Art Show

Audrey's artwork (from school) was selected to be a part of the local art show this past weekend!
Here she is with her "African shield". :)

(Her friend Kaitlyn also was selected and her Leaf picture is above Audrey's!)

I was very happy for her that she was selected. I think lately she has been feeling a little lost in the sea of humanity that is her elementary school. So I'm glad there was something special that she did and that she could be excited about.

What to do, what to do ...

... with all the Halloween candy in your house?

[it is calling my name as I type ... "eat me, eat me" ... I WILL resist ...]

Well, I for one do not want to gain 15 lbs. from eating it, especially BEFORE Christmas even arrives, because it is a given that I will probably gain a few over the holidays.

Luckily, I have a few ideas about how to rid the house of the excess.

First - take all the little non-chocolate pieces (lollipops, pixy stix, starburst, etc.) and stash them away. (A few at a time so the kids don't notice, ha!) Then ... if you are hosting a birthday party or something in the next 6 months ... use them in the pinata or goodie bags. Not that I have EVER done this. Ahem.

Second - take the chocolatey pieces, put them in a big old ziploc bag and stash them in the freezer. As before, a few at a time. This way it is hard to give into temptation, and you can dole it out a few pieces at a time over the next few months. Not that I have ever battled this temptation myself. Ahem.

Third - use them up in your Christmas baking. This is my favorite idea. 'Cause I love to bake... and especially for Christmas!

Got Hershey bars? Melt them up and drizzle them over almost anything and you look like a gourmet. Or dip pretzels, oreos, etc. in them and roll in sprinkles.

Got Snickers bars? There is an awesome cookie recipe I call Santa Surprises that uses them (and you could substitute Milky Ways and 3 Musketeers easily as well. And you don't really need the minis, you could always cut the fun size in half too.) Drizzle aforementioned Hershey bars and some Christmas sprinkles over top of these babies and you have one delicious Christmas cookie. Just a note - for the recipe, click on the word Santa Surprises above. For some reason the link will not highlight itself! AARGH!

Got Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? (Nah, me either. Already gone ... but some of you might not have a weakness for them like we do here...) Here is another great cookie recipe that uses them. Or here's another. Make them, put some red and green sprinkles on top, and voila! Christmas cookies. Give them as gifts. Or eat them yourself!

Got M&M's? Pick out the red and green ones and then you have Christmas M&M's! (Just kidding - who has time or is crazy enough to do THAT??)

We also have lots of Kit Kat's around and I'm not sure what to do with those ... other than just eat them. Or give them away!

Okay seriously now. If you have candy that you just don't want - many shelters will take them and use them for their residents. Both Audrey's & Carter's schools have sent home notices that we could send candy in if we wished. So don't throw it out ... someone can surely use it, even if that isn't you!

Enjoy!!

Trick or Treat!

I just cannot believe Halloween is already here and gone. This means that in the blink of an eye, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas.

This makes me very happy because I love both of those holidays! But sad because before you know it, they will both be over and the long winter will set in...

Well, let's not worry about that now. We had a very fun evening trick or treating with friends! The kids made out like bandits! Even Chloe got in on the action. It didn't take her long to figure out that ... smiling + looking cute = people handing you candy. :)

Before the "hard work" of trick or treating, the kids needed to power up with some dinner. So Audrey & I made these little mummy hot dogs. (It's just crescent roll dough strips wrapped around hot dogs with 2 dots of mustard for eyes.)

Next up: time for some photos.

My leopard, flower and spiderman

The kids with their neighborhood friends

And they're off!

2 hours later ...
The kids with their respective candy stashes.
It's ridiculous how much candy we have.
And this does not include the candy Chloe collected (although she quit long before they were done trick or treaating.)

A fun night for us all!
Happy Halloween everyone!

Boys will be boys

The other morning Carter came out of the bathroom looking like this.
Why?

Well, didn't you know that wearing your underwear on your head is really fun?

[I didn't - but I think I will just take his word for it.]

Parades, Parties, Pizza & Pumpkins, oh my!

Friday was a busy day for us (and probably most families in America) ... the kids had their Halloween parades and parties. Can I say this? Sometimes people ask if we "celebrate" Halloween. I always feel uncomfortable with the term "celebrate" ... I know Halloween has its origins in satanic worship and such, so I wouldn't say we "celebrate" it. And we certainly want to have nothing to do with satan. But we do have fun dressing in costumes and collecting candy from our neighbors and carving jack-o-lanterns, and I think that that is all in good, harmless fun. We don't made a huge deal out of it aside from that.

The morning started with convincing Carter that wearing his costume was a good idea. :) But ultimately he put on his Spiderman costume (minus the mask that scared him) with no problems and had a fun morning at preschool, parading and partying throughout the morning.

This is how Carter looked for most of the parade....

What is going on here? And why are all these people looking at us and taking pictures?

I did get this good shot of him.
I love that he is parading between 2 girls. When I ask him who he played with at preschool, most of the time, he lists a few girls' names. Can you tell the kid has grown up with sisters and a neighborhood full of girls? The good news is he will be one darn good husband someday!

Home for lunch, and then off to Schuylkill Elementary!

Audrey, my little leopard.
The school has a theme and this year it was "Reading around the world" - the 1st graders were assigned to choose something from Asia, Australia, New Zealand or Antarctica.
Obviously this included the animals ...

Audrey's class

Audrey and classmates enjoying cupcakes at their party.
I didn't want to put too many party pictures up ... some people don't like pictures of their kids on the internet.

I made homemade pizza for dinner and then we carved pumpkins.
Well, Chad and I carved, the kids scooped out the guts.
And Chloe went to bed for most of this activity.

Carter designed his own face for the jack-o-lantern.
I was pretty impressed!

Happy with the results!

Happy Trick-or-Treating!
from the Audrey, Carter & Chloe Pumpkin family :)

Leaf fun

A Fun Fall Party with the Neighbors

So ... what makes a fall party "fun"??

A big ol' howdy and hug from your besty :)

Eating and chatting with your friends
(One of my favorite things too!)
And as a sidenote: Have you ever listened to a group of kids talking?
First there was the discussion of whether the Eagles or the Steelers were a better team.
Then a little convo about the Phillies.
Then Morgan says - "Well, enough about this ... who likes SHOES?"
I knew there was a reason I like that girl so much. :)

Sliding with Daddy is always a good time.

Did we mention the food table??? Nuff said.

Decorating pumpkins!

Audrey's finished product

Everyone's finished product!!

Chloe and her not-so-secret admirer Rebecca

Bobbing for apples

Yay! Got one!

Now it's Carter's turn.

And .. he got one too!

Happy kid!

Thanks to the Zinks for hosting us once again!