Halloween!

Last night we went to (and organized) the Trunk-or-Treat and Chili Feed. It was our last activity we were in charge of being the Co-Chairs of the Activities Committee. Brian was called a few weeks ago to be the Ward Clerk and so they needed to release him from the calling. They prayerfully decided that I would be released and be called to be a primary worker. I am now teaching Quianna's class, ages 10-12.

For Halloween night I made apple crisp and we watched The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, an old Don Knotts movie that I use to watch when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun. Then we went around the block for Trick-or-Treating. We didn't stay out too long since it was Sunday and Elijah already had a lot of candy from the night before.

Here are the pictures of our costumes!

The McCann Wizard of Oz

 Alex (Quianna's Brother) joined us for the night and he was the gorilla. We said that he was the ground forces for the Flying Monkey army.

Quianna's the "wicked" witch

Brian's the Cowardly Lion... betcha you couldn't guess that!

Elijah's a Flying Monkey

And I was Dorothy. 

 We had a lot of fun having a family theme. At the beginning of October, we watched the Wizard of Oz and then I gave the kids options of what they could be. Thursday night I went shopping and then was creating every chance I had to get all four done before Saturday at 3:30pm. I did it, with a few minutes to spare!
Luckily I had my dress and Quianna's shirt and skirt made from High School so I just had to worry about our accessories. Otherwise I don't think I could have done it in time.

There was another family that had a theme. The Dad was Bowser but you can't see his shell in this shot, but it was really cool!

Next year for us is hopefully Mary Poppins and Bert. Quianna and Elijah have been wanting to do Mario and  Princess Peach but they might do Michael and Jane from Marry Poppins with us. It depends on what they want to do. Quianna wants to do another family theme but she's torn between the Mary Poppins or doing something with Elijah. Maybe next year we'll all do Mary Poppins (I was thinking they could be penguins hehe...) and then in a few years we'll do Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Daisy (since Mario was just done this year by someone else). Next year... no matter what we decide... I am going to start WAY earlier than October. 

Green Bluff ...

...and lots of pictures that are long over due
first we have Brian's Birthday

I don't like German Chocolate Frosting (the coconut) so Brian told me to do half and half.... Look at all those candles!

Elijah's first day of 3rd Grade

Our Colts Cookies

 Next is Elijah's Cross Country Race

Last minute advice from Dad.

There he goes!

 Spider and Ghost Cookies

For the last few years Barb and Dan have come up and we all head to Green Bluff. We always end up in the same spot, Knapps Family Farm. They have tons of pumpkin patches to sort through, a hay maze, goats and ponies to pet, AND a  pumpkin cannon! It's lots of fun!

Time to Carve!

ok... I think that's enough pictures... for now... I can't find the finished products of the pumpkins so I will post them tomorrow when I can take a picture in the daylight.

Here they are!

Quianna's

Brian's and Mine

Elijah's
I feel bad that I can't find the original picture because now that it's been a week the dragon's head is kinda off.

Oh... Boys...

How many times must a boy get hurt before he learns he shouldn't try and stand up on chairs to leave the table, or he shouldn't do somersaults on the banana rocking chair, or be rocking back and forth and twisting on a dining room chair that isn't suppose to rock?
I am trying a new loving tactic this week (yes all of these incidents have happened in the last week- in fact, the last couple days). When Elijah gets hurt(physically or emotionally) I usually give him a lecture on why he shouldn't do that something. Last week was a rough one for him and Brian gave me some insight that made me look at everything in a new light. So this week I am trying to extend my patience and love first and foremost without a lecture. So when something happens I have had to bite my tongue and think about my actions instead of reacting in my normal way.
For the times that he has hit his head and he's down on the ground I go up to him and rub his back and say "I'm sorry you got hurt" to let him know that I love him. But today when I saw him standing up on the side edge of the chair to apparently leave the table- after we had just had the conversation about one of the reasons why we treat furniture right is so we don't get hurt- I had a hard time biting my tongue... in fact I didn't really bite it. BECAUSE I was washing the dishes and I turned to see him standing on the chair. The following phrase (which I never thought I would hear myself say) came out of my mouth "Elijah what are you thin- (crash he goes down hard) ...king". I had such a hard time finding compassion to hold my actions so my instinct came out and I lectured him... it was a short lecture... but of course he wanted to argue so I decided to drop it and just said, "I'm sorry you got hurt but... yeah, I'm sorry." I paused because I wanted to say "but I have a hard time finding sympathy for someone who wasn't thinking about what he was doing. ESPECIALLY when we just had a talk about treating furniture right". BUT that was when I gained control and held my tongue and just said, "I'm sorry." and went back to do the dishes.

The point of telling this is not to "tell on" Elijah. He's a boy and he's 8. Things like this are going to happen. The point of this is to say... I held my tongue! In the hardest moment I pulled myself together and didn't lecture...well... too much.

October!

Wow! It really is October! This week started the cold weather here in Spokane!
At the end of September my back started giving me problems and I had to put a hold on my training for the 5K. A week and a half ago I started seeing a chiropractor and it has been helping a lot. I have been able to start back up but now i'm backtracking because I took so long off that I have to start again but try and build up quickly in time for the Thanksgiving run. Brian on the other hand has been training and doing really well.
Last month we decorated our master bedroom and I love it! It's so wonderful to have a nice place to retreat. A place that is *ours*.
Elijah has done Cross Country with the school. He made 21st place. He was first from his school in his grade.
Quianna is playing violin again this year. She sounds great- a more mature tone than last year.
Brian and I went to That's Italian on Saturday. It was a fun date night. We also watched Iron Man 2 the night before. That was also a fun night.