In the Leaves

Someday soon, it will snow and the snow will stay...maybe. It's been so weirdly warm lately. Well, we'll just work on the premise that it will snow. So before that happens, I want to celebrate fall in the best way I know how...with pictures of Grant playing in the leaves.

Ack!

Oh November...where did you go? The days have passed in a whirlwind and I have to admit that I've been in a pie induced coma since Thursday. I made 5 pies...does it make me weird that I did it mostly for fun? We had lemon meringue (my fave), key lime (oh-so-close runner-up), chocolate cream, pumpkin-eggnog, and coconut cream. I also made three different types of pie crusts to see which was best (all shortning as your fat makes for a super flakey crust but it is a pain in the tail to roll out). I also bought a flavor injector this year and laughed maniacally while injecting chicken broth into the turkey. It really did make me feel like Dr. Jekell as I watched the turkey plump up before my eyes. So fun!!! Anyhoo, now that December is upon us the crazy will really start! Before then, however, I will finally post a picture of my kids in their Halloween finery. Enjoy!!

My Dinner Looked At Me!

I am terribly grateful that there are such clever people out there in the blogging world because I had a ball copying all their ideas. This was the last of our Halloween theme dinners (FHE week 4) and it was hilarious AND tasty. The reaction from the kids had me snickering up my sleeve, even Chad did a double-take when he sat down and saw his dinner staring at him. We ate our meatball people?/aliens?/scuba divers? with great gusto and enjoyed the bone-shaped breadsticks as well. After FHE we had...
Spiderweb Brownies and all rejoiced because Halloween is so much stinkin' fun!

A Present for Mummy

Merritt made this at Scouts and he was pleased as punch to give it to me. I actually squealed because I thought it was so adorable. He told me, with an air of great excitement, that it was full of candy, but even the temptation of Peanut M&M's couldn't make me tear it open. After a few weeks I carefully cut open the bottom and retrieved my treat, but I am totally saving this mummy forever!

I Grew This!

And these as well!

Aren't they adorable? I like to try new things in my garden every year and this was my experimental plant for 2011. I had a bunch more than I have pictured and am using them as decoration. Fun, fun, fun!

Joseph, the King of Babies

That's what the kids call him at any rate. He certainly is treated like royalty around here...Merritt even made him a throne.

Here Merritt bows to His Majesty...

Well, I think Joseph is the King of Babies. I also think he's darn cute. Case in point...
Nuff said!!

Mummy Fun

The first Monday of October was our annual Welcome Halloween party. We had donuts and apple cider floats with guests to boot! My brother Chris, his wife Jennifer and their two fun boys Ben and Isaac were here to visit and they were game for all my Halloween weirdness. Of course, being totally lame, I forgot to take pictures. :( Apple cider floats are good though...yum. The second Monday in October brought our Monster Cups, which were deeeelicious! Week Three was The Day of the Mummy! Merritt helped me make Mummy Dogs, which were very tasty and which I couldn't get a good picture of to save my life.
Don't ask me why they are orange instead of white. It's some kind of camera overexposure or underexposure thing...whatever. The mummy dogs were good and the kids were excited.

Our after FHE treat went with the mummy theme:
The pictures I had seen online were so cute and the bandages were done with a basket-weave icing tip...whatever that is. Obviously I don't have one, but I wasn't going to let a little thing like that stand in my way. I frosted the cookies and "drew" bandages on with a toothpick. Voila! My kids thought I was a genius! The eyes are mini-chocolate chips. I thought they looked so fun! Yeah Halloween!