POST No. 2

Finished 2 of my projects... stole the idea from one of my favorite websites (Homegrown Hospitality)

Bag of M & M's (Mrs. Phillip's favorite)

Hershey Bar

Happy Halloween!!

Sorry I didn't blog this week! Several times I sat down to my computer to blog and I had no internet connection. When that happens it just kind of ruins the mood. I have to be in the mood to blog or I get all whiny. I was in a bad mood one day last week and I sat down to blog and wrote way to much "junk", so I just deleted it and decided to wait until my mind was a little more positive. Now that I look back on it, I'm glad I did!!

Well, where do I start? The Halloween Bash was quite a success. I didn't get an exact head count, but I would guess about 60 kids showed up. They giggled and whispered, laughed and screamed, even smiled and winked!! I think everyone had a good time. The hayride, I heard, was scary! There were 2 trailers LOADED DOWN with kids...We had hidden one dad all night so that they would be really surprised, and I think it worked. Geoff, a dad of one of Anna's friends, really gets into Halloween and I swear you could not recognize him!! He had a huge meat cleaver and fake broken-out teeth and man was he believable!!! Anyway, you could hear the kids screaming a mile from the house!! Silly me, I didn't get any pictures because I was trying to make sure everyone was taken care of, but my mom took a few...

This is Jake's friend, Alfredo.

This is Anna's friend, Layton.


This is Joe with Jake's friend, David.

October 28th was my mom's 66th birthday, so we celebrated by going out to eat at her favorite restaurant, Mulan's, in Russellville. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAN!!!!!


Here she is blowing out her candles.

The kids carved pumpkins on Tuesday. Jake always likes to save the pumpkin seeds to roast and I have to say they were pretty darn good!

Here is Anna with her pumpkin. Can you see the resemblance?

Here is a better view!



Here is Jake with his pumpkin

Tonight is Anna's last home football game, so we are going to bundle up and watch. It got down to 29 degrees a few nights ago, but it has been warmer lately. I don't know if I'm quite ready for cold weather, but I don't know that I have much of a choice.

I got a $100 gift certificate to Hobby Lobby for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, so yesterday I spent it ALL (and then some, but we won't tell Joe!)!! I have gotten a few crafty ideas in mind, so when I finish with them, I'll post pics! Hope you all have a great weekend..

Bye for now

Things are getting a little "spooky" around here. Our Halloween party is this Saturday night! I hope I'm ready. I've still got a lot of last minute things to do, but I'll make it. I'm making Chex-Mix and cupcakes today and tomorrow. I think, with the exception of the cemetery in the front yard, the outside decorations are almost complete. Tomorrow I'll probably clean house and put the final touches on the yard. I've got the hay coming in a few minutes and I have some wood for the bonfire in the barn. Gotta get that to the bonfire site and I'll be good to go. Went to Fort Smith on Monday....got Anna's red "Dorothy" shoes and when I got home I realized I had 2 left shoes!!! Gran and Papa are making a fast trip to exchange them now, so hopefully Dorothy will go on as scheduled!! It could only happen to me!!

Yesterday I had the fun job of getting all of our decorations out of storage. It was not a pretty sight!

Here is the "before" picture.

And here is the "after", after 15 minutes of cleaning!!

Here are a few pictures from the landscaping project we have been working on. Its not professional, but we did it and now we can relax and enjoy it! I'll try to orient you along the way.

First, here is a picture of Gran and Papa's house.

This is in the direction of their garage.

This is toward our barn, which is just to the right of Gran and Papa's garage.

This is outside our sunroom.

And finally, this is looking toward our garage.

Well, I've got to get back to work! Hope to blog the cemetery before the party and will hopefully get some good costume pics!!

Bye for now!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Tuesday when we got to the school for Anna's practice and Jake's ballgame we were met with a beautiful sight!


It has looked like it was going to storm for 3 or 4 days straight and for some reason, the sun just pops out and it is clear and beautiful once again. There is actually a little good news where Jake's team is concerned. The other team did not score ONCE!!!! That, my friends, is what I consider MAJOR IMPROVEMENT!!!!

Here is Jake(#5) in the huddle.

I started getting ready for landscaping our back yard today. One visit to the local nursery and a few plants later and here is the finished product!


I'm just joking!!!! I wish this was my back yard!!! Actually, I did get a bunch of plants, but they are in the process of being planted...I'll post pics later this weekend.

The weekend should probably be quiet for us. Hopefully we'll just work on the back yard. Next week will be very busy. We've got our Halloween party next Saturday. I want to do as much before next week as I can. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Bye for now

It's Monday

It's Monday!!! We had a fairly busy weekend. Anna had a friend spend the night Friday night and we all went to Homecoming. The weather was great, just a little chill, but not much. Got to drink hot chocolate and cheer on the Panthers. We lost, but it was a really good game.

That is Jake making the tackle!!

Saturday, Jake had a ballgame and then I taught a scrapbook class at the scrapbook store here in town. Joe and I worked in the yard, tilling up some rough spots and spreading rye grass. Believe me, it was about as much fun as it sounds!! The "fence guy" is suppose to return tomorrow to finish up.

We are cooking out hamburgers for a few friends tonight, so I've got to get busy! Hope you have a wonderful Monday!!!

Bye for now.

Thankful

Friday!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday!! I know I am. After taking the kids to school this morning and running a few errands, I took a walk with my partner in crime! I'll show you a picture of this "partner" later in the blog, but first, here are some pictures....

These are the new tenants of our front pasture. I know it may seem weird to some, but I think they are beautiful!! When Mr. Melson called to ask Joe if he could bring them to our land I was ecstatic! To me, other than a field full of haybales, there is nothing prettier than cows, or horses, grazing in a field. Especially OUR FIELD!! When I walked down to the pasture and got within 150 yards, they all started gathering at the fence, as if they KNEW I wanted them to pose for me. Yeah, I know they just thought they were getting fed, but I chose to believe otherwise! Their personalities just seemed to pop out at me as I eased closer.

This one seems a little bossy, yet curious.

This one on the other hand, preferred to stay in the shadows and look from afar. I think I'll name her "Curly". See, this is why we can't have animals like cows, I've already started naming them. I think there is some kind of rule that you NEVER name these animals...it makes them "leaving" that much harder on everyone!

Not sure about this one. Picture perfect though.

And finally, this was my partner in crime!

Actually, 4 of our dogs went on this adventure, but Dixie was the only one to have her picture taken.


I hope everyone has a great weekend. We are headed to the Homecoming Football game tonight. It will probably be a little chilly, so we'll have to bundle up in blankets and sip hot chocolate...oh how I love my life!

Thanks for the sweet e-mails and comments you have sent. This is the season that I always seem to remember how Thankful I am for all of our family and friends...from Chile, to Washington, to Illinois, to Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and those of you right here in Arkansas that we don't seem to see often enough throughout the year. We love and miss you all!!

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!!

Bye for now...

Thought I'd throw in a fall picture today. I have been playing with my camera lately, trying to get a little better picture quality. This is a picture from my front porch this morning. All the leaves are changing color here and it is beautiful. Last night the low temperature was around 50 degrees. I love sleeping with the windows open, then getting up early and "knocking the chill out" as my dad would say.

The fence is coming along SLOOOWLY!! It will be nice to eat outside by the pool without getting a big wet kiss from Zoey! She seems to catch you right in the smacker every time!!


I told you in my last blog about the shrunken heads I had seen on Martha Stewart, well, here is the result!

The kids loved them, so I guess these little beauties will be part of our
Halloween Bash.

I think they will be cool floating in hot apple cider!

Speaking of food, I thought I'd post a recipe that I have been making practically every weekend. We had it for Anna's spend the night party a few weeks ago and it was a real hit. I doubled the recipe for them and baked 2 pans 13" x 9" and every morsel was gone!! My kids, and entire family, love it....so here it is:

Breakfast Casserole
1 lb sausage
2 c. mozzarella cheese ( I prefer 1 c. mozzarella, 1 c. cheddar)
3/4 c. milk
1(8oz.) crescent rolls
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Crumble sausage into skillet, cook over medium heat until brown and drain well. Line bottom of buttered 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with rolls, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Combine other ingredients and beat well. Pour over sausage and cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until set. ( I usually try for 20 minutes) Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Better get moving...lots to do before the kids get home!!
Bye for now.

Middle of the Week Post

Not a lot going on today. The fence man showed up, so that's good news...and so did the fence, which is even better news!! He has been working for a couple of hours now. Says he will probably be working on it through the weekend!

I've been trying to look for some "Halloween stuff" for the party...I saw a cute thing on Martha Stewart yesterday that I'm trying right now. I think it is called,"Shrunken Heads," but the idea is you peel a Granny Smith apple,cut it in half and carve out the face to look spooky and bake it on 250 degrees for 2 hours. The apples will shrink to look like little skulls. The viewer who sent in the idea served these up floating in apple cider. It was really cute and spooky, so I thought I'd give it a test run to see if it might be something we could do at our party...so we'll see. I'll post pictures if they look okay.

Had ballgame last night. Still no win!!

Anna still loves cheerleading. She has really worked hard and is doing well. I thought she may get tired of it, but she hasn't so far. The 7th grade plays Westfork this Thursday,, but it is away, so the girls don't get to cheer.

This Friday night is Homecoming at Clarksville, so hopefully we will get to go!! There is nothing better than a Friday night football game in a small town. GO PANTHERS!!

Got to go do some cleaning now...Have a Great Wednesday!!

Bye for Now.

"Dirty" Monday

We were suppose to get our backyard fenced in today, but the Lowe's installer failed to deliver on his promises! Imagine that...a contractor that didn't do what he said he would. That, it seems, is the story of my life!! We have had this date scheduled for at least 2 weeks and wouldn't you know I have seen hide nor hair of the measly scoundrel.

But on a positive note, the bulldozer and dump truck made it.

That's about all here today...just your usual cleaning and laundry duty.

This is Anna before Jama's birthday hayride this weekend.

Jake got to go too, but he wasn't in the mood to smile for a picture (imagine that!)

Here is a picture of Jake and Anna's friend Shanae at the ballgame last week.

Hope everyone has had a good Monday...blog more later!

Bye for now!