Tuesday, October 30, 2012

White Chili

Is it not amazing how something that can look like this can smell so delicious!  Oh I pray that this chili is as good as it smells or better. One hour into the cooking time!



Totally meant to get another picture of the chili after it was cooked. I forgot in the rush of getting ready to leave, but MAN did it work out great. I also wish I had made more, as it was GONE quickly. Can't wait to make some more!!!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Box-O-Monster

Tomorrow is Ashlyn's Halloween Party at preschool and we are suppose to supply juice boxes. Well I couldn't just supply any old juice box, it's HALLOWEEN! I needed to bring a little fun to the juice! So I decided to paint monster on the boxes and bring a little holiday happiness. HOW FUN ARE THEY!!! It was a lot of fun making these, little time consuming, but that's okay! Ashlyn is worth it! I made five different designs and I made three of each design. I hope that all the kids enjoy them!

 Here is a group shot of all the monsters.
 I made some Jack-o-lanterns.
 I made some mummies.
 Some Vampires.
 Here is a CandyCorn.
And LOL Frankenstein! 

Lots of fun! I made sure that the paint would NOT bleed through last week and painted a box and then waited a few days and opened it up. The painted did NOT bleed into the box and ruin the juice. Also I only painted the fronts. I left the backs unpainted so I didn't have to misplace the straw and possibly lose any when in the painting process. Lots of fun and LOTS of cuteness!!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

BFF

Yesterday when Rayle got off the bus and into our vehicle he told me he had given away the Lego magazine to a kid so they would be BFF's forever! He actually said that not best friends forever. I wonder if he knows the second "F" stands for forever? He said it twice, maybe that makes it last longer, LOL. Anyways this morning he said he was going to get it back. Well that lasted long. Wondering if the BFF that received the gift will be willing to give it back. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

She makes us laugh

Ashlyn had a Spookylicious Pop-tart today for breakfast and there are little ghosts on them. She does not just call them ghost but refers to any ghost as "ghostbusters". It is very cute! She makes us smile when we are not crying over all the messes she makes!


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Biscuit Donuts

Tried another pin on Friday. I made some donuts for the kids. Okay I started making donuts for the kids and then Brian got home with a box from Bashas. So I save these for Saturday. Totally fine and tasty the next day. Here is the pin. It was super easy and I dressed them up as the original pin just made circles, not sure if she made donut holes, but I didn't want to waste anything. I had a fun pumpkin cookie cutter so I went with that it being "fall" and all. LOL Fall it's still in the 90's here. Anyway I made up these donuts and pumpkin bites and then dipped them in cinnamon and sugar...YUM! The kids thought they were cute and yummy. 

 
Here is my cute little cookie cutter!!!
 The pumpkin hole and the pumpkin bite. 

 After the dough was in the oil fried.
 First dipped in melted butter, and then dipped in the cinnamon and sugar.
I only made one package of biscuits, and that seemed enough for the kids.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

DeWitt Stables Pumpkin Patch

Today we were able to use a Groupon I purchased a few weeks ago and go out to the DeWitt Stables. It was so much fun! The kids really enjoyed the time we spent there. They had a little maze made out of hay, a bounce house castle, pony rides, little barrel rides, a hay ride, pumpkin patch, and petting area with goats, chickens, ducks, peacocks, turkey, rabbits, and pig. Ashlyn was VERY excited about the pony rides! It was funny to see the kids in the maze and trying to figure out how to get through. Ashlyn even squeezed through at one point...cheat! Also the kids and Brian tried their hands at the roping too! I was able to get our Groupon for $7 as I had a credit of $5. I think it was a great price for all the activity that we were able to do. Most importantly we had fun as a family!


 Teagan making his way through the maze!
 Ashlyn CHEATING here! LOL
 Help I can't get out of here!!!
 Brian helping the kids to get through the maze.
 Teagan, Ashlyn, and Brian. Rayle didn't want to do this.
 Sitting up on some old equipment. What a knock out he will be some day!!! Cute kid!
 Ashlyn roping!!! She just through it up.
 Look at that face and her excitement! Her first time riding a horse!
 What a pro!
 The young man that led Rayle let him borrow his hat, it was so sweet!
 Giddy Up!!!

 Teagan's turn! He also borrowed the hat.

 LOL his ears! We need a bigger hat!
 This was on the hay ride.
 AWWW I love you! Giving the goats some love.
 Here is the barrel ride. 
 Ashlyn did not want to ride with Teagan, but we didn't want her falling out.
 Enjoying the day with my love.
 The kids were able to ride the ponies twice. Here is another picture of Ashlyn riding.
The entire family! It was a fun few hours to spend with each other!!!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Bringing Out the Tiger in YOU

Yesterday Ashlyn and I went to the zoo with some friends!  Thanks Jessica!!!! When we got home I thought it would be fun to face paint Ashlyn. She asked a TON about the giraffes but for some reason we never saw any. I should have painted her as a giraffe but went tiger instead, and a pink tiger to boot. I thought she was VERY cute! Next time we go I am for sure painting her face! I think she would have a blast!




Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Three Little Ghouls

Here are our three little ghouls all decked out in their Halloween bleach tees I made. All three really liked their shirts, Ashlyn didn't want to take hers off after I took the pictures. The boys wore them to school yesterday. Rayle likes his but complained it was too long. The only size in youth shirts I could find at Dollar Tree was XS and Medium. There were not smalls and that would have been better for the boys, but oh well. The fit was okay on Teagan. I really liked how they all turned out after washing them. What a great and easy project, and there are endless ideas as you could make any kind of design!!!





Saturday, October 13, 2012

Get the most out of it!!!

Today has been a very productive day! This morning we were able to help out and clean our ward building. Not sure how much the kids helped, but Brian and I were able to get some cleaning done. When we got home the boys raked the dogs...um pooh and then I went and shoveled it into the trash. There were loads of laundry, dish washer unloaded and reloaded, bathroom cleaned, and boys room cleaned. After all the work it was time for some FUN! The weather was just about WONDERFUL today so the boys rode their bikes most of the morning and into early afternoon, Ashlyn "rode" her bike too, e.i pushing it because she WILL NOT pedal! While they rode I worked on a craft project and Brian worked on the car. It was very nice to feel accomplished with all that got done today. Tomorrow we can defiantly rest from all our labors!

Here is what I made today: a bleach silhouette tee. Last week I was invited to a craft night but could not go as I never know when Brian will be working. I thought he would have worked that night, but then he ended up not. It was already past the time for me to leave when we realized he would not have to work...BUMMER. So I have been wanting to make these tees up for awhile and today fit the bill. It helped that I bought my supplies I needed yesterday too! :) 

What you need: a t-shirt I got mine from Dollar Tree! I bought three one for each kid so spent $3+ tax!!!

 You will need a silhouette of some kind. I opted to make some Halloween themed tees. Ashlyn wanted a witch and a moon. I found this witch doing a Halloween Silhouette search. Make sure you turn your design the way you want it. I wanted the witch to face right not left, so I flipped the paper over and traced on that side, and then traced the picture onto my contact paper. Also the more angles you have the hard it will be to cut out. This one was tricky.
 Then you will need contact paper or freezer paper. I choose contact paper, because one it sticks to my tee and I also needed it to finish up my Thanksgiving place mats from LAST YEAR the kids made!!! I got mine at Hobby Lobby, don't forget to use a COUPON!!! ;)
 I meant to take a picture before I started to cut, but forgot, here is the witch and moon, I free-handed the moon in the background. And noticed she is facing right now, not left.
 Peel your contact paper off, THAT TOOK F-O-R-E-V-E-R I think it was the longest part of the project, trying to peel the pieces apart! Stick the contact paper onto your tee where you want the silhouette. Place some cardboard in between the shirt so the bleach will not bleed through.
 I used bleach also from the Dollar Tree $1+ tax and a spray bottle another $1+ tax it was a 70% bleach to 30% water. With the witch and the moon I went a little over board with spraying. First try so I was not sure how much I needed. I also sprayed really close. I barely made a dent into my bleach solution in the water bottle and it was one of those small hair water bottles. You will not use very much.
 When dry or you just can't wait any more, peel the contact paper off, and reveal the silhouette. I loved  how it turned out! I was too anxious and some of the droplets of bleach fell back onto the none bleached area, but it's okay the shirt still looks great.
 The boys didn't really see a fun design they loved so both came up with an idea they drew out on a post-it, and then I enlarged the idea on paper, and traced and copied it onto the contact paper. Rayle went with a Vampire: evil eyes, fangs, and blood dripping down. Pretty cool!!!!
 Here is Rayle t-shirt all done. I like!!!
 Teagan went for cool and laid back, a monster with some shades and fangs.
 I folded the tee over and that created the line, but the important part is that they love their shirts!!!
 I was also able to work on a prop for our upcoming family pictures. I wanted to create a banner with our last name on it. I got some burlap at Hobby Lobby, couldn't use a coupon because I used it on the contact paper :( I didn't want to go back another day!  I cut out a triangle pattern and then cut out enough pieces in burlap to make our last name plus two extra pennants on each side. Oh I wanted a little darker color than this tan, but they had this or dark brown, so I went with this color.
 I used some stencils we had and painted our last name on the pennants. 
 I had some twine from forever ago and started stinging the pennants to make our A.W.E.S.O.M.E. banner.
 Here it is done. 
 To sting the banner I just used my scissors to make a hole for the twine and feed it through.
Easy cheesy and we are that much closer to getting some snappy snap shots of our little family!!!