Goblins.... or Ghosts? Trick or Treat!

Oh my goodness, we had the best time taking the kids trick or treating!

Here are some pictures of James and Susan over the years. Oh how the costumes have changed.

  I think 2011 might have been one of my favorites for both of them.  Superman and Spider Girl

Which leads us to this year.....

I've got some pretty silly kiddos!!  As you can see Susan wanted to be a nerd and James picked out a Skull- Lord- Ninja costume.  Yes, exactly in that order, Skull Lord Ninja.  hehe! (Sometimes the names of those costumes get me)

My sister and Kaylee came over and hung with us throughout trick or treating. We live in a subdivision where they really do it up nice.  Here's a picture of some of the neighbor kids and you can see in the background just how busy our street was starting to get so early in the evening.

For a quick treat I made this Halloween cake.  Found it on one of the other blogs I follow and it was so good!!

The kids absolutely loved this cake!!  It was a chocolate cake with marshmallow topping, m&m's, candy corn and dry roasted peanuts.  Yummmm!  Couldn't help but go back for seconds myself!

By the end of the night we were all pooped and just ready to take a nice warm bath and settle in for bed.  

Another successful Trick or Treating!!

A lil bit messy

Oh Jack O' Lantern

Is it just me or the thought of a messy pumpkin not something I look forward to cleaning up?  We finally carved the pumpkin last night.  Took some time but we got it done. 

It's not pretty but gosh darn it it has eyes, a nose and a mouth!  I call it done! And the kids are happy, goal achieved!            :-). Seriously though next year I plan to purchase a template so it will have well defined eyes, nose and mouth.  This year, my daughter wanted to draw a picture and we used her picture to carve out the pumpkin.  Turned out ok...:)

Found a recipe today for the pumpkin seeds so that should be fun to roast those in the oven.  Cinnamon w/ brown sugar..will post w/ recipe once made.

On that note, I'm outta here!  Getting my son ready for football practice, I'm going to work out, figure out what's for dinner and then off to school!  Whew!

9 layer salad- quick Monday Meal!

Tonight, I wanted a meal that was going to be quick and easy.  Decided to buy different ingredients and make a layered salad.  

Ingredients:

2 packages - Grilled Fajita Chicken strips (Tyson sells prepackaged grilled & ready meat in the produce section- need to be sautéed until golden brown)

1 frozen bag corn

1 can black beans

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese 

Mushrooms (sautéed)

Cherry tomatoes

2 bags shredded lettuce

2 sliced boiled eggs

1 can black olives

Sour cream ( for topping optional)

Preparation time: 30 minutes

You could serve as is or serve with Nachos.  

Great Monday meal recipe!

Recipe of the day!

~ Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich  ~. A nice lunch treat!

Ingredients:

-One step of the meal I left out.  After you have spread butter on both sides of bread, smooth sour cream over the one side and then layer with swiss cheese, Cooked chicken, ham slice, 2nd slice of swiss cheese and 2nd slice of bread (buttered on both sides).

Actual picture of sandwich...yummmm!

This was so good!  My only suggestion is, you would be better off if you only eat half of sandwich and save the other for later or give to one of your kiddos!  But to eat the whole sandwich, that was a lot.  I was so stuffed! Ideas:  Serve half of sandwich with small side salad or half of sandwich with salad and soup.

I find a lot of my recipes on Allrecipes.com.  They have such a large selection and I have never been disappointed with the recipes they have suggested.

Also, every member of the house agreed it was a success!  When even your kiddos like the meal, then you have a winner!  Enjoy!   :-)

Pumpkin Patch

What a fun day at the pumpkin patch!

Another Smith family trend.  Annually, we visit the Santa's Tree Farm in Lake County.  During October they have the pumpkin patch and then starting in early November, they start selling Christmas Tree's, you can either have one cut down or purchase one that is precut. Most of the trees that you cut down are Spruce Trees.  But they also have trees that are shipped in and available for purchase.

A checklist of all the items that make for a great and successful day at the pumpkin patch:

• Hayrides
• Zipline 
• Pumpkin Patch
• Bounce Area 
• Popcorn (one of my favorites!)
• Corn Maze

We couldn't have asked for better weather!  We were able to go on the hayride, the kiddos played in a bounce area and my daughter was able to go on the zipline.  They also have a spot for the family to roast marshmallows and hotdogs.  (We havn't partaken in that yet but do plan to!)

My sister and niece joined us this morning too. Made for an extra special time!

This morning we had these tasty Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast.  No fancy recipe for these rolls. Bought pre-made dough by Pillsbury and just popped in the oven! I love Saturday mornings!  

Splurge Item:

I was able to visit one yardsale today.  The couple who had the sale were moving out of their home so they were selling absolutely every item out of their house.  I was able to purchase a sturdy pair of adirondack chairs for $5.  What an amazing deal!  I placed them smack dab out in the front of our house.  I told my husband they look like they belong in Key West.  One is white and the other is pastel pink.  Adds a splash of color to the front of our house for sure!

And with that, I am signing out!  Time to settle in for the night and relax!  Would be nice to have those faux fur slippers on nights like these.  ha!

Caramel Apples...yummm!

What starts off a nice fall season other than caramel apples?  Tonight we made a baked pizza and caramel apples.  They both turned out so good!  Although the recipe that was followed to make the caramel apples almost made us question the health of our teeth.  Felt like several times, my teeth were going to come out by the thickness of the caramel.  Definitely not recommended for those with dentures!  (That may have been a given already). :-)

Couldn't have done this without the help of my daughter.  Placing pepperoni's takes precision.  :)

  Two Thumbs up for Caramel Apples from Susan!  

This week my son brought home a Terrific Kid Award.  Very proud of my son.  Although I know he is a pretty good kid, its nice for his behavior to be recognized at school by his teachers.  This year, he is doing a lot better with his reading.  Mathematics he still needs to practice a little more with addition and subtraction. He is in a program called ESE at his school so I know that he gets some extra help in the core areas.  I am just so happy that he got recognized at his school and what better way than to get Terrific Kid! :-)  Can only help build his confidence!

On the wish list:

Animal Print Chenille Throw ~ this would be so comfortable and warm in the cooler months.  www.etsy.com

Faux Fur slippers ~ I can only imagine the luxury of these slippers!  www.restorationhardware.com

A nice pair of knee high black boots ~ a staple item in the closet  www.overstock.com

That is about it for a Friday night.  We are settling in for a nice night of snuggling and just watching some good ol' TV.  This Animal print Chenille throw would work perfectly for this!  Hope everyone has a great night!

New ideas

So I have decided to post pictures of outfits that have been put together by other famous designers, or by pinterest and try to recreate the same look with clothes that I already own.  Especially as we get closer to fall.  I love the layered look, sweaters, scarves and boots for for the cooler temps.  I enjoy getting fashion tips from others so I can certainly share what is on my mind.

At this current moment though my mind is on the two extra bathrooms in our home.  Both of my kids share a bathroom and it looks like a hurricane has come through most days.  So my remedy for that is for each kid to have their own bathroom.  As a start to this project, I have ordered bath towels that have been personalized with both of my kids names.  Here is a sample of what I have ordered for Susan.  They actually came in the mail today so I am pretty happy about that.

Susan's towels are a pastel pink with white polka dots with her name monogrammed in white thread.  The picture quality is terrible, I had to take a picture of the laptop screen..  I could not find a way to import the picture.  Below is a picture of what I plan to order for James, haven't yet but plan to.

He will get the navy and white striped with white thread.  I am pretty excited about the project and hope to finish both bathrooms soon, I want to order new shower curtains and rugs so that will be a fun project.


At that is what is on my mind at the moment!  Make it a great one!  :)

Peace, Love and Happiness

Homecoming

My beautiful niece getting ready to head out for homecoming!  She looks beautiful!  She is now a senior and I can not wait to see what the future brings for her.  

TGIF!!

Is so happy it is Friday and I am so ready for the weekend!   :)

Recently, we had a family picture taken.  I think it turned out pretty good although I could not figure out what to do with my scarf.  It looks out of place and not sure what I am doing with it.  Oh well, next time I will do a little more research on how to tie it, arrange it..whatever!  :/

I love this time of year, Autumn!  I am looking forward to the pumpkin patch, hopefully we will do that sometime this weekend.  As well, as Halloween and trick or treating at the end of the month.  It is a fabulous time for sure! 

Make it a great one!  ;)

Had to share this image I found which I really like.  There is no other love like Christ's love!  <><

If I can get this smaller, I would love to use along with my signature when I post.  <3 it!!

Throwback Thursday!

I found these old pictures at my mother's house and I just had to share.  This is when we lived in Daytona Beach when I was just a lil' tot!

            ~ From L to R - My sister, Crissy, my brother Tommy and me ~

For those of you who remember the Olan Mills pictures, this is one of those.  What is so funny is that my mother was so in to the dove wings back then and doesn't my hair look lovely with the dove wings?  Ahhh...my mom was so funny.  :)

                  ~ Crissy and Tommy~

        ~ Tommy, me (in the carrier) and Crissy ~

     ~ Me, I believe this was on Christmas Day ~

My dear daughter...

I recently posted about my son so thought I would take a minute and post about my dear sweet Susan!  She loves to take pictures of herself on my phone...

Recently, we stayed the night in a hotel and she was able to bring along one of her girlfriends, Lexi.  She had a great time and so did we!

This picture cracked me up of Lexi.  She was just relaxing and floating on her back...no one else in the pool and she's living it up.