Halloween 2021

We wrapped up a busy weekend tonight with three events three nights in a row.  After Logan, Ella, and I went to Disney on Ice on Friday night, we were able to attend our ward's trunk-or-treat in our church's parking lot on Saturday evening.  Although it rained all week long and is supposed to rain every day this coming week, we were blessed with sunny weather both Saturday and Sunday this weekend which is pretty unusual!  All of the kids were excited to get dressed up in their costumes and head out to the church Saturday after an early dinner.  We have learned from year's past that it is imperative to arrive at the trunk-or-treat right as it starts as it usually ends in less than an hour when all of the cars run out of candy or when all of the children are done making the rounds.  Thanks to our ward combining with the Manorwood Ward a few weeks ago (which was a well-needed change since both of our wards were shriveling up and shrinking to almost nothing since the pandemic), both Ella and Logan now have a school friend in their same ward at church.  As a result, both Ella and Logan found their friends (Madelyn and Benton) and had a great time making the rounds ahead of us.  So Lia, Ron, and I had a great time taking Emmett around to all of the trunks.  Since I have been reading him a variety of Halloween books over the past few weeks, he was very excited to put on his costume and go trick-or-treating for the "first time" that he can recall. 

After another early dinner tonight, I helped the kids get all dressed up and ready to go by 6 p.m.  After our annual photo shoot out on the front steps, we were joined for the first time ever by Lia's good friend, Alyssa, who lives up the hill.  While Ron stayed back and answered the door, the six of us had a great time walking the entire loop around our neighborhood knocking on doors.  Like last year, about half of the houses were not answering their doors and there were less children out trick-or-treating.  Regardless, we still had a great time making the rounds and I just got the biggest kick out of watching Ella and Emmett (and some times Logan) literally run from door to door the entire time!  Although I brought the stroller with me in case Emmett got tired of walking, he was totally fine running the entire time which was just amazing to me, especially considering the fact that Lia only walked our tiny cul-de-sac to go trick-or-treating when she was the exact same age.  Oh, how different the fourth child is from the first!  But, I digress.  Half way around the neighborhood, we ran into our nextdoor neighbor, Poppy, who was walking with her mom while her older sister, Daisy, was at a friend's party.  We decided to join up with them and finished off the neighborhood before inviting Poppy to come back home with us to watch Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that we watch every year while answering the door for the rest of the evening.  Thanks to Poppy's dad firing up his popcorn popper in his driveway, the kids munched on freshly popped popcorn and candy for the rest of the evening while running back and forth to answer our door.  It was such a great evening and the perfect way to celebrate Halloween 2021!

The Hartland fam poses for a rare, family photo after arriving at our church on Saturday evening.

The four Hartland kids standing together for one more picture.

Ella and Emmett reaching into someone's "spell book" to get their candy.

The elaborate set-up from the first trunk we visited that night.

Ella and Emmett getting some candy.

Ella and her friend, Madelyn, making the rounds together.  I found out that these girls went around the parking lot FOUR times before we headed home that night.  Needless to say, Ella's bucket was bursting.

Emmett getting some candy.

Emmett and Ella posing with Madelyn.

Lia and Emmy pausing for one more photo before calling it quits and heading home.

Lia posing as Eleven from Stranger Things on our front porch tonight.

A close-up of Lia and her bloody nose (that Eleven always gets after using her powers).

Logan striking a fierce pose as a samurai.

Logan standing at attention.

Ella showing off the back of her beautiful, Elsa gown from Frozen 2.

Ella as Elsa complete with white hair, silver shoes, and blue lips.

Emmett posing as the cutest, little Batman around.  This is the same costume Logan wore when he was 1 1/2 years old.

Emmy giving me a classic smile.

All the siblings posing together with the girls on top and the boys on the bottom.

Mom and kiddos ready to go trick-or-treating.

Lia and Alyssa all set and ready to go.

The gang posing in front of the pumpkin statue that our neighbor, Donna, puts up every year.

The kids trick-or-treating at another decked out door.

Lia helping Ella and Emmett get their candy from the cars that are sent down this amazing track system that one of our neighbors made last year.

Emmy and Ella enjoying the movie with Poppy and Daisy (who joined us after she got home from her friend's party) at the end of the evening.

Disney on Ice with my "Middles"

After missing a year due to the pandemic, I was so happy to learn that Disney on Ice was returning to our area this fall after a two year break.  Since Lia has really outgrown this kind of activity (sniff!) and Emmett is still a little too young, I decided that it would be fun to just take my "two middles with me.  After purchasing the tickets back in September, I waited until last week to tell Ella and Logan that we were going together by sending them on a scavenger hunt all around the house.  I was so happy to see how excited they were to go after putting together all of the clues that they found throughout the house.  After eating an early dinner yesterday afternoon, we headed out at 5:30 to make the drive up to Kent.  After entering the arena, we perused the tables full of Disney souvenirs and I finally caved and bought Logan the Maui hook that he has been begging me to buy him for years!  After buying our popcorn, too, we found our seats and enjoyed a wonderful two-hour show together.  Although it's not Disneyland, we still all loved seeing some of our favorite characters flying around on the ice and really enjoyed a special evening out together.  I am so grateful to still have children young enough to enjoy activities like this with me!

The kids and me standing in front of the massive, cotton candy tower.

Ella (holding Logan's new Maui hook that lights up) and Logan standing in front of one of the souvenir tables.

The kids and me seated and ready to go.  Although we found our seats only about twenty minutes before the show started, our section was practically empty as can be seen by all of the empty seats around us.  By the time the show started, the arena was practically full!

Belle skating to "Be Our Guest" with Lumiere and a bunch of skating silverware!

Rapunzel and Flynn flying around the ice.

Ariel with her pals, Sebastian and Flounder.

Prince Charming helping Cinderella out of her beautiful carriage.

Prince Charming and Cinderella.

Malificent, the dragon, breathing fire on Prince Phillip.

Anna protecting Elsa from Hans.

The entire group skating around Cinderella's carriage in the finale number together!

Lia's Conference Cross Country Meet

After two months of running her heart out, Lia wrapped up her first season of cross country yesterday with an all-district meet at Bradley Lake Park.  After asking Lia Wednesday night if she wanted me to bring balloons or a sign to the meet, she simply replied that she wanted me to bring grandma instead.  Since my mom normally does not make the drive down to P-town to attend my children's sporting events, I didn't know if this was a possibility.  However, after calling my mom that evening and telling her that her presence was my teenage daughter's only request, her heart melted and she and my dad decided to drive down yesterday.  Since my dad does not enjoy standing out in the cold for extended periods of time, he opted to stay at my house and take a nap which was perfect for me as it allowed me to leave a napping Emmett behind instead of having to wake him up early and drag him out into the rainy weather.

Although the rain held off all day long, it started sprinkling while my mom and I were driving to the park 30 minutes before the meet started.  Although it rained lightly on and off while we waited for the race to begin, it basically stopped by the time the girls started running at 3 p.m.  I was so relieved as it totally poured later last night.  Although all of Lia's other meets have always been against one other school, this meet was against all of the junior high schools in the district.  It was so cool to see all of the girls lined up at the starting line in all of their different colored uniforms.  After the horn blew, all 77 girls took off running on a winding, 2-mile course around the park including two laps around Bradley Lake.  Lia quickly fell into the second major group of runners and kept this same pace the entire race right behind Jaqueline, the other runner on her team who she is always competing with.  Although Jaqueline has run faster than Lia at every meet this season except for one, Lia punched ahead of her at the very end when they ran through a section of the forest right before coming out onto the grassy area that led to the finish line.  I was so surprised and thrilled when I saw Lia emerge from the trees ahead of her running buddy!  Lia powered through to the finish line just ahead of Jacqueline and came in 16th place out of 77 girls and beat her best, 2-mile record by 1 minute and 32 seconds with an unbelievable time of 13 minutes and 48 seconds.  My mom and I were both so proud of Lia and amazed at her new personal record and so happy that she was able to finish off this cross country season on such a positive note!

Lia standing with her teammates at the starting line.

Lia running off with a huge pack of girls at her side.

A picture of most of the girls running off at the beginning of the race.

Lia approaching us after making her first lap around the lake.

A close-up of Lia running past us.

Lia running by us again after running a second lap around the lake.  Her friend, Jaqueline, is in front of her in this picture.

Another close-up of Lia as she passes us the second time.

Lia emerging out of the woods and onto the grassy area that led towards the finish line.

Lia giving it her all at the very end!

Lia running her heart out!  I just love this picture.

Lia passing us and running to the finish line.

Lia crossing over the finish line with Jaqueline right behind her.

Lia and all of her teammates proudly posing for a group picture after the race was over.

Since this was our first district race, we had no idea that they were going to do a little awards ceremony at the end.  After hanging around for several minutes talking to Lia and taking pictures, my mom and I decided to leave not knowing that the top 20 runners in the race were going to be called up one at a time to get a ribbon.  So, unfortunately, we missed this, but I was still so happy to take this picture of Lia with her "Top 20" ribbon after she got home later in the afternoon.

On a personal note, I just want to add how this entire cross country experience has been such an answer to prayers for Lia and me.  She was so nervous about heading back to this junior high where she literally only knew a handful of girls.  She really didn't have any friends in any of her classes and had no one to sit with at lunch.  After starting this sport the second week of school, everything changed for her.  Lia immediately became friends with a really nice group of girls and suddenly had two friends to eat lunch with and friends to spend every afternoon with for two hours .  This experience has not only given her friends at her new school, but has provided an opportunity for her to discover a sport that she now loves and has helped her to gain confidence and find success.  I am so grateful for all of the positives that have come out of this sport and I just want Lia to remember that Heavenly Father truly hears and answers our prayers.  Way to go, Lia!  I am so proud of you and can't wait to watch you run your heart out for many years to come!

Carving Pumpkins!

Although we went to the pumpkin patch two weeks ago to pick out our pumpkins, they have been patiently waiting on our porch all this time to be carved or decorated.  We finally had a free evening last night to gather around the kitchen table after dinner to complete this fun project.  Logan and I opted to carve our pumpkins while Lia, Ella, and Emmett chose to paint theirs instead.  I am loving this painting option that Ron introduced to our family a few years ago since it allows my kids to decorate their pumpkins with little to no help!  Since Emmett is finally old enough to really be interested and involved in holiday activities, it was so fun to watch him carefully paint his pumpkin with several different blobs of color with Ron sitting at his side.  Ella painted a cat face on her pumpkin while Logan carved the word, Covid, into his.  Lia found an idea online and secretly painted a cute, "Boo" face onto her pumpkin that no was allowed to see until the end.  I took the easy way out and only carved eyes into my pumpkin since I used a face mask to cover up the bottom half.  I am always looking for the easier way out these days!  Regardless, we all had a fun time participating in this autumn, annual activity together and enjoyed munching on roasted pumpkin seeds after the mess was all cleaned up!

Ella painting her green pumpkin.

Emmy flashing me a huge smile with daddy at his side.

Lia painting away on her secret design.

Logan scooping out the pumpkin guts.

Ella and Emmy helping to show off my completed pumpkin.

Five little pumpkins sitting in a row...

The kids showing off our finished products!

The family that carves together, stays together.  I just love this bunch of little people.