Monday, October 31, 2011

Making time....for carving pumpkins

As promised.....our pumpkin carving adventure :)
We started off with our utensils and several pumpkins.

I decided I would attempt the creative "D".  The others were going for a more traditional jack-o-lantern look.
First step was to cut the tops (which I did on three of the 4 pumpkins....16 year old can do her own!)
Next was the removal of the guts!

Slimey hands!!

 

 
Loving the mess!!


My 16 year old chose a pie pumpkin cuz she wanted a "cute" jack-o-lantern.  She got a mess!  LOL


My 10 year old daughter wanted the seeds for roasted pumpkin seeds.  I let her sort them out :)  She is excited to have them after school today!



Results in the light.
And below....in the dark.


 Top one was carved by my sweet 10 year old, the left by my 7 year old (w/ very little help!) and the middle by my 16 year old.  I did the "D".

What a fun project to make time for!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Making time......for bread, birthdays and parties

Um....Wow!  Where has the week gone?  

One of our family fall favorites is pumpkin bread....especially straight from the OVEN!  UM....YUM!  Melted butter on a slice equals pure heaven!



The empty plate says it all!  I made three loaves.  They were gone in 1.5 days!

This week also held my baby boy's 7th birthday!  And a volleyball banquet that required a dessert....double whammy!  Made a huge "dirt" dessert....most of which went to the banquet, but an 8X8 pan of it managed to get candles to blow out :)

SEVEN YEARS OLD!  My baby boy :)

When a boy turns 7, there must be a party :)  And cupcakes (with green slime filling!) for school!  Monster cookies greeted the boys as they came home from school and rode bikes and ate pizza.  Beautiful afternoon of fun.

Then, there is Halloween.  When our oldest daughter was a freshman, we let her have a Halloween party.  Therefore, daughter number two, a freshman, got a huge Halloween party this year.  We spent Saturday decorating the garage and creating a "Haunted House" in the fort we built in our hedge row.  The whole family got involved.....16 year old zombie, 10 year old witch, 7 year old zombie, and a 42 year old maniac with a strobe light and chainsaw!  More cupcakes with green slime filling, other snacks, and a bonfire made the whole event a success :)  Pictures would have been great.....sometimes you get caught up in the fun, and forget the camera.  Life is good!

A great week of Making Time....for so much!
Up next.....pumpkin carving!  After all, Halloween is tomorrow :)


Monday, October 24, 2011

Making time....for climbing trees

We headed to the farm to celebrate my dad's birthday.  While there, my son asked me what tree I climbed while growing up.  I showed him.....and the climbing and memories began.
Of course, his cousins followed, his uncle helped out...and shared his own "getting stuck in the tree" memories.  Pretty soon, all five of my children and their two cousins were enjoying the tree as well.
Was a great day...for making time to climb trees.





Saturday, October 22, 2011

Making Time....for cookies and cupcakes

Tomorrow we head to the farm to celebrate my dad's 71st birthday. 
He LOVES my chocolate chip cookies. 
(Sometimes I think that is the only reason he keeps me around!  oh, and the grand kids!)

So today, I made his cookies :) 


Last weekend I made peanut butter cup cupcakes to take to my in laws. 
My brother found out (the magic of Facebook!)  and wondered where his were. 
So, peanut butter cup cupcakes were made as well.



I just made normal devils food cupcakes, inserted peanut butter buttercream frosting from the top with a pastry bag and large tip, fluffed some canned (gasp!) frosting and piped that on top. 
My helper unwrapped the peanut butter cups and placed them on top. 
Last week we used full size peanut butter cups, cut in half, placed with the cut side down. 
Artistically, I like last week's cupcakes better. 
 (However, I was just glad the 16 year old who ran the errand to get the peanut butter cups made it home without the bag being opened!  Her 6 year old brother was her co-pilot!)



And just where is that maid?

Guess I better go make time......for the dishes :)



Amy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter room temp
1/2 cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
Mix in:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Stir in:
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
Add:
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake at 375 on preheated baking stone for 11 minutes.


Friday, October 21, 2011

Making time.....for the corn maze

Groupons are great!  Save you money....when you use them!
My hubby bought a groupon to the local corn maze, knowing that we usually like to take the kids and go in the fall.  October 16, the expiration date, came around on Sunday.   So we made time and went to the corn maze.

As the corn maze closed at 7 on a Sunday night, we went at sunset.  A beautiful evening, finding our way through the mazes.  Different kids leading at different times....hubby and I following.


As rain was scarce this summer, the corn was shorter, thinner, and easy to peek through (thus the ribbons lining the paths).

Always fun to have the posed "head through the hole".....even more fun with they actually have enough holes for my 5 kids!


Making time.....for the corn maze :)

Making time....to get started blogging

Um....wow!  Getting started on this blogging adventure is quite the....adventure!  I am learning as I go and have a long way to go.  My hope is that I shall soon have this figured out and have some fun "Making Time".