Second grade Halloween program (or pictures of Reina singing)

The first and second-graders at Reina's school had a Halloween program a few weeks ago and it was adorable.  Also not too long, which is nice for everyone involved.  This post is basically just a bunch of pictures of Reina singing enthusiastically, because that's what she does.  

I believe this was the grand finale "Ghostbusters" complete with hand movements.  

Sing it out girl!  

She spots her family in the audience.  I loved all of the creative costumes.  That pirate is rocking his eye patch.  

Guess what?  There were kazoos!  Kazoos that they got to bring home!  

Pre-Halloween Halloween

Around this blog, we are all ready for Halloween.  Well "ready" is really a relative term.  The pumpkins have been bought, but not carved.  The decorations are mostly up but the weather has been so nice that we still have the screen in the door instead of the glass so all of the cool Halloween clingy things that Reina loves to rearrange are still in their packaging.  The costumes have been worn a few times now and trick-or-treating better hurry up and get here before something rips or gets boring.  

Last week, the costumes had their official unveiling at the annual Halloween carnival at school.  

Does this hair give you a hint for Reina's costume?  One video tutorial later and we have Rey from Star Wars, just a blond version.  

Will is Charlie Blackmon, one of the Rockies' outfielder who has a glorious beard.  Will's beard was knit by me and it turned out fantastically if I do say so myself.  Mr. Detail-Oriented wanted something a little more lifelike but when I pointed out that it would be tough to make something out of actual human hair, he conceded that his beard was good enough.  

I'm overwhelmed by their cuteness.  

Pauley Farm

I have very little time for blogging lately because of all of the craziness going on in our lives.  Will just finished soccer but he had his first baseball game on Saturday and has shooting sports once a week.  Reina's tap recital was Saturday and is on a break from piano lessons until later in June.  She still has swimming lessons twice a week.  I ran a race last weekend that had taken up some time training.  Glenn and I are embarking on a painting/remodeling project for our den and Glenn's also been busy building a chicken coop.  More on that later.  I'm between trips out of town for work and did I mention the last day of school is in 4 1/2 days? It's a wee bit CRAAAAZY around here.  But honestly, most of my evening free time is taken up with this:  

Who can resist that face?  

Coco loves to play hide and seek and when I see her face peeking out from around the corner, I must drop whatever chore I'm doing and play.  So I hide, she sneaks up on me, I jump out at her, she runs away, and the game starts all over again.  Sorry blog, I'm busy playing with the cat.

I tried taking pictures of her sneaking down the stairs while I hid around the corner but I was giggling too much to hold the camera steady.  Look at those eyes - those are some serious I'm-sneaking-up-on-you-eyes.  

A few weeks ago, I had a short trip up to Jackson for work.  One of my 'jobs' was to take a bunch of out-of-staters on an early morning drive to look for wildlife.  We saw these big boys chilling in the early morning sun.  

The Tetons, not a bad view.

So the big news in the Pauley household is that we bought four little, fluffy, cheeping baby chicks home last weekend.

Meet (Kylo) Ren 

and Rey 

Say hi to Dolly 

And Lolly 

When we were talking about getting chickens, Glenn announced that we were naming them Dolly, Holly, Polly and Molly.  So Dolly Pauley.  Cute, right?  And also a little, "Oh Glenn."  When we actually picked up the chicks, the kids prevailed in naming two of them after Star Wars characters and Glenn got his two "olly" names.  So far they live in the hunting and fishing room in a customized pen that Glenn has spent many hours on.  In a few weeks when they are older and it's warmer, they'll move outside.  Coco and Trigger and Tootsie are super interested in their every move but so far, we've kept their interactions on the nonviolent side.  I'm amazed at how much personality the little chicks seem to have.  We picked breeds that were hardy enough for our cold winters but also sociable since they will be more than just barnyard animals.  So far, I think we've chosen well.  Lolly is an Australorp and she's very relaxed.  Dolly is a few weeks older than the rest of the group and she was initially a little more scared of us.  She's an Orpington Buff.  Rey is a Rhode Island Red and Ren is a Barred Rock.  Ren, although she's named after a bad GUY, is the bravest and might be the boss of the group.  She runs up to the side of the cage to see if you have anything interesting and she even stuck her head through the wire to get a closer look at Coco.  Braaaave chicken.

Last month, I helped my sister in getting our city council to pass an ordinance allowing backyard chickens.  It was a great learning experience, I hadn't participated in local government like that before.  After attending five meetings, listening to debates and testifying a few times, we were delighted when the ordinance passed. If all goes according to plan, we'll have fresh eggs in the fall.  Until then, we have some cute new roommates.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's a balmy 9.2 degrees as I type this.  Well, it's not 9.1 degrees inside the house but the cold air is seeping through anyway.  We had a nice, if not chilly, Thanksgiving.  We had an awesome feast with family and spent the rest of the day watching football, movies, playing Sorry and eating pecan pie.  I got a wild hair last night around 7 and decided to add pecan pie to our menu.  It was delicious if I do say so myself.  Pictures in reverse order.  

Will and I on what felt like a long walk but was actually just a brisk 20 minutes.  My legs are still cold.  

Two members of the family who didn't mind the cold?  These two could've kept going and going and going.  

This is what happens these days when I say, "smile for the camera."  

You too, sister?  

Reina has declared that she dislikes pumpkin pie but she decided to try my version again this year.  You'll have to wait for the verdict.  

Baby Cousin was a big fan of the Star Wars jello jigglers that I made in lieu of jello salad.  

Those eyes, that hair!  

Thumbs up for the pumpkin pie!  Although as we were cleaning up the plates a little later, I discovered that she just ate the whipped cream off of the top and maybe skimmed a minute layer of pumpkin off with it.  More for me!  

Well look at this!  Baby Cousin and Uncle Glenn sitting side-by-side.  It's a Thanksgiving miracle!  

Halloween's not quite over with yet

Sure, Christmas lights are popping up all over the neighborhood and Vicky and I are emailing Thanksgiving recipes back and forth, but on this blog it's still Halloween. I was entertaining Baby Cousin with pictures on my phone and realized that I didn't post the rest of the pictures from the kids' Halloween party at school.  So Happy Halloween!  Again!  

Reina and the donut game.  Will is at the end of the line next to another stormtrooper.  I discovered at this festival that Reina isn't a big fan of games that involve a competition and you can see the reluctance in her face.  I'm thinking, 'hey you get a donut!'  She liked the individual games much more and that's where we spent the rest of the carnival.  Will hung out in the Haunted House which was a classroom converted into a giant cardboard maze.  I say, 'more donuts!' 

The art room was transformed into a pumpkin carving center but instead of carving knives, the kids brandished sharpies.  Reina's pumpkin was transformed into a kitty.  Naturally.  

Little Ms. I-don't-like-competition joined in for the cake walk and won this giant platter of marshmallow treats made with some cereal that wasn't rice krispies.  Fruity pebbles? Whatever they were was delicious!  

Will won a liter of grape soda in the ring toss.  

While I was helping with their Halloween parties later that month, I found Will's self portrait on the wall outside of his classroom. I  think he nailed it.  

Halloween Preview

Friday night was the Halloween carnival at the kids' school.  I needed these two more weeks before Halloween to work on costumes but luckily Grandma Hansen came to the rescue with Reina's and Target took care of Will's stormtrooper outfit.  Check out the Halloween fabulousness.  I think both costumes will be well-suited to a chilly Halloween night. 

Serious

Less serious

Cute!

Serious and cute!  Will wanted a scar under one eye because he's taking the movie previews pretty seriously.  He wanted the scar to be bloody but that's beyond my special effects ability.

If Reina looks a little peaked in the pictures, it's because she was coming down with a bug but dang determined to make it through the carnival.  The rest of the weekend has been spent on the couch but more on that later. 

Star Wars Night at the Rockies game

A few weeks ago, the kids and I attended Star Wars Night at Coors Field.  Last year Will and I went but this year Jedi Girl came too.  I think it's becoming a Pauley summer tradition.  The game was at night which was good because we had a busy morning with football and farmer's market and a few chores before heading down the interstate.  As we pulled into Pop-pop and Grandma's neighborhood, Reina whispered to me from the back seat. I looked in the rear view mirror to see Will fast asleep, using Reina as a pillow.  She was wide awake and I'm not sure why she volunteered her noggin as a soft place to snuggle up to but there are a few things I don't get about brothers and sisters.  And hey, at least they weren't screaming at each other.  I'll take it! 

At Pop-pop's, we changed into our Star Wars costumes.  Last year, Will and I just attended the game.  This year, everyone agreed to get to Coors Field early so that we could march in the pre-game parade and get to walk on the field. 

Argh with the pictures that won't rotate.  Will (slightly) graciously let Reina borrow his Jedi costume while he combined a Jedi robe with a Rockies jersey.  Very apropos.

Good guys and the major bad guy, who was actually really nice. 

Us on the field!  The parade was along the warning track and for my part, totally worth the 1+ of standing in line.  We got to walk on Coors Field! 

More characters and a couple kiddos who took their job pretty seriously.

So Star Wars Night was a lot of fun.  The Rockies didn't win but we got there early enough to get bobbleheads.  A parade and bobbleheads? What else do you need.  Oh, maybe cotton candy and we did get that too.  See you next year Coors Field!