Happy Halloween!

My kids love Halloween and this year did not disappoint. For the past few years, my friend Heidi has invited us to her parents' house for their annual Halloween Party. My kids look forward to it so much. Heidi's parents decorate their house, make the best soup and rolls, and spoil my kids like crazy.

Our first stop was my mom's house so she could take a million pictures. I left Tanner with my mom so she could take him trick or treating.

Then we went to my Grandma Liz's place to show off the kids' costumes. Not sure what the deal is with Tanner's eyes.

Look how cute the table is decorated.

The kids are sooo spoiled. I don't remember going trick or treating and being pulled around in a wagon.

Heidi's parents live in South Ogden by a lot of huge homes. At this particular house, they had ice cream machines where the kids were able to pick which ice cream cone they wanted. I have never seen anything like it.

Yummy!

The yearly tradition always ends with Chris lighting the pumpkins on fire.

The Green What?

This was Landen's first year playing soccer. Mike and I had no idea how he would be since our first experience with Gage when he was four was awful. Landen would play around in the backyard with us before the season started but we really couldn't tell how he would be once around kids his age. We should have known since he is competitive in everything he does. Landen has to be first out the door, first when riding bikes, and hates to lose at any game.

I signed up to be Landen's coach since I don't think I can handle coaching kids much older than this. I gotta get my years in while I can. AYSO does something really cool at this age. They play 3 on 3 with no goalie. I love it. The kids get to touch the ball so much more. The first 1/2 hour we practice and the next 1/2 hour is the game. Our team couldn't decide on a team name so each week I would let a different player pick our team name. I got some funny looks from other coaches when they asked what our team name was and I replied with things like, "green grass", "green planets", "green power rangers", and "green race cars". I actually think the kids enjoyed it though. They looked forward to being able to take a turn picking a name.

I hate to brag, but I think Landen is kinda a natural at soccer. He scored a few goals every game except maybe one. Landen complained during the game he didn't score saying it wasn't fair that the other team wasn't letting him get a goal. Of course Landen scoring goals was awesome, but what impressed Mike and I the most was Landen's ability to play defense. The other team would be on a breakaway and Landen would chase the kid down, take the ball away, turn it around and be on his own breakaway moments later. It was pretty neat to watch.

I think we lost 2 games and Landen was really upset when we lost. He would keep score and be mad if we didn't win. You just can't teach competitiveness to a kid. Don't get me wrong, Landen is far from the perfect player. He has no stamina. Landen was the first to volunteer to sit out and complained a lot during the game saying that he was tired.

I don't have a ton of pictures of Landen playing since I was coaching and Mike hardly ever helps with pictures!

Doing 30 minutes of drills for six four year olds is a really long time.


Here we are practicing throwing the ball in. Sometimes I had 8 kids to teach because Gage and Tanner joined in.


We had to break up a lot of fights on our team because when we lined up, the kids would start pushing eachother. We frequently reviewed the concept of personal space.


This was a confusing game since our uniforms looked similar. Landen is left footed which is kinda fun to see. He hasn't learned my famous cut back move yet. Landen would dribble straight down the field and out of bounds. He would forget to cut over towards the goal.

Favorite part of going to the soccer field.

My dad actually noticed a funny thing about my boys' numbers. Mike and I being the coaches enabled them to pick their numbers first. Landen picked 4 because he is 4 and and Gage picked 7 because he is 7. Long story as to why, but my soccer number in high school was 47.

The Dragons

This past fall, Gage played AYSO soccer. I was really nervous about it. Gage only played half a season last year in the Syracuse city league and some of the kids on Gage's team this year were in their third year of playing. I also signed Mike up to coach to his surprise. He really didn't want to, but AYSO needs volunteers and Mike and I actually have experience so who better to coach. Growing up, my dad was extremely involved in every aspect of AYSO from putting up the nets every Saturday morning to coaching at least one of our teams. It's just something I felt like Mike and I need to do. Mike ended up having a lot of fun and he received many praises from parents saying their kids were actually learning something. He held practices once a week and game day was on Saturdays.

Gage had a lot of fun and even scored the first goal of the season. Some games he played better than others, but I feel like he really enjoyed it. When Gage hustled, he hung right in there. I'm so proud of him and I hope he continues to stick with it. I've posted various pictures from throughout the season. I wish I could have gotten more, but trying to chase Tanner on the nearby playground didn't allow for more.

Their team name was The Dragons.

Mike always had the boys warmup before games.




Here's Gage practicing dribbling and shooting the ball.

The boys always listened intently to what Mike was saying. Ha ha.

Here' Gage giving a high five to his buddy Jackson. They are in 1st grade together this year.

Gage is extremely pushy. Mike and I have had to talk to him about not pulling jerseys. Gage always insists the other player starts it.

Most of Gage's games were at 1pm and it was hot!

Gage loved to play on this toy before and after all of his games.

Gage's biggest fans.

I think Gage's team only lost one or two games. We were all sad the season was over, but Mike will coach the same group of kids in the spring. We can't wait!

Halloween Square Dancing Party

For the past couple of years, my Hall Grandparents have invited my kids to their annual Halloween Square Dancing Party. The kids get to do a few fun square dancing moves and then trick-or-treat around the tables. The party ends promptly at 8 because the square dancers like to have their own party.

Here is a picture of maybe half of my grandparents' great grand kids. I think they made up most of the party!

Here's Tanner right where he loves to be, in my mom's arms.

My dad even got in on the chicken dance.

I'm so glad we were able to go. The kids always have a lot of fun shaking their booties!

Landen's Halloween Program

Today we went to Landen's Halloween Program at his preschool. There are roughly 45 kids in his class. Thankfully they split them into 3 different groups for their Halloween Program so everyone can see the kids' costumes and cute actions. Landen was so excited for this day and so was I. Gage was always singing his songs around the house, but Landen never does. I wondered if he even knew the songs. He proved me wrong today.

Posing with best friend Ava.

Tanner was awful during the program. I had to take him into another room at one point. So much for getting there early and sitting in the front row. It was a long walk to the back when he was freaking out.

After the program, the kids line up and do a little trick or treating with candy provided by their parents.

Tanner even got in on the candy action.

I always wonder what it would be like to be a fly on the wall watching these two at school.