Cub Scouts - life as a bear

It's not just school and soccer that's keeping Jake busy. He has also been having a blast at cub scouts, this year as a bear. They've already done so many fun activities this fall and better yet, Jake is learning new skills.

One of the father's of the cub scouts is a police officer, so he came in and shared information about his job and how to keep safe:



Joe came in and did a woodworking project with the boys. They made really cool tool caddies:





And my favorite, watching the boys learn how to bake brownies. These boys spend every Wednesday together and Jake has known Christopher since preschool. They all attend different elementary schools and on the soccer field they were rivals, but at cub scouts, they are such close friends:



Conversely, Jadyn likes to come every week to spend time with the younger sisters. Again she has known Stephanie since preschool and has become fast friends with Brooklyn as well. They like coming to scouts just as much as the boys:





It's also fun to celebrate the holidays with this tight knit group. For Halloween the kids got to decorate their own sugar cookies. Jake went a little overboard with candy corn:





And I can't see what other fun and useful things they will learn next!

Another great soccer season

Preface - I have no idea where November went. While I am off for the Thanksgiving break, I am going to attempt to catch up.

Jake had an amazing soccer season. I cannot truly express how much I love watching him play this sport. Maybe it's the fact that I loved playing this sport as a kid myself. Maybe it's because while Jake does only the minimum necessary in so many other tasks, with soccer he gives 110% and the passion he has for the game radiates from him.

This was his second year playing in the under 10 division, the youngest competitive division in the league. Our new next door neighbor Art served as head coach and I served as team mom. Although we had a lot of first and second year players (which surprised us at this level), we had a great group of boys and even better for me, a great group of families. It really was fun to watch them grow and improve as a team.

Ultimately however, the team fell just short of moving on to the Commissioner's Cup (playoffs), coming in 3rd place. Jake was nominated for all-stars but we won't find out if he was selected until December. I am hoping he makes the team because while I really dislike the evening practices in the middle of the coldest month of the year, I would love the opportunity for Jake to continue the season.

Here are some highlights of Jake playing during the season:



























Team photo after the last game:



Jake with Coach Art being presented his trophy at our end of season party:



I had a score can for parents and family members to put loose change and small bills inside each time the King Cobras scored a goal. By the end of the season, I was able to pay for the team to have a party at our town's new indoor bounce facility. It was super fun:



But eventually the fun must come to an end. You spend so much time together in a short time and before you know it, it's over. However, you are left with fond memories, a good experience and another great soccer season.

Red Ribbon Week

Red ribbon week at school was sandwiched between two weekends full of fun fall activities.

On Saturday after Jake's soccer game, the kids and I met up with some friends at one of the town's other elementary schools for their annual fall festival. The kids had a blast playing games and going through a very well done haunted house (complete with a chicken exit, which I am proud to report neither of my kids utilized)



After the festival, Jadyn and I headed over to the community center where the town's annual gourd festival was being held. Not only did we get to see some amazing art, Jadyn participated in a kids craft where she got to make her very own gourd ornament.



 Every year, local artists open up their home studios for people to visit on self-guided art tours. It just so happens that our neighbor across the street shows his artwork along with his mother. Joe and Jadyn wandered over there on Sunday and Jadyn came back with a beautiful wreath she had made with the neighbor using native weeds.

Here she is showing off both her gourd ornament and wreath:



Red ribbon week at school always includes fun dress up days. Tuesday was "dress as your favorite book character". Although Jadyn's favorite is probably Junie B Jones or Amelia Bedelia, she didn't want to pass up an oppoirtunity to wear her cat costume to school so she dressed as Bad Kitty. Jake showed his love for all things Diary of a Wimpy Kid:



Thursday was twin day and both kids dressed up with friends:





Friday was hero day. While there was plenty of kids dressed as superheros, I was one proud mama when both the kids said that dad was their hero and they wanted to dress as Marines.



Friday night we went to the town's annual flashlight scramble. The kids made a mad dash for candy, and had fun with their friends.



The rest of that weekend included a soccer game but with Jadyn and I both fighting colds, was otherwise low-key. When you have such a busy and fun week, it's nice to be able to kick back and relax.

Tricks and Treats 2013

It was a trick to get the kids to help clean out the guts of their pumpkins and ready them for carving.

 

It is also always a trick to carve the pumpkins to each of the kids unique specifications.

However, it is always a treat when Joe pulls it off and the kids excitedly pose with this year's creations:







It will forever be a trick to get decent pictures of the kids at fun Halloween events like Yucca Mesa's annual fall festival and the town's annual flashlight scramble.

But it is always a treat for the kids to dress up in their costumes on multiple occasions and spend time with great friends:





It was a trick to gather up all the stuff we needed to dress up for Halloween and head over to the Dondo's house for trick or treating right after school.



With that said, boy oh boy was it a treat to finally see our Addams Family theme come to fruition after being thwarted by a storm last year that stranded our friends in D.C.



And with all those tricks and treats, it was time for us to have some good ole fashioned trick or treating fun.....









... and declare Halloween 2013 another success.

Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch 2013

(I'm just going to pretend I am not 3 or so weeks behind with blogging)

Several weeks ago we headed out to the pumpkin patch as a family. This is such a fun fall tradition for us and this year was no exception.

I love looking at all the varieties of pumpkins and the bounty of a fall harvest:



We found this carved pumpkin hilarious and Jadyn couldn't pass up the chance to pose with it. She is such a ham:



But of course as with years past, the highlight of our trip was going through the very elaborate corn maze. I made Joe go with us this year for navigation help.



The kids ran and ran and ran looking for the "cheese" (don't ask). Giggles were plentiful:



What they were really looking for were these stations, which gave a code that created a password to the next part of the maze (I told you it was elaborate):



In the end, the only thing Joe helped the kids do was cheat by finding 3 out of the 4 numbers and then guessing the last one until the door unlocked. No matter however, we had a blast and made it out with our hard earned bracelets declaring that we conquered the maze.



Other highlights of the pumpkin patch including Jadyn's pony ride......



And Jake's favorite game, launching cannons at the pirates.........



If the games and rides and bounce houses are the kids favorite part of going to the pumpkin patch, one of my favorites is also their least; the photo ops!

While Joe and I always take enough shots to get a good one:



The majority of the picture taking looks more like this......



But that's okay. While I like getting that perfectly posed picture, I also like it when the photos capture the fun. And I think this year especially that is exactly what it was - fun.