Quarantine Week 33 (Pumpkin Carving, Halloween week at dance, Woodworking, Ryker is popular, Meridian Costco, Dancing with second graders, Halloween)

Rylee started off our Halloween week by carving a really cute Jack-o-lantern on Sunday. She did a great job and I love her use of materials to make braces for her Pumpkin.

On Monday Avynlea cleaned out a pumpkin to carve it but got bored/tired of doing it and stopped after it was clean with the intention of possibly getting back to it. She never did and it sat in our Laundry room sink growing mold until I finally threw it out. Basically a big fail on carving pumpkins this year except for Rylee she wins the gold star.

My friend Kate Williams has basically a wood shop in her garage and on Tuesday I went across the street to her house so she could help me make some wooden reindeer for my front porch for Christmas. Avynlea was in her last days of Quarantine and came over to help cut some of the wood out. I was nervous watching Kate demonstrate how to use her scroll saw but once I started cutting I discovered it wasn't as intimidating as I thought and I enjoyed cutting out the wood.

We were able to make two reindeer with the wood Kate found for me and after a break at lunch we went over to the Home Depot to get some wood to attach Rylee's foot board to her bed. I bought the head board and foot board off Facebook Marketplace but was only able to attach the Head board because we had the wrong frame which was frustrating. I had the foot board in my garage for the past year trying to figure out how to make it work when one day Kate asked me about it. I told her my dilemma and she explained to me how we could make it work. We cut the boards I bought using her table saw, added some screw pockets using her screw pocket jig and then finished them up with a light stain. We attached the boards to the Head Board and then added the Foot board and we were done.I love how the bed looks in Rylee's room and am so glad that Kate was able to help me out with it, she is a great friend and neighbor!

This week being Halloween week I encouraged my classes to come dressed up for dance. I dressed up as Minnie Mouse using a skirt I bought off of Amazon and after putting my hair in buns and adding my black turtleneck, leggings, white gloves and yellow shoes I think I pulled off a very cute Minnie Mouse. I didn't have as many dancers this week but for those who came we had a lot of fun dancing to Halloween music in our costumes.

I was driving home with Avynlea after picking her up from Cheer practice when we noticed that someone had put a bouquet of balloons on Rykers Pickup. There wasn't a note or anything else and we didn't know who did it until Sunday at church when Echo and Ryann confessed to putting them there. They said they had them for a Senior photo shoot and then didn't have a need for them anymore so they got put on Ryker's pickup.

The day I have been waiting for has finally come, our Meridian Costco opened Friday and I was there bright and early Friday morning. I normally wouldn't have cared to have gone opening day but I needed some stuff for our Halloween party and I was waiting for our Costco to open so I wouldn't have to have driven to the Nampa or Boise ones. I loved everything about it but they only get a 4 star rating for me. The missing star is because this Costco does not have a photo center and that really bums me out. I didn't even know it was a thing to not have a photo center inside a Costco. I needed to print off out 2020 family pictures and since I couldn't use Costco I sent them to the Walgreens. It was twice the amount of money to print there then it would have been at Costco but I had a 50% off coupon so it worked out ok in the end.

Emily and I have been hatching a plan for weeks and Friday at ten we were able to pull it off. Emily is doing an arts infusion program in her classroom and I offered to teach her kids some fun Halloween dances. I was really excited about doing this but also really nervous and I am so happy that it turned out great. She had me projected on their big screen and my sound coming out of her loudspeakers so everyone could see and hear me. Because I was hooked up to her speakers I couldn't hear them which turned out to be really a good thing. I was able to just talk and teach without having kids interrupt or ask questions, it was great. We did a warmup and then fun Halloween movement dances and then I taught them a couple of counts of a dance to a Halloween song, it was so much fun! I loved being able to see her kids in their costumes and teach them some fun dances!

Friday Night Avynlea and some of her cheer friends threw a Halloween party at Hannah's grandma's house. The 4 girls throwing the party decided to dress in theme and Hannah was a Spaceman while Avynlea, Dreya and Hailey were Aliens. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on Avynlea's costume and we were having a hard time finding cute, modest and inexpensive items of silver clothing. We finally went to The Hobby Lobby where we donut silver material and we bought it for $6 and I made her a dress out of it. A $6 Halloween costume I can handle and Avynlea loved the dress and looked really cute all while saving me money and having a great time with her friends! 

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year and I was really excited about that! Because of covid I assumed most wards wouldn't be doing trunk-or-treats or Halloween party and I was able to have our annual Peterson Halloween Party on Halloween! It was so much fun and I loved that we could actually do it on Halloween!

First I had to take some pictures of my girls in their costumes

Avynlea as a space alien

and Rylee as Princess Peach

back row: Qiana(Alvin), Brielle(Jeanette), Rylee(Princess Peach), Avynlea(Alien)

second row: Sadie(Queen Elsa), James(Construction Worker), Tayvia(Brittney), Jenna(Farmer), Luke(Cow), Asher(Simon), Brooke(Little Red Riding Hood), Madison(Dragon)

front row: Hazel(Eleanor), Xander(Theodore), Garrett(Tiger), Caleb(Tiger), Jason(Dragon), Kelly(Witch), Laney(Bee), Kinsley(Medusa) and Amelia(Witch)

We did a nacho bar for dinner, I provided the cheese sauce, chips and meat and everyone helped by bringing toppings with Trista providing drinks and Alison bringing Doughnuts for dessert. I also had every family bring a bag of candy, if they could, to use for games.

I got some white crepe paper at the Dollar Store and the kids played the game "wrap the mummy". Avynlea, Rylee, Brielle and Qiana were team captains and picked their teams. It was fun watching them wrap their mummys.

Thie kids also played the game "Ghosts in the Graveyard". Avynlea and I filled up a bunch of white balloons and drew ghost faces them. We took them out into the backyard and had the kids stomp on them to poop them. It happened so fast I didn't get any pictures. Lastly I had the four oldest kids take all the candy and put it out in the backyard so that the rest of the kids could do a candy hunt, basically an Easter egg hunt but with Halloween candy and no eggs :). 

Since it was Halloween we took the kids out around the block trick-or-treating and between that and the candy hunt they all had pretty full bags of candy to take home. It was such a fun night and I loved being able to spend it with family. After the party Avynlea went to a church friends party, Rylee went out with her friends and Ryker was working so it was just Kefford and I at home. We watched a spooky movie and then went to bed, it was such a good night!

Rylee and her friends did a dress up theme and dressed up as Mario characters.

Taylee is Yoshi, Ella is Luigi, Tayci is Mario and Rylee is Princess Peach

 

Quarantine Week 32 (Avy and Rylee at the Farm, Kenedy Votes, Baking, Big Hair Bun, Peterson Ortho Sponsorship Banner, Elizabeth Votes)

Kenedy went to the Farm on Saturday with McKoy and Gabbie so they could go flying with Bob and get some pumpkins from their pumpkin patch. Avynlea and Rylee went with them and they were all just staying for a few hours and then coming back home. About the time that Kenedy was getting ready to come back home I got a phone call from Avynlea asking if she and Rylee could stay until Monday. They were supposed to go to school on Monday because this week would be their Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule but there was a hiccup. Normally we are full remote while in the red and hybrid while in the yellow. Our district just moved back to red but our school board decided to keep kids hybrid learning because that was what the majority of parents and teachers and students wanted per a survey they sent out. So even though we were in the red we were still allowed to do hybrid learning but some teachers did not like that and staged a call in sick coup. A quarter of the teachers in our district called in sick for Monday as well s Tuesday and we do not have enough subs so they had to cancel school. It is ridiculous, I am pretty angry at the teachers. I feel that the ones who will suffer are the kids and that is not fair to them, it is not their fault. We are already in a bad situation and these teachers are making it so much worse. 

I have Avynlea and Rylee permission to stay until Monday and they had fun being with their grandparents and cousins. Amelia was there for the weekend and they loved being with her, she is just the cutest kid.

Found this picture of cute Rylee on my phone, I think she takes pictures and sends them to her friends.

Kenedy voted! This is the first Presidential election that Kenedy gets to vote in and she had a mail in ballot sent to her so she could vote from Rexburg. She sent us a picture of her mailing in her ballot and she looks so cute, I am super proud of her for doing her civic duty.

Kenedy also sent a picture of the apple crisp she made with some of the apples she got from when we went apple picking. It looks super delicious and I am so glad she was able to come up with a yummy recipe.

I used some of my apples to make caramel apple cinnamon rolls. They were good but I think they needed more caramel, there wasn't a lot of that flavor in it, I definitely needed more.

I was inspired by Nicole from Big Brother to do a big bun in my hair and I took a couple of pictures to send to Kenedy.

If this week couldn't get any worse school wise Avynlea was called into the nurses office Wednesday at noon and I had to go pick her up and take her home because she has to quarantine for a week. Her friend Dreya tested positive for covid and all her cheer besties had to be sent home. Avynlea only has to quarantine for a week because her last contact with Dreya was a week ago and they are counting that as week one. I really hate covid!

Rylee sent me a couple pictures of the Peterson Orthodontics banners they have hung up in the gym. Kefford sponsored her through Volleyball and he has been a little anxious about when the banner was going to be hung up. I think it looks pretty good!

Rylee was sending some text messages to Tayci using Taylee's phone but she was accidentally sending them to me. Avynlea and I took a picture to send to her and her response was "what the heck". Hahaha

I didn't want to deal with lines at the polls so I also requested a mail in ballot. On Saturday I mailed in my ballot and had Avynlea take my picture. I copied Kenedy's pose so I could send it to her :).

Quarantine Week 31 (YouTube Church, End of Cheer Camp, Last Football Game, Apple Picking and Pumpkin Carving)

We are still in this dumb pandemic but our ward is progressing a bit more. We now have church every week but our Ward is divided up by 5 and we go to church once every 5 weeks with the service being broadcast on Youtube for us to watch on the weeks we are not in the building. They do the talks first and then the broadcast is turned off so they can do the Sacrament in church and those of us at home do it still at home. It is nice to have our Ward broadcasting a service and I liked sitting on the couch watching church on my computer. Ryker was at the church helping with the sacrament and Avynlea had her last day of cheer camp so it was just Rylee, Kefford and I in church. We signed up to go the second week so we will be able to be in church next week.

Avynlea had her last day of cheer camp and it was performance day. All of the parents were invited to come and watch the cheerleaders perform the routines they learned.

In the top picture Avynlea is bottom row second from the left. In the bottom picture she is bottom row 6th from the left.

I went to watch Avynlea and she did a great job, I love watching her perform! Three awards were handed out at camp and Avynlea got one of them! She got "Most improved" and her coaches told her how impressed they were with how hard she worked on her stunts and learning the routines. Avynlea is pretty amazing and I am super proud of her.

 

Friday night was our last football game of the season. They have playoffs but this is the last one parents can attend since we are now back in the red for covid. I am grateful we were able to go to this game, it was their Homecoming game and Senior night. All the Seniors for football and cheer were presented and then during Halftime they presented the Homecoming court.

Before the game Avynlea got a picture with Landon that his Mom took and sent to Amy who then sent it to me.

The cheerleaders were able to stunt for this game, finally, and I videoed and also took a picture of Avynlea doing an extension Lib. She looked really good and didn't wobble at all!

Kenedy came to town this weekend because she had a Dr's appointment and she was able to come to the game with Kefford and I. Each cheerleader, football player and Homecoming court member received two passes to the game and only two passes. It didn't matter who got the passes they were only allowed two. My neighbor Arin reached out to me to see if I could get my hands on a pass for her to use. Her niece was crowned Freshman princess and she really wanted to attend the game to watch her be presented. I asked all my cheer mom friends but they were all using both their passes. Andreya originally said her parents were using them but then Thursday Avynlea told me Dreya's Mom tested positive for covid which means she can't go and the rest of the family can't go because they now have to Quarantine.. I immediately told Avynlea to ask Dreya for her tickets, which we got. Sad for them and their positive test but I am glad I was able to get the tickets. Arin was so happy to get one and then Kenedy was able to use the other one. I had so much fun with Kenedy at the game, we talked and laughed and joked the entire time, it was great bonding!

The cheerleaders had dinner and got ready at our house again. I wanted to change up the menu but Avynlea said everyone loved what we did before so we should just leave it the same. So I did three batches of potato soup, rolls and pumpkin cookies again. Amy sent Paige with drinks and cups, Annie brought the cutest cupcakes that her Mom had made and someone brought a big box of Nature's Made granola bars. Because it was at our house and I guess no one wanted to carry around their leftovers everything was left here. I don't mind too much, those cupcakes are yummy! 

Hope was supposed to drive some of the girls to the game but her car was leaking fluid and the brakes were not working she said so they had to scramble to find a ride. I had to leave for dance and was not around for these conversations but Hope had her friend come and take them to the game.

While we were at the game we found out that this kid that drove them was driving really reckless, speeding and doing u-turns without slowing down. Avynlea and the other girls were pretty scared and Avynlea told the kid to slow down which he did for a hot second and then sped up again. When I found out about this I was pretty mad and after the game I saw Hope getting into her friends car and I went over and chewed him out a bit. I wasn't yelling I just basically told him to never drive that way again when my kid was in the car. Not that Avynlea will ever be in a car with that kid again, I hope he got the point and drives more carefully. 

At every game the coaches choose a Veteran and Rookie MVP and this time Avynlea was chosen as the Rookie MVP with Tori and Phoenix being the Veteran MVP's. Kara posted the MVP's on instagram and this is what the caption said..

MVPs of our last regular season game tonight are: Vets (and seniors) Tori & Phoenix! They both brought the energy and good vibes to the sideline last night! Our Rookie: Avynlea! Looking so sharp and solid in stunts and all smiles while cheering. Congratulations ladies 💙💛

After the game Avynlea got some picture's with her friends Madison and Sadie. Sadie was crowned Sophomore homecoming princess and Avynlea was really excited for her.

A neighbor was posting about going Apple picking and I thought it sounded like a fun idea. I told Kenedy about it and she was excited to do it while she was in town visiting. She was going out to the farm to pick Pumpkins with Gabi and McKoy and Bob was taking them flying so we planned to go when they got back. Avynlea and Rylee went to the farm with Kenedy and called me while out there to ask if they could stay the weekend. I gave them permission so they missed out on the Apple picking which was a bummer. It ended up being just Kenedy, Gabi and I who went to the Apple orchards and we had a lot of fun. We took pictures and ate apples, which we were encouraged to do and just had a good time doing something new. We picked and bought 25 pounds of red delicious and green criterion apples and I am excited to try some new apple recipes with them.

After we got back McKoy, Bri and Drew came over to carve pumpkins with Kenedy and Gabi.