Halloween

We went to the Calgary Farmyard to get our pumpkins this year, but unfortunately Jeff wasn't able to come. They had some nice pumpkins this year and the kids each picked their perfect one! We had a really fun day here doing all the activities. Boston hadn't been to this place much and was afraid of the goats at first, until I spent time with him and was able to get him petting and brushing them, and not wanting to leave. I bought them food and they all loved feeding the animals. I also splurged and let them do the gold mining this year. It was actually so fun! They each got a bag for all their treasures with a card that tells you what types of gems you have. I made everyone go on the little train, but the slides and jumping beans were the biggest hits! 

We kept the tradition alive and carved our pumpkins with the Bennetts again this year. They moved to Okotoks, so we don't see them as much, but we try to hang out enough to keep our kids friends! We went to their new home to carve, and they were great hosts. We made pizzas and they even planned some games for us to do with prizes. We had a really good time and made some really good looking pumpkins. I was surprised by how little I had to help the kids this year, they are getting so independent! Bentley made the cutest bow pumpkin, Deacon did a cool Nike one, and Leo stole the idea of "67," which has been very big this year! Boston really wanted a spiderman pumpkin and Jeff did the best job at carving the web just enough to be seen. They all looked so great! When we got home, we had a huge pumpkin on our doorstep from our ministering brother, which was pretty funny!

The kids were so happy to go back to school for the Halloween Parade. Bentley dressed as Dr. Pepper with her friend Madi, who was Coca Cola. Deacon was a blow up chicken jockey, and matched with Bayden, not on purpose. Leo was pikachu, and Boston was Spiderman. Boston came to watch the parade with me and had a great time. He had also just got a bunch of Halloween things from his preschool! 

That night, Bentley went trick or treating with Madi and Deacon went with Bryce. So Jeff and I went with Leo and Boston, which was actually so nice. We could go at a slow pace and not feel bad, although Leo is getting very fast! My parents wanted to come with us, so they joined and it was a lot of fun. They brought over some soup for dinner that we all ate before we went out. The weather was decent so we lasted fairly long, but Leo wanted to go longer than Boston so my parents took Boss home while Jeff and I finished up with Leo. We went on our usual route over to the Locking's house and back, and it was perfect. The kids got way too much candy, as usual! 

I love when Halloween is over and we get closer to celebrating Christmas! On Nov.1st I bought Boston the cutest polar bear cake pop from Starbucks to celebrate. 

October

October started out normal until the 6th, when a teacher's strike began. The kids had no school for 23 days until the Provincial Government passed legislation to force teachers back to work. That happened on Oct.28, just in time for the kids to go back for all the Halloween things. It was annoying, but also not as bad as I thought. The kids' community activities, like basketball, still continued and the weather was really nice, so we weren't too bored. Boston's preschool teachers did not strike, so he was still able to go to school. 

This month the kids made haunted candy houses, collected the Superstore Avengers stickers (and stuck a bunch all over themselves), Boston fell asleep in the beautiful sunshine while waiting to pick up the kids at school, and Bentley and I went to the Taylor Swift "Life of a Showgirl" movie. We went with Tamara and Scarlett, and decided to dress us in our showgirl outfits! I had listened to the album enough to know most the words, but the girls seemed a little bored! Later, Bentley and I became very obsessed with her new album! It was a fun night though.

General Conference came, as did our tradition of making German Pancakes, bacon and fruit for breakfast before watching it. Always a great Sunday! We had Thanksgiving at Don and Cindy's house and had a great time eating turkey and playing some games. 

Jeff and I were able to get away for a night in downtown Calgary. We stayed at the Fairmont Palliser, as an early anniversary/birthday gift. We were tired from kids being at home so much and felt like we needed this little boost. We ate a delicious dinner there, got a couples massage at the spa, swam in the pool and hottub, and went shopping and explored downtown. My parents were so nice to watch the kids for us.

On one of Bentley's days off school, I signed her up for a babysitting course so she could at least be certified and start babysitting if any jobs came her way. She is super mature these days and I have no doubt she'd be great at it. She went with Jade to the course, and said it was very boring, but was happy she did it. 

Deacon got invited to his friend Sebastian's party at Flying Squirrel. This friend moved out of our ward, but he was glad to still get an invite! I decided to stay at the party and let Boston jump too. He had such a blast! I also threw a party for Deacon's basketball team at our house for some team building. We had pizza and slushies (with our new Ninja Slushie machine), and the boys went in the hottub and just played with the nerf guns and other things. Deacon was very grateful and had the best time!

That about sums up our month, minus Halloween, which will be on the next post!