Gardner's Village Witch Festival

On our way to Grammy's house, we had a little it of time to blow. I remember reading blogs about Gardner Village at Halloween. We decided to stop. There definitely was something going on. I think it was called the Witch Festival. We all had fun spoting the witches throughout the village.
Can you believe a witch tried to kiss me?

Of course, there were a TON of cute photo opportunities.

The biggest thrill was Cadence getting her face painted. She looked so cute and became such an amazing tiger. Here she is getting it painted.

When she say herself in the mirror, she broke out in a huge smile and then a growl. She growled at people we passed and even made a little boy cry. She loved being a tiger!!!
On the way home, we passed the Jordan River Temple and got a picture of the tiger in front of it!

Washing her face, Cadence looked... interesting!
Of maybe she looked like a thug!
We had a lot of fun with all the women at Gardner Village. Chris was definitely in the minority!

Goats and The Horse

In the pasture behind our neighbors' house were put goats and a horse a couple of months ago. Cooper wants to see them almost every day. If we are outside and he hears the goats make their sound, he turns to where they are and says, "goos."

During the fall, we fed them the plums and apples that had fallen on the neighbors' laws. The kids love doing this (although Cadence is scared they will bit her hand.) The goats' names are Jack and Jill. We took our downstairs friends over to see the goats. Andrew is such a cute boy. We love it when he plays with us.Unfortunately, the miniature horse is behind the goats pen and so we only look at him from afar. I throw her apples and she appreciates it. Visiting the goats will become a weekly thing when the snow falls! Justin, our neighbor, carves bears out of tree stumps/logs using a chain saw. Cooper loves the two little bears in the backyard right now. He gives them hugs and kisses when we walk pass.

I just wanted to include this picture of the kids with Jack and Piper in their favorite place in the kitchen. Taking the big bins out was a good idea!!! Too bad the garbage cans can't go there anymore!!!

Harvesting (Potatoes)

This year, I decided to plant red tomatoes in the garden. I love red potatoes. They grew well and the kids had fun digging them up and playing with them.
This is my favorite red potato recipe (from memory. Hopefully, I am remembering it correctly.) It is so yummy!!! You HAVE to try it!!!

A bunch of red potatoes (maybe 2 lbs?)
1/2 stick of melted butter
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 t. marjoram
1 t. thyme leaves
1/4 t. black pepper

Combine first six ingredients. After cutting the potatoes into fourths or smaller, coat the pieces in the mixture. The potatoes should be at least two layers high in the dish. Place in a cake pan size dish, pouring the excess mixture over the top. Bake covered at 450 for 50-55 minutes (until potatoes are finished.) You may want to take them out once and stir/mix the potatoes up once while cooking to recoat them. ENJOY!!!!

Painting the Outside of the House

***We have A LOT of firewood! If you are interested in buying some, Chris is charging $100 for a truckload. Contact one of us, if you are interested.***

The beginning of Sept., we started painting the outside of the house. It has been a long time coming. I guy who lived here a long time ago would buy some random paint and paint PART of the house. When we bought it, the people who owned it before us tried to give it a decent looking paint job. Their problem was they only painted as high as they could reach on a short ladder. When we bought it there were 7 different colors on the outside of the house (dark blue, light brown, white, pink, mint green, purple orange). We are trying to only make it the first three.

Our neighbors had a tall ladder and Chris borrowed it to reach the highest points! I'm so nice to let him do the high parts!!! While he painted, the kids sat on the roof of the car or in the trunk.

Cooper loves to put keys/pencils/tools in holes/keyholes/outlets to pretend like he fixing or unlocking things.
Cadence liked helping to paint on the little ladder. She is getting to be such a big girl!!!

Here are the before and after pictures.
The East side of the house!


The West side of the house.


The Back of the house.


We did our best to match the paint, but you can see where the new paint is. Oh Well! Painting brick and that cottage cheese texture stinks. Next year we will work on painting the trim white! It will take us a long time to scrap it down and re-paint it, but at least it looks a better for now!

Big Boy Bed

About a month ago, we took down Cooper's crib because he hated it. I think he feels like he is in....PRISON!!! Behind bars! Locked Away! Since he was a horrible sleeper his first year (waking up 4, 5, 6 times a night!!!), he didn't sleep in it much anyway. He kept trying to climb out and I just knew it wouldn't be good to keep him in there. He is a climber.

Instead of putting up the toddler bed, we went straight t0 a bunkbed some neighbors down the street gave us last year. Cooper won't stay in bed if one of us doesn't lay next to him until he falls asleep. Of course, the bunk beds are officially cool and have become a source of play. Many adventures will be had on that top bunk!!! The kids love to bonk their heads on the ceiling since we put it where the ceiling slants in Cooper's room. He almost sleeps through the night now. It is so nice for me!!!! Now, I just wish he was lay in his bed and fall asleep by himself:)

Homecoming Parade

We took the kids to the USU Homecoming parade at the beginning of October. The weather was awesome. Notice the kids are in shorts and short-sleeve shirts. Cooper really loved the parade. There was so much candy thrown and the kids cleaned up. The nearly filled the Cadence's backpack. I thought we should save the candy to give away at Halloween, but we ate it all (minus the candy we gave away to other kids)! When there was music, the kids would dance, dance, dance. Everyone loved watching them bounce to the music!!!

They waved at all the floats especially if there were animals on it!
Parades are so fun. I would take the kids to one every month if I could find one. They love them!!!
Unfortunately, this is the only Homecoming activity we participated in. There were many fewer activities this year for the kids when compared to last year.

Voting Totally Stinks!!!

Today was election day and I am totally bummed! All three of my guys lost. I knew they were underdogs, but I really wanted an upset. If you don't want to hear me rant, don't read below the picture. I am tired of wealthy people who don't relate to the majority of citizens winning and ruling our city and country. I am tired of wealthy people enforcing their standards and ways of living on us when we can't afford it. I tired of the rich neighborhoods deciding what happens to poorer neighborhoods. I am tired of the apathy of middle and lower class citizens who don't vote and therefore, allow the wealthy people to keep making decisions for them. Just vote, people!!! I really don't like making elections out to be a money issues, but it just keeps coming back to that. The rich people (who have the highest % of voters) in the rich areas vote for the rich candidates.

I am nervous about what the next four years (and thereafter) hold in store for us. Landlord licensing will happen. Perhaps a new expensive library will be built. More invasion and a bigger city government will be a reality. The government will be coming into our home and apartments looking for things that are wrong. I'm sure they will find many things because they don't want renters in homes. Watch out renters. Logan City will now be a roommate of yours (if you live in a home.) It is frustrating trying to get ahead in life only to find our lovely government a roadblock. I am discouraged that my dream will never be a reality. I'm going to bed!!!