Trick or Treat

We went trick or treating tonight with two elves, Santa, and two lady bugs. It was a lot of fun. We got A LOT of candy. I've eaten so much tonight...my teeth feel fuzzy right now. Favorite quote of the night was from Santa about 10 houses in, "My muscles hurt!" She was a zombie Santa at this point and was traipsing through people's landscaping rather than walking on the sidewalk. I wish I had Kristin's funny picture right now to show you.

They are finally sleeping after a huge sugar high.

Heidi excited about her loot.

Merry Christmas?

oops, I mean...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (a little early)

pie

The Inspiration:

Kyla made this cute little craft at preschool. Pumpkin pie with a dollop of whip cream and real cinnamon sprinkled on top. Heidi LOVES it and Kyla has been begging to make a real pumpkin pie. So we did.

I don't think I've ever made a pumpkin pie before today.

The way we did it, it was so easy, only four ingredients including the crust. I was babysitting Hailey (5). I pulled out the Pillbury ready made pie crust from the fridge. Hailey looked at it and said, "My mom likes to make it the long way so that I can learn about all the ingredients." Funny. Her mother denies this.

Yum. It smells really good in here.

Our Dad is Great

Today was pumpkin carving day...I know, more pumpkins! Heidi even worked on gutting her own little punkin. She kept taking tastes and licks of the raw pumpkin goo. Kinda gross but hey, whatever.

Dad cut the tops off all the pumpkins and we took the insides out. Then, I carved 3 out of the 4 pumpkins in about 15 minutes. Basic Jack-o-lantern faces and one tiny Mickey Mouse (just 3 circles).

Classic Kyla face, even though she is enjoying the experience very much. Once our carving experience had ended dad was still at work on the last pumpkin. You can see the girls have moved on to eating lunch. There is even football on in the background but he's still using a tiny saw to work on his creation.

Ta-da! It's Snow White likeness carved into a pumpkin. Awesome job! That is why this post is titled "Our Dad is Great." They loved it and of course it is their favorite.

October = Pumpkins

how a Princess does a Pumpkin...

...as Heidi would say, with "sparkleys!"

We had a Halloween themed craft party with some great friends today.

It was a bit messy but a lot of fun.

Project #1: Sparkle up your pumpkin!

It was as simple as that.

Project #2: Create preserved spiderwebs with white spray paint and black paper.

Not as simple as that!

This project did not go as planned.

First, we took turns trying to poke the spider off of the web.

It was a big thrill.

Even, Kristin took a turn.

When the spray paint had no nozzle we improvised, spraying

the web with glue and then throwing flour on it.

IT DID NOT REALLY WORK but it was very funny.

We scrapped this project and went onto...

Project #3: Halloween Placemats made with contact paper and stickers. I didn't get any good pictures of this project for some reason. It's too bad because Heidi was really into it and they turned out cute.

From this Kristin and I determined we would not make good homeschool mothers or preschool teachers.

Fun times!

leaf hunt

Went on a "leaf hunt" in our beautiful fall neighborhood today at 4:00pm (the streetlamps were already on) and ran into some unexpected friends. A great surprise.

Krazy Coupon Lady

Yep, that's what I feel like lately, the crazy coupon lady. Remember I mentioned I was going to a couponing class a while back- Couponing for the Clueless? Well, I went and I learned and now I'm shopping for some deals! I've gotten some great ones too. You can spend a lot of time couponing but I've learned the trick is to check certain websites and learn how to combine sales with coupons. The best one out there that I have found so far is www.thekrazycouponlady.com. Their motto: "pick another checkout lane honey!" I love that. That's kind of how you feel...embarassed to go up to the register with your stack of coupons. The cashier is a little annoyed and the person behind you is too. Oh well. I've been saving a little and I can only get better from here. Now if only I lived by an Albertsons...that is where the real deals are.

80's Flashback

The Halloween photoshoot was a success today. It was FUNNY and CUTE and we got some great compliments from onlookers at the mall. Glad we took them. We'll be keeping you in suspense though until closer to the big day! So instead I've decide to post a picture of me in one of my all time favorite Halloween costumes (I had a lot of good ones -great job mom!) -Rainbow Bright! It's awesome isn't it? My grandma made it and I love it. Wish we still had it even though my girls wouldn't know who she is. Why hasn't she made a comeback? After all, we still have My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake.

Dress Rehersal

Tomorrow Chels and I are taking the girls to the Picture People to get their picture taken in their Halloween costumes. Time to use up my free coupons. I figured I better practice on Kyla before we got there. Here is a preview...can you guess what she's going to be? I think this year is going to be especially funny. (She is watching TV like this right now).

Last year was also very cute and funny. Kyla was Ariel (The Little Mermaid- for those of you not in the know), Heidi was Sebastian and Pearson was Flounder. Heidi and Pearson are sidekicks again this year...probably the last year we will get away with that!

Mostly crying...only a little cheering.

Don't let the smiles in these photos fool you. This BNK Saturday noontime game was COLD! Brrr! My girls decided they wanted to wear their cheerleader uniforms (a red glittery HS Musical number and and hand-me-down Seahawks cheer outfit) to watch Dad play QB-made complete by pom poms and homemade "Go Dad" signs. I convinced them they needed to wear jeans and sweatshirt underneath. The crying began right away. It was TOO cold. They bundled up and we had to leave a little early. They did get in a few good times first though. Heidi and Pearson actually played catch and did a pretty good job. Despite our sad cheering section the boys pulled through with a win.

Ten on Ten

Click here to play along next time.

Delicioso!

Delicious Pumpkin Cookies! So good. Gotta try them.

Combine:

2 1/2 cups flour

1t. baking powder

1t. baking soda

1t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

In another bowl combine:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

Then add:

1 cup Libby's canned pumpkin

1 egg

1t. vanilla

Combine two bowls together. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool for two minutes and then glaze.

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

3T milk

1T melted butter

1t. vanilla

ENJOY!

Project 365 Update

Well, we're into month 10 on Project 365 and I am all up to date-I've never really gotten behind. I'm a little OCD on this project but not as bad as I was in January. I'm still taking a picture (or a hundred) (almost) everyday. And I don't know if anyone checks but they are (April-Current) all over there on the left hand side under that Project 365 button.

We had a P365 party two weekends ago and so my book and journaling is done through 9/20. (I don't have a picture of that party because on the same day I had my own little adventures in babysitting and so I chose this FRIDAY picture instead.) I love my book and could sit and look at it over and over. I'm so glad that I did this project and that I will have this for my girls forever.

The dilemma: Will I do it again next year? The answer: No, at least not in this format. The main reason for this is because it is getting harder and harder to take pictures on random days where we do nothing. How many pictures of my kids at the park or playing Barbies can I really have? So, if Becky Higgins puts out one for next year, I will buy it but will save it for a year or two down the road. I need ideas from all my scrapbook friends out there for my next year's album/format though.




What I really want is this:

Not necessarily this one but an SLR camera of some sort. I don't think its gonna happen any time soon but a girl can wish can't she? Maybe if I start clipping enough coupons! Anyone who's reading this who has an SLR: which one should I get WHEN and IF I get one some day.

Pumpkin Patch

Well, unlike the last event I blogged about, the mama-razzi has NO shame at the pumpkin patch. It is my all time FAVORITE thing to photograph. The colors are so great and I just can not delete any of them. Even before I was a crazy picture takin' woman, I was taking hundreds at the pumpkin patch. We go to the same patch every year - Mosby Brothers, so comparing from year to year will be really fun. This year was especially fun because Kyla LOVED every second of being there. She kept wanting to run from this "pumpkin world" to that "pumpkin world". We picked a great day too. The weather was nice and sunny and warm. Let the pictures begin....

These are the ones we ended up with....everyone got to pick their own. Casey's is on the top step. Kyla picked the white one and mine is next to hers and Heidi picked the little biddy one. So cute.