Pumpkin Carving Fun!

We splurged this year on the pumpkin carving and got more detailed! It was fun and the kids enjoyed scooping the "guts" out of their pumpkins! They were all lit up last night for a few hours! 

Can you guess who picked which pumpkin pattern? 

 Arianna did the spider

Sophia chose the skeleton and cat

Ella chose a traditional pumpkin face

and WE chose the ghosts for Elijah since it was one of the easier ones and it was past bedtime!

So, there you have it! Pumpkin carving done! 

Special thanks to my husband who helped in this long process of carving 4 pumpkins! 

Unnie Bunnie

 Arianna is 7 yrs old and in 2nd Grade at Mark Hopkins Elementary.

Her teacher is Mrs. Sustr.

Arianna wants to grow her hair long again but keep her bangs.

She has only lost 2 teeth.

Arianna continues to be SOOOOOOO picky about what she eats. We make her eat a bite or two of meat every meal but she still gags and doesnt like it. very frustrating.

Arianna loves breakfast. 

 Arianna bites her fingernails.

She likes Sprite.

She still loves to wear knit pants and doesnt like jeans at all.

Her favorite shoes are still Crocs.

Arianna LOVES animals of all kind.

She and Sophia still love to play Barbie house and they LOVE pretending with little animals and Barbies.

 Ariannas Beta Fish- Nemo- also died the same night Ellas fish died. 

Arianna cried and cried over the loss of her fish for which I was the sole care giver! 

Arianna likes to walk to the park near our house and play with her sisters- all by herself!

She really likes Hello Kitty right now.
Ariannas teacher started calling her "Ari"( R-E) and now all her school friends call her that! 

Arianna loves to sing and is participating so much more in our church services-
 she continues to be sensitive toward the Gospel. 

{ From the Mouth of Arianna }

my favorite color: All the colors of the rainbow and add pink

my favorite toy: Laura, her pet battery operated hamster

my best friend: Shea, Cheyenne, Savanna, Garrett, Brody, Madeliene

my favorite part about church: learning about God

my favorite food: mac and cheese

my favorite thing about school: independent reading, duck of the day and starting the day by giving Miss Sustr and hug- can you tell she REALLY likes school?

my favorite song: Completely Done and The Fathers Love

what I want to be when I grow up: veterinarian 

my favorite movie/show: The Avengers and Pink Panther  

Sophia and Arianna's Fall Music/Art Showcase- Hopkins Elementary

 This past Monday, the twins had a special art/music night at Hopkins. 

Their art work was displayed throughout the school.

 And they got to sing, just the 2nd and 3rd graders, in a special little performance.

All week, the music teacher said Arianna would get afraid when they practiced and did not want to go on the stage. I thought she was just trying to get attention. But the night of the performance she started crying. Daddy tried talking to her and praying with her before it started for her to brave but she worked herself up and was in tears. (she'll probably kill me one day for taking this picture!) The gym was PACKED too- I'm sure that didnt help.

 So, while Sophia stood on the stage and sang her heart out....

 Arianna stood on the side of the stage between the principal and her teacher and sang from there..

 We were honored to have their friends Maddie and Clara come to watch the performance.

 I {ADORE} how they are holding hands in this next picture! 

 Here are a few close friends in their class- JJ and Shea.

 After, we all went out with the Lutzs to Yogurtland to celebrate a job well done.

Here is  one song that Sophie performed:) Enjoy! 

Winters Blowing in!

8:30am today

1:00pm today- storms a brewin!

Yes, tomorrow all these gorgeous fall leaves will most likely be knocked to the ground with the 6-12 inches of snow they are calling for tonight into tomorrow morning for Denver and 8-15 for CastleRock- we are in the middle of these 2 places- we shall see! SNOW DAY????

 It has been SUCH a pretty fall. I will be sad to see it end.

On a MUCH happier note, my mom is flying in on Thursday-

 I am beyond excited! 

On another sad note, I hurt my finger last Friday. I stopped by a yard sale and found this great metal cabinet for only $2- as I was loading it in the van, it slipped and my finger got caught underneath it- of course, I pulled it out because it was SO painful and the nail totally separated from my finger. It was the MOST painful thing I've experienced in a LONG time! Everything started spinning and I had to sit down because I really thought I would pass out. Thankfully, my house was a block away, so I managed to get me and the 4 kids home. Of course, Mark was gone at a speech tournament till 10pm... the worst timing!
I couldnt stop crying for like an hour  because it was just throbbing. The kids were so afraid for me. Arianna went and got the computer and put The Office on for me without me even saying a thing- she knows what will make me laugh:) Sophia went and grabbed tylenol and water for me and Ella rubbed my back . Elijah just stayed away! My kiddos were so sweet to me and did everything their little minds could think of to help me feel better. I love them!
Eventually Mark called my inlaws and they were SO kind to come over right away and take care of the kids while I went to the hospital. Come to find out, I had a small break at the top of my finger bone. They thought about removing the nail but I asked if we could just leave it on and let it fall off itself- thankfully, they said ok! I also got a tetanus shot because it was an old metal cabinet- that sucker hurt SO bad the next day- I could barely move my arm. So, now I have this cool splint on my finger just for a week. The nail is SO tender.. hopefully that will heal quickly.

Well, off to see what the kids are up to- I hear Pink Panther music coming from the basement.. so hopefully they are just resting on the couch! I also need to grab a redbox movie or two and some bread since we may be stuck at home tomorrow! Could use a family snow day!
Have a safe and snowy night all my Denver peeps!

Sola Church Ladies Coffee.. at the ZOO!

 I just LOVE our Ladies Coffee time through our church- Twice a month we all meet up for coffee, usually at Melodys house and just let the kids play (there are lots of them!) and we talk! Its fun!

Last week we met up at the DENVER ZOO because it was a free day and walked around for several hours! We had LOTS of babies in strollers and then the big kids:) which were all Mels and mine!

Great picture to leave you with, I know! 

Casa Bonita: A Denver Must See!

In the 5 years we have lived in Denver, we have yet to take the family to Casa Bonita. Casa Bonita has been around for, I think, at least 30 years and Mark has fond memories of this place as a child! 

Marks parents called us up on Wednesday to see if we would like to go to support Sheridan school district so we happily agreed! If you ever visit Denver, stop on by Casa Bonita- its lots of fun!

 We actually did visit when the twins were 3 yrs old and Ella was just a baby. We were visiting Colorado with Kara and Eric (from MA) while Mark was on some sort of school trip. And we went here! Do you see the little tiger that Arianna is holding? She got it at Casa Bonita when she was 3 and the twins LOVED those little tigers. They named them Poky and wouldn't go anywhere with out them. I pulled them out of their memory boxes so they could bring them along!

Grandpa gave them some pennies to throw in the fountain.

 Their menu is very slim and has had a reputation  of being not very great...

but I REALLY liked my chili rellenos- I thought they tasted really good! 

 But what you really go to Casa Bonita for is the atmosphere! It looks like a Mexican town complete with Mariachi bands,  Cliff divers, Caves, etc.

 Every 10 minutes or so, they have a little "act" going on that you can watch while you eat!
While we were there, they had a cliff diver, fire juggler, and a gorilla skit.

 Mark was teaching Arianna how to eat sopipias. 

(I apologize for spelling all these Mexican dishes and terms wrong)

 You can actually walk behind the waterfall and look out- pretty cool!

 I hate that this picture is blurry!!!!

 The little ones didnt want to go in the scary cave- it really was a bit scary- I dont like to be "surprised"! Mark and I went through together:)

 At the end, the kids get to pick a piece of candy from the treasure chest!

 It was a FUN night and extra fun experience!