pancakes. Thanks also to Aunt Terry, Marin and Clara for getting up super early on Saturday to help your nephew/cousin. And thanks to all of the other volunteers. Races don't work without them.

Now that Alan's first season is over, I think he has learned a lot and has big plans for next year. It's been fun for me to get to know some of the local runners and make some new friends. I'm not sad that we'll have a break for a few months before the next season starts though. It will be nice to have my husband back. :)