Happy Halloween!!

Well, another week got away from me before I knew it. It's been way too busy AGAIN for my liking. Dentist appts., the PE group, lessons, adding the last details to costumes, etc. My brain feels scattered.

But after all of that craziness, last night we sat down for our yearly tradition to carve pumpkins the day before Halloween. We always get the new book of patterns for the year and everyone decides which one they want to do. The patterns are all traced out, transferred to the pumpkins and then the guts are taken out. Brenna thinks the "guts" are cool but won't touch them until they are out laying on the table. She says it's gross feeling. Who knows? :)

Big sis helps little one out a few times with some of the tricky areas.

And then the "easy" areas are done all by herself. Easy peasy!

The end result is the header picture above. I always try to find a "wordy" one to do. Glenn has to do the hardest one ever (the blowing scarecrow, which took him an hour to do), Brenna had to do the laughing skull and Em's was the "Headless Horseman's Flaming Head". We would have done a few more but these were all we could accomplish last night. There are two more that will be carved today by the girls in the simple traditional "patterns".

I finally got the package that I have been waiting for, for two weeks now! The package was waiting by the door when we came back from bowling yesterday afternoon. Soon after I got a call from FedEx telling me that the package was delivered. Really!! Like I didn't know that. The girl tried telling me that the post office had it for a week and had missed placed it till yesterday. What she didn't know is that when the FedEx guy delivered it to the post office in town this morning, our postmaster was waiting for him (because they have been waiting for the package also) and made him initial and date the box when he passed it off to the post office. So when I let the girl know that, she shut up fast. I told her that I didn't appreciate passing off their mistake to someone else.

Anyhoo, I will take pics of the yarn today and post it next time. I'm really pleased with it and Glenn likes it also. Which is even better. :)

I haven't forgotten about the recipe I promised last post. It will be on the next one. Promise! So I must be off the finish my list for today so I don't completely lose my mind. Wouldn't be good on Halloween, would it? No!!! Some more banana muffins have to be made today. Funny how two bananas always seem to find themselves hiding somewhere in the kitchen until they are just perfect for bread or muffins. It's the work of two little peeps, no doubt. LOL!!!!

Hope everyone has fun tonight! Don't eat too much candy! Costume pics next time also!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Enjoying the color...

This weekend was intentionally kept at a slow pace. No need to be in a hurry. Just took the day as it came to us. The only things that ended up being planned was dinner in the crock pot for the day and then wrapping some of the windows in the house to keep the drafts out. Yes, I have dinosaur windows. One day they will be replaced. But at least that didn't take too long.

Late in the afternoon yesterday I was drawn outside to enjoy the leaves that are still on the trees and feel the wonderful breezes that were blowing around.

I noticed that the little piggy friends needed to be gathered up and be put away for the winter. They have a few cracks in them that will be patched over the winter and who knows, they may even get a whole new color tried out on them for next year.

They really are having too much fun out in the leaves. :)

This morning was wonderful. The girls suggested that after breakfast there should be some hot chocolate consuming going on. So I obliged. A most wonderful idea!

Then there were lessons up in my room today. Just so the girls could see the pretty leaves outside on the trees and watch a few here and there dance to the ground as they fell.

And of course, more hooky business to be had this afternoon. Pieces are being stitched together...

and edges being added.

I must tell you that there mistakes have been found in this pattern also. Not worth going on about. I had to come up with my own way of making a few pieces so that they would look normal when finished. Does anyone proofread patterns before they publish them? I'm starting to wonder about a few.

I am having issues with FedEx today. I'm expecting an order that I placed with a company near the beginning of the month and I still don't have it. There were issues with it getting out on time and now it's taking forever for FedEx to get it across the country. It doesn't take nearly two weeks to get something from Ohio. Maybe being that it was free shipping and went the standard way FedEx doesn't care how long they take. If it would have shipped with the USPS, I would have had it last week! So whenever I do get the package, I will share with you.

Off to go get dinner going. Something easy today, Taco Soup. I'll share the recipe next time. I forgot to write things down so that I don't forget something when sharing. The girls are waiting patiently to put some pumpkin cookies in the oven so they can share with Dad later.

Tomorrow will surely be a blustery, chilly Fall day. 45 for the high and 40mph winds with rain. I'm thinking today may be the last day the leaves will be on the trees. So we better enjoy them as much as possible today. Cross your fingers that PE is cancelled and a warm and cozy day can be spent at home. I'm crossing everything I can (without falling over and hurting myself) ! :)

Till next time!! Have a FAB day!

The weekend, finally!

This past week seems like such a blur. So many things were crammed in such a little bit of time. Schoolwork, our PE group, dentist appointments, a trip to the pumpkin patch a wee bit of baking and the finishing of a sweater. And that is just what I can recall for now.

I've been enjoying the colors that are happening around the house. The one bright yellow tree that I can see from my bedroom window is my favorite right now. When the sun hits it with its bright rays the whole room fills with a wonderful color and glow that is hard to describe. When my list for the day is done, I tote all my yarny bits that I'm working on up to my room so I can enjoy this very simple pleasure of the day. A happiness comes over me while working on a project and being able to take glances out at the wonderful color in front of me. Its more than mere glances. I catch myself staring for some time, here and there, just relaxing while watching the leaves blow in the wind, shaking on the limbs of the tree.

The color is starting to fade a bit now, but beautiful just the same. This is where I will be found in just a wee bit after a few more things are accomplished for the day.

The girls had a blast at the pumpkin patch yesterday. They met up with some friends to go through the corn maze and to pick a pumpkin to take home. There were four mazes in all to go through and they tackled two of them. One was a haunted maze that is only "open" at night. They were able to tackle the 1 mile and 2 mile mazes before it started to get late and a little one started to tire.

I put them in charge of leading us through in hopes that we wouldn't be there forever. It was a good lesson for them, keeping in mind which direction they were going, remembering to hold the map facing the direction they were heading and keeping track of all the nooks and crannies that were along they way.

They had a blast looking for all the little punch points that were throughout the maze. They were able to get half of them done. The other half were in the 3 mile maze that we did not go in. I kept reminding them not to leave the "old" person behind because they would get so excited over figuring their way through and area and want to go off running to the "next" spot. It was a blast watching them giggling and having fun with each other on this beautiful day.

After the mazes were checked off their list, it was off to the pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin they could carry out on their own. Pickin's were slim being that it was toward the end of the season but the girls were still very picky about which one was just right. Who knew that stems had to be just right and cute at the same time. Now I know!

(Brenna is wearing her new sweater. She didn't want to take it off even when the sun came out to warm the afternoon.)

So afterwards back at the ranch, there was some yummy beef stew to be devoured when Dad got home. Nothing like having dinner waiting for you in the crock pot! Love that thing. I wouldn't know what to do with out it. Have a fit I would.

Then it was off for some soaks in the tub, comfy clothes to be put on and some end of the day relaxing was to be had. Nothing better. You know that there had to be another yarny project in my hand being that the girls sweaters are now finished.

I can't really tell exactly what it is right now or who it is for because the person it will go to reads my blog and it has to be a bit of a surprise. Hopefully from the picture you can get a hint for what is to be. I finished two little pieces last night and have three more to go. Then there will be a little accessory to go along with it. Sorry to torture you. But I will share bits and pieces here and there.

I'm really loving the yarn I bought for this project. Debbie Bliss Rialto. It is so soft and yummy in your hands. And a dream to work with. It was another 50% off buy at the LYS. I wish it was a bit more budget friendly so I could get enough for a sweater for myself. But I would need too much and I'm trying to be a good girl with the budget. So I will be happy with what I have. :)

So back upstairs I go to take my place in front of my window while wrapped in my colorful ripple blanket. It just makes crocheting so much more wonderful. I'm waiting on some yarn that I ordered for Glenn's sweater. Hopefully it will be here Monday. Glenn is picky about his colors so I don't just buy any ole' color. But I think he will have to wait until one of my sweaters is finished. I'm getting too impatient with wanting to wear one of those wonderful colors that I bought a few weeks ago.

Hope everyone had a great week and that the weekend is turning out to be wonderful also. Find something to smile about. Its so worth it!

Toodle Loo!!!!

Autumn Love

This weekend really brought home the need to see all the Fall color that I could find. Just another trip up to the bedroom to close the blinds for the day turned into me running down the stairs to retrieve the camera just so I could try to capture the wonderful sky outside. There was no time for a trip up the hill. Everything was changing too fast. At least I was able to enjoy it right outside my door.

I found myself standing there until there was no trace of color left in the sky. The pitch black night forced me to go back in, hoping for another evening full of color soon.

The next day found us heading up into the hills in search for more beautiful color to stare at. But there wasn't much there, yet. It was beautiful but the intensity wasn't there yet. So back to the valley we went to walk along the river.

A wee one had to stop here and there to take in the river and enjoy the sounds. Who does she sound like?

There were lots of yellows all about and just a smidge of red here and there. We will surely have to go to another part of the river so that we can find our lovely reds and oranges that are so loved by us.

But no complaints by any means when you see color like this along the path up against the river. It makes the river even more beautiful seeing all this color reflecting off the water.

And who wouldn't wake up happy to see this gorgeous color right outside their window when opening the blinds in their room. Another gorgeous Fall day here. A little bit of rain, a lot of color, and leaves starting to fall to the ground. The yard is going to look wonderful!

Hope everyone has a great Fall day today! I can't wait to get through the lessons today just so some appley baking can be done and a casserole of some sort will be created for dinner. And to listen to the rain with the windows cracked open, even if it only going to be 57 out. After all that, seaming the sweater is to be done! So excited! Oh the simple things in life are so grand! Wouldn't have it any other way!

Toodles!!!

Making things spooky...

I finally got around to digging in the Halloween bin today so that all the decorations could put on a show.

The girls decorated the Halloween tree. It's just one of those craft Christmas trees you find at the craft stores sprayed with black spray paint. Then just find some cute Halloween fabric to cover up the burlap that is around the bottom and tie with a piece of decorative black ribbon.

Hang the ornaments and

TaDa!!

Easy Peasy!!

I used to go find twisted willow branches every year, spray them black and place them in a tall fake pumpkin to use as a "tree". That got old really fast. So here is the solution that you don't have to work on every year. Love it.

Then there is the creepy ole' spider that has to watch every one while they are eating. Ole' Mister Crow sit in the leaves keeping an eye on Mr. Creepy.

Then of course the mice come out to play and take over the house. You can't turn anywhere without them being near you. We have an infestation right now.

Those are courtesy of an idea from Martha. The only difference with mine is that I used the black foam craft sheets to make mine. I surely did not want to cut all these little buggers out of paper and have them possibly rip when it came time to take them down. This way they are ready to go year after year. Yes, I cut out LOTS of them. They are all over the main floor, the stairs and outside around the front door area. The girls were wondering though why there weren't any mouse holes for all the mice. So I guess some time this weekend I will be cutting a few of those out of the foam. What's an infestation without a few good holes in the wall? Good thing I've got wee ones to keep things in check.

And last but not least, the webs were put just about everywhere. Glenn is going to love that. At least there are only 2 places that he has to watch out for when walking around the main floor. I thought I would give him a break this year. I'm sure he will appreciate the thoughtfulness. I'll take pics of those later.

Must be off to get something on the stove. I've been a bit of a slacker in the eatery dept. today. Alot of snacking going on. But at least I stayed away from the sweets. It sure is nice to get back into my other jeans without sucking everything in when trying to snap things. Now if we can just keep going till we need to buy a few new pair a couple of sizes down!

Have a great weekend all! I really have to hurry now. The needles and yarn are calling my name. Impatient little things!

Toodles!!!

Sharing some info...

In the last post there were several comments about the pancakes about how I get them to look like this.

Well, here goes.

First, and most important, you must heat your pan up before ever dropping the batter to make a pancake. You have to preheat your pan. I have a flat pan that I use and to get it to heat up quicker, I put a lid from another pot (one that nearly covers the flat pan) right down in the middle and let it sit for 5-10 mins. And the heat is set at not quite medium. Otherwise the pancakes will burn if the heat is any higher. Okay, so once the pan is hot, take a pastry brush (or something like it) to brush butter on to the pan. The heat from the pan and the butter will keep the pancakes from sticking. You don't want a lot of butter on there. Then I use a gravy ladle to pour the batter on to the pan. Yes, a gravy ladle. That way the pancakes aren't too big for wee ones. If you want bigger pancakes, use a soup ladle. Once the batter is down, wait for bubbles to come up on the top side of the pancake. You can peek on the underneath side to make sure it is golden brown. If you have both of those going, flip it and let it cook for another minute or two. If you tap the middle of the pancake and it "bounces" back up, it's done. TaDa!

Okay now for the recipe:

2 cups of Bisquick mix

1 cup of milk or buttermilk

2 eggs

1 TBsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 TBsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Just mix all the ingredients together well and start making pancakes!

That is it! If you want to freeze them, just let them cool completely and then wrap them up in plastic wrap. I usually do 4 at a time so the girls get 2 each and don't have to worry about dealing with more than they can eat. Once wrapped, place all the wraps in a big freezer storage bag and let them wait on you.

There is one more thing that I have been meaning to post about since being asked about it by LuAnne. Sorry it's taken this long LuAnne. I tend to get caught up in things and don't know when to take a mere minute for simple things. :) So anyhoo, LuAnne asked about how to "unknit" mistakes if you have to frog down to a certain point in a project or just about how to pick up stitches without picking them up backwards so not to have twisted stitches. Well, the easiest way I can show you all is to give you the link to some quite wonderful little videos that I found quite a while back. I still go back every now and then to check on something I haven't done in a while or just to make sure I'm not being a total flake about something. The website is

www.knittinghelp.com

The link to fixing mistakes, etc. is just awesome! You will have to go and spend some time looking at all of the videos the Amy has taken the time to make for all of us who tend to have "Alzheimer's" from to time to time. I learned how to do the Norwegian Cast-on for my socks from Amy's video. It's my favorite cast-on for socks because of the stretchiness it creates. You can actually get your sock on without any problem! That's a good thing! Kudos to Amy!!

I must be going. Sorry for chatting and running but now that all the lessons, chores, etc are done for the day, I must be heading back to Brenna's sweater. I've only got 1/2 a sleeve and the hood to go! I'm so happy I could just pee my pants. Can you believe it's not been a week yet and I'm nearly finished!!! Amazing how things like that happen when you have all the info you need to make a project. I know, it's quite shocking. :)

Have a great day all!!!!

Toodles!!!

Pure enjoyment...

This past weekend was pretty darn awesome, as far as I was concerned. I think everyone else in the house had the same thought also.

There was a whole mess of pancakes made up to put in the freezer. That way whenever someone just absolutely needed one, all they had to do was nuke it.

There was a wee little snowman pancake made by accident. He wasn't in existence very long. The girls had to slice him in half and taste him. Wonderful, huh?!

Then there were banana chocolate chip muffins to be made. We couldn't let the last two bananas go to waste and be doomed for the trash! All courtesy of the girls. They are getting pretty good at mixing yummy things up to enjoy.

Then there was a very pleasant trip down to the river to see how the Fall colors were coming along. There were lots of ducks to watch.

Stops that just had to be made so wee ones could just watch and listen to the river.

Following the path along its many twisty turns just to see what was ahead.

More duck watching and being ever so quiet so they wouldn't flap away to a new spot on the river.

Noticing that a few trees were trying their very best to put on their Fall color. I just love the "chartreuse" color the trees turn right before their full splendor comes out.

A few moments taken to hear the music of the water rushing over the rocks. This sound always settles my soul. As usual, there was some catching up for me to do since the rest of the crew had their fill before me and headed down the path.

Wonderful little "Halloween" caterpillars were to be found along the path. Everyone had to watch where they were stepping because if one was on the path, it was rescued from the foreseen doom that was ahead for them, and carefully placed along the side where all the delicious leaves were.

More gorgeous color making its show. And then some wishing that large sums of money would come our way so that we could enjoy one of the homes that were so wonderfully near the river and this most pleasant little path. One can dream!

Then to come to a quiet spot in the river that one never gets to see in the spring and summer. The water flows are so high that you almost never get to see all of the wonderful rocks! And yes, there were two little people who were trying their best to find a good spot to cross and go to the island of rocks. But even with the water flow being lower, it was too deep to wade across.

Then there were wonderful times of knitting to be had. This sweater is going along nicely, much more so than the last. I'm so loving the colors in this yarn also. There is one little wee one who keeps coming by every so often to check on the progress and to see how the colors are working together. I'm trying ever so hard to get it done because then it will be off to make a wee little sweater that some great yarn was for and then on to my sweater. I had to adjust the sweater list just a tiny bit. More on that later.

And lastly, a new card game the girls and I picked up. It's pretty fun! Whenever there seemed to be a lull with things over the weekend, there was a quick game of keeping the moose out of your house. Do you honestly think a game featuring Moose would have been passed up by this bunch? I didn't think so!

Well, the rain didn't come before the PE group today. Yes, I was secretly hoping. And apparently there were a few other parents that were doing the same! :) It did show up half way through all the activities and you should have seen the kids running for cover! Well, some weren't. But now that we are back home there is some yummy soup on the stove for supper just waiting for dear ole' Dad to get home. Nothing like a good warm bowl of soup with cheesy bread on a cool, damp, rainy day. Next on the list though, while waiting for soup, is a warm shower, comfy sweatpants and shirt, extra large comfy blanket to wrap up in while sitting on the couch and working on a sweater. Let's not forget the hot chocolate! What's wrong with me!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, FAB day tomorrow! It will be grand here with it raining all day. Nothing like keeping warm under a blankie, and working on projects after schoolwork is done. Wonderful!!!!

the Finish Line!!!!

The Sweater is...

DONE!!!!

I finished the front ribbing last night and put the buttons on this morning. Em couldn't wait to get finished with all her work today so that she could try it out in the cool Fall air. I think that Glenn was even happy to know last night that it was done. Brenna was jigging around when Em put it on. Probably only because she knows that now I can start on her sweater. :) But she was so kind in telling Em that hers was so beautiful and it looked wonderful on her. Brenna is always so complimentary towards every one. She's my positive little one around here.

So without further adue, (because I know you have been waiting also)

the Sweater!!!

Miss Em dancing and hopping with joy!!! (So am I!!!) :)

Well, tonight after dinner, Brenna's will be started. She sat and helped me wind her yarn just a bit ago. I thought she was going to hurt herself with all the squealing about how beautiful her yarn was. She gets so excited. It just makes you crack a smile watching her.

I have to say that even with all the problems with the pattern, I like the sweater. It was easy to do (if all the information would have been given to begin with). I love the Red Heart Heart & Sole sock yarn. I will surely be buying more of that to make future socks. It's wonderful to knit with and all the color choices can get a girl in trouble. :) I can't wait to see how Brenna's sweater knits up with it. I was a wee bit excited when seeing how the colors were winding together earlier. I'm a tad bit jealous actually. Maybe I need to find a sweater that I can knit with 2 strands of sock yarn to fit me. Hmmm....

I must go. I have just been called out to the backyard to save two little girls from a spider that is the size of a Great Dane, supposedly.

Hope all this waiting was worth it. Nothing like a temper mental project to make you pee your pants with suspense!

Toodle Loo!!!!

(Just letting you know that the spider was HUGE!! The body alone was the size of a half dollar! And sorry to tell you, I did get rid of it. There is no way I was letting that thing creep around the yard just waiting to pounce on me the next time I went outside. I've got the hebbie jeebies now!!! FAB!!!)