T is for Tristan

Boo! This is Tristan's Halloween costume. He is scary indeed. Tristan is 13 and I am hoping he will still fall for the 'Mom needs to check your candy to make sure that there isn't anything dangerous in it'. Cotton is gone with friends scaring trick or treaters, Justus and Tristan are trick or treating with friends and Mike and I will be answering the door to all the ghosts and ghouls. Have a Happy Halloween.

WITCHES!

What a fun time! We snuck up to Gardner village tonight to see the witches. There were many witches pretend and real! Cotton was a good sport posing for pictures, but I think this will be one of the last photo opportunities I will have to get all the boys together and MAKE them smile for the camera. As soon as Cotton is 16 in January he will have his own agenda and busy schedule. I will tell you each and every male perked up when we entered Sweet Afton's candy shoppe. Justus lit the candle in his pumpkin when we got home. I love Halloween!

Aren't you glad that when you wake up in the morning you have an entirely new day to make of it what you will and I am excited for today. I have a friend by

the name of Erin and she is a great cook! I want to share her yummy soup recipe that I will be making for my family today so we can have a delicious meal before we head up to Gardner Village to see the witches. some of my yummiest recipes have come from the Erin!

Erin's Brocolli cheese soup

5 potatoes peeled & diced, 1 pound frozen chopped brocolli -boil until tender, do not drain and then: In another pan melt

1 stick butter

stir in

1 cup flour,

until mixed well, then add:

2 cups milk

1 cup cream

1 can cream of Chicken soup

Let this thicken while you stir. When this has thickened add to the pot of veggies and stir and heat through. Add:

2 cups grated cheese

salt and pepper

Promise me you will serve this with warm rolls or what the heck make some bread bowls!

Rollercoaster

This is Harley. She made this costume all by herself to wear at the 'Trunk or Treat' last Saturday. What a creative gal (tomboy) she is.
Can I tell you that the way she looks is the way I feel today. I feel like I have been hit in the head by a fast moving skateboard and I feel like I have been thrown from a ramp in to oncoming traffic. We all have days like this but this one has been worse than most.
There is a movie called Parenthood with Steve Martin and his Grandma takes turns living with his family and his sibling's families, anywho the character that Steve plays is Gil. Gil and his wife are different in the fact that Gil is very uptight about life and his wife tries hard to enjoy it. The grandma comes into the room while Gil is telling his wife how life is messy and what if this or what if that happens, he is worried about the situation they are living through at the time, and the Grandma says something similar to this:
"Your grandfather and I loved to go to the fair, there were all kinds of rides. I liked the rollercoaster it went up high and went down very low, people would scream to be let off because they didn't like it, but I loved it". Grandma leaves to get in the car (the family is going to Gil's young daughter's play) and Gil's wife says "your grandma is Brilliant". Gil proceeds to comment on how grandma doesn't know what she's talking about and "If grandma is so brilliant why is she sitting in the neighbor's car?"
I love that part!
So, life is a rollercoaster, sometimes it's high and sometimes it is low but for goodness sake I need to try and enjoy the ride.

Stitchin'

I love to stitch! This is Brumhilda's ride and I had fun watching her come to life. I have been working on a quilt that has 12 stitchings of different Halloween scenes. I will not finish it this year but I think it is the funnest way to feel spooky every time I sit down to stitch. November 1st I will put away all Halloween stitching and pull out the red and white stitching quilt that I started last year and try to get part of it done. It is called Winter Wonderland and it is all about snowmen. Fun stuff! Check out www.Crabapplehillstudio.com to see some fun stitching patterns.

Things that make me happy today

These are the things that make me happy today.

1. I have a son by the name of Tristan that comes home after school each day and makes himself a baked potato. He is such a funny kid I can't imagine my life without him. I think he eats a potato because potatoes make him think of Ireland and when he eats them it makes him feel a little more Irish. He is such a handsome kid and they don't come any more thoughtful than him. Oh, did I mention he is getting 4 A's on his report card? What a pal.

2. My niece Meigen came over today and she took me to Rumbi grill for lunch. She is moving back to AZ. this week for school and I must say I have enjoyed getting to know her a little more.

3. While cleaning my kitchen this morning I smiled looking at my cookie jar that my Papa gave me after my Nanny passed away. They both are gone now and I can't wait to hug them again someday.

4. This Sweet Meat squash also made me happy while cleaning because I know soon I will turn it into pumpkin pies for my family.

5. Most of all it is the afternoon and all 3 of my boys are home from school and supposedly cleaning their rooms. Now that makes me happy!

Wallace the *%#@ eating puppy

This is our puppy Wallace, he will be one year old next month and I have hated him for most of his life. When we brought him home he was so sweet and cute and he had huge paws. This Spring when he started to grow he was clumsy and cute. By summer he had a bad habit of rushing the kitchen door when we opened it, if Tristan doesn't lock the back garage door when he is getting food ready for the dogs Wallace will jump at the door and knock it open to get to the food. Tristan has received bumps on the forehead from the door hitting him HARD when he has been in front of it when Wally has done this.
I think the day I saw Wallace choosing to have a breath mint courtesy of our other dog MaryJane's bowel movement that had hardened from the summer sun was when I knew he was the devil.
Now that it is Fall a strange thing is happening with Wally, he will actually hold still long enough to let me pet his head and I can tell him to sit and he will obey. Yesterday morning I actually thought he was a cute dog again. I hope he continues to mellow out and one day I may be able to walk out the kitchen door without Wallace jumping up and sharing the breath mint with me.

Aaaaay!

Justus bought this awesome biker jacket from Dave D neighbor's garage sale, he loves this jacket! So why not be the fonz for Trunk or Treat? We went to Target last night and purchased this wig. I did a little trimming of the sideburns and there you go, The Fonz! Justus, you are Aaaaaaaaay!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm Good!

Today is Saturday and we had a Trunk or Treat at our church. We shared lunch of homemade soups and rolls. I signed up to make rolls. My sister Lori is the roll princess and I used her recipe. I will share this recipe with you in this post. Anywho, we went to the church and the kids went from car to car 'trunk or treating', something about seeing children at Halloween helps you to remember that life is good.

French Bread or Hard rolls

5 c. flour, divided

1 T. yeast

1 T. salt

1 T. Sugar

1 T. Shortening

2 1/2 cups warm water

In large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and yeast. Heat 2 1/2 cups warm water, sugar, salt and shortening just until shortening almost melts. Add to dry mixture. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl. Mix in remaining flour to make soft dough, approximately 2 cups. Knead for 5 minutes. Shape into ball. Place in lightly greased bowl. cover and let rise 1 hour or until double in size. Punch down. Divide and form loaves or roll into balls. Cover and let rise in warm place until double or about 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes; brush with melted butter. MMMMMMM good.

Come here my little pretty! I have an awesome niece meigen who has introduced me to the world of blogging and she is something else! Thanks Meg! Our family cat Huck is not much for pictures but he is by my side every minute of the day. When I get out of bed in the morning he comes into the bathroom with me he has a routine of walking in, looking down the heater vent, sniffing the clothes basket, rubbing against my leg and then enjoys having his head rubbed between his ears. Sometimes I think this cat is autistic because his day is filled with routines. When I go down the stairs he jumps in front of my feet and makes it to the bottom before me (it's always a race). At night when I get into bed he will sit on the floor next to my bed and meow until I pat my hand on the bed and say "Come on Huck" then he jumps up and snuggles in for a good night's sleep. We love Huck!