Halloween/Trunk or Treat

 We had our ward Trunk or Treat/Halloween carnival last night. Everyone did a fantastic job setting it all up! The last time I dressed up in a costume was way back in high school, and every year josh and the kids try and talk me into it but I would never! Well this year I caved and decided might as well and after doing it I realized that it is SO much fun, I think I will have to do it next year too :) I was batgirl and Daniel, well he is 13 now, so he wants to think of unique costumes, and since we love sports and had an awesome Afro wig I got for 2 bucks at my favorite store Gabriel Brothers,  we decided on the old basketball player Dr. J Erving

 Josh kept it simple, he was just going to wear the wig, but I borrowed my Dads Cavs jersey and told him he can go as the Cavs player Anderson Verejao, I thought it was fitting since Anderson is our last name :)

 We doctored up a costume of Wades from last year and Miss Delaney went as Supergirl, but boy was she SUPER cranky!! The activity was totally past her bedtime!

 Justin went as a Robot and he just LOVED his costume, both boys had SO much fun at the activity

 Wade went as Clifford the Big Red Dog, Wade can't stand anything on his head and originally Cliffords face was on a hat to go on his head, well I cut that face off and hand sewed it to the front of his costume, it worked good enough

 My Natilie went as Cleopatra and thats not a wig, its two cans of black temp hair color that is more like hair spray and left her hair SUPER stiff, she actually has 2 costumes now, this one and an Avatar that pictures is the last picture of this post

 Wade having fun pushing Delaney while she stuffs her face with a yummy cupcake

 Our cute friends the Ward family, here is Heidi and Joseph

 Our other cute friends the Tora's! Here is their son Gabriel but my dumb camera was acting up and the picture isn't clear

 Batgirl and Princess Leia getting ready to take on the world!

 Our other cute friends the Vallen family, they had an AWESOME family costumes from Star Wars

 Natilie and her friend Hannah

 Mommy and daughter picture

 So super heros were the in thing this year, there were 5 batgirls total (including me) here is a picture with a few of them

My friend Emma and I goofin around

This is Daniel and Natilie before they left for school on their Halloween party day. Natilie was SUPER excited to wear this costume. She had earned 20 bucks from my dad with doing some work around his house and she LOVES Halloween like the rest of us and really wanted to go to an actual Halloween store to buy another costume to wear to school, we spent 2 hours at 2 Halloween stores, both places were absolutely insane and I had Delaney with me screaming her head off because she was tired and there was no carts, but the costume Natilie did want, was all out and then she saw this one someone had put back and just decided to try it on and she LOVED it and the sweet part about it is that it was regular 49.99 and she got it for 15 buckaroos :)

SEPT, OCT AND A WITCHES PARTY!

We have lots to do these last few months and I have been once again slacking in the posting department but with the holidays rapidly approaching I want to document things as they happen. In the month of Sept (the same day Josh and I ran the half marathon) we also went to an Indians game that eve. My dad got us tickets from work and we all had a great time! As I have mentioned before our ENTIRE family are sport finatics, and we are introducing it to our little ones while they are young with hopes that they will grow up to love it to! Our whole family went to the game except Natilie who was enjoying her new kitty she got at my ex husband's house.

 Justin is my lovey teddy bear, he loves to give his little brother and baby sister kisses and hugs! I just wish these pictures were a little clearer

 I just love Delaneys cute behind in her little Levi's

 I don't know how she fell asleep that fast after her snack in the highchair that's not even padded!

 I had left my purse on my bed with thoughts that it was out of reach of Delaney. I laid her down for her nap in her pacnplay at the end of our bed and when she woke up I went in to get her and she somehow stretched her little arms out far enough to snag my purse, rip open my make up bag and destroyed my eye shadows and evidently she was hungry because it looks like she tried to eat it too!

 We have a great little park by our house that has a big pond that the kids LOVE to go and feed the fish and ducks. The fish there must be used to being fed because if you hold the bread out right above the water, the fish actually poke their noses out and take the bread right from your hand, its the funniest thing to watch and wade and Justin LOVE it.

 This is how Wade is usually attached to us, he is our monkey that loves to hang off of us.

 Delaney wanted to just eat the bread herself, our little chunker..

 and me, at least documented that I was there, not the best picture

 This is just one picture of how we spend our days with miss Delaney..she is always into EVERYTHING!!! I guess she feels the need to follow in her big sisters footsteps, my girls have been way worse with this type of thing

 Daniel and Natilie had their fall band concert and they both did an exceptional job. We really loved the music they played. Here is a picture of natilie and her friend (who everyone confuses these two and mixes their names up, they look like they could be sisters) In the picture below is Daniel in the 8th grade band, I wasn't able to get a close up of him, but he is just left of center with his clarinet.

 I made my first loaf of bread! I don't have a bread machine (which I really want one) and I have never been brave enough to make bread and lately I have been trying to do more things to occupy my mind to help me get through this tough period of life I have been going through. I must say, the bread turned out WONDERFUL! I couldn't believe it, it was just perfect and tasted so good, it was an egg bread and the loaf ended up being huge and I didn't double the recipe. The whole loaf was gone by the next day though, can you tell we are a family of carb lovers!

 I decided to make some Halloween cookies to drop off to some special friends. I LOVE Halloween and was really excited to use a new sugar cookie recipe that turned out fabulous!

 I had recently got a surprise invitation in my mailbox to attend a all women Witches Party by my friend Stephanie! I don't get out much and I was SUPER excited to go to this all by myself and enjoy a few hours with friends. It was SO SO SO much fun! The deal was you had to wear a witches hat to get into the door

 Stephanie (left) and Elizabeth (who won most creative witch)

 The yummy Halloween themed food to eat, which was all DELICIOUS!

 The Witches

 I played the donut on a string game. here is Rachel, Elizabeth and I waiting to start. Elizabeth was sure she was going to win and talking smack but I thought to myself  "we shall see about that one missy ;)"

 I got my whole donut in one mouthful, I have always been told I have a big mouth (in every sense of the word lol) but literally too, I used to compete with boys and girls when I was a kid of who could fit their fist in their mouth and I always won!

 I won my first round and the final round. After we were done, Elizabeth said to me "Jennifer you are the most comeptitive person I know" that has always been a very strong trait of mine since I was a kid, I usually won't talk smack, I just like to do it silently, although my hubby says that I can be too competitve lol...

My wonderful friend Ursala and I showing off our witchy hats and smiles. We really had a blast and Stephanie sure knows how to go all out and throw one awesome party!

AS OF TODAY...

So as a lot of you know Josh and I ran our first half marathon a few weeks ago (read the previous post if you missed it, I write all about it there :) my first thought was that next year I will do the half marathon again but aim for a better time. Well, as of today, talking to Josh, next year we are going for the FULL marathon! I have always been told I am crazy....and yep...I MUST be crazy!! Wish me luck through the winter, I thought I trained hard for the last 8 months, I got to step my game on now!! Which I must add that I have always loved running and have ran since I was a teenager (but never marathon distances!!) I have always played and LOVE sports, I was on a competitive weight lifting team in high school (and back in the day broke records for deadlifting 275 and squating 220, and I was only 120 pounds back then and was one of two girls on the team, even though the other girl looked like a boy), was a personal trainer and group exercise instructor, I have always loved fitness and putting my body through the mill even when it hurts! I have done just about everything! BUT boy these days as I am past 30, my bones/body is not what it used to be, especially with my inherited health problems and being pregnant 9 times/5 kids, I just feel so physically and mentally different and I dont think I will EVER get to re-live those glory days again, but am determined this next year to try the best I can to be healthier than what I am now. Even if its not my ideal picture in my head of what I used to be, just to reach my fullest potential that I can even with the physical difficulties that I have been given. Mind over Body,  but I may be in a wheel chair after next years race lol :)