Some Halloween Crafts

I looked on Pinterest to find some easy Halloween crafts for the kids to do.  I didn't want to buy anything, so I just found crafts that I already had the materials for.  I promise these are really simple crafts.

Painting a paper plate orange to make jack-o-lanterns.

We decided to start on the other crafts while we waited for the paint to dry.  I wasn't sure if Megan would let me trace her hands, but she did a pretty good job.

Making the two handprints into spiders.

Then we made ghosts - Whitney was impressed with my cutting out the ghost figure.

The ghosts turned out pretty cute.  The kids didn't put on very many white cottonballs.  You are suppose to cover the whole thing.  Oh well.

Then the paint was dry and I cut out a bunch of random shaped black paper so the kids could make their faces however they want.

Here are all the finished products.  Megan had a a lot of help with her face and she didn't want to do the ghost, but her little spider with little hands was so cute.  I think the spiders were my favorite, but I think the girls liked doing the pumpkins the best.

The Many Sides of Whitney

Lately, Whitney has asked (demanded) that we take lots of pictures of her.  She will be doing something funny or silly or whatever and just be sure that she needs her picture taken.  I have mostly indulged her (Thanks to the wonders of a digital camera where I don't have to print everything) and have gotten some silly pictures.

Loving mom's make up and posing for the camera.  I am not sure why she likes to stretch her arms out like that.  But she does.  Should I tell her that she missed a spot and her nose is still clean?

Rag on head is so funny.

This towel with the hood has gone up in the 'cool' factor lately.  Now it is a great toy to play with, like a cape or something.

Bowl on head, legs and arms outstretched.  Whitney thought this picture was quite funny.

The baby attacks the Whitney burrito.  What should we do?

I don't know how much Megan enjoyed that hug, might have been too much squeezing.

And drinking from the 'tea' set.  There wasn't any real liquid inside, but Whitney wanted to pretend to drink from it after Megan did it first.

And having our tea party.  Will is gone for a few days for work.  So we decided to have a pajama tea party.  I got to pretend to be Cinderella, which is something because Whitney usually claims that role for herself.

Anyway, I don't know if Whitney is secretly a model in disguise as a little girl or if she just needs more attention, but she sure loves her pictures of herself.

Very First Haircut

Will and I have been trying to convince Whitney for the past six months or so that she should get a haircut.  She didn't want to and would whine whenever we mentioned it.  But we finally convinced her that a haircut would be cute and fun.

Whitney shows off her long hair.  It was starting to look pretty scraggly at the bottom.

We heard of a place called Monkey Dooz in the Tri-Cities that is just for kids.  We only got quite lost finding the place, but we found it.

There were toys for kids to play with before the appointment.

We all went back to watch the haircut.  Whitney didn't really like the getting her hair washed part.  She kept cringing, but she was brave and didn't say anything.  She did get to pick the shampoo flavor - chocolate.  

The kids got to sit in little car chairs and watch television during the haircut.  We decided to cut off about six inches and make it a little longer than shoulder length.

Whitney did a great job at holding still and doing everything the lady asked.  Here she shows off her new style.

And the back of the head.  The lady was nice and put in two cute ponytails and glitter in her hair.  It was really cute.  I think she was proud of her first haircut.  And I was proud of how well she did.  You are such a big girl.

And here is Megan, who decided that toilet paper belongs with her and on the floor, rather than the bathroom.  Such cute kids I have.

A Work Party

Not Will's work.  They don't really have any family activities.  But my dad has a big work party every year that is for the whole family.  We missed it last year, so we were really excited to go this time.  Everyone had a blast.

We started off with the food.  It was a delicious lunch, with three different kinds of meat, chips, watermelon, macaroni, and different kinds of salad.  So yummy.

There were pony rides for all the kids.  It was just a short ride because the line was long, but that didn't matter.

Rachel loves being on horses.

There also were these fake balloon galloping horse things.  Kids could get on them and race across the field.

Watching a magician perform.  I had already seen his act, so Megan and I left because she was a little grumpy.

At a crafts table for kids.  Whitney and Rachel liked making these sheriffs badges.

I thought this was fun.  You got to be a car driver in a driving simulation.  It was hard to control the vehicle, so that made things more interesting.  I crashed into a lot of fences and buildings, but didn't get pulled over by the fake police.

There were as many sno-cones as you wanted for free.  Our family definitely got its fair share of flavored ice.  

And there was unlimited ice cream popsicles.  I actually took this one out for me, but Megan commandeered it when I tried to let her have a taste.  We should have taken a picture of her at the end because her shirt was very orange.

Anyway, we all ate too much, but it was a fun party.  Thanks for inviting us.

Hein Family Reunion

We had such a fun time in Utah.  Here are some final pictures from our trip.  They come from the actual family reunion that we went to on Saturday.  It was a good reunion.  Whitney was a little sick and didn't want to participate, but everyone else had a good time.

The reunion was held at a church in Salt Lake.  You can tell that Whitney doesn't feel good.

My two uncles on my mom's said presented about my grandpa who died when I was a kid.  It was fun to learn some new things about him.

There were posters and trinkets set up for several different Hein members.  Each table also had treats that could be eaten throughout the reunion.  My children (and myself) especially loved the table with a variety of chocolate bars.  It was neat seeing some pictures of people I didn't know much about.

The adult men gave a little presentation; each was wearing a funny sign.  My dad's sign said We Have Enough Youth, How About a Fountain of Smarts?  

Rachel gave a cute little presentation.  The little kids climbed onto the stage and said their names and something they liked.  I got a video during the presentation, but it wouldn't upload.  Oh well.  Here is Rachel holding up her little card that said her name and thing she liked (a picture of a huge ice cream cone).  She did such a good job up on the stage.  It was a proud mommy moment.

Megan enjoyed the watermelon that was part of the dinner.  For some reason, she likes chewing on the rinds more than the red part.  Silly girl.

This isn't from the reunion, but it was cute to see Megan interact with little baby Tessa.  She looked huge compared to Tessa. Look at how she tried to push her in the swing; nevermind that the swing was actually able to move all by itself.  

We had a big gathering at Erin and David's house after they blessed their baby.  It was so fun to have everyone together.  We have to give Erin and David a lot of thanks for letting us all crowd into their house.  I'm sure that was a bit stressful. It was a great trip and great being able to see our newest little niece.