Friday, October 31, 2008

Sticker Giveaway Winner

Due to the holiday and the class parties Mandee and I both have going on and trick or treating and about a dozen other things, we knew we wouldn't have time today to do a video of our drawing or something cutesy. Sorry, but kiddo's first!!
The lucky winner of our sticker giveaway is CANDY who said "ah, too cute!! my boys would LOVE this project!" Thanks to everyone who entered and watch for another giveaway soon!!
Happy Halloween everyone!

Fun With Bubble Art

We had so much fun with this this afternoon. It just seems to help so much doing a craft after school to help the kids wind down. This is also a great time to get the kids to talk to me about their days. Then we jump into homework.


I got this great idea from Kiddio, and my kids loved it.
The supplies are:
Shallow glass bowl
2/3 C water
1 T dish soap
straws
paper
food coloring

First note!! Make sure you do not INHALE only EXHALE!!! Place water, soap, and food coloring in bowl. Blow into the straw and create bubbles. Place paper flat on top of bubbles and the bubbles popping will create cool artwork.





I think the best part of this activity was watching them blow bubbles through their straws. I always tell them at the dinner table that if they are going to use straws they can't blow bubbles. So, today they thought it was cool that they were able to do it and create art at the same time.


Thursday, October 30, 2008

Great Minds Think Alike

Every day Brandy and Mandee share the same brain. From things like watching movies from way back on the same night without even talking about it first. We will end up talking about it the next day and come to find out we watched the same movie! We think the same thoughts, do the same crafts, all without talking about it first.


Tonight as Mandee was making dinner Brandy called. We were talking about a food drive that our youth are doing for the Care and Share. Then Mandee said, "I need Cream of Mushroom Soup for my dinner tonight". Brandy says, "What are you making?" Mandee replies with,"Stroganoff". Brandy chuckles and says "Me too"! Ok, this is getting super crazy.

What do you think it is that makes two people think the same? Do you think it is possible if you spend a lot of time with someone your minds somehow link???? Anyways, we thought we would share both of our Stroganoff recipes:

Brandy's Stroganoff


1 lb. stew meat
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 t0 3/4 cup sour cream
1/8 Dehydrated diced onions
Garlic, sea salt & pepper to taste

Fry meat with onions and seasonings. While this is cooking I do my noodles. I add a little bit of chicken bullion paste (gotta throw in my Alison's Pantry prodcuts) to my water so that it gives my noodles more flavor. Drain noodles. Add soup and sour cream to the meat. Stir until blended. I mix my sauce into my noodles, so mix everything together and your done!!!

P.S. I don't measure, I just throw things in. This is the best quess I can give you. but it's pretty close.

Mandees Stroganoff

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Few Last Minute Details

Mandee is in charge of BayLee's Halloween party at school. I am helping at our Halloween Party and am in charge of my own little activity. For those of you who are scrambling to find a few fun things to do, let us give you some ideas.

I love Family Fun!! They have so many great ideas. Mandee and I are both doing this activity. We went through their printables and picked out 10 Halloween pages and made a little mini activity book for the kids to work on at the party, but also so that they can take them home with them. CUTE STUFF!!

The Toyshop has some creepy stuff!! Lot's of printable Halloween toy's and masks. Just print and make! Cool place!

Skip To My Lou has this darling little skeleton that you can make simply by printing out and adding some brads. I printed these out but have yet to make them. Check it out here.

Just a few more ideas as Halloween is coming up fast!! Hopefully this will give you a few last minute ideas.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

It was so good, it was gone before I could get a picture!!!!

1 lb. of frozen, chopped broccoli
6 chicken breasts, cut into pieces and cooked
1-10 1/2 oz. cream of chicken soup
1/2 C milk
1 t lemon juice
3/4 C mayonnaise
1 C grated cheddar cheese

Topping:
2 C stuffing mix
4 T melted butter

Cook broccoli by package directions and drain. Arrange broccoli in a greased 9 X13 casserole dish. Arrange chicken over broccoli. Combine next 6 ingredients and pour over chicken and broccoli. Combine stuffing mix and melted butter. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

Thanksgiving Place Tags


I know, I know, I know!!! We haven't even said goodbye to Halloween and I am bringing up Thanksgiving. I just couldn't wait to do this craft and post it. I got the idea from my Parents magazine. These are what we are going to use at the table as Place Tags for everyone! BayLee and I had so much fun doing these yesterday afternoon. Logan looked for the rocks and we painted them. After the paint dried we put alphabet pasta on the rocks using glue dots. Super easy and super fun. The hardest part was finding the pasta- it was in the mexican food section of all places!!!!
So, hopefully you will have fun doing this with your kiddos!! Anything to make the afternoon fun.

A Little Something to Get You In the Halloween Spirit



Has anyone noticed that there is no Halloween specials on television this year!! What's up with that? I checked the local listings and I believe it's channel 4 has It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on tonight at 7:00 P.M., mountain time, so you'll all want to check your local listings. I hadn't even thought about looking online for videos!! Tyson and I had fun watching this video and we checked out some more. Thanks to Erin for the idea!!! Does anyone else know about any others??? Have a happy Tuesday!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Peanut Butter Waffles

I saw these on My Sisters Cucina, and wanted to try them, because as I've said before I LOVE peanut butter. The recipe originally called for whole wheat flour, but with my family I thought it better to try one new thing at a time. Piper and I loved them. Piper's been carrying one around with her all morning, munching on it. My boy's, husband included weren't too hot on them. My husband thought it was a weird combination and my boys are just finkiky. But I promise they are good!

2 & 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (used white)
2 & 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs (whites separate if using a belgian waffle maker)

Belgian Waffle Maker: Combine flour, milk, peanut butter, oil, salt and baking powder in large bowl. Seperate egg whites in seperate bowl, and add egg yolks to flour mixture. Blend egg whites on high speed until fluffy. Blend flour mixture until combined. Add egg whites and lightly stir just until combined. Pour batter in hot waffle iron and bake to your liking.

Normal Waffle Maker: Combine all ingrediants and blend until combined. Pour batter in hot waffle iron and bake to your liking.

Great Fun Site

I don't know about you but I love to look for new sites with great ideas. Well, I spent all day doing Super Saturday, which turned out wonderful by the way, and got home and hopped on the computer before a much needed nap.
I am always trying to look for fun things to do with my 10 year old son. He has quite a few health problems and I really have to look hard for things that he will be interested in and that he will stay focused long enough to do. I found a great site that I am so excited about. It is called Paper dolls for boys. There are so many fun ideas here that I am sure any boy would love!!! I just had to share.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

$1.00 off candy coupons

Click here to go to the Nestle Celebration corner. You have to sign up, but it's free and you will have access to 2 coupons for $1.00 off a bag of Nestle brand candy!! I got 2 bags at Albertson's last week for .66 cents a bag!! If you have more than one computer, try to print off of both!! It might get you more coupons. Every little bit helps!!

Chicken Roll Ups

Another easy middle of the week dinner. I finish this off with fresh broccoli and a potato. The family loves this meal-not one we make all of the time.
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
4 T. butter, melted
Any amount of cooked turkey or chicken (canned chicken works great too)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. chopped onion, optional
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
Bread crumbs(I use italian seasoned ones)
4T butter, melted

Blend cream cheese and melted butter. Add turkey or chicken, salt, pepper, and onion. Mix well. Seperate crescent dough, sppon mixture near base of triangle. Roll up and seal edges. Dip in melted butter and roll in bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes at 350.

Pirates and A Great Christmas Gift Idea

I've gone Modge Podge crazy! You should see all the fun stuff I'm crafting around this place!! You will, eventually, but I thought I should post this, because it goes along with Halloween, being that it's Pirates. And Andie, if you see it before Brenden's Party, sorry! I couldn't wait to share it.

My cute little buddy is having a pirate birthday party today. So I wanted to follow the pirate theme. I love giving homemade presents. It's just what I do. So the other day Brenden was at my house and saw some of the holiday tins that I was making and he said he thought they were cool. So I made him a cool one with skull and crossbones on it. Of course I filled it with some fun little pirate treasures. Then I decided to make him this fun little magnet set. I made about a million of these magnet sets two years ago for just about every kid I knew. I did them in nativities and pirates and oh, so many other things. I can't even tell you where I got the tins because I ordered a ton of them for a super Saturday project 3 years ago and ended up with dozens of them left,
The magnet's are sooo EASY! You buy a roll of magnet at Robert's. Make sure you use your 40% off coupon, it helps a lot. I paid about $6.00 a sheet for magnet and you can do oodles of magnets off a sheet. Peel the stickers off and stick on the magnet and cut out. The stickers work better if they are clear on the edges. I have done jungle sets, farms animals, Cars, Kung-Foo Panda, bugs and just about anything popular that kids like. These are the BEST Sunday toys. Stick them in the diaper bag and they keep kids busy forever.

Fun stuff!! Do you tink he'll like it? I sure hope so!!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Please send us your mailing address to mandeeandbrandy@yahoo.com so we can get this in the mail to you. We want you to be able to enjoy it before Halloween! Thank you and stay tuned for more giveaways!!!!!

Swap Sign Up Over

Okay ladies!! Let the swap begin. First things first, we need your email addresses so we can email you a little questionaire to help your swap partner get to know you and your Christmas taste!!

We are so excited for our first swap and hope to hold more. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, it is going to be fun. Hopefully those that weren't able to do it this time will be able to join us next time.

So, please email us at mandeeandbrandy@yahoo.com and we will get those questionaires to you hopefully some time this weekend. Please get the questionaire back to us by November 1st at the LATEST. The packages will need to be in the mail by November 17. Thank you so much.

Mandee and Brandy

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Clarification

The time is quickly approaching for our swap to begin!! We are so excited. But we have noticed that we didn't clarify a few things about it. We don't want to leave ANYONE out, we love love love you all. We said that you needed to spend $20, well that isn't exactly the whole truth. The VALUE needs to be $20 but you don't need to SPEND $20. You can hit clearances, make things (the BEST GIFT EVER), or do whatever you want to spread holiday cheer to other bloggers. We apologize for the confusion and hope this will help you guys. Happy Swapping. :)

Deck Your Halls Christmas Swap


Mandee and I have gone officially crazy!!! We've decided to host a Christmas Swap. Mandee just did one over at Sunshine and lemonade and had so much fun that we decided to do one of our own!!!! After much contemplation we finally came up with what we thought to be a great idea!! We don't know about you but we love to decorate our homes for the holidays!!!

SO....here is the deal. Leave a comment below and let us know if you are interested in joining the swap. If your email address isn't in your profile, please leave one on your comment so we can reach you with the details.

The cutoff for joining the swap is October 24. We will have your swap partners information to you by November 1st. Please plan on having your package in the mail by November 10th.

This will be a swap of Christmas Decor for your home. The minimum to spend on your swap buddy is $20.00 but you can spend even more than that if you would like!

Please pass the word by blogging about this on your blog.

Are you a tricker or a trunker??

I grew up in a town where we ran rampant through the town on Halloween night. We lived in a small town where it was safe to turn your children loose on the unsuspecting neighbors and where it was safe to accept homemade popcorn balls and pulled taffy in our Halloween buckets. Such is not the case anymore.
I know that in the area, which Mandee and I live, in fact I think the majority of our state now does trunk-or-treat. I HATE TRUNK-OR-TREAT!! I know that a lot of people feel safer in that situation. However, I have a few gripes about it.

For starters, it takes away from the fun of the night. I love walking from door to door in the crisp, autumn air. I love watching my kids running inbetween each house and I love getting a chance to see others Halloween decor. I love the hot chocolate that is a tradition afterwards and I love getting to visit with my neighbors.

I know that Trunk-or-Treat is suppossed to be safer! In our city you have to register your vehicle with the city in order to participate in the town trunk-or-treat. I also know that lots of wards hold trunk-or-treats too. I am not going to list all the reasons I think trunk-or-treats are not safe. Nothing really seems to be safe anymore. The biggest reason I don't like them is you have HUNDREDS of children coming to your car, children you don't know. You bring HUNDREDS of pieces of candy, and yet you run out after 5 minutes, if your lucky to make it that long. All of the other parents also run out of candy and so the night is over within minutes. NO FUN AT ALL!!

Some years we go home to my small town and turn our children loose and follow at a reasonable distance as they run-a-muck. I always make sure they go to Layla's house to get some of her homemade taffy!! Man, I still love that stuff. Other years we go to my in-law's neighborhood to trick-or-treat because they are one of a few that still do! All the cousins get pictures together and then all of us, parents included, except usually for Grandpa, because somebody's got to be home to give out candy, goes along. We have pizza afterwards and hot chocolate.
What do you prefer? Are you a tricker or a trunker? What are your fun traditions? What are your favorite memories?

I FINALLY DID IT!!!!


I finally made good Cinnamon Rolls!! I CANNOT make bread-at least that is what I use to be able to say. I finally was able to figure out the whole yeast and water thing. I tried these yummy Vanilla Cinnamon Rolls that Brandy posted awhile ago here.
They did not last at my house for very long. The thing I love the most about these is it makes 24 (at least) so we were able to share them with a few people. Things taste better when you can share.
I took pictures of my masterpiece but it won't upload right so you will just have to take my word for it that they worked. :)
I am going to make them again Friday for my parents. YUMMY!!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Just a Helpful Hint

Well, we are trying to get a little Christmas shopping done at the Dover house already. I just wanted to let you blogging friends know that I have discovered something that I hope will be helpful to you in some way. Well, my two oldest want bikes so in helping Santa with their wish I have done a little price watching.
I originally went online looking for bikes at Walmart so I could help Santa and tell him exactly what the kids want. Well, I found the perfect bike for my daughter and it was $72.98 before tax online so I thought "Okay, that will work". So, my husband and I go to Walmart and the SAME bike is 120.00 at the store!!!!! I about died!! I went back to walmart.com and ordered it from there. Also, if you do it that way you don't have to pay shipping and handling. They have a Site to Store option and they send it to the closest Walmart for you.
This was about 10 days ago and Santas delivery showed up today at Walmart (gosh, I hope my kids don't read my blog!). I am now looking for a bike for my son and saw the SAME bike I got for my daughter is now 92.78. It has gone up twenty dollars. Crazy.
But before you shop at your local store check out the website first and don't forget to do the site to store option for shipping.
I STILL CAN"T BELIEVE WE ARE THINKING ABOUT CHRISTMAS!!!

Tastes Just Like a Frosty

This is one of J.D.'s favorite treats. He was sick yesterday and got to come home from school. He was running a fever and I gave him some medicine and asked him if I could get him anything and he says, "How about one of those Frosty shakes?" So I whipped us up some and they are so TASTY!! We don't make this very often. It's a great way to use up your powdered milk if your trying to rotate food storage. I don't even know where I got this, I've had the recipe for atleast a year or more. But it really does taste similiar to a Frosty and has the same texture.

1 & 1/2 cups ice water (I decrease mine to 1 cup, it was way too runny the other way)
2-3 cups ice cubes
1 & 1/2 cup non-fat dry milk powder (I use Morning Moo and it tastes great)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbsp. veg. oil (I use canola, it acts as an emulsifier)

Place ALL the ingredients in the blender, including the oil. Use less water for a thicker milkshake or more for shake that is easier on your blender motor. With lid on, process for 2 minutes. Makes about 4 shakes.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Great Halloween Book

We love this book at our house! Each year we read this book over and over and over again. It is about all of these scary creatures that come to eat pie that a witch has made and left in the window. Come to find out, the creatures are..........YOU WILL HAVE TO READ IT TO FIND OUT!!!!
The illustrations in this book are amazing, bright and clear. The best part of the book is at the end there is a recipe for Pumpkin Pie and I must say it is a great one. So, I hope you will find this book and read it and enjoy it as much as we do.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Now this is a great giveaway!!! This would be perfect for Halloween. One of these days I will win one of her beautiful master pieces. Go check it out!!!
Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Cheese Cloth Ghosts

This is the EASIEST project ever. Took us like 5 minutes and no real clean up! Love it when it's easy and mess free. There are lots of versions of this craft, but we just used what we had on hand. It's probably silly to post this, because it is pretty common, but sometimes we forget the most obvious things.

You'll need white material of some kind, we used cheese cloth, because it's what we had. Googly eyes or a black marker to draw with. Twisty ties and foam balls. We found a package at the dollar store that had assorted sizes.
I cute the cloth into random sized squares. The kids then put it over the foam balls and tied it off at the base with twist ties. Draw a face or glue on some eye's and your done. Easy, wasn't it?
I love the little guy in the middle with the big googly eyes. I think he's a little creepy looking. I'm note sure what he reminds me of, but it's creepy. Ooh, I know it's the mermaids that Ursula turns into weird little plant people in The Little Mermaid. Anyone else know what I'm talking about? A little off base, but there you go!!!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Roasted Potatoes

These are Greek Roasted Potatoes. A recipe right from one of Mandees friends in Greece!!! Super tasty, and yes shortening makes them taste the best. The more lemon the better too. Enjoy.
12 Peeled and chopped potatoes
4-5 Lemons
2-3 Cups Chicken broth
1/4 cup shortening
olive oil
Garlic (fresh or powdered)
Oregano
Salt
Pepper


Wash the potatoes. Cut into quarters lengthwise, and place in a large and deep enough baking pan. Sprinkle or lightly brush the potatoes with olive oil. Put the chicken broth in the pan, add the juice from 3 lemons and top off to about 1 cm deep with water if needed. Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, oregano, and finely chopped garlic or garlic powder. Turn the potatoes over and repeat the seasoning. Cut 1/4 cup of shortening into cubes and place evenly around the potatoes. Cover the pan and place in the oven at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender inside. Uncover the potatoes and broil for a short while to brown and crisp them as desired. Squeeze a lemon or two over them for an even better taste!!!

It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown

Have I confused you?? Shouldn't the title be It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown?? Seeing as it's October, it should be, but what's a girl to do when her 3 year old refuses to watch anything but It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown? Well this girl thought, let's break out the eggs.

Every year I buy several egg dye kits on clearance. They come in handy for the strangest things. Such as dying eggs in October!! I found these darling stickers at the dollar store and I bought them, knowing we would do something fun with them, but not knowing what.

See this cute little blond haired guy ^^^^^ The one in the John Deere shirt. He's the reason we are decorating eggs in October. I thought this was a great idea, because kids love to dye eggs and why not?? We'll eat them and it's always funner to eat them when they come in such fun colors!!
I loved this picture. Look at the look on J.D.'s face. He pulled the egg out of the purple dye and said, "It's kinda pinkish!!" Silly kid. They had so much fun. I think we might be making red and green eggs in a few months. Who knows???

Friday, October 17, 2008

Just For Fun

A little ghostly fun for breakfast!!

Blogs We HEART

Kritta22 generously gave Mandee and I this fun blog award! Thanks agian, Kritta22, your AWESOME and we are lovin' your blog!! We wanted to pass this award on to two of our favorite gals!

First to Sharla over at My Little Gems!! Your ideas are great and your blog always fun to read and I love stealing ideas from you. Hope you don't care. You deserve this for just being so fun and upbeat!!!

Second to Kelly over at News From Kelly's Brood! Your comments are like gold to us and we love the fun upbeat spirit of your blog!! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas with two, crazy girls from Utah!

You ladies are awesome! Pass along some LOVE to others and make someone's day!!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Ok, sometimes I just need to take the time to listen to my kids a little closer instead of just "half listen". I am so glad I caught a moment like this.
Imagine this, Adam got home from work and we sat down around the table to eat our dinner. Every evening we go around the table and talk about our "high" and "low" moment of the day. We do this to encourage conversation and try to eliminate table arguing amongst siblings.
Anyway, we all went around the table and shared our thoughts. There were a few moments of silence (not too many of those moments at the Dover house). Then BayLee said "Hey, at school we are learning about skeletons and bones." She points to her head and says "This is my cranium and this is....." She pauses and I am thinking ok, she will need help with tibia, or something like that so I am ready to help when she says "Mom, where is my Flatulism bone?"
OH MY GOSH!! Adam and I about fell out of our chairs. And Logan says(as we are laughing and BayLee is all of a sudden very self-concious) "Uh BayLee, Flatulism is another word for farting". (I didn't make Logan sit in the corner five minutes for saying that word this time-gave him a free one for trying to help) :)
Although a little crude,t his is one of those moments I don't ever want to forget. Pure innocence. I LOVE BEING A MOM!!!!!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Balloon Spiders


So CUTE I thought to myself and so EASY!! I got the cute part right, but the easy part was a little off. This craft would be easy with the right group of kids. Say about 9 years old, I think. And one on one with my first grader would have probably been alright. But I decided to take it on with two 6-year-olds, a 5-year-old, and a 3-year-old. Oh and one pesky 16-month old!!


What you need:

Balloons
Googly Eyes
Piper Cleaners
Glue Dots I could kiss the person who invented these babies!

I got the instructions off of Executive Homemaker and we modified them as we went. You'll just have to type in Halloween in search engine and you will find them. But here is my version.

First we tried to do it Laurie's way by using one balloon. DID NOT WORK FOR ME!! I was to worried about them popping, plus every time I did get a pipe cleaner around the neck the air would slowly go out. So we blew up our big balloon first for the body and tied that balloon off. Then we blew up a smaller one to make the head. I then tied that balloon off by tying it to the stem of the other balloon. (I would have taken step by step pictures, but at this point it was mass chaos and children were screaming, blow up my balloon over and over. Oh, and the pesky baby was eating balloons. Choking hazard, ya know.)


At this point all the kids had to do was to wrap pipe cleaners around the two stems. Then the curled the ends under with their fingers. Add two glue dots to some googly eyes and you've got your face. Then a little marker, which doesn't stay on very good, but the kids loved to give them tattoo's, as they said.

P.S. Don't let the kids try to move the googly eye's once they are on the balloon. It will cause the balloon to pop, which has been known to cause tears, stress and drama!

Haunted House




Isn't this haunted house so cool? Logan made this at school. All the fifth graders were able to make their own. He had so much fun. They just made it out of paper and cut windows where they wanted to(they even open and close). He just spray painted the house and took branches and halloween stuff and covered it. This house reminds me of a house in a neighborhood that all the kids are afraid to go to but really there is just a nice little lady that is lonely waiting for the Trick or Treaters. Ok, can you tell I have been reading halloween books to the kids? But I just had to share this cool idea, I think it is really great for the older kids. I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Our First Blog Award


I am so excited about this!!!! Somebody loves us! Mandee and I have been feeling the need for some gratification. A need to know that people like our blog and Kritta22 showed us some LOVE! Go check our her awesome sight and tell her thank you for her husbands service in the military. Thanks a million Kritta22!!

Greek Village Salad

I was lucky enough to spend my teenage years living over seas. I lived in Greece from 1988-1990 and Italy from 1990-1994. I love Greek food, it is by far my very favorite. Some day I will take my family back and show them how great Greece is . I love cooking with Olive oil, vegetables, and herbs.
I also think it is important to open our kids eyes to new foods. I try to make at least one "international" meal a week. This is my familys favorite salad. I love it because it doesn't have lettuce. :)

4 Ripe Tomatoes (I prefer Roma)
1 Cucumber
1 onion
1 green pepper
1/3 lb. Feta Cheese
Olives (Kalamata are the best)
1/2 cup Olive Oil (at least)
Oregano
Salt

Cut the vegetables in slices and mix in a salad bowl. Top with the olives and oregano and cover with "crumbled" feta cheese. Pour the olive oil evenly on top. Mix before serving. *The more feta the better. :)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Fun Places For Halloween Ideas

Just wanted to pass along some great websites that are full of Halloween fun and ideas!!

Matthew Mead has darling templates for Jack-O-Lanterns, cats, owls and much more!!

The Happenings has a great activity for every day during their 30 days of Halloween.

Abby over at A Feather Nest has a fun idea for dinner in a pumpkin. I think we are going to do this and possibly make a tradition out of it. Have to see how well it goes over!

One of mine and Mandee's favorite sites is Tip Junkie. Laurie is amazing. Check out all of her fun Halloween ideas by clicking here. Laurie also has a blog called Executive Homemaker and it is one of my favorite resources for great ideas. Check out her Halloween stuff here!!!

Hope some these will give you some great idea's! I know I've found a few great ones!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Something Big Is Coming

Check back tomorrow for a big announcement.

Dang Cute Diaper Cake

This was Brandys and My Craft on Thursday. Since her 3 year old son is in preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays we both just have one at home so we get together and do a craft of some sort. I had a baby shower this weekend so we made a diaper cake. It is almost midnight so I hope the directions are clear!!!!!!
Step one: Tightly roll diaper and put a rubber band around it. Little by little add diapers to the same rubber band until you can't add any more. If you have to, make several clusters to make one layer. Keep adding diapers until you have three different sizes of circles.
Step 2: Once you have all three layers made and they are nice and tight place them one on top of each layer.
Wrap each layer with ribbon, also have seen them with each layer wrapped in receiving blanket for a fondent look. Both ways are very cute!!!!
Finished product. A great decoration and a great use for the baby!! Brandy made one for me and I didn't use those diapers until I really had to. They are so cute!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Fried Rice with Steak Stir Fry

Posted by Picasa
For all of you that have been here today and seen this without the recipe I am so sorry! It was my first time playing with Picasa and had no idea it had already posted the picture. But this is my husbands favorite meal. I usually do homemade eggrolls but forgot to get the eggroll wraps! Silly me.
Fried Rice
2 eggs
1 teaspoon plus 1 Tablespoon canola oil
2 cups chopped broccoli
2 medium carrots, chopped
salt and black pepper
1 small zuchhini, diced
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
3 medium garlic cloves
1 cup frozen peas
4-6 scallions, minced
4-5 cups cooked rice
soy sauce
Heat a wok or regular skillet for about a minute. Keeping the heat high, add 1 teaspoon of the oil and then the eggs. Scramble the eggs until cooked, then set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, plus the carrots, broccoli, and salt. Keep the heat high and stir for about 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and crush the garlic cloves into the pan. Continue to stir fry over high heat for 2 more minutes. Add the peas, scallions, and water chestnuts and stirfry for 1 or 2 more minutes. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the cooked rice and let the chef stir until it gets mixed with the veggies. Stir in the scrambled eggs. Add soy sauce to taste.

Crockpot Applesauce

This is absolutely fabulous!! I couldn't believe how good it turned out. In fact we are doing more today!!

About 20 apples, cored, peeled and diced
Apple Juice
1/8 to 1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cu p sugar if desired

Pour about 1 inch of apple juice in the bottom or crockpot. Add apples and top with lemon juice and sugar. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours stirring frequently. I mashed mine with a potato masher and it turned out perfect. I got this recipe from My Little Gems and Sharla's was pretty chunky. I actually turned my heat to high for about the last 2 hours because it didn't seem to be making enough progress. Super Yummy and good for you.


Apple Crumb

Thanks to Brandy sharing her apples I was able to make one of our familys very favorite desserts. APPLE CRUMB!! I am so excited for Fall to be here, it is like a traffic light giving me a green light to GO FORWARD AND BAKE!!! My favorite time of year, Brandys too, so I am sure we will be having tons of different recipes on here.

5 large apples
1 cup rolled oats (I use instant)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
6 T. butter (I use margarine)
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 T. apple or orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan or a casserole of equivalant size, then dust it with flour. Peel, core, and slice the apples and arrange them in the pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the oats, brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, salt and allspice on low speed until it forms a coarse meal. Crumble the mixture evenly over the apple slices and sprinkle with the juice. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the topping turns golden brown. Serves 6.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Haunted Houses

If your a mom that doesn't like a mess, then this is defiently not the craft for you!! Messy, Messy, Messy, but so much Fun! I originally got this idea from Make and Takes.

I spent only about $3.50 for this activity. I bought a bag of M&M's and a bag of Brach's Autumn mix candy. Everything else I had at home.
My 3-year-old had more fun doing this than my 6-year-old. He was singing Jingle Bells the whole time that we were making it. He keeps calling it his Jingle House! We have only made gingerbread houses at Christmas. This was our first Haunted House.
What you need ~ Candy, graham crackers, something for a base. We cut up a box and covered it with tinfoil.

Haunted House Frosting

2 eggs whites
1 pound Powder sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar

Beat egg whites until stiff and add tartar and mix. Then add powder sugar and mix until creamy and stiff. Put in plastic baggies and cut the tip of the bag at the bottom corner to create a frosting bag. You can add food coloring to your frosting to add a little bit more coler. Remember not to eat this frosting. It is for decorating only! Probably wouldn't hurt ya, but better safe than sorry!

My 6-year-old was excited for our after holiday's tradition. We usually take our gingerbread houses out and use them for target practice on New Years Day. That was the first thing he asked when I told him we were making these. I'd imagine so!!!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Free Shipping at Oriental Trading

If you love shopping Oriental Trading, you will love this even more....free shipping on ANY order until October 24th! Use code AHW903. How awesome is that?

Oriental Trading is a great place to stock up on crafts, scrapbooking items or fun holiday decor items. Thanks to Making Life Sweet, One deal at a Time for the tip!

Oatmeal Crispies

Sorry about all the recipes, but I'm in the mood to bake. It's that time of year. I originally got this recipe off of Pioneer Woman.


Oatmeal Crispies

1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 & ½ cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups quick oats
½ cup pecans (optional)

In a large mixing bowl cream butter with both sugars until well combined. In a separate bowl beat eggs together. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix carefully into the sugar mixture until well combined. Now add the quick oats and mix well again. You can add pecans at this point if you would like.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

(To freeze ~ divide dough in half and place each half of the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log and then wrap it lightly in the waxed paper. Now you can either chill or freeze the dough until later or you can go ahead and slice the dough evenly into cookie rounds and then freeze.)

Marble Spider Web

Materials needed: marble, paper plate, black paint, and a pie tin.
Put a dab of paint in the middle of the plate inside of the pie pan. Place the marble in the paint and roll the marble around to make a spider web design on the plate.
BayLee had fun doing this. Logan started to add WAY to many marbles and it turned into a mess. :) But it was a fun and easy project. I even jumped in and grabbed a plate and marble. I love Halloween and I think the projects for it are soooo much fun.