Halloween Spooktacular

Since I love Halloween so much I decided to throw a party!  Here was the invite:

(Blurred address and phone # to protect privacy)

Malea was such a big helper getting ready for party, not only did she help me prepare some of the treats, she also helped me clean too!  I don't know what I would do without her!

We had baked potatoes and chili for the adults and hot dog "mummy's" for the kids :) as well as lots of other fun Halloween-themed treats!  Here are the treats I made:

Witch hats :)

Keith and I dressed up as jail birds :)

Here's some of the guests in their costumes:

More yummy food!

We turned on a movie downstairs for the kids and let them run wild!

Isaac holding cute baby Alex (he was dressed as a pilot :))

We had so much fun!

Happy Halloween!

Parent-Teacher Conference

Yesterday I went to my kids' first parent-teacher conference (can I just say it was kind of weird, it made me feel old!).  Both kids are doing awesome which is GREAT to hear! 

Malea's teacher says that she is doing great and really progressing.  I have already noticed a huge improvement in her writing, both letters and numbers.  She included this worksheet Malea did with numbers, I thought it was cute that the 7's were backwards :)  (Her teacher says that is very common and that usually almost every student does them backwards at some point).  It's interesting how different Kindergarten is now compared to when I was in school, it seems like the things they are having Kindergarteners do was what we did in 1st grade.  They expect A LOT!!  She has a homework folder that comes home every week with different activities, as well as a take-home book that we have to read every day and send back.

Its kind of hard to see, but this is Malea's progress report for Term 1.  She has all 1's which is the best you can get, and 3's for things that they haven't really covered yet.  I was happy to hear that she got 1's for all of the Personal Development section (like following directions, participating, staying on task, returning homework, etc).  I'm so proud of my big girl!

Here's some other things Malea has brought home from school or that I've found around the house (she's always doing crafts :)):

The picture below is of a bunch of ear wigs (?? lol)

I find papers like this all the time around the house, she practices writing letters and numbers all the time!  It's so cute

Isaac is also doing well, too....he got "Good Progress" on his Social goal at pre-school (yellow sheet), which according to his teacher is a good sign.  She said we need to be worried when there is "No Progress Showing", which doesn't seem to be the case with him.  She said he plays well with the other kids at school, which was great to hear.  I've also already noticed a difference in his speech, which is wonderful!

His daily scores fell in the normal range for everything as well (except for a couple of things like counting, which obviously won't happen until he's talking more).  I was mostly concerned about how he was doing socially so that was a relief to hear.  They send home a sheet every day that says whether they had a good day, an average day, or a bad day, and so far he has all all "good" days except for one day where he had an "average" day, which I think isn't too bad!

Here's some other things that Isaac has brought home:

So proud of my kids! :)

Soccer

Malea had her last soccer game!  She was so happy Grandpa Dave came to her last game :)

With her team :)

Holding her trophy :)

Her soccer pics came back, they turned out cute!

(Tried turning it right side up but it wouldn't stay, grrr)

Cute girl!

My First Last Birthday

So yesterday I celebrated what I'm calling my "First Last Birthday", which is the last birthday before I turn 30 and life is officially over (haha, just kidding).  I will stay 29 forever more.  (Can you tell I'm not excited about turning 30?).  30 just sounds so....I don't know....OLD.  This is the last year I can tell people I'm "in my twenties".  Waaah I don't want to grow up!  Ok, I'm done with my tantrum now.

My birthday fell conveniently over fall break which was fabulous because I got to draw out the celebration!  On Friday my mom took me shopping and got me a cute new outfit to wear on my birthday (denim jacket/skirt pic below).  I also bought this cute scarf a couple of days before.  This was my first attempt at tying a scarf, and after a little help from THIS website I was able to figure it out!  One of these days when I'm a millionaire I will hire a stylist to dress me because I am not good at putting together stylish outfits!

On Saturday night we got together with the family at one of my favorite restaurants, Joe Bandidos.  It was so fun to get together with family and eat delicious food!

My mom holding darling baby Marshall, my brother Dan's son (his poor wife wasn't there, she had to take their other son to the doctor for croupe (sp?), not to mention she had her appendix taken out just TWO DAYS before!  They've had quite the week).

We were lucky enough to have my brother Sam in town from Logan with his cute son Cannon, although we did miss his wife Taylor who had to work.  We were also missing my brother Ben and his wife and kids, who went to Moab for the weekend.

My Dad holding Cannon

Rick and Isaac.....Isaac was "feeding" Rick his food, it was so cute!

(Isaac was soooo good at the restaurant that night, which NEVER happens....usually it is like pulling teeth to get him to sit on his chair and eat his food.  It was wonderful!  I think that was his "gift" to me, in his own special way!)

Singing Happy Birthday to me in the restaurant (how embarrassing....)

The kids helping me blow out the candles :)

Mmmmm cake

On Sunday (my actual birthday) I got my gifts/cards from Keith and the kids.  It was a very low-key day, which was really nice.  I also got lots of well-wishes via cards/phone calls/texts/facebook messages on my birthday, which was awesome!

Keith got me a Visa gift card and planned a date night for us next weekend!  Yay!

A couple of cute sweaters I got with my birthday money :)

Even though I'm not excited about turning 30 next year, it's also kind of neat to look back over the years and think of everything I've accomplished in the last 10 years....I've gotten married, finished my Bachelor's degree, had two kids, bought a house, and by the time I turn 30 I will have my Master's degree!  So I guess turning 30 won't be all that bad. :)