The Legends of Sleepy Hollow

OH MY GOSH!!!  I probably say this every time but this play was FREAKING AMAZING!!!  Freaky AND amazing is probably a better description.  I was absolutely blown away with the performances!

Carlie was Mrs. Morse in this play.  In her "legend" her children were being tormented by demons!  Her daughter was dragged across the floor and her son was levitated out of his bed!!!  Good news is that she and her husband were able to save their children:)  This was only one of about 10 legends.  Of course there was an Ichabod Crane and Katrina VanTassel too:)

This was an original play written by the playwright Mahonri Stewart from Utah (hmmm...I pretty sure he's a Mormon:)  Mahonri actually came down to opening night and the kids all got to meet him.  He was blown away as well as he told all of us that this was THE BEST interpretation of his play that he has ever seen!  He is writing a sequel to this play and has asked that AYT perform this next year!

And like always, Carlie LOVES every minute of every rehearsal and every performance.  The cast and crew of Actor's Youth Theatre is just amazing to work with.  It is a very tight knit family that even I love being a part of--I was just invited to join the AYT board this fall and I am loving every minute of every meeting.

Brom (Jared), Mr. & Mrs. Morse (Landon)

Carlie and Savvy (Bethan VanTrapper)

Carlie, Kayleah (Iris), & Savvy

The traditional "hug" pose

Yes, Rhett is trying to look evil:)

Thommy, Kayleah, Alyssa, Carlie, Adam, & Lois

Adyson (Katrina) & Carlie

Carlie and the Trunk or Treaters:)

Rocco Singing:)

This is my 1 year old beagle pup--Rocco.  And this is why he has to stay outside when I am teaching piano:)  Crazy dog:)

Trunk or Treat 2013

This is my personal favorite ward activity of the year!  The kids LOVE it and they love inviting their friends as well!  This year was EXTRA special and fun because we took everyone Trunk or Treating and THEN headed over to Carlie's last show of "Legends of Sleepy Hollow!"  Both my boys invited friends--I was a little nervous to let Tatum bring a friend because the play was pretty scary!!!  So I knew the boys coming were good with scary!  Tatum is GREAT with scary but I just didn't want to chance scaring the heck out of someone else's little girl:)

I told my kids that I would NOT be buying new costumes this year.  So this is what they come up with out of our Halloween box:

Tatum did NOT want to be cute this year!  (But I think she is STILL a pretty cute Dead Prom Queen:)

Biker Skeleton Ethan:)

Max--"Cowboy Zombie that drowned in a lake"

Max & Michael L.

Ethan & Michael T.

Let's GO!!!

T-Ball Tate!

Tatum is playing T-ball again this fall!  She is on the "Blue Pixies" team.  This season she is playing with one of her BFFs--Chloe!  It has been so much fun watching these girls grow and develop some ACTUAL athletic skills!  Tatum and Chloe are pretty dang AWESOME!!!  And they just keep getting better and better with each passing game.

I was talking with Chloe's mom and we were laughing because in one of the first games both Chloe and Tatum were tagged out at bases one right after the other.  They were both really sad and near tears.  So after we talked them through this "tough time" something clicked for both of them.  I said to them, "Now you two go out there and get 2 girls out to make up for your outs!"  And you know what?  That very next inning, they BOTH tagged girls out!!!  And ever since then, they get it!  They run hard, they throw hard, they hit hard, and they get OUTS!!!  Just LOVE these little girlies!!!

Big Hitter!

Chloe & Tatum

Tatum being the catcher:)

Tatum Rides Her BIKE!!!

WOO HOO!!!  Another milestone in the Meeker home--and we were a little behind on this one:)  Some other milestones--that I consider important:
*All 4 kids potty-trained
*All 4 kids can get themselves IN and OUT of the car
*All 4 kids can ride a bicycle!!!

Way to go Tate!!!

Max gets his WOLF!!!

Yahoo for my Maxwell!!!  He finished up his wolf this past month in Scouts!!!  He got to "wolf" down a plate of whipped cream in front of all his scout friends!  We are SOOO proud of you Maxwell!!!  And we LOVE you TONS and TONS!

Tatum's 6th Birthday!

Wow!!!  My baby is 6!  It just doesn't seem possible.  But we made a deal....this is as old as she gets!  NO MORE BIRTHDAYS:)  One can wish:)

Well Tatum wanted an "ALL girl" party this year--as the boys who came last year were "a little wild."  It's always tricky planning a party right at the start of fall break because it seems that everyone skips town as soon as they can.  But we had 5 girls come this year and we sure had a GREAT time!

Tatum is really into anything crafty right now.  She LOVES making anything and is always wanting to help me with any craft I am working on.  So this was our "Crafty Princess Party."

Eesha, Kennedy, Elizabeth, Tatum, Natalie, & Ella

PIZZA!

Birthday Girl in the traditional Birthday Crown!

YAY!!!  She got her Zeepad!!!  

Crafting/playing/pizza/playing/presents/playing...NEXT up!  Decorate your own cupcake!!!  Check out these crafty girl creations!!!

Ella and her happy face:)

Kennedy with anything and everything she could fit on one little cupcake:)

Natalie's had hair:)

The BIG moment!!!

The girls all got to go home with their very own magnet/photo board that they made THEMSELVES!!!  Complete with the CUTEST magnets which they of course made themselves too!!!

So the birthday party was a success.  I LOVE crafty girl parties!  I think I may have one for myself next year:)  Happy Birthday to our beautiful Tatum Jane.  She completes our family most perfectly and we LOVE LOVE LOVE her TONS and TONS!