Cinderella

My mom was asked to play in the symphony for Olympus High's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. She and Kent bought tickets for us all for Saturday November 1st. I warned the kids that it would be a different Cinderella with different songs, so they were prepared and not shouting, "She doesn't sing that in the movie!!"

Ari didn't want to leave Grandpa Kent's side the whole night.

Overall, they did a really good job with the play! I was impressed. During intermission, Kent bought cupcakes for all of the grandkids because they have him wrapped around their fingers. (McKayla and Serenity and their parents were there as well, sitting behind us.) Ari struggled with the length of the play. She was done before the curtain fell for intermission. But Kaden and Lexi loved the whole thing! 

Funny Lexi story: when I was explaining to the kids beforehand about what a play is, I casually mentioned that I had done a number of plays in junior high and high school. Lexi excitedly said, "Were you in Cinderella?!" I said, "No, but I was in a lot of other fun plays." She cynically raised her eyebrows at me, turned, and walked away. I was dying laughing. Her whole attitude was "you weren't in Cinderella, you weren't in anything good."

It was a fun night!

Happy Halloween Day!

We had a very busy Halloween! We started out going to the kids' school for the costume parade. Ari just had to wear hers, too. :) I love that the parade was early enough that Shane could come before going into work!

Running around beforehand.

Silly faces for mom.

A blurry pic of Lexi's teacher, Mrs. LeFevre.

For fun, we started out counting the Elsa's. After 20, we lost track. It was ridiculous and I'm glad Lexi went with Rapunzel. 

We dropped Shane off at work, picked Serenity (my niece) up, and then went back to get Lexi. While we waited for Kaden to get out of school, we hit up Krispy Kreme for a free donut (for kids in costumes).

Nom, nom.

 When Kaden got out of school, I asked him if he was still hungry (he'd eaten lunch there about an hour before). He said, "Mom. I'm always hungry."

I don't know how moms with more than one boy handle their teenage eating habits without declaring bankruptcy. Anyway, next we headed to Warren's for a free kids meal for kids dressed up. The line was the longest I've ever seen it, but the kids insisted they didn't mind waiting.

I made her change out of her costume before eating because I don't trust her.

Cheesin' it again. ;)

Shane got off work at 6:00 and we began trick-or-treating as soon as we got home. I loved that we knew so many more neighbors than we did last year. The kids had a blast, then came home and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas while eating candy. A very successful night.

Carving Pumpkins!

I hate carving pumpkins. Everything about it is a big, smelly pain. I mentioned this to Shane and when he wholeheartedly agreed, I found a solution. Walmart had these things that you just stick in the pumpkins! No mess or cutting required! I showed them to the kids (at the store) and asked if they would rather carve the pumpkins or use these things. They all chose the decorations. Yay!

I LOVE her expression when she saw the finished pumpkin.

My kids are adorable.

Kaden is giving his Power Ranger bunny ears. Silly kids.

Mess and crying free and done in ten minutes! Woo!!

Porter Halloween Party

Shane's parents had their annual family Halloween party on the 26th. 

Ryley (the kid's cute, little cousin) was sick and couldn't make it, and she was missed!

Lexi, Damon (he's just over 1 year old), Kaden, and Ari

Candy hunt!

Donuts!

I love this picture so much.

Cutie Damon! (He actually weighs the same as Ari now.)

Janelle doing a marshmallow game.

You have to see how many mini-marshmallows you can transfer with a straw from one bowl to the other in one minute.

It was a really fun night!

Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner

We were invited to a Harry Potter murder mystery dinner on October 25th. I was cast as Professor Umbridge (which I was excited about) and Shane was someone who's name I can't remember (he requested a small character who wouldn't have to speak much).

Our hosts, Sam and Jess, did a combined thing with Sam's sister and her friends. What no one mentioned was that the friends were all hardcore actors who took this a lot more seriously than we did. :/ Oh well.

Sam's sister (naturally red hair on the far right) and her group of friends.

Fun, random fact: The super tall, super hairy guy on the left? I know him. Yeah. He was a grade younger than me in school, but he and I did plays together all throughout high school. I hadn't seen him in ten years, so that was really fun. (He's not normally so hairy. He's in a play somewhere that requires it.)

Our old, married group. From left: Shane, me, Jess (Professor McGonagall), Sam (Ron), Cameron (Draco), Heather (Hermione).

Another fun fact: I know Heather from high school, too. She was in the student body presidency instead of doing plays, but she knew Brandon (hairy guy) as well. Last fun fact: Her husband, Cameron, had an older brother who was in our grade who I knew fairly well. It threw me off all night because they look really similar. 

Jess always goes all out with the decorations.

Jess grabbed my camera and yelled, "SMILE!" before taking a picture really fast. We were all cracking up because we knew her hat would be blocking us all. hahaha

Hatless this time. ;)

It was awkward with all the super-serious actors there who never broke character, but still a fun night! Shane's parents watched the kids for us and took them to the Clearfield Aquatic Center's carnival (no swimming - just games and stuff), then out to Pizza Pie Cafe. Basically, our kids didn't miss us one bit. ;)

Fun Saturday

October 25th was Kaden's last soccer game for the fall season. The only problem? There was a mix-up and the other team didn't show up. All of the parents were saying that they didn't want the kids to have their season end this way, then Shane suggested, "Why don't we have dad's against kids?"

Everyone loved this idea and soon the adults were out there going easy on the kids. ;)

I've never seen those kids panting as hard as they were after that game. haha It was good for everyone involved. Because of his eyes, Shane knocked over two kids and VERY nearly kicked the ball straight into one of their head's before ejecting himself from the game. 

After lunch, Kaden got to go to a Halloween party for a friend from school. I found out from the mom afterwards that she has four kids and a couple of years ago she gave them the option to have one, HUGE Halloween party instead of individual birthday parties. They went for it and loved it so much it's now an annual thing for them. And this family went ALL. OUT. There were two bounce houses, a professional face painter, a balloon guy, a pinata or three, games, and loaded treat bags. Kaden had so much fun!

It was a dress-up party. Now THAT'S face paint!

Later that night Shane and I headed to a Murder Mystery party, but that's for another post!