In school Crew read a story about John Silver, a pigeon, who delivered messages for the military. The story told about this pigeon's bravery. Even though he had several bullet wounds and his leg was hanging on by one ligament, John Silver flew the 25 miles to deliver his important message and ended up saving many lives. The story mentioned that John Silver was on display at the National Air Force Museum. When Crew found out we were going to Ohio, he wanted to go to the museum so he could see this pigeon.
Don't all kids want to be astronauts when they grow up? I know I did but I also wanted to be a cowgirl too. Maybe I should've stuck with one of those. Crew and Gracie have always been really interested in the solar system. Sometimes I think I might go crazy if I have to hear any more facts about outer space or anything in it!
Well the first day in Ohio we spent in the E.R. Crew was playing around down stairs with his cousins, doing who knows what, when we heard major screaming and he came running upstairs. He had a major gash in his leg and the skin was shoved up behind the wound. It was so disgusting; his fat layer was hanging out. Mom took us to the Quick Care closest to us but because we were out of town the lady there wasn't sure if they accepted our insurance and the wait looked long. We headed over to the E.R. and I'm glad we did. They were great there. We hardly waited at all and everyone was so nice. Crew got popsicles and a stuffed Stinger (the mascot for the Columbus Blue Jackets NHL team). However, only about half of his stitches made it a week. I just couldn't get him to take it easy. At least I've had a lot of practice with this sort of thing and knew just what to do: steri strips and super glue.
My wonderful husband got plane tickets for us to go home to Ohio for Thanksgiving and I was so excited!!!! Since my kids always get sick whenever I go home, I decided to take them to the pediatrician and get them some allergy medicine before. While we were there getting prescriptions for all three kiddies, Gracie's oxygen test was so bad they re-did it 3 times and tried different machines. The doctor gave her a breathing treatment immediately and then re-tested it was still extremely low. So we were sent to the emergency room. Three steroid shots and 2 breathing treatments later her oxygen level had gone up from 77 to 80 (below 92 is bad) but that was still really low and so Gracie had to stay in the hospital. I didn't even know that she was having difficulty breathing. She never complained or acted any differently than normal. If I didn't take her in for Zyrtec, who knows how bad she would have gotten before I noticed something was wrong. So once again I am out of the running for Mother of the Year..... maybe next year?
The kids designed their own pumpkins (Thanks dad for doing all the carving), we made some spider treats, and ate so much candy I was worried someone was going to go into insulin shock or maybe even a coma. As you can see the girls were pretty intrigued by their Jack-o-Lanterns. I think it was my favorite Halloween ever!
At the school's Fall Festival the girls got to make these little masks which was definitely one of the highlights of the night for them. They also had an amazing balloon artist there and lots of games, candy, and prizes. It was really fun! 
I think its kinda funny that he, dressed up as a clone tropper, walked in front of Darth Vader. It's probably only of interest to me because I am constantly bombarded by Star Wars. Crew is pretty obsessed and is constantly telling me stories or involved in some intricate imaginative game revolving around Star Wars.
We have a fun playgoup in our ward and for Halloween we had a special activity for Halloween. Layla was so excited to do Halloween crafts. She adores craft time and is constantly asking to do crafts. She got to paint, glue, and eat candy so she was in heaven.
Gracie loves to bake and so we often look at the Bakerella blog together. When she saw these cupcakes she just had to make them for her class Halloween party. She did a good job baking and decorating, I only helped a little. Her classmates loved them. Gracie was so proud. 
The kids still had fun having a picnic, hiking around, and playing in the leaves (probably because they didn't know what they were missing)!
