Halloween

Yet another wonderful Halloween. Dezi got to wear his costume to school on Friday and all the parents got to come and watch their cute "Halloween Parade". I loved how he waved to Caetano and I. He was super cute!

As for Caetano, I was happy that he didn't mind being a monkey again this year. Last year, Ryan was unable to accompany him as the Man in the Yellow Hat due to work (last day of the ficsal year is not a good time for early trick-or-treating!), but with Halloween on a Saturday this year, they were able to team up as a wonderful pair. As I was getting the boys ready and decking Dezi out with vampire makeup, I started to feel bad that Dezi was the odd man out in the threesome. I sent them off to begin trick-or-treating, ran upstairs, found my old goth dress that I bought in Brazil when I was 20 (Wow, was it really that long ago?! Don't ask why I still have this thing hanging in my closet, though I will say I knew it would come in handy some day...), threw on the dress and some fishnets, powdered my face white, and ran out the door. It was the most spontaneous Halloween costume ever and I was happy to see the boys, especially Dezi, loved the surprise! Thankfully, Halloween night was actually pretty mild, considering it had just recently been snowing. Still, by the end of the night, I was freezing. We got home to find the basket we'd left on the porch empty (hopefully not cleaned out by the first kid that came by!) and let the kids get their fill of candy bliss before crashing for the night.

First real snow of the season

How awesome a mom am I? Well, since you ask, I am awesome enough that, despite my hatred of the cold, my kids were the first sledders of the season. Last night, Ryan told them that it was going to snow. They immediately got super excited and asked if they could go sledding. I told them there probably wouldn't be enough snow for that. When it finally did begin to snow, they asked again, but I told them there wasn't enough on the ground. Well, suddenly, at lunch time, there was quite a bit of snow and the boys were jumping up and down. It must be their Norwegian blood, right? Still, their joy was infectious and I couldn't deny them. I dug out all the snow gear and off we went for sledding and snowballs. That's how awesome a mom I am.

Thriller!

 

Ryan and I went on an awesome date to see the Odyssey Dance Theater's Thriller. It was a great way to bring in the Halloween spirit. The best part about it was that I "won" the tickets at a silent auction for Ascend Alliance. I paid $80 for 4 tickets. The fantastic thing is that each ticket retails at $40 so I got a great deal AND all the money went to help relieve poverty.

The performance was highly entertaining and I can see why people make a tradition of going every year. We especially loved the Freddie Krueger number and, of course, Thriller. It was about time that we went on a more "cultural" date and we had great time doing it!

Fall Fun at Wheeler Farm

My big Fall/Halloween activity with the boys this year was taking them to Wheeler Farm. We hadn't been back since our first visit in the spring and I'd heard it was a cute place to go for Halloween. Since entry is free, I just paid a little so they could go through a little maze, pick out a pumpkin, and go on a wagon ride. We also fed the ducks, played on old tractors, climbed trees, and greeted all the other animals. We had a great time and I took way too many pictures, as usual. I was hoping for some good candids and posed shots to blow up so feel free to tell me your favorite.

Joining the USA Soccer ranks

Dezi started off his new soccer season with quite a bang by making 4 goals! I think the 3 on 3 of USA vs the 6 on 6 of SLC County is a lot better for his age group. With 12 little kids on the field at the same time, it was chaos at best. Too many little feet around one ball was scary to rush into. Now that there are fewer kids, Dezi is not afraid of getting in the middle to steal the ball. Once he gets the ball, chances are that he'll make a goal. He runs fast and is getting a lot better at keeping others at bay. After the first game of making 4 goals, he expected to make that many every time. When he "only" made 2 the second game, he was teary eyed as the game ended and I had to give him a big pep talk about how it's not important how many goals you make, but that you play hard, try your best, and have a good attitude. Still, the third game, he'd only made 2 goals by half time and he was feeling down again. I gave him another pep talk, but he ended up making several goals the second half anyway. That started his 4 goal minimum streak. When my parents came for General Conference, they were happy to witness his best game. He made so many goals that we lost track around 10. Though I still cheered like a maniac (blame it on the Brazilian genes), we switched our focus to cheering him on to pass to his teammates. We were really happy when he passed to Katie right in front of the goal. I'm the epitomy of a proud soccer mom, but at least I try to cheer for the other players as much as I do for my own little star.

Gardner Village

We finally made our first trip to Gardner Village after hearing about it for nearly two years. It is an old farm area that has been coverted into a bunch of little shops and boutiques. They decorate according to the season and often have different activities. It was cute, but way too crowded to really enjoy. We met Guiliana and André (Brazilian friends from karate) and a bunch of their friends so it was a bit crazy trying to stay together as a group. In the end, it was fun, but we'll definitely have to make it back another time when it isn't "high season".

Guitar Party

Ryan recently acquired a new program to help him improve his guitar skills. It's called Guitar Pro and it is awesome! It has given him the new obsession of playing guitar all the time. It's an obsession I can't complain about and actually quite approve of and like. He's learned how to play Jeff Buckley's version of Halleluiah, which is one of favorite songs, and Metallica's Master of Puppets, which is supposedly one of the hardest songs to learn. Because of his extra playing around the house, the boys have renewed their interest in guitars. They often bring out their guitars to accompany Ryan. The night I took these pictures, Dezi was doing such a great job mimicking the way Ryan held the pick and strummed, but he couldn't understand why his "music" didn't sound as good as Ryan's. He kept thinking there was something wrong with his guitar. I love my boys! I hope to have many more nights like these in our future.

Our friend the Praying Mantis

This praying mantis was hanging out in our green court on and off for about a week. The boys would run outside and carefully begin their search for him. They spent a good hour with him one day, keeping him safe from Sam the Cat. It reminded me of my youth and my fascination with all things bug, animal, or reptile and how I'd do my best to protect them. I'm happy to see them being curious boys.

A Brazilian Weekend

My parents came to visit during General Conference (LDS Church) because their good friends, the Fabricio's, were coming to see the Conference and their daughter Kelly. They ended up going to a lot of sessions, but happily were able to squeeze in Dezi's soccer game. After the game, we went to Jungle Jym's for William's birthday party (Kelly's son). It was fun to catch up with some of our Brazilian friends while the boys played on all the carnival-type rides. It was a fun weekend, but between soccer, the birthday party, and conference, it was over all too soon.