Happy Halloween!

Well, I am back from a wonderful weekend at home in Illinois.  We celebrated my baby sisters 40th birthday in high fashion.  We gave out all our candy in a short amount of time because I did not plan for enough kids.  Eeks!  And, I have soaked in the tub and gotten all ready to read for awhile in bed.  Hope your Halloween was full of treats and no tricks.  :)

Old Friends

Well, this was simply a wonderful weekend for me!  I was blessed by two of my most special friends coming up to see little ole me!  On Thursday my dear friend Kim came for her first ever trip to Michigan.  We had so much fun yakking and drinking coffee and running around together for an entire day!  I hated to see her drive out of the driveway, but she promised she would return with her family the next time.  And I didn't have to arm wrestle her for the promise either.  :)

Then, Saturday morning my friend Darla came to see me.  We ate and drank coffee together and yakked about all kinds of stuff and went to church this morning.  It was a lovely day!  Once again, I was sad to watch her drive away from my home as well.  She to, promised to come back and see me again soon.  No arm wrestling was involved with her either!  :)

What is it about spending time with girl friends that can make you so gosh darn happy?  :)

Concert

 Last night was both daughters choral concert for the fall.  High school daughter gets to wear uniforms for her year in choir.  Yeah!  Now we don't have to frantically go out looking for an outfit.  If you are the mother of a daughter, you know exactly what I mean.  :)  Here is daughter #1 with a few of her friends.  Aren't they all so pretty?

These two cuties also sang last night in the 7th grade choir.  Daughter #2 and her good friend.  They were so cute getting ready for the concert together.  Lip gloss, hair stuff, tights, shoes.....girlie stuff. 

They had two cellist's play last night at the concert.  Oh they were good!  So nice to see kids playing stringed instruments.  I love the violin and cello so much!

The big girls kept saying they looked like nuns in their uniforms.  So, they had to strike a pose.  :)

Pumpkin Hoarder

Awhile ago, my sister told a girlfriend and I about a pumpkin shortage.  The initial report was that there was not going to be any pumpkin this season due to the bad weather and poor crop of pumpkins for the last two growing seasons.  With that in mind, I set out to find a can so I could make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  Because my hubby says that there HAS to be pumpkin pie for dinner.  Here we are a couple weeks later.  This is my "stash."  Um...I think I am good for pie this year.  (Now Meijer, Walmart and any other place has pumpkin.  Shortage is over.)

This pumpkin hoarding got me thinking.  Remember when Y2k came around?  People were stocking up on bottles of water and food and taking money out of the bank because the banking system was supposed to fail when the clock rolled around to 12:00 a.m. on 1/1/00.  I remember some people in my life who were gathering supplies "just in case."  As a Christian, I am reminded of a verse.  God does not want me fretting about pumpkin or anything for that matter.  He has it all under control.  Oh how thankful I am for that promise.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.   Philippians 4:6

Boo To You!

A few years ago I made a few of these little ghosts.  They are made with felt.  White felt for the bodies and black felt for the faces.  There are also white buttons that you can not really see sewn on the mouth for teeth and also his eyes.  The frame is a tomato cage strung with white Christmas lights.  I like Halloween decorations that are not scary.  I think he is a welcoming little ghost for my front porch.  He makes me smile.

Homecoming 2010

My daughter celebrated her first homecoming as a high school student Friday night.  She began the night with a friend eating dinner at Culver's before the game.  They moved onto the high school for the parade.  The Freshman class float was Toy Story she told me.  The floats were all Disney themed.  Isn't that cool?  :)  After the parade, the game began.  But, not after the chorus sang the National Anthem.  My girl is the one on the lower right side.  These kids can sing!!

They won the game.  53 to 31!!  After the game was the dance.  Much different that when I was in high school ten years ago.  Ahem.  Just kidding.  I mean 29 years ago as a freshman!!  Oh goodness does that sound like forever ago...

But one thing that has not changed in 29 years is the importance of good girl friends and fun and giggles.  The more giggles the better.  And, I am quite sure this group of gals laughed a lot Friday night.  :)

Up To No Good

Remember when we got "boo'd" a few days ago?  Well, we found out who did it!  Our sweet neighbors next door confessed.  It was soooo cute when I asked her if she had done it she said no.  Then she confessed and said she could not lie to me.  HA!  It was so sweet.  :)  So, my youngest daughter told me we had to boo them back!  We also thought we would get the neighbors across the street from us while we were up to no good.  We found these little felt Halloween baskets at Target.  The men got the Frankenstein baskets.  The girls got pumpkin and kitty. 

Isn't Frankie so cute?  And yes, that is Mac N Cheese in there.  Halloween of course.  We do things very gourmet in this house.  Hee hee.

One of the things we put in the girls baskets was homemade pumpkin spice coffee creamer.  I had these little jars so we filled them up.  Then we stamped the tags and added ribbon to make them not as plain.  I hope our neighbors enjoy their goodies as much as we enjoyed getting ours.  Sometimes it is fun to be sneaky!  No matter what your mama taught ya!  (Wink!)

Little Game

 I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she had this game she was passing on to anyone who wanted to play along.  So, I thought I would. 


How did you meet your spouse?

His parents lived close to mine when we were very little.  He came to my first birthday party.  My mom has a picture of both of us together at my party with party hats on.  My baby book says that he gave me a puppy pull toy for my gift.

 
Birth weights of your children?
8'8 and 9'3

Favorite Subject to teach?
I do not home school....but I do like to teach cooking to my daughters.

Favorite TV Show?
I don't watch TV but when I do sit down to see something, I have a thing for Martha Stewart On Demand.  Something that has to do with our cable system?  Don't really know much about it.  :)


Last date you were on with just your spouse?
We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on October 6th.  We went out with our new friends, Kathy and Dan who also celebrated their anniversary on the same day!  Before that....I have no idea. 

Least favorite household chore?
Cleaning our walk in shower.  I loathe it!!

What do you like to do in your" spare" time?
Sew, Cook, Read, Listen to music, practice my violin (when the strings are not broken!)

Small town or big city?
Well, I have lived in both.  I am now in a much bigger city than where I spent most of my life in.  I would have to say big city.  One thing about small towns is gossip.  Can't stand that!!  I mean...my life is just so fascinating that someone has to talk about it????  HA!  


How long have you been married?
20 years

Were your children born at home or at the hospital?
I had two c-sections....so definitely in the hospital.  Would of hated to do that at home with my husbands fillet knife he uses for cleaning fish!  ;)


How many states and which ones have you lived in?
4 states.  Illinois, New Mexico (hubby was in the Air Force), Indiana and now Michigan.

What is your favorite flower?  
The Daisy!!  ;)


What is the biggest challenge your children present you with?
Ummmm.....now that we have moved to a bigger city, it is knowing who their friends are and trying to let them go a little.  Especially with the boys who like my oldest beautiful daughter. It all comes down to trust.  I know the mistakes I made as a teen-age girl and I do not want them to make the same ones.  I know they need to make them to learn but if only I could save them the heartache....isn't that what a mama wants to do?  Protect her chicks?  :) 


Where do you dream of visiting?
Italy and England.  But, I would go to Paris with my sister (since she really really really wants to go)  if she needed a travel companion.  I mean if she twisted my arm or anything.  :)

If you could live in any country, which one would you choose?
I would say Italy
Favorite board or card game?
Since it was one of the first games my Grandma taught me...I will go with Kings In The Corner.  :)


Feel free to copy and paste this post and fill in with your own answers. 

Christmas Jam

 Well, once again my Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks are calling my name.  It really seems as if I caught the canning bug lately.  The recipe for Christmas Jam sounded oh so lovely to me.  My daddy loves cranberries and I thought I would make some of this in honor of him.  Well, and my mom and my sister and my hubby and me.  :) 

Isn't it so pretty?

Here are my six lovely jars.  And, I thought I would share the recipe in case you are a fan of cranberries to.  I also thought this would be good on left over turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving.  Just a thought.  Or ice-cream.  Or, they suggest pancakes....or.....well......you get the idea.  ;)

My MSU Girl

This week is homecoming at my daughters high school.  They have been dressing silly all week.  Today was team spirit day.  Could be any team.  She chose Michigan State.  Our sweet neighbor is a HUGE Michigan State fan.  She had all these things that she let my girl borrow for the big day at school today.  My sister is especially fond of the flip flops with socks.  :)  I am proud of my girl for having fun in school.  I bet this is a fun week for all the kids who participate.

Garden Patch Relish

 I have several (and I do mean several) Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks.  I love them!  I can always find something fun in them.  Recipes, gifts to make, ideas for my home and stories from other women that make me cry!  I saw this relish recipe and thought I would make some for gifts this Christmas.  Yes, I said it.  Christmas.  :)

 Here are all my veggies chopped up and taking a bath in the salt water.

 Of course I HAD to watch my most favorite movie in the entire universe (You've Got Mail) while chopping up all the vegetables.  Right?

And for the record, I think Meg Ryan is a doll in this movie.

Ta Da!!  Here they are all finished.  Once again, there was music to my ears coming out of the kitchen.  Ping...Pong...Ping as the jars sealed.  The recipe said it would make 10 1/2 pint jars....but I got 11 out of it. 
I am excited to give some of these away as gifts and to eat some myself.  :)

I Have Been Boo'd!

I woke up this morning to find a sweet little bag hanging on the door knob.  What could it be?  :)

I have been boo'd?  How fun!  :)

These are all the goodies that I found inside the bag.  (And of course, Simon had to be there to check it out with me.)  There were dishtowels, Halloween sprinkles for cupcakes, little ghost baking cups, Halloween pencils, two pairs of Halloween socks, a very cute pumpkin notepad and snack size Snickers.  Oh yum!  :)  Someone knows us pretty well.  Wonder who is up to no good in my life???? Well, actually it was VERY good and fun as well.  The kids were all a buzz this morning trying to figure out who left this for us.   Hummmmmm........

A Little Project

While rearranging the furniture last night, I thought I would create a little look out for the kitty.  When I came downstairs this morning, he was enjoying his little spot.  :)

I thought my kitchen table needed a little more fall for the little arrangement I made in the antique colander that sits on my table.  I got out some fall fabrics from my stash and began my little project.  I always have a furry helper with me when I sew.  Guaranteed. 

Has to sit on the chair with me.  At least until he finds his favorite place.

A little appliqued pumpkin.

All finished....

His favorite place.

My girls are dressed up for the big game with Michigan vs Michigan State.  Shelby's boy friend is a Michigan fan.  So, she wanted a little rivalry so she decorated with green just to get his goat.  That a girl.  :)

(Now that I am looking at these pictures...who's kids are those anyway?  Mine certainly are not that old.  No way...no how.)

Fall Has Come To My House

I made a list last week when I began my first day not working anymore.  I don't think I mentioned yet that I gave my notice at my last employer.  It was just not working out for me working there.  I do miss the girls that worked there something awful though!  They became very dear to me.  Anyway, I decided to make a list of "Things To Do While I Am Not Working."  The first thing I put on my list was to decorate the house for fall.  Since we were moving last fall, I decided not to get all that stuff out.  I missed it since fall is my most favorite time of the year.

 I bought some $1.00 silk leaves in the dollar bins at Target.  I strung them onto some kitchen twine and created a long banner of leaves for above my windows.  It looks pretty cute and it was cheap to boot!  Thought I would share some of my little decorations with you.

Have you read the book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie?"  Well, I told my sister that was me yesterday.  I was the little mouse.  Except my story went like this...."If you give Shann a list.....she will get out her fall decorations from the basement.  Then she will decide her living room needs rearranged.  Then she will decide the baseboards need wiped down.  Then she will decide the curtains are dusty and she will wash them.  Then she will decide the blinds need cleaned.  Then she will think the windows need washed.  Then she will put the furniture back in place.  Then she will dust and make everything sparkle with cleaner and smell so very good.  Then she will decorate for fall.  The End.

Apple Pie Filling

 A year ago or possibly longer,  I came upon a recipe for homemade apple pie filling.  I have been wanting to make it since I found it on her blog.  Today was the day because I do love apple pie.  The thought of canning was a bit scary for me since I have never done it solo without my dear mama.  But, I felt up for the challenge and off I went to purchase my supplies for the goodness that was about to unfold.

Ever wonder what 10 pounds of apple peels looks like?  Now you know.  :)

All the apples peeled, cored and sliced soaking in a nice cool bath of lemon water.

Clean jars ready to be filled.

 

This was the yummy carmel sauce that was ready to be poured over the apples in the jars.  Oh my was this stuff sticky and yummy.

When my parents came up last time to visit I had them bring up a big pot so I could make something yummy with all this fruit and veggies from Michigan.  Maybe I should share a jar with them since they let me borrow it?  Want some mom?  :)

 

And lastly, here are a couple jars all finished.  It was a lot of work.  But, it was something fun to do last night.  And, the sound of ping ping when the lids sealed was music to my ears!  That means it worked!  Yippee!!  It will be nice to have something yummy when the snow is flying again.  And, there is something satisfying knowing that I made it myself.  Even if it does make me feel a wee bit like this gal........