HALLOWEEN 2018!! I'm back....

Well it has been a hot minute, but I am back at it.  My entire social media thread was lit up with posts of past Halloweens and it made my day!!  Then I realized that I haven't blogged since June and I really miss it.  Even if not a single person reads this, my kids will one day, and that is the whole reason I started blogging 11 years ago.  On to Halloween...

The desert has cooled off much earlier this year and it actually feels like Fall.  The boys took forever to decide on their costumes this year, but they nailed it!  Owen wanted to be a "gunslinger" from the old West and even had Carson buy him a "real like revolver".  Not to be mistaken with a cowboy, this guy is the real deal! 

 Oh Logan.. the cutest boy in the whole wide world but cannot simply smile for the camera without jumping around and looking like a blur.  He is the only one of our kids that can meet my energy level!  My little BEN10 (Tennyson) with his Omnitrix watch, morphing into aliens, and kicking butt! 

 Kam threw this look together at the last minute when we were running around trying to set up, get homework done and throwing together chili dogs for dinner.  She has MAD skills and probably hasn't failed at anything in her life.. ever.  She is my sidekick and I don't know what I would ever do without her constant sarcasm that makes me die laughing a million times a day.

 Gigi's face was all kinds of swollen from her root canal yesterday so she improvised with a biker chick who got in a brawl.. you should see the other guy. 

 My kids continually tell me I am the least intimidating person and that it is impossible for me to be mad or angry.  So Owen was teaching me his best Gunslinger face while trying to capture a selfie at the same time... I suck at fierce.

 Trick-or-Treating was so much fun and we saw tons of neighbors out having a great time. The cousins came home to trade candy.  Liv and Owen used to be like oil and water, now they love each other and I can't wait to see them as teenagers (well, I can wait).

 Kam and Gi pretending to play cards to escape cleanup duty.  They had their own agenda.

We carved pumpkins on Sunday night at my parent's house with Brennan and then there was a small fight with pumpkin guts.  I'm not sure why pumpkin carving is a tradition, but I am grateful the teenagers outnumber the little ones because it's less gut scooping for me.

 Logan passed out on the floor after all the Trick-or-Treat fun.  I had big plans to do the Jimmy Kimmel "I ate all my kids Halloween Candy" challenge, but they haven't asked for a single piece of candy yet.  So that would have been a bust.  Until next year...

Happy Halloween 2018!  (Ward Trunk or Treat)

Boys

These boys are a handful and so fun !!  Owen is losing all his steroid weight and his hair is lightening back up to blonde.  He still hasn't grown an inch so we are both anticipating a growth spurt soon.  Logi is growing like a weed and hardly looks like a 3yr old toddler, but more of a boy.  I am so grateful the boys have each other, brothers are the best!

Owen still loves his video games and can pretty much chat your ear off for hours about anything to do with video games, YouTube or eternal life.  I try to pay attention, honestly, but sometimes I just zone out.  Logi looks to make anything with chocolate and clean house (seriously).  Owen is a bit lazy, Logi is wild and active.  One loves video games and the other would rather ride his bike around the house naked.  They are opposites and I love watching them learn and grow!

My kids beg me to take them to my parent's house all the time.  They love to spend time with Grandma, Grandpa and Gigi.  I'm pretty sure they love Brennen and all of Gigi's other friends as well.  I have so many fun memories of long summer days spent with my Grandparents and I hope my kids are making those same memories.

Kam and I went to Les Miserables as part of her Christmas present.  It was SOO good!!  Carson took her to Hamilton the month before and they both LOVED it!!   Feeling grateful!

Graduation and College

Kamryn finished off her Senior year of High School in May and we couldn't be prouder!  Her friends all went stag to Senior Prom at the Aquarium this year and had fun dancing with the fish.  She crushed her finals and finished the year off with a 4.3GPA and all As in her college courses.  She is ready for University and already has a year of credits completed.  No more English, Physics and only one more semester of Calculus.  This girl is wicked smart, hilarious and determined to reach her goals.  I can't wait to see what she does this next year. 

I am so sad that her High School years are over.. the time flew by so quickly!  I am feeling more confident in this parenting gig.  We raised one amazing girl and now I just have two boys to turn into men.

Graduation was perfect!  There were over 800 in her Graduating class this year so it was a pretty long program.  Grandparents came out to support her and it was only slightly crazy trying to find her friends after graduation.

Kam was accepted to Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University in the fall.  She has enough Scholarships that her tuition is free and she even has some "extra" money.  She decided to save the $13000 she would spend on dorms and live at home.  She is majoring in Biochemistry and will apply to Physician's Assistant school after graduation.  We are so proud of her and all the choices she has made, especially this past year!  It has been a wild ride (to say the least) and none of it came easily.  "FORK-EM!"