Party, Party, Party!

October is definitely a month of parties at our house! With Halloween and three birthdays, there is always something going on! Within the last week, we've had 3 great parties, not including Jack's birthday party!

The first was a Witches Party! My amazing friend, Kirsten had seen this idea a year ago and wanted to give it a try. She was kind enough to let me help with the easy stuff (while she took care of all the hard stuff). We invited several of our friends, with the instructions of bringing a decorated witches hat. Kirsten had the Primary room beautifully decorated and brought really fun treats - cupcakes with witches hats and cookies made to look like broomsticks. Beth made homemade rootbeer and we added dry ice to it for the effect. It was great to be able to visit with friends, eat yummy food and then we guessed each other's hats. When our hat was revealed, we each said something about ourselves that the others didn't know.

Ali, Sarah, Kirsten, me, AnnDee, Beth & Jenny

(Wow, that orange shirt of mine is sure bright!)

For my hat, I wrapped some Halloween fabric around it for my love of quilting. Then I had a Little People to represent Jon & the kids. I did that because they are my life. I love that I'm a wife and mom! It's been my dream ever since I can remember and I'm living it! I hot glued a Reese's Stick to me, since chocolate helps me get through the crazy times!

The next great party was on Saturday night. It was our annual Ward Halloween Party (thank you to Holly & the committee for another great ward event!). For Halloween, we (or I should say I) talked the kids into being the 5 Little Monkeys who jumped on the bed. I was the mama and Jon was the doctor. It turned out cute to just put costumes together. I bought the kids brown shirts and pants and then just safety pinned felt stomachs on them. Then, I used cardboard and headbands to make them ears. (You'll notice that Jon put bandaids on a couple of them and painted black eyes on others).

Then, on Tuesday for my birthday, I got to go out to dinner with my great friends. We went to Texas Roadhouse (my favorite) and it was a blast! I took Emily, Lindsey & Hannah with me and it was fun to have Emily and Lindsey old enough to enjoy something like that. Thank you so much to Kirsten for organizing it! Wow! And for Becky, Beth, AnnDee, and Lisa for coming! I have great friends! (And thank you to Jon for watching Jack and Kate!)
Kirsten & me

(She is a friend like no other I've ever had! Kirsten - you are the best!)

Beth, Me, Hannah, AnnDee & Lisa

Lindsey, Beth, Becky, Jeannette & Emily
(if you look close, there are 2 carseats in the booth across from us. That was Hannah and Thomas Larson. We kidded that they were the most boring couple there.)

All right, now it's time to pull Emily's birthday party together for Saturday!