Happy Halloween!

I feel like Halloween is a whole week. We started the week with Trunk or Treat, and ending it with Trick or Treating in downtown Northville, with a lot of fun in between.

On Monday, I went visting teaching while Keira was at school. We are picking her up outside now:

We had really mild weather that afternoon and evening. We took advantage of it and that evening went to Maybury as a family. We didn't stay terribly long since it is getting dark really early, but we had a good time.


On Tuesday, we started the day with a playdate with Katie and Luke. Keira loves playing with Katie, and everyone had a great time.


That evening, we had a fun time at church for Trunk or Treat. Keira and I had matching poofs in our hair. Since Keira was a princess, that made me the queen! Ryan went as a Safari Man to go with Soren's monkey.

On Wednesday, while Keira was at school, we went to the gym and I swam 1.2 miles for the first time! Soren and I also stopped at the the nursery closest to our home so that we could look at the big pumpkins. Both Keira and Soren are huge fans of these, but Soren has been very excited about them.

A couple shots indoors:


That evening, it was another nice day, we we played outside a bit before heading to Sears to pick up some light bulbs for the truck. While we were there, Keira and Soren were able to play with Sidney and Carter in the play area.



On Thursday, we did some errands during the day and played around the house.








That afternoon, Cristina came over for a short run, and then we went to the gym for a swim workout. Cristina gave me so good tips and we actually did a swim workout. Soren is so funny, he kept asking where Cristina went all evening after she had gone home.

On Friday, Keira had her "Fall Holiday Party". The children were encouraged to wear orange and black, but no costumes were allowed. I had not initially volunteered to stay for the party, but bring donuts instead. When I came back after buying the donuts, I decided to stick around for the party. Miss Jan said it was ok that I bring Soren. It was fun Halloween stories and songs, followed by a ton of snack- ghost, bat, and pumpkin shaped cheese, apple slices, popcorn, and donuts.

After school, Lorelai came over so Dianna could go to Dominic's Halloween party at his school. Soren loved Lorelai, so he was very sad he had to nap while she was there. Keira and Lorelai made great helpers to make Halloween cupcakes and played very well.

On Saturday, Ryan woke up early to head over to church, and I bundled up the kids for a quick run.




I had to be cleaned up by 11, when we were scheduled to have someone look at our furnace, which wasn't turning on. While I was getting cleaned up, Soren made this huge mess in his room. He had emptied 5 out of the 6 dresser drawers on the floor.

Thankfully, it had not been that cold lately. It took me almost a full day to realize it wasn't working, and then another half day to get an appointment. In fact, our indoor daytime temperature had not dropped below where a lot of people keep their thermostats anyway, and the kids' room is always cold in the winter, so we have a space heater for them. The verdict was that the pilot light had gone out and the sender was very dirty. Our furnace is 37 years old, and the man said it looked pretty good for its age, and got it cleaned, relit, and we have heat again, for just the price of a service call. Relief! I really thought we were going to have to get a new furnance. Next, I went to a baby shower for Jolyn, who I worked with at Ford. She lives outside of DC now, and was just home for the weekend. She looked fantastic, and is very excited about her baby boy due in February. It was great to see her. After the shower, we went to Parmenter's for some cider and donuts. The kids had a blast as always. Soren loves cider so much.

That night, I was able to finally carve our pumpkins. We had a vampire theme, with the bat and vampire pumpkin.

Sunday was Halloween, and we went to church in the morning. Before breakfast, I got these pictures of Keira and Soren. It was great to go to church with no worries! We also got to see Kris, who was visiting our ward today.


After church, I finally got both Keira and Soren to take naps. Neither wanted to because they wanted to go trick or treating now.

We went into downtown Northville for trick or treating, and left treats on our porch. We had a few left when we got home. Keira and Soren did pretty well with trick or treating in the beginning, but once it started to get dark, they both got a lot more afraid. We didn't stay the full time alloted, because Keira had finally had enough. The homes are amazing, and somem of them are pretty scary. The large skulls were very frightening to both children. The house with the cats in the windows was the last house we could convince Keira to do, because she really liked the cats. Once home, we took a few pictures of our home in the dark.

Up for next week, we have voting day, so Ryan has the day off. We also have tickets to another UM game!