Let the Halloween Fun Begin!

Sunday evening we decided we would carve our pumpkins that the boys had waited so patiently for. We started off with a little pre-carving meal of scrambled eggs and sausage and some delicious apple/cherry juice.

I love this picture of Hunter saying, "HUH"?

We decided to split up in to teams.

Team Momma and Chancey

Team Daddy and Hunter

Hunter was a little leery of picking out the "Guts" and "Seeds". It took some persuasion and talking into.

Chancey as usual just wanted to EAT whatever it was inside of the pumpkin

The Pumpkin Master hard at work

The Final Products
Team Daddy and Hunter on left/Team Mommy and Chance on right
(The lights were off in this picture...too bad the mess showed up!)

That was A LOT of fun!!

Chancey got a little SPOOKY while the lights were off.
He loves to say BOO!

Because we live in an extended stay hotel type place we couldn't keep our jack o' lanterns outside. So, they stayed inside. I don't think they are meant to stay inside a warm place. So within a day, this is what they turned into.

Yucky! Moldy! Mushy! Messy!
After just one day!

Gross!

Our ward had their Harvest Festival/Halloween Carnival on Wednesday, so we put on our costumes, and had a lot of fun! They had a beanbag toss, a straw walk, a mummy wrap, a face painting station, spooky spider making, spider fishing, nachos, and a trick or treat walk around the doors of the building to get the treats.

My cute little tiger.
(He says he is a mean tiger...what do you think?)

It makes a Momma's day to know that she made a little guy happy with a fun Halloween costume.

My cute little Puppy! He had the "Woof, Woof" down!

Hunter had a Batman painted on his forehead

The straw walk. Hunter had a hard time figuring this one out.
You couldn't hear the music, so he didn't know what was going on.

Daddy and Puppy

Well, this just starts the fun of Halloween. Friday we should have lots more fun, and Saturday we should have more fun doing our Family Halloween Party.
(Due to lack of friends to come over for a friend party. )

Mom- I made an "H"

Hunter is so proud of himself, that he can "brand" anything and everything with the letter "H". He loves making his mark on paper.... usually. Yesterday, he tried to brand something different though.
I was loading Chance into the car and I look over and see Hunter licking, Yes LICKING, the car. I told him to stop because it was gross and there are lots of germy bugs on cars. He stopped- it was GOOD that he listened! As I shut Chance's door and went to help Hunter to his side of the Jeep, he said, "Look Mom...I made an "H"!" Well, what he should have said was, "Look Mom...I LICKED an "H"!" All I could do is laugh and vomit! (I really didn't do the latter). I told him once again that he should not lick the car, that it will make him very, very sick. What else can you do??? Life as a mother :)

Butter Boy

I should have known better, but I guess I forgot.... I saw a yummy recipe on someone else's blog for soft sugar cookies, I thought I would give it a shot. So, I got the cookies made and chilled while the boys were napping, and I took the butter out for the frosting to soften. When the boys woke up we played for awhile, and then I noticed Hunter was gone in the other room for a little while. I said, "Hunter McGee....paging Hunter McGee, we are now about ready to cut out and bake Halloween cookies. Where are you Hunter McGee?" By this time I walked around the corner and guess what I saw?

The Butter Boy!

I could NOT believe my eyes, and neither could my stomach..ughhhh!

So, I told Hunter just to stand still and continue on his eating while I ran and got my camera. Happily he stood there and kept on eating his buttery treat.



I really, really, should have known better because it has happened before. One time in Bethel I was making Father's Day Dinner for Kelly, and I was missing half of a stick of butter. I was sure I hadn't used it yet, but the wrapper was sitting there. I don't have the greatest short term memory, so I was trying to remember what I could have used it for. About that time, I went around the corner to get a drink of water and who was sitting there eating butter like an apple???

The Butter Boy!
You've got to love the bite marks and the thumb prints on the soft butter :)

Well, as disgusting as it is, it is still funny. But, note to self...put the butter up high, where
The Butter Boy!
can't go, so I don't see THIS again!

Trick Or Treat Bags

I never know what to use for trick or treat bags, especially for little kids. If you use the grocery bag, it is too long for them and it drags on the ground. You have the same problem if you have them use a pillowcase. So, I solved that problem for my boys this year. I made really simple trick or treat bags, and I let them choose the fabric. (Well, I may have helped Chance a little.) It took me less than two hours from start to finish to make two of them. Not a bad little afternoon project. I look forward to making two more of them, if and when we have the final two. :)

Sunday Night Family Time

I have shared before that Hunter loves picnics. Oftentimes we will have picnics around lunch time or use it for a snack time in the afternoon. However, our ward in Fairbanks meets from 1-4 and so we get home from church, eat dinner and put the kids down for a late nap. They both woke up around 7 or 7:15 and so of course we were all a little hungry. So, what else but time for

PICNIC TIME!!!

Here we are enjoying some food and fun

This is the usual picnic spread
Green and Red apples, wheat thins, ritz, mozzerella, cheddar, pepperoni and water

After the picnic it was time for some basket playing time and some wrestling with Dad

Good thing Chance is so light, otherwise Hunter might be smooshed!

Chancey is the King of The Basket

I love days like this-- it is so fun to be able to sit at home and enjoy each other's company as a family.

A Fun Evening At Ivy Wild Park and Pool

I thought it would be fun to have a little get together with all of the cousins at Ivy Wild park in Boise. I guess a part of me feels bad that my boys don't get to have a close cousin bond because we live so far away from everyone. So, I planned a fun "Extended Family Picnic and Swimming Party".

We had Hoagie sandwiches and everyone brought some food item such as drinks, chips, cupcakes, watermelon, salads etc... The food was yummy and it was fun to sit on our picnic blankets and visit with everyone.

We had a pretty good turn out. Grandpa and Gee Gee came for the picnic, Grandma and Grandpa Joe, Christy, Andy, Jay, Emily, Nikolai, Aleksi, Ben, Jamie, Elidh, James, Chelsea, Becky, Dave, Arielle, Tessa, Seth, and then our little family. Unfortunately Mike, Lindsey, Addi, Mackenzie, Shawn, Troy, Avery, Kimberly, Caleb, Trenton, Gavin and Addi #2 weren't able to make it...we missed them.

I love Ivy Wild pool, it is pretty inexpensive to get into and then it has a really fun kids area, and then also a deep pool and a waterslide. (The slide reminds me of the Wildwaters slide it was so much fun!) I think everyone had a good time and we can't wait to do it again.


Kelly and Chance
(Chance isn't a big fan of the sun shining in his eyes)

Seth

Grandpa Joe and Hunter playing

Kelly and Hunter going down the slide again, and again!

Chelsea and Elidh

Dave and Becky

Grandpa Joe and Chance

James and Chelsea

Tessa, Becky, and Arielle

Grandma Lillian and Hunter practicing "The Float"

Ben and Andy
(and some random guy)

Time Out For Me!!!

I am a firm believer that a person who is an nurturer (i.e. mother, father, caretaker etc...) needs time out for herself. So, this past September I took my beliefs to heart and abandoned my children and husband for 6 days and went to Anchorage for Time Out For Women. My friend Mandi, from Bethel, had been wanting to do a girls weekend "in town" for a couple of years, and were finally able to do just that.

Mandi and I did lunch, pedicures, dinners, facials, shopping, dessert, and talked ALOT. We stayed up late every night giggling like high school/college girls. If you would have heard us talking and laughing, you would have never guessed that we were grown women with children.

In between all of the talking and playing, we attended Time Out For Women. We got to listen to Sheri Dew, Wendy Watson Nelson, Hilary Weeks, Emily Watts, Ardeth G. Kapp, and Merilee Boyack. The speakers were really great and able to teach us.

Merrilee Boyack (below in yellow) is one of Mandi's favorite authors. She has written Parenting Breakthrough, Strangling Your Husband is Not an Option, and Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy! She is so funny, sweet, talented and smart. When I saw her walking around I grabbed Mandi (below in red, and 7 months pregnant) and we ran up to Merrilee and I said, "This is your #1 fan!" She thought that was great, and later we found her again and she was kind enough to take a picture with us. Both Mandi and I highly recommend her books.

Emily Watts- author of Being the Mom and Take Two Chocolates and Call Me in the Morning

Ardeth G. Kapp- former YW's General President
(not to be confused with Janice Kapp Perry)

Dianne Graham from Bethel- I love her!
I was her visiting teacher for 3 years

My friends Adelle, and Mandi
(Apparently these girls didn't drink their milk! Or I drank too much)

What a fun time for me- I am so glad that I was able to share a good time with my good friend!
Can't wait until next year!!!

Baking with Hunter and Momma McGee

Today Hunter and I made some simple holiday cookies to take to Dad and his co-workers at the hospital. We used the cake mix cookie recipe (listed below), and then added some fun Halloween colored M&M's.

We rolled the dough into balls and placed them on the cookie sheet.
(With clean hands, of course!)

Then we put them in the oven, and in 9-12 minutes.....
(depending on the size)

Finished Product!
Hunter MAY have tasted some of the dough

I LOVE the dark brown with the POP of the Halloween colors

Cake Mix Cookies
1 cake mix (any flavor)
2 eggs
3/4 C Shortening

Mix ingredients together and either cook plain or add any flavor of chips or candy.
Some of my favorites are a yellow cake mix with butterscotch chips, chocolate cake mix with chocolate chips, or a white cake mix with chocolate chips.
Be creative!
Roll into golf size balls.
Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes (depending on size of cookies)

It's a BOO-tiful Morning

This morning I decided to surprise the boys with a spooky sort of breakfast...ghost pancakes! I got the idea off of someone else's blog, and I thought.... how simple. So, I did it and they were a HIT!

I started off with regular pancake batter and just blobbed it on there.

Then I added chocolate chips for eyes

Then I cooked the other side

They turned out so cute!

My little goblins ate them right up, and thought mom was soooo cool!