Spooky…

The Babe has become a big Halloween fan.  She can spot a “punkin” from a mile away.  She also picked up the phrase “Ooh! Spooky!” and uses it appropriately.  When it came time to pick her costume, I thought Jasmine would be fun, but she had eyes only for “Rella.”  So Cinderella it was!

Lil’ Miss has known for quite awhile that she had to be Rapunzel for Halloween.  I struggled with how best to make the Rapunzel dress.  Here’s my interpretation:

Lil’ T and I had this conversation about his costume:

Lil’ T: Mom, I want to be someone from Harry Potter.  One of the bad guys.

Me: Oh, you could be Draco!

Lil’ T: No, I want to be Malfoy.

Big T: You’re both talking about the same person!

Good thing Big T is here to keep us straight! 

After Lil’ T decided to be Malfoy, Big T was willing to be Harry Potter, the boy who lived!  (I have always wanted to make a Harry Potter costume, what a treat to be able to make 2 characters from the series!)

 

We went trick-or-treating twice this year.  Once at Lincoln’s work (so fun, we’ll have to do it again!)  and then around the neighborhood.  Why is it always the kids who tire out first?  Oh well, less candy control later, right?

Easter 2011

We kept things pretty simple for Easter this year. 

On the Saturday morning before, each child received a new book and a pair of PJs.

Then we had an egg hunt in our newly-fenced yard.

Afterwards, we dyed eggs.

   

Before we went to bed, we made Easter Story Cookies.  (They turned out really well this year!)

On Easter Sunday we went to church in our new Easter dresses and ties.

After church we had a yummy Easter dinner that, of course, included carrot cake.

Hope your Easter was fun!

Halloween 2010

Wow! This year is flying by! I like to think I am too busy enjoying life to blog about it. It's a nice thought!

Halloween was fun this year, but a bit on the rainy side. The kids and I made it to about 15 houses and then decided that we were tired of getting wet. Well, I should say the boys and I were done, but Lil' Miss kept saying, "One more house?"

Here are some pictures of the kids' costumes (taken of course by their dear old dad!):

How We Spent Our Christmas

We started out having a nice, quiet Christmas. On Christmas Eve, our dinner consisted of fun snack foods and egg nog to drink. After dinner we let the kids open the traditional Christmas Eve gift: pajamas! After that, the kids acted out the nativity. Lil' Miss was Mary, Lil' T was Joseph and Big T was everybody else. We put some fresh-made cookies (thank you, Pillsbury!) out for Santa and the kids went to bed. When we checked on the kids later, this is what we found:
Can't you just see the sugar plums? Big T was sweet and let Lil' T sleep on the top bunk with him.

The boys slept until just before 7:00, which was the time we told them was allowed. However, we had to wake Lil' Miss and she was not thrilled. She had a hard time caring that "Claus" had been here. But she sure warmed up once she got downstairs! After opening gifts, the building began! Lincoln and the boys built Legos and built Legos and then built some more Legos! With the excitement of the morning over, we settled down to have a relaxing afternoon. That, however was not to be! At about 2:30, I began to have contractions. They were regular and starting to hurt a bit, so we called my parents to have them come down to be with the kids and made last minute preparations to go to the hospital. After some dinner, we made our way to the hospital at about 8:00. When the nurse checked me I hadn't progressed much from my appointment earlier that week, which was very strange. She called the doctor and we could hear her telling him, "Well, she's not in labor!" I was pretty sure I was! There was some concern over the baby's heartbeat, which was difficult to locate and seemed a little low. The doctor finally arrived and he decided that he would "augment" my labor. Before he started the pitocin he asked the nurse if she had felt the baby's head. She thought so, but he wasn't convinced and decided to do a quick ultrasound. Sure enough, her head was not down where it should be. The doctor then asked me, "Do you know what this means?" I was pretty sure it meant that I was having a C-section, but I still was worried that he was going to send me home. He meant that I was having a C-section. I was less than excited quite frankly. So the doctor got his team together and I had my very first C-section with the Babe being born at 11:44 on Christmas night! (Couldn't the doctor have waited 16 minutes?!) Oh well, she was healthy and that was the most important thing!

Merry Christmas to us!

Halloween

Here is our official Halloween family picture! Normally Lincoln and I don't dress up. But this year he had a great idea for costumes: Lil' Miss went as Little Red Riding Hood, Lincoln as the woodcutter and, being rather pregnant, I went as the wolf who ate granny. The boys both wanted to be Clone Troopers from Star Wars. (No, they are not Storm Troopers!) Big T wanted to be Commander Cody and Lil' T wanted to be Captain Rex. Since I am not creative or skilled enough to make Clone costumes, I ordered them online and we have had them since August.

Lil' Miss really enjoyed Halloween this year. I thought she would put up a fuss about wearing her costume since the last time she put it on, she didn't feel it was complete without an army helmet. But, when it was time to put on costumes, she happily put on all the parts and pieces without complaint. She also got the hang of trick-or-treating very quickly. She walked right up to the door each time, holding out her basket.

The boys also enjoyed trick-or-treating. Lil' T was the best at saying the appropriate phrases: "Trick-or-treat" and "Thank you." There was however one house that the man at the door was a little scary. He was all dressed up with his face painted and he was yelling. At that house, Lil' T was hesitant to go to the door. When he did go, he placed his pumpkin on the doorstep hoping that the man would fill it for him. That was not to be. The man was letting the kids pick their own treat. After Lil' T realized that he would have to pick out his own candy, he got over his fear just enough to grab a candy and retreat. We only made it around our block before then the boys said they were tired and ready to be done. They're not hard-core trick-or-treaters apparently. Oh well, less sugar for them to consume!

The weather was surprisingly nice considering that it snowed earlier in the week. We didn't need coats over the kids' costumes! Yay! And I LOVE that daylight savings doesn't start until after Halloween! Someone was a genius! It was actually still light out when we started trick-or-treating at 6:00!

Here is a picture of the pumpkins that Lincoln carved for the boys:

They both had to have pumpkins that coordinated with their costumes. Lincoln is so good to be willing to create the designs that they have their hearts set on!

And that, my friends, is "the end" of this post!

'Tis the Season...

...for Halloween!

Every year during the month of October, I try to make a different Halloween-themed treat for each FHE. Here are my ideas for this year:

• Haven't you ever wondered what some of the foods mentioned in Harry Potter taste like? I sure have (and I'm not talking about Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!) Here is a creative recipe:
  Butterbeer

  

12 oz. (one bottle) ginger ale
36 oz. (three bottles) cream soda
3 T butterscotch ice cream topping

Thoroughly chill unopened ginger ale and cream soda in refrigerator until icy-cold. Refrigerate empty, glass pitcher as well. Once beverages are chilled, in a small mixing bowl or tall glass, stir 1-2 oz. of cream soda into butterscotch topping till thoroughly combined. Pour all remaining soda into chilled pitcher. Quickly add butterscotch mixture to pitcher. Stir till just combined; do not over-stir. Pour over ice and serve immediately. Serves 6.

For a frothy sparkle, dip the rim of each glass in corn syrup, pulling drips of syrup downward with a toothpick. Then dip each glass rim in a mixture of colored sugar. Before dipping, spread the corn syrup & sugar mixture each onto a separate, flat-bottomed plate.


I think I will make some chocolate dipped pretzel wands to go with the Butterbeer. Heather Bailey also has a few other Harry Potter inspired recipes you may want to check out.

• Another idea that inspired me comes from Family Fun Magazine:

Forked Eyeballs

2 (11-ounce) bags white chocolate chips
12 doughnut holes
Semisweet chocolate chips
Tube of red decorator frosting

1. To coat a dozen doughnut holes, melt the white chocolate chips over low heat (and keep the chocolate warm while you work). With a fork, spear each doughnut hole and submerge it in the melted chocolate to coat it, then gently tap off any excess.

2. Stick a semisweet chocolate chip with its point cut off onto each doughnut hole, cut end first. Place the forks (handle side down) in a mug and allow the chocolate coating to harden.


3. Use a tube of red decorator frosting to add squiggly veins radiating out from the pupils.



I know they're a little gruesome, but that's part of the fun of Halloween, right?

• I have seen variations of spider cupcakes all over, including the ones we tried last year.
  Spider Cupcakes
  I want to try something like this, this time. Wouldn't they be yummy made out of red velvet cake?!!
  
  

• And last, but not least I think that Mousse-Filled Witches' Hats will be a Halloween staple at our house. (Honestly the mousse is my favorite part!) They have been requested again.
  
  Mousse-Filled Witches' Hats

1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

1 cup milk chocolate chips

4 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 teaspoon shortening

1 package (4 3/4 ounces) chocolate ice cream sugar cones

Halloween sprinkles

12 thin chocolate wafers (2 1/4-inch diameter)

1. For mousse, in a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup cream to a boil; remove from the heat. Stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

2. In a small mixing bowl, beat the remaining cream until stiff peaks form; fold into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate.

3. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt semisweet chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip pointed tips of ice cream cones a third of the way into melted chocolate; roll in sprinkles. Refrigerate until set.

4. Just before serving, spoon mousse into cones. Top each with a chocolate wafer. Invert onto a serving platter.

Serves 12

As I was looking for pictures and recipes for this post, I found this site you might want to check out. I might have to try the Vampire Bites in addition to the other delectable treats I have planned!

Luck o' the Irish!

I love to make holidays special and fun for my kiddos and St. Patrick's Day is an excellent holiday to have a little fun! My mother-in-law always did fun stuff on St Patty's Day and my husband has requested that I follow some of the same traditions. So here's the menu for dinner tomorrow:

• Corned Beef
• Boiled Cabbage
• Shamrock Jell-O Jigglers (these are creamy)
• Green Rolls
• Green Punch (Lime sherbet in Sprite)
  

I cook my corned beef in my slow cooker with enough water to cover it. I usually don't add the spice packet because the fam doesn't care for the flavor it adds.

The roll recipe I've linked to is a great one for the bread maker! It is a family favorite! I just add green food coloring to the ingredients at the beginning. When the dough is done, you form three small balls for each roll and put the balls in a muffin cup. They end up looking like a shamrock. This trick comes from my mother-in-law.

I think I may play some leprechaun tricks on my kids. This blog had a fun idea I may try! I also might make a craft tonight with the kids for FHE. This one looked fun!

Happy Birthday Week!

This is a shout-out to my amazing sister who celebrates her birthday today. This is our favorite week of the year because today is her birthday and Thursday is my birthday and Saturday is Valentines Day! Our mother aways made it such a special week and as a result I still love Valentines Day because of all the great memories. When we were little girls, Mom was constantly asked if we were twins because we were about the same size. She always told them, "No, they're two years and two days apart." The truth is that Julie was actually due on my birthday, but graciously decided to come two days before so that we could each have our own day and make it into a week-long celebration! Good work, Sis! I love you so much and I couldn't ask for a better friend than you!

XOXOXO

I love to make holidays special for my kids and I've had a request for me to share my Valentines ideas, so here they are:

For a special Valentines meal, I'm going to make a pizza, but instead of making the dough heart-shaped, I'm going to make the toppings heart-shaped! I did this a few years ago and it turned out really fun. I bought tiny heart cookie cutters at Roberts and used them on pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sliced mushrooms, and sliced zucchini. Here are a couple of pictures of my creation:













Cutting out all the hearts was a little tedious, but this year I may let my kids help!

I'm also going to make a fun drink. I bought heart-shaped silicone ice cube trays at Target in the dollar area and I'm going to freeze red Kool-Aid in them. At dinner, I'm going to put the red heart ice cubes in raspberry cream soda. My kids will love this!

For dessert I'm going to make the best dessert ever! Have you ever had molten lava cake? There are several restaurants that make it, but it's not hard to make at home. I use a recipe I found on Kraft's website. I love this cake because it is kinda like a brownie on the outside and hot fudge on the inside! YUM!











Last time I made them, I used custard cups, but this year, I'm going to use my silicone muffin pan and make a more kid-friendly serving size. Also you may not want to look at the calories-per-serving (and a serving is actually only half of one) for the custard sized ones! OUCH! But I don't know if calories actually count on Valentines Day!

So, I may be crazy, but I want to host a Valentines party for Lil' T this week. We're going to make individual heart pizza (made from refrigerator biscuits) and I'm going to make heart-shaped raspberry muffins. To make heart-shaped muffins (or cupcakes) you just put a marble or a small ball of foil in your muffin cup between the cup and the liner. I thought about making cupcakes for about two seconds, but as Big T's school teacher said, "Cupcakes are the devil!" They're just so messy and we're talking about preschoolers at this party.

For a game, I'm going to make heart-shaped beanbags out of red, pink and white felt. I haven't decided exactly what we're going to do with the beanbags, but it will definitely involve tossing. At the end of the party, I'm going to send a beanbag home with each child. And what's a Valentines Day party without Valentines? I'm going to have each kid bring some to share. We'll decorate red paper sacks with stickers for them to collect them in. Luckily I have a good stash of Valentines stickers from my scrapbook supply hoarding days!

One last V-Day idea I'm using this year: last month at Target in the Dollar Spot (man, I love the Dollar Spot!) I found small metal mailboxes. They even have little flags! I bought three of them, one for each child. So far I've just let the kids play with them and they've really enjoyed writing each other notes and just playing with them in general. But for Valentines Day, I'm going to put a special valentine in each of them just to let them know how much they are loved. I may also make my husband write his own special notes. We'll see!

I hope these ideas inspire you. I bet you are more creative than I am, so good luck and happy Valentines Day!

Merry Christmas!

October recap!

I have been meaning to blog for too long, so here is a recap of October:

Getting out the Halloween decorations made the boys a little anxious, so we made a Halloween count-down chain out of orange and black construction paper. On each chain we put a silly Halloween joke and then read one each night at dinner. I think it helped the boys (especially Lil' T) be able to see how many days we had to go before the big night.

We love Halloween treats, so every week for FHE we made a different one. The first week we made Ghost Pops. They were pretty yummy! You can't go wrong with marshmallows dipped in chocolate!

The second week we made spider cupcakes! Ooh, spooky!

The third week, we brought back a past favorite: Mousse-Filled Witches' Hats. I had trouble finding chocolate sugar cones, so we dipped our regular sugar cones in chocolate. I couldn't find chocolate wafers either, so I think next year we'll use homemade Devil's Food Cake Cookies!
But the real treat is the mousse! I made extra this time so we could just eat it straight!


Ok, final week! We made mummies out of Twinkies. You take a Twinkie and frost it with white frosting. Then you take a flat decorating tip and make "bandages" on the Twinkie. Finally you add some candies for eyes. The verdict? Too much sugar!!! I don't think I'll try these again. They're pretty cute, but just way too sweet!

Stay tuned for next month's theme: everything pumpkin!