November 12 in 12

Labor Day, aka Launch Day!! We lucked out with the 12th falling on a day Eric had off of work, we had already made some fun family plans (yes, I can count, I am aware that I've got 13, not 12-but they're really cool pictures).

We started our day off with a HUGE breakfast, here's what's left of it.  Eme and Maddie even drew us some festive flag pictures to celebrate.

The four rockets, all prepped and ready to go.  From l to r: Davin's, Aidan's, Eric's, and Mine (a 2 stage rocket!!)

Eric getting the launch site ready with all the kids looking on.  We like the baseball backstop as a great way to keep the kids at a safe distance from the "controlled explosives".

We invited our family friends who also like to shoot rockets, because more rockets=more fun right?

Our friends' rocket taking off, using one of our bigger engines.  It was pure luck that I got this series of shots!

Me prepping my rocket for its maiden flight, sadly it would only have one flight.  We lost it, at 2000 ft they're a little unpredictable in their flights, and really hard to track.  For our final flight of the day we even shot Davin's rocket with my booster (we did recover that), and almost lost that too!

We had to reward those hard working kids, they spent 2 hours chasing after and recovering rockets in the empty field beyond the park.  It was the least we could do.

With very little hope of ever seeing my rocket again, we were absolutely surprised to see a bit of orange streamer on the other side of Guadalupe (just past the Jr High).  That my rocket flew so far, and then some how avoided all that traffic (it was about 2 ft into the shoulder), was truly miraculous.

Since we didn't spend enough time outside, Eme got some playtime with another friend in.

The boys' version of a "clean room"

We ended our day with roasted marshmallows and s'mores.  Perfect.

Our "Great" Uncle Ken

Growing up there was no question in our minds who our favorite uncle was, it was always Ken-the middle of the three Seguine kids.  Dad was oldest, Ken wasn't too far behind (9 years), and Janet brought up the rear (she's actually 8 years older than my oldest brother!)  But once you grow up, get married, and move away from home (and your uncle moves to Wisconsin and becomes a super awesome pumpkin farmer-producing organic pumpkin seed oil) you go YEARS without seeing each other.  16 Years actually.

Oh, we've emailed and Facebook-ed, thankfully, but it was wonderful that Ken had a business trip that brought him to Mesa for a weekend.  Which meant I got to have him for an evening, pure bliss! I had a hard time keeping my girls off of him, they were absolutely in love with their "new" Uncle Ken-who looks just like Grandpa Seguine, except Ken has better hair :)

Thank you Ken, it was fantastic!!

All Hallow's Eve

Maddie couldn't decide what she wanted to be for Halloween, everyday she would change her mind on what she was going to be.  So, I made up her mind for her by buying a cute set of black cat ears and tail (one of the many, MANY things she had wanted to be).  All I had to do was make a quick tulle skirt so she could either be a ballet kitty or a black kitty.

All set for the preschool party, complete with a nose and whiskers

Obviously today she went as a ballet kitty, hence the pink side out (it reverses to black for a regular cat).

love her tail

the sun is a bit bright in their eyes, oh well.

all set for begging for candy

Medusa, complete with snakes

Ballet Kitty

Army Man

Vampire, complete with dripping blood

and a fairy and thing...

After the kid's got home we let them pick out a reasonable amount of candy, then we pulled all the suckers out (Valentine's candy, check), separated the remaining chocolate (stockings, check), and then bagged the rest for our annual gingerbread houses.  It's great, very little of the candy actually gets eaten by my children (or by the parents), but none of it goes to waste, it's a win-win around here.  And, the kid's don't mind, because they got to pick their favorite 10-15 pieces of candy, and mom isn't too crazy about how much they're eating.  Happy Halloween!!

Wolf-Boy

Davin's been working really hard to finish up his wolf before this month's pack meeting.  We even made a special trip to the zoo over fall break (on a day I was beginning to get sick!) so he could pick up trash and pass off his last item.  He is loving cub scouts!

getting his advancement beads

Our new leaders had a "brilliant" idea: to bury the scout's badge in a pudding pie.  He had to eat it out, with either a spoon or hands-free, it was the parent's choice.  Unfortunately, then the parent was handed a mini-pie that contained the pin, and now the scout got to choose-spoon or face.  Thankfully, we had seen it the month before, so we knew what was coming-which is why Davin insisted Dad, not Mom, come up with him (I have never loved that boy more!!)

Davin eagerly awaiting Eric's fate!

Digging in.

Messy kid, this wasn't even the messiest of the kids either!

Thanks to Eric's large mouth, he found the pin, mess free, in one bite!

NO MESS!! There's the pin :)

Fall Break, plus my birthday :)

Here's a quick run-down of our fall break:

Monday: Eme woke up with a fever of 102. Stayed home. Let the kids watch Netflix, play wii.

Tuesday: Eme still had a fever, 101.8. Stayed home. Repeat of above. Getting cranky.

Wednesday: NO fevers!!! Headed to the Science Center to check out the dinosaur exhibit (fun, but not worth the extra $40).  Still cranky by the afternoon.

Thursday: My birthday-why are there kids home on my birthday?! Stinking fall break HAD to be a week later this year for some reason.  I woke up to a lovely letter from my sweet husband (with tickets to see the Moscow Nutcracker in December!!).  Then I headed over to Krispy Kreme for my free donut, and while I was there I picked up a breakfast donut for everyone else too.  The rest of the morning was low key, showering, relaxing.  After the crankiness of the past few days, I was treated to THE BEST gift ever, peace in our home.  The kids got along so amazingly well with each other, ALL DAY LONG!  I treated the kids to Hotel Translvania for my bday, along with drinks and popcorn.  And then for dinner we had take-out from Costa Vida.  No dessert yet, because we opted to have friends over to celebrate with us on Sunday.  The kids drew me cards (X-men inspired, thank you Netflix) and gave me candy bars.

Friday: The ZOO! I love the zoo, and it's been so long since I've been able to take everyone.  Unfortunately, it was a warm day and I was starting to feel yucky (see Monday and Tuesday).  But, the kids had a great time.  Eric's parent's stopped by later in the evening and brought me my gift: a new camera!!! I couldn't be happier, I have been so sad ever since MY camera died in Paris.  It was a thoughtful and much appreciated gift (that will be used as much, if not more, than the bread machine).

Saturday: The usual chores, oh, and I had a talk to write-finally!!! Yup, after 4.5 years I finally got to speak.  But really it was only because the rest of the Sunday School Presidency was out of town and Eric (who's tired of me "murmuring" every time he speaks w/o me-which has been 3 times, btw), told our bishopric that I'd be more than happy to fill-in anytime.  So I was asked to speak, with my husband no less, and I couldn't be happier.  Well, I could, if I wasn't getting sick :(  I also managed to give Eric a much needed haircut.

Sunday: Our talks: my topic was on the Restoration of the Gospel-and as there are 11 specific parts to the restoration (according to Mormon Doctrine), I pretty much had my choice of topics :) So I spoke on The Book of Mormon and then on the ordinances of the temple.  Eric spoke on the Prophet Joseph Smith.  All in all, we did well-I even kept my talk to exactly 15 minutes and didn't go over (no small miracle!)  Sunday night we had friends over for desserts to celebrate my birthday (and pretty much everyone else's too this month).  It was a great night spent with friends. 

(by the end of the night, I had no voice, and was fully sick, thank you Eme-boo)

October 12 in 12

This month's 12 in 12 happened to fall on a 1/2 day Friday.  And on half days, since I don't have to make lunches, I treat the kids to a hot breakfast and a good lunch at home :)

hot pancakes for breakfast: available in two sizes-regular and tiny

Park day with friends, so much fun for both Maddie and I

The all important Costco trip-stocking up for Fall Break

Eme and Davin caught a butterfly as they were bringing their bikes inside, I was lucky enough to capture it!

Pizza for lunch to launch the Fall Break FUN!!

Getting "Spooky" for Halloween :)

A rare treat-nintendo!!

And I read while they played :)

Turkey meatballs and Gravy for dinner-temps dropped to a reasonable 80+ degrees, gotta take advantage of it!

A little Legos before bed, they'll probably stay out all week long too!

Love this man, helping with the dishes :)

Finishing off the night with my usual pills, sadly this is what I take EVERY day.

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

Thankfully this year's preschool trip to the pumpkin patch coincided with a cool spell-low 80's!!  It even rained early in the morning, just enough to knock the dust down on the dirt paths.  It made for a perfect day.

Maddie posing in front of some corn

Most of the preschool class, minus Roan

Our tractor/hay ride

I remembered to bring a couple of bucks with me this time so we could try to feed the livestock.  I only used $1, and boy did it go far!  We even split it with Roan and Britney because it was just so much feed.  Maddie really wasn't too sure about the goats, and this was the only time she actually let one eat out of her hand.

Don't be fooled, she has nothing to offer, I kept asking if she wanted to feed another one, but she adamantly refused.  She just wanted to be close to them and look, but not have them come any closer to HER.  Thank goodness for fences.

They loved the maze, and ran it again and again (after getting twisted up a few times first)

Picking pumpkins is serious business.

Ah, just right!