Halloween

Halloween seemed a little crazy this year. There was just so much going on the last couple of weeks that Halloween kind of took me by surprise. We didn't even figure out what our costumes were going to be until two nights before Halloween (with the exception of Mike). Mike's work did a really elaborate Halloween party and each team had to choose a theme. Mike's was Willy Wonka, and so he was Willy Wonka. I thought it would be fubn if the boys were oompa loompas, and I was able to talk Simy and Misha into being oompa loompas. They were adorable. Allen wanted to be Anakin Skywalker again (that was his costume last year) up until two nights before Halloween when he suddenly decided he wanted to be Obi Wan Kenobe. We ended up using his Anakin costume and spray painting an old man wig and beard of Mike's black. It looked really cute. We had fun at the work party on Friday, but it took us a while to get ready. I hadn't quite finished putting the oompa loompa costumes together (as I said I started on Thursday night), so I had to safety pin Simeon into his on Friday. Saturday we started by making the rounds to a few friends who wanted to see the kids. Then we went to the ward trunk-or-treat. Finally we went to trick-or-treat for a while at Grandma's. By the time we got there though, Misha was crying with a tummy ache (who knows how much candy he snuck?), Simeon had tear streaks down his makeup because he was upset that his wig was in his face, and Allen had decided that he had enough candy and didn't really want to trick-or-treat. So, it ended up being Benjamin and Simeon trick-or-treating to a few houses and then calling it a night. All in all though, I think everyone had fun. Anyway, enough words, here are the pictures.

A Little Golf

Well, a few weeks ago Mike took the boys out to teach them a little about golfing. Gradma Char had given them a couple mini sets of golf clubs (They are really cute little clubs complete with bags and all). So, we all took a little trip to the driving range and learned a little bit about golfing. I even hit a few balls while we were there, and we all had a good time. Simeon didn't last too long with the golfing, but he found a nice pile of dirt to play in close by. We also got a lot of attention there. I was a little embarrased because everyone was staring at us when we walked onto the range and I thought maybe they would be annoyed with the kids because they can get pretty noisy at times. I soon found though that everyone just thought they were cute, and the man next to us kept bringing us more baskets of golf balls. When I thanked him, he just said, "Well, you've got a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of little ones to hit balls." Anyway, it was fun to watch the boys learning to do one of their Daddy's favorite things. Enough talk, here are the pictures.

We also went to the zoo today. Allen and Misha are off from school this week so I thought it was a good time to take advantage of our zoo pass.

This is Misha in Mikes old man wig and beard. I just thought it was a cute picture.Benjamin loves to play the piano. Anytime anyone is playing or it is on, he crawls in and tries to play. It makes it hard during piano lessons, but we figure things out.

Misha's Birthday

Well, two weeks later we got to host another birthday party for little Misha. He chose a scooby do party, so that was fun. He was very excited about being five now. Here are some pictures from birthday party number 2. Some of them are a little blurry, but it is the best we've got.

I spent all of Friday working on a Scooby do cake. I think I got a little over ambitious, but all in all it turned out all right.

We got this pinata last minute. Mike had been making a scooby do pinata that looked really great, but it never got hard enough. So, we improvised with a monster pinata (godzilla or something). It worked.

This group of kids was somehow not quite as rowdy as Allen's group. Some of them were even the same, but they were just a little easier to line up. I still had to yell at the top of my lungs for anyone to hear me, but it was fun.

They played a little game where they had to work together to pick up plastic balls with these scooby do paws. Another last minute thing thought up by Mike. The kids loved it!


Benjamin stayed in his favorite place, wherever the balloons happened to be. He also had a fun time. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery, and those were all the pictures I got.

These are just some cute pictures I got of Benjamin in the last couple weeks. I can't believe how big this little guy is getting. He is all over the place now, and is quickly approaching one year. It makes me kind of sad, but it is fun watching him learn and grow. He is such a beautiful little baby!

Allen's Birthday Bash

Well, Allen is a year older, and he believes much more than a year wiser. He had a party on Saturday to celebrate turning 6. It was fun (a little crazy, but fun). It got pretty noisy with 8 boys and 2 girls, but all in all I think it went very well. Here are some pictures! We had to make a few last minute adjustments to the pinata, so I told the kids to make scary alien faces. This is what I got. I also sort of forgot to get together a blindfold before hand, so we ended up using a hat for the blindfold. Not the norm, but what is normal at the Terek house? Also, I learned a little something about pinatas in Arizona. It is not the best idea to fill them with chocolate when it is 100 degrees outside. Just a little tip for the future!Benjamin wanted a chance to get a wack at the pinata too. He thought it looked pretty fun, so we let him try (with a little help).The pop the balloon game got pretty interesting. It took a lot of effort to get the kids into two lines. I don't know how the teachers at school do it. The kids had so much fun popping the balloons for the game that they found all the rest of the balloons and proceeded to pop them. This is when it really got noisy. Every time a balloon popped they would all scream and jump around. It was crazy, but fun.

Allen got his first bike this year. He didn't want to try it out in front of all the kids so I will have to put pictures of his first bike ride later. He also got some fun toys from the kids.

Allen chose to have a Ben 10 birthday cake. I didn't know what that was so I had to look it up on line to get some ideas on what to do. I got to try some new cake decorating skills with fondant and edible spray paints. This was the result.
We managed to save one balloon from getting popped so that Simeon and Benjamin could play with it. Benjamin had so much fun chasing it around the house.

It was one crazy day, but well worth it!

Benjamin is Crawling!!!

Benjamin learned how to crawl a week ago! The boys were really excited, but not quite as excited as Benjamin. He has been trying and getting very frustrated for about a month now. On Tuesday night he just suddenly figured it out. Every move he made he just laughed and laughed because he was so proud of himself. It was cute. I wasn't fast enough to get the laughing on camera, but I did get a little video of him crawling. Misha thought it was fun to put something far away and then as soon as Benjamin got there to move it again. Benjamin didn't seem to mind too much because he was just so happy that he could finally get somewhere. Anyway, enjoy the video!

Mike's Havasupai trip

Mike recently took the young men to Havasupai Falls. They left Wednesday afternoon, drove until late at night and stared hiking down at about one in the morning. It was a tough hike, but supposedly worth it as it was gorgeous down at the bottom. Here are a few of the many pictures Mike brought back with him (including a scary video (for those of us who do not like heights) in which Mike tapes himself descending a cliff). Enjoy the pictures!

This is a wild watermelon patch. Mike said there were a lot down there.

One of the many beautiful waterfalls down at the bottom.

This looks a little too dangerous for me. It is good that I wasn't there or noe of the boys would have had any fun!