Our Halloween

Well everyone knows Halloween isn't just celebrated in one day, it's practically a month event and usually involves a few parties!
So our Halloween started off first with an Activity Day Halloween Party, and since I needed to bring Jacob with me I figured we both might as well go in costume. And I wanted to give more opportunities for Jacob to wear his costume since I went to a great effort to make him another one!

Actually it wasn't too hard, but there was more to it than I originally thought. So- Jacob was a werewolf this year, aka Jacob Black, haha. I kind of joked about it last year, but then never came up with a better idea so I stuck with it. Besides it was something I could easily make- costumes can be really expensive!

So yea, I just bought the gray sweats for cheap at Walmart, actually he already had the pants, and then I found gray felt that coincidently matched perfectly, and then got some fur from Michaels. So I just sewed triangle pocket ears, cut and sewed on the fur-which made a huge mess, and then sewed them on to the hood! It was fairly simple but I have never sewn anything 3D before, so that took a little figuring out. It was just challenging because I didn't want them to look like cat ears, so I had to try my best to turn them and make them stand straight up like wolf ears. Anyway- it was worth it because I think it turned out cute!
Anyway, back to our Activity Days party- here are some things I made...

popcorn witch hands
my weird looking jack-o-lantern rice krispie treats

and fun goodie bags for the girls!
I forgot to take pictures of our girls, but here was Jacob and me as "Bella"

Then on Friday my friend invited us to a Halloween party at a cabin just up in the mountains. A few of them had rented it and were staying for the weekend, but it was fun to go up just for that evening. We met a lot of really nice people and had a fun time!

Me with my friends Natalie and Jessica- both who have a daughter 5 days older than Jacob and both moved (or are in the process) of moving away!

Luke and I ended up going as cowboy/cowgirl- we had a good time and it was nice to have a long night away from Jacob too!

So we did that other party in place of our ward trunk or treat, so the only thing left was to trick or treat on Halloween night! Actually I was only planning on just having Jacob dress up and stand at the door with me as I passed out candy. And we did that for a little while, until our neighbors came over and invited Jacob and I to walk with them for a little bit.

So at last minute I grabbed a small taco bell bag for him, with the intention that we would just do a few houses- but then he had a great time! At first he was a little confused and wasn't sure why we kept going to strangers doors, and started to worry that I was leaving him. But then he saw people put candy in his bag- so that's when he got excited and started running down the sidewalks! For awhile I would hold his hand and he was so giddy he was practically skipping and kicking up his legs, and he hadn't even had any candy yet! Haha it was pretty funny.

So in the end, he did pretty well. We walked for probably 45 minutes or so and got way more candy than a one and a half year old toddler needs- perhaps I'll help him out ;)

Happy Halloween Jacob! :)

Hello Quiznos

So anyone that knows Luke well probably knows he hasn't enjoyed his job in the last long while. It's been stressful working for an accounting firm, but it has gotten a lot better since he's passed all his CPA tests. You may often hear me mentioning that Luke is working late, or often out of town, especially this past year. But that's been fine, I've supported him through all that, and have just been very grateful for all of his hard work to support our family.

But after several months of Luke going back and forth on looking for new jobs and trying to decide if it was the right time to leave, he finally just got a new job with Quiznos! So obviously he won't be working with sandwiches, but at the corporate office downtown- I hadn't realized before that Quiznos started in Denver.

Anyway, I don't know exactly what Luke's duties will be, but he will have sort of a supervising role and feels this position fits him just right and that it should be a good new experience for him. And it all came at pretty good timing; he feels it was a good time for him to move on.

And there were a couple of things that Luke also got very lucky with in his offer. First of all, the day before he got his official offer, his firm announced that Luke was receiving a raise (which he knew was coming). However, this was a good thing, because then he was able to let Quiznos know before they made their offer that they would need to offer him more than what he was earning from his now 7% raise. So the timing in that worked out very well.

Also, Luke has been getting about 5 weeks vacation with the firm, which has been amazing- definitely a benefit to his last job, but he told Quiznos he would need at least 3 weeks vacation to leave his job. We found out later that all the employees only receive 2 weeks, but they put in his contract that he would receive 3 weeks. So that was great, especially since he has to take off any time he wants to visit family since no one lives here in Denver.

So with a bigger income, a fair amount of vacation, and no more traveling (ever!), it's looking like things should be getting better. It should be better hours too, just a little bit busier towards the end of each month, but not too bad. I'm just looking forward to having Luke come home at about normal hours consistently every night! I think Jacob will really like that too, he really loves to see his dad at night, so if he has more time with us that will be great!

Anyway, there were also several more little things that have happened lately that helped us know that this was a good move, that everything is going to work out ok, and that God has been watching over us. So good luck to Luke- he starts his new job Monday!

Pumpkin Patch Pickin'

On Saturday we had one of our first days that really felt like cool fall weather, so it was a perfect day to head to the pumpkin patch! We went with our friends, the Loughe's, and they were the ones that knew about this awesome patch in Broomfield. Isn't it beautiful? I have never seen so many pumpkins in my life! It was just huge fields of orange- there were thousands of pumpkins!
And it was neat because you get to drive around the patches, then walk up and down the vines so that you can cut your pumpkin straight off the vine- it was fun! And Jacob loved running up and down the vines and checking out the different pumpkins. He found one immediately that he liked though! What a perfect little pumpkin for Jacob :)

All the pumpkins had such a beautiful color and shape. Jacob kept trying to pick some up, but when he couldn't, he would just sit on them ;)

Not only was it a beautiful fall day, but I loved the view we had of the mountains too- so pretty!

Here Jacob is carrying around the smallest pumpkin we could find in the patch- it was just right for him!

He loved to stick around with Daddy and help him find the biggest one!

Running back to the car!

By the end- look how many prickly things were in my shoes! Next time I just won't wear flip flops, luckily I didn't get poked, but crazy how many there were!

Tori and Shannon- thanks for letting us come with you!

We had a great time and I think we are going to make this place a tradition every year now! They even had a lot more things there that we didn't have time for this year, but next time we'll have to make sure to see the farm animals, the hay mazes, the big bouncy things, and maybe even the corn mazes. Now we're ready for fall!

What He Wants Most...

There are two things that Jacob cries for the most throughout the day. First: Elmo. All day. Jacob would literally watch Elmo all day if I let him. So I'm still not sure if I should be grateful for the Elmo DVD that his grandpa sent him.

On the one hand, it's kind of a great blessing. I've found something that will actually occupy his time for 50 minutes at a time, and I can actually leave the room to do the dishes, or make dinner, or be completely lazy and know that he's ok. And Jacob will be completely content and even dance along and laugh when his favorite songs come on. He gets so excited it's like he's laughing and crying at the same time. It's a great freedom.

On the other hand, I'm afraid I might be taking advantage of this a little too often too young. It's all too tempting to give in to his crying and begging for Elmo- I can't resist him all day! I also babysit his friend Brielle every week and Jacob has even got her hooked on Elmo too! They say she now asks for Elmo the minute she wakes up- what is it with Elmo and these kids?!
Now I'll admit, Elmo is adorable and Sesame Street itself is actually quite funny and entertaining, even for me, haha! But listening to the same movies over and over again is starting to drive me nuts! And I'm kind of worried Jacob might get sick of Elmo too quickly too, and then what will I do to occupy him when I'm busy? But I guess too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Now the second thing Jacob cries for, at least towards the end of each day is for his daddy! If he hears a noise and thinks he's coming home for work, or sees a picture of him, or hears me say the D-word, Jacob runs to the garage door and just wails, "daaaadddy!" Aw, it's actually kind of sad. I'm glad that it's not me though, he used to be a big momma's boy, but the tables have turned. And that's ok with me, as long as Luke does come home and can take him off my hands.

Unfortunately for me, and Jacob, Luke has been out of town the past few days for work again. And Luke has been out of town several times this year, and especially in the past few months, but we've managed just fine. But I was a little more worried about this trip since Jacob has been so especially attatched to Luke lately, and I was afraid that he would notice more now when Luke wouldn't come home.

And not only that, but Jacob has just been getting over a virus he had for about a week and a half. It took me a little time to realize he was actually sick, and that he wasn't just acting fussy because he hated me.

However, I realize now that Jacob actually doesn't hate me, and he luckily has also done just fine without Luke coming home every night- I'm not sure if he's noticed yet. So maybe by the time Luke does come home Jacob will be a momma's boy again... but I doubt it. ;)