October 2015.

October LDS general conference. We tried a new activity where when the kids heard a certain word they got to eat one of corresponding snacks, which worked pretty well! Some were treats and some were healthy snacks. I did switch labels partway through if they were getting too many treats!

 Girl's first selfie.

 One of our family's favorite dinners: crock pot lasagna. I just layer in the pot spaghetti sauce, spinach (and other veggies I want to "hide"), uncooked lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mozzarella cheese, repeat. Easy, and even my kids who don't like spinach or tomatoes will eat them in this.

 Bike rodeo! Faye was so proud to be one of the only pre-K students without training wheels. Unfortunately they didn't give awards to pre-K this year. Everett placed first for first grade boys though!

 Both boys played Y baseball for the first time. Loved it! We'll be dong more baseball in the Spring.

Neighborhood night out. The kids remembered that the previous year, there was a dance competition at this event. Everett and the girls went all out and got dressed up for some fancy dancing. Everett even practiced this super cute dance where he twirled Isla all around and picked her up. Sadly they didn't do a dance-off this year! But it was easy to spot my girls as the only ones in pink tutus!

Scobee's annual family dance night. The PE classes practice dances, and each grade level performs. Then the families all come out and do some dances. We have a great school!

 Carson brought the classroom tiger home for a weekend. He got to watch some football and attend the boys' baseball game.

 The much-anticipated daddy-daughter dance!! Faye recently named this event as her best memory of 2015. She got to wear a special necklace and picked out other accessories. They had a great time.

Just a girl taking care of her baby.

 Every fall I look forward to picking out outfits for family pictures! I really don't shop or splurge much, so this is one time a year where I get something really cute for each of us.

 This was one night when Faye had taken a long nap so got to stay up late. Rick got called in to the hospital just as we were lying down for bed, of course, so Faye got to take his place!
 
Each year the kids work hard to make a submission or two for the Reflections contest. This year I got some nice paints and paper, and Everett and Faye both submitted a painting. Carson wrote a story for the literature competition and also composed a piano song. The theme was "Let your imagination fly." Everett's painting was awesome; it's on the chair in the picture. He called it "The Great Donk-ird-icorn." Depending on which way you turn the paper, it looks like a donkey, a bird, or a unicorn. Faye painted a bunch of circles that became balloons a girl is holding to float up in the sky. All four of our family's submissions ended up winning at the school level, and Faye's painting won districts and is now being judged at the state level! It made for a few late nights working on these things, but it was worth it! You can also see me handing out candy corn in one of the pictures; I am not above bribing. Oh, and Isla spent a lot of time on her pink painting, which she calls, "The crazy flamingo." (The elephant is mine... it was an example. :)

 
 


 Pappy came to visit!! He arrived late at night, and as soon as he woke up there was a treasure hunt waiting for him... Kit Kats were the big prize! Unfortunately it rained a ton while he was here, canceling all events we had planned including the boys' baseball games. We tried to make the most of it by pretending to camp in the backyard, playing at Bass Pro Shop, going to the batting cages, and Pappy took the boys fishing one day.

 Halloween! Isla had developed an affinity for flamingos, so her costume choice was obvious. I saw some really cute peacock costumes, and Faye and I thought that fit her perfectly. When I realized those were both birds, I convinced the boys to dress up as other (more manly) aviary species. Everett decided on a bald eagle, and Carson said he'd be a peregrine falcon. We had never done family-themed costumes before, so I was really excited about this! We bought the materials, mostly yards and yards of felt to make the wings. After beginning to put together Carson's costume, he broke down in tears and confessed, "I really just want to be... a football player!" And so he earned the money to buy himself a Green Bay Packers costume, and my dream of DIY bird costumes went up in smoke. :) I'm glad he got to be what he really wanted, and Rick and I made up for it by dressing up, me as a toucan and Rick went as some random bird with whatever feathers I had sitting around. 

We went to a fun Halloween party at our friends the Francisco's house and then the church trunk-or-treat, and then on Halloween night trick-or-treated around our neighborhood with the Barth family. The day after Halloween the kids had the option to either binge on all their candy and get rid of the rest, or to save it and eat a couple of pieces a day. Faye was the only one who chose to save it; the other three ate to their heart's content and said good-bye to the rest.