Field Trip to Downtown Meridian

Rylee got to go on her first field trip of the year on Monday. Her teacher told me I could go with them but I teach dance on Mondays so I had to opt out. I was a little bummed but not too bad. I have been on a lot of field trips so it was ok in my book to miss one every once in a while. Rylee's best friends Mom was able to go and she was awesome and sent me some pictures of the trip. They went to downtown Meridian and took a tour of City Hall which was fun for them. They have been learning about government in school and have even learned the names of our President, Idaho Governor and the Mayor of Meridian. I asked Rylee if she got to meet Mayor DeWeerd and she said nope not this time. 

After that they went to the Pine Street School which is a historical one room schoolhouse. Rylee really liked writing on the little chalkboards.

Maryn and Rylee

in the bottom picture Rylee is top row on the very right

In this bottom picture Rylee is second from left 

Rylee said she had a lot of fun on her field trip but it was pretty cold. Makes me glad I was not involved, ha!

Maryn and Rylee BFFs

At dance I always give the kids a stamp on their hand at the end of class. The ink pads have different fruity smells depending on what color it is and the kids like to smell the stamp after they get it on their hands. I always try to remind the kids to blow on the stamp 3 times before smelling them so that they don't end up with ink on their faces. Inevitably I always have at least one kid leave with an inked up face. This week I was doing spider stamps with a grape scented pad. I cracked up when I saw Lila's face after she smelled her stamp, it was the perfect spider kiss!

Personal Progress

Two Sundays ago I missed church because I was home with a sick child, Kefford had Bishopric meetings before church and while he was there I got a text saying they were going to give Kenedy her Personal Progress award that day. I replied quickly with a, no way, you are not giving that award when I can't even be there, type of reply. So it was put off for another week.

This last Sunday was the big day and as we were sitting in the Chapel waiting for Sacrament meeting to start Kenedy got very nervous. She knew she was going to have to bear her testimony and was worried about it. I told her not to worry she would be great. 

Soon enough the two of us were called to the front and we met Kefford up there. The parents are always asked to come up with the Young Woman getting the award. After talking about how wonderful Kenedy is Bishop gave me the necklace to open and put on her. While I was struggling to undo knots and get the necklace out of the packaging , Bishop Buttars had Kenedy say a few words about Personal Progress. I really wished I could have heard more of what Kenedy was saying but I was stuck trying to get the necklace out. I know she said she appreciates the skills she learned while doing Personal Progress that will help her become a good Mother like me. That was a nice thing to hear and for her to say.

After Sacrament Meeting was over Kenedy got a lot of congratulations and I had a couple of people tell me good job. I was very quick to let them know that Kenedy did this all on her own. She made the goal a couple of years ago that she wanted to finish her Personal Progress before she became a Laurel. I had nothing to do with this accomplishment of hers. It is called Personal Progress for a reason and I believe that it is something the girls need to do on their own, how else will they learn and grow. It is my job to be encouraging but not to force or do it for her. I am proud of Kenedy for making the goal and for keeping it. She is a great example for her siblings and I love her! 

2nd Annual Peterson Halloween Party

Last year I had the awesome idea to start a Peterson Family Halloween party. I really wanted a chance for our family to be able to get together for a fun night and see all of our cute kids in their costumes. At the time I really wanted it to be something I did every year, my tradition my party type of thing. After the success of last years party Gwen asked if she could do it this year. I really, really wanted to say no that it was my thing but I did not want to be a selfish jerk and so I figured if someone else wanted to throw it I had to let them. So this year Gwen took charge of the party and that is how we came to be at the Farm on October 17th. 

I worked out that morning and then came home and showered but only had enough time to do my bangs and makeup before I was being pulled out the door. I brought my curling iron with the intention of curling my hair once it was dry but Kenedy asked if she could braid my hair and since that sounded easier I let her. She did an amazing job and my hair looked really cute thanks to her expert hands. She has really gotten good at this hair braiding gig!

I caught Bob trying to take a snooze and managed to get a picture before he woke up.

The older guys went outside for a little bit and shot some skeet. Alison took this picture of Ryker for me.

At about 4:30 we all started to get our kids dressed in costumes and ready for the party which was starting at 5. I thought little Sadie made an adorable bumblebee. She discovered the zipper on the side of her costume and spent most of the party unzipping and stripping off her costume. She makes me laugh and is the cutest little bug ever!

Kefford made these glasses out of th pipe cleaners Whitney had gotten out. After seeing his picture he decided he needed to draw on a scar and become a drunk Harry Potter. Not sure I appreciate the drunk part of his fun but he makes me laugh and it didn't last very long. Pretty much long enough for me to take some pictures.

Any time the kids get to be with their cousins is happy time! I love how close my kids are with their cousins and I love that they are best friends with each other. Jeremy and Gwen bbq'd hotdogs and hamburgers and the rest of us brought finger foods. I made candy corn jello and I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but trust me when I say they were super cute and a big hit! The kids loved jumping on the trampoline and there were plenty of games to keep the kids occupied and happy.

Brielle, Rylee and Qiana

The first part of the day Sadie would give me the side eye look like she was trying to figure out who I was and why I was talking to her. By the time we got to the party she was more comfortable with the idea of me and instead of weird looks I got happy smiles. I really love this kid!

Isabelle

Trying to get all of the kids together in one picture is always a chore. I sent Kenedy over with my camera when I saw what was going on and she took one (kind of) group shot and then she zeroed in on different people. The kids were all gathered in the first place because Gwen bought a piñata and they all wanted a turn to hit it. The funniest part of the day was when James was hitting the piñata, he gave it a wack or two and then the thing fell on him. It didn't hurt him at all, it was just super funny!

Xander looked so cute in his cow costume eating his chocolate.

Tayvia was trying to open her sucker and was determined to do it without help. I am pretty sure she succeeded. 

Rylee took over at the ring toss game and was helping her little cousins. It makes my heart happy to see my big kids loving on and helping the littles. They are so good with them!

James 

Charlotte 

standing in back: Lance, Brielle, Qiana and Rylee

secondish row: Xander, Grayson, Jaeger, Beckham, Asher, Avynlea, Mikayla and Ally

Frontish row: James, Jenna, Charlotte, Audrey, Brooke, Tayvia, Madison, Sadie and Isabelle

Doughnuts on a string was a popular game with some of the kids. I am pretty sure the piece of doughnut on the ground that Qiana is picking up is the same piece of doughnut put back on the string for her to try again in the second picture. A little dirt never hurts!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the party. I love how Brielle looks and think she has the perfect kitty attributes!

Ally and Avy liked the doughnut eating as well

It was a fun party and I loved being with everyone and having this opportunity to visit and socialize!

Picking Pumpkins

Yesterday we went out to the farm around lunchtime to hangout and visit before the Halloween Party at Jeremy and Gwens that night. I have to admit I really wanted to stay at home for most of the day and then head out to the Farm right before the party and just go to that. I was hoping to get things done at home and maybe have some time to just kick back. I was the minority in my opinion and this time the majority won. Looking back on this day I am really glad things turned out the way they did. I had a lot of fun spending time with Keffords sisters, visiting and crafting and enjoying each others company. I also got to spend some time visiting with Sara, Dustins wife, and that was really nice because I don't get a lot of chances to do that since they live in Utah.

Another really fun thing I got to do was visit the Farms Pumpkin Patch. Rylee, Avynlea and a bunch of cousins came along with Kefford driving the Gator. The Pumpkin Patch was huge! All of the third graders at the elementary school got to have a field trip to the patch on Wednesday to pick pumpkins and so it was pretty picked over but I still managed to find some awesome pumpkins to take back home with us. I kept finding more and more that I liked and Bob and Alison kept encouraging me to take more. Sadly, even though I picked out maybe 10 only 6 could fit back in the expedition with us. I was totally happy with those 6 beautiful pumpkins, I love pumpkins and think they are so pretty in color and unique in shape, they make my porch look amazing!

Jenna Andros, Rylee Peterson, Brooke Andros, Isabelle Peterson and Maddie Martensen

The little brown head in the front with Kefford is Audrey Peterson

Football game with Cousins

Alison really tries hard to support my kids and be at their events the best she can and I really love that about her. She came to watch Kenedy cheer at her last home game. Dustin and Sara were in town visiting so she brought Isabelle and Audrey along with Trista to come and watch. They could only stay until halftime but it was long enough for them all to watch Kenedy do what she loves. I brought Ryker, Avynlea and Rylee with me so they could be with their cousins and Kefford decided to come along as well. This was not a good game to come to because Meridian did really bad. They usually do much better then the way they played today but they were up against a really good team. Kefford walked home after halftime because he was bored and Ryker and Avy managed to talk their way into helping out at concessions. By the end of the game it was just me and Rylee sitting watching our team lose. At least we had a really cute cheerleader to watch!

Trista and Kenedy

Kenedy, Audrey, Avynlea, Rylee and Isabelle

Trista and Avynlea kept trying to take a selfie but Rylee kept photo bombing. They were getting frustrated but I thought it was pretty funny. Ha!

I never managed to get Alison to pose for a picture with our favorite cheerleader. This ending of a hug was the best I could get. 

Me and my Rylee