Halloween

It was really weird to have Halloween be on a Sunday. I know it happens every 7ish years, but I honestly can't remember the last time it was on a Sunday. Since it was on a Sunday, we made sure to have the majority of the fun yesterday, but I still wanted to do something fun today.

We started off the day getting ready for Church. When we were we headed to church. Gabbi was not happy about it because she had to give a talk today. She's given one in Sacrament meeting before, once, but this was the first time in this ward not to mention we've been in the ward for a month now. She was really worried. She did a great job and we made sure to give her big smiles the whole time.

When we got home from church, everyone changed into their pajamas and we got ready for some fun. I planned to do have Halloween movies playing while we did a Halloween craft. It was anything fancy, just making Halloween-themed keychains out of pony beads. I randomly came across them at Walmart a little while ago. They looked fun and I just hoped the kids would have fun with them too. 

Once I pulled out the bead and told the kids what we were doing, they all seemed really excited. I showed them how it was done and they got right down to it. After they were done making pumpkins, they all talked about trying to make something else. We all started to make different patterns and once they found one they liked, they went with it. They made jack-o-lanterns, a ghost, a witch hat, a spider, and even candy corn. They turned out great and they had a blast making them.

While they were making their keychains we had Halloween movies playing in the background. Sometimes the boys were watching more than making, but as long as they were having fun, it didn't matter. We started off with The Nightmare before Christmas. Once it was over we finished Haunted Mansion that we had turned up a couple nights ago. Then last but not least, Halloween town. When we turned on the last one, they didn't hang around that long. Needless to say, we never finished it.

While the kids were finishing up with their Halloween movies, I called them in one by one to help me cut out Halloween Rice Krispies. I came across pumpkin-flavored marshmallows and thought that would be fun as a special Halloween treat. The kids loved the idea, loved cutting out the shapes, and couldn't wait to have one after dinner.

Now that the treats were done, it was time to make dinner. I choose to make Shepherds pie. It wasn't anything Halloween-themed like I have done in the past, but it is what it is. At least I know the kids will eat it.

While that was cooking I had the kids get dressed in their Halloween costumes so we could take our traditional Halloween pictures. They happily got in them and went outside for a quick picture. While we were outside I felt bad that our kids wouldn't be joining all the other kids that were already out and about trick or treating. I did my best to distract them and had them go back inside to eat dinner. 

After we were done eating we all sat down in the front room to watch Hocus Pocus. It was a fun and simple way to finish off our day. While we were watching the movie Jenny posted their Halloween fun pictures on GroupMe. It was so weird to see them and only see half of the family in it. It made me sad not to be there with them. It looked like they were having a great time.

Cats

I was looking for Chip and Dale everywhere and could not find them. I checked all their usual places to hide, and they were nowhere to be found. I eventually found them in a place I wouldn't have ever thought about. They were cuddled up together on the end tables in our front room. It was so cute; I didn't want to disturb them. 

Date night

We lucked out to run away and have a date night tonight. It of course was littered with some errands as well, but at least we could go out. So our night started with a trip to Lowes and Home Depot. Ben needed a weed whacker and a few other yard tools so he could get going on the portion of the lawn that we are in charge of. Luckily he was able to find what he wanted and we only had to go to Lowe's to get it.

When we were done with our errands we headed to the theater. We purchased our tickets, got some drinks and popcorn, and then headed to our seats. We were both excited to see the new Venom movie, Let There Be Carnage. The first one wasn't our favorite, but it was pretty much slim picking when it came to what was playing, so we took what we could get. It definitely lived up to its name. 

When the movie was over we went to Hooters for dinner. Ben was wanting some really good wings and hadn't found some that he liked yet. We've been there before, we've liked what we've eaten from there, so how could you lose. When we got there, there wasn't a wait and were taken straight back to our table. After they took our order we tried to visit while we waited for our food. It was so loud it was hard to hear each other. There was some college game playing and cheering was going on all over the restaurant.

After some time Ben got his food, but I did not. The waitress came back and didn't even know that my meal had not been brought to the table yet. She went back to see and told us that it still wasn't ready. Ben let me eat some of his fries to tide me over until my meal came. Sadly Ben was pretty much done by the time mine finally came to the table. I couldn't believe it. By the time it finally got to me and when I started eating it, the chicken was dry and honestly, it probably had sat in the window a while and they just had no idea. It was such a horrible experience, they didn't even comp our meal which really surprised me. Needless to say, the tip wasn't the best. 

We sadly ended our night on a low, but it was still a night out.

Cats

They are not cuddly cats by any means. They aren't huge fans of being held, but when they do get in that moment (most often when the kids are not there or asleep), we try to relish it.

Trunk or treat

The kids came home from church talking about the trunk or treat that the ward was putting together. The kids couldn't stop talking about it and throwing different ideas out on how we could decorate the van. I kept telling them that I didn't want to. They told me I had to if they wanted to be able to go trunk or treating. They didn't understand that a decorated trunk wasn't a requirement. I lost, they got Ben in the mix and he started throwing ideas in there as well. At that point, I gave up and said fine, but I wasn't going to go crazy.

To keep things simple I planned to just take some of the decorations that we already had at home. The only thing I purchased were some spider webs and lights that could be draped all over the van. With those, my crates, a witch's broom, and a witch's cauldron; I was ready to go.

We got to the church building a little bit early to set things up. Everything came together quickly and it turned out fine. Now, all we had to do was wait for everyone else to get there and to start things. We waited almost a good 30 minutes before things got started. They even started late. It was weird, but it worked. Kids were out and were having fun. I sat in the back handing out candy and hoped that the kids were behaving themselves. 

Since I couldn't go around and check out the other cars, I had Gabbi go around and take some pictures. There were some really good-looking cars and others that did what I was originally planning to do. 

At the end of the night while we were cleaning up the van, Bro. Reynold's came over and gave us a gift card. I was a little confused and he said that our van had been voted for a prize. We got first place in the category of most festive. I have no idea how many categories there were, but it was pretty cool that we were voted to receive a prize. With gift card in hand, we finished cleaning up, gathered the kids, and headed home.

Book Character

Today for school, William got to dress up as his favorite character from a book. He had a hard time deciding who he wanted to dress up as. Since he wanted so long, he was limited on what I could put together with the items that we had at home. He went in and stared at the books in his room and the office trying to decide. When he had finally decided, he brought me the book and showed me a picture of the character he wanted to dress up as. It was Dog Man. I was grateful it wasn't anything crazy. We were able to put it together with craft paper, tape, and scissors. He was so excited when it was all done and couldn't wait to show his teacher and his friends. 

Halloween fun

Tonight we had to divide and conquer. All of the kids had something going on tonight. The boy had a truck or treat combined with a carnival at their school; while Gabbi had a Halloween party for Young Women's tonight. So after dinner, I took the boys and Ben took Gabbi.

When the boys and I got to the school, we took the first parking spot we could find. I wasn't even sure that it was actually a place to park, but I took it anyway. We carefully got out of the van and walked down to the school. When we got to the front of the school, we quickly joined the line of all the other families. It was very slow-moving, but eventually, we got to the front and it was our turn to go trunk or treat.

There weren't a lot of cars to trunk or treat at and some of those had already run out of candy which was kind of sad considering the huge line that was still behind us. The boys were troopers when they can to a car that didn't have any candy. They smiled and moved on. All of the cars looked great. Each of them were decorated by the teachers or PTO parents. They truly went up and beyond when decorating their trunks, it was amazing.

After getting through the circle of cars, we made our way over to the carnival games. They had a handful of different games and the boys wanted to visit each one. So slowly but surely we waited in line for each individual game. They were happy to find out that at each game they got a treat as well. 

After playing each game, the boys mingled for a minute visiting with friends and checking out different costumes. When they were done, we headed back to the van to go home. When we got home, Gabbi and Ben still weren't home. They must be having a great time. When they finally did get home, the main thing that Gabbi talked about was how big and pretty Bella's house was. It made me laugh. She did eventually say that she had a lot of fun. So I guess you could say that all the kids had some Halloween fun tonight.

Cats

I just can't get enough of watching them play. It also helps that we spoil them rotten and every time I come home from the store, I bring a new toy for them to try out. Some they like, some they love, and some they want nothing to do with.

Spouse's Coffee

I went to my first Chaplain's Coffee and I have to say, I was surprised they didn't actually serve coffee. The meeting was held at the BBRC, short for the Battle Buddy Resource Center. They are a food pantry on base available to all soldiers and anyone with a DOD ID card. They can only utilize the pantry with a referral from a Chaplain. After hearing that, I figured that's why we were there. 

Each of the Chaplain watches over the soldiers/units they are assigned to, not with just their spiritual needs, but their temporal ones as well. The food pantry is available to them if they need help. It's been on post for a while and has been growing ever since its inception. Sadly as she was explaining what they do there and everything that they need help with, the only thought in my head was that this wasn't exactly for Ben and the soldiers that he's over. He's the Chaplain of a school, a school that has a 4 month turn around. These soldiers in his care are students who don't have their families with them. The likelihood of them needing this service isn't very high, but it was nice to learn about it just in case.

When she was done talking about the panty she then answered some questions. Once everyone had asked their questions, we then walked into the back room for refreshments. It was a large room and apparently the room where the youth groups meet. We all just mingled and visited while the refreshments were pulled out. After they were, we each got a plate and enjoyed the food while talking to all the other spouses that were there. There were 11 of us in total and I was happy to see that two of them were the Chaplain spouses whose husbands work with Ben and all under Chaplain Johnson. It was nice to visit with them and get to know them a little bit. It was surprisingly an enjoyable evening.

Church

With Ben's endorsement with the church to be a Chaplain he has to have a Stake Presidency interview every year. We had to have one when we started this process and now that he is an Active Duty Chaplain...let the interviews begin. I thought that I only had to be involved in the first one, but I was wrong. I have to go to this interview every year with Ben.

I hate being in an interview. I'm always so nervous and worry about something bad coming up. Something like them telling me that Ben can't be a Chaplain anymore and its all my fault. I hope that will never happen and Ben reassures me every time that it won't happen, but it doesn't make the interview any less stressful.

We left the house extra early to get to the Stake center on time. When we got there he was able to take us right in. The kids sat outside with their doodle pads and both Ben and I followed the Stake President. He asked us to sit down and once he had closed the door, he joined us. He then introduced himself and a little bit about him and then a little bit as to what exactly we were doing there, which of course Ben already knew about. Once the formalities were out of the way, we just visited.

He asked us about our journey and how we got to this point. He asked about our past, where we came from, our family, etc. He then asked Ben what he thought was the best thing for him, his family, and the Branch on base. I just sat and listened while they talked for a few minutes about that one and then the next thing I knew, the interview was over. He told Ben that he would fill out the form and would send it off first thing in the morning. 

It of course was as easy going as Ben said it would be, I was just glad it was over. Now I can relax a year until the next.

I however wasn't going to be doing much relaxing, I now had to give a talk. Last week after we got out of Tithing settlement, the 2nd Counselor asked if I wouldn't mind speaking in Sacrament meeting. Of course I minded, but I didn't tell him that. I told him yes and he emailed me the topic. I worked on it all work and it doesn't matter how much I thought I was ready, I was still shaking. Our Sacrament meeting didn't even start for another 40 minutes, but I was already going crazy.

When it was time and the Chapel was cleared out from the previous ward, we went inside. I sat down in the pew with Ben and the kids. As the time slowly passed, I went up and asked if I was supposed to sit on the stand. No one else was up there and I didn't think that I was the only speaker. He told me that it was up to me if I wanted to sit on the stand or not. I was already up there, so I did.

Sitting up there didn't necessarily help calm my nerves and as it got closer to my turn to speak the more nervous I got. When it was my turn, after the youth speaker, I walked up the pulpit. I did my best not to stare at my talk the whole time, but there was no way I would have managed not having it written out. Ben was there smiling every time I looked over at him and the kids. That helped, but I was just ready to be done, and thankfully I got through my talk without any problems and happily sat down when I was done.

Birthday Dinner and Dessert

After the movies ended, Ben and I went into the kitchen to make dinner. William asked to have blood (red) pancakes and slime (green) scrambled eggs. We also had sausage patties, strawberry topping, and cool whip. When it was ready to go, William was so excited. He loved seeing his dinner and couldn't wait to sit down and eat it. I helped him dish up and happily sat down to eat it. Gabbi wasn't as excited as William was, but despite what William wanted to call it, everyone seemed to like it.

When we were done eating we all went into the front room so William could open his presents. He tried carefully to not tear the wrapping paper too much, but eventually made it through the paper to reveal his gifts. We was super excited with each one. He was even more surprised by how many he got to open. He loved that even though our families aren't here to celebrate with him, they still thought about him. He was on cloud 9.

Ben and I gave him a Jurassic Park Lego set. He was super excited about it because it had a baby Triceratops in it. I have to admit, it was kind of cool. We also got him a book. It's from the DogMan series. Owen has one and William read it no to long ago and fell in love with it. He kept begging to get more and this was the perfect opportunity to get him another one.

Nana and Papa sent him the Lighting McQueen Mac toy car hauler and a special addition Blue Ramone. He has wanted the toy car hauler for a long time. He ripped it out of it's box so fast and was bummed to see that he needed a screw driver to get it out the rest of the way. He couldn't wait till he could drive it around the room.

Jenny and Brian sent him a Beyblade started kit. It has launchers, Beyblades, a practice arena, and something else that William didn't know what it was. He at least know what it did, just not what it was called. He has played with these many times before, but has never really asked for them until now.

He also received some birthday cards with cash and gift cards in them and has already decided that he is going to get more Beyblades with them. 

While he was going crazy with his new toys, I went into the kitchen to pull out his Birthday dessert. He had requested an Carmel Apple pie. I was happy that he didn't request that I make it because the one from the store is really good and I don't think that I would have been able to pull that one off. Once everything was ready, I called everyone into the kitchen and we sang to William. When the song was over, he made a wish, and then blew out the candles. Once everyone had a plate, we sat down to eat the delicious dessert. Once that was done, there was nothing more. It was finally time for the kids to clean up and get ready for bed.