Halloween Week!!!!!

K as a premise to this very long post, I must say, I LOVE Halloween. Christmas is nice, valentines is ok but Halloween, is my favorite day of the year. I love every thing about it- the pumpkins, trick or treating, dressing up... I am really quite over-the-top about this holiday and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Our costumes are ready, with some of us having two costumes. (seperate events of course:)) The house is decorated and we've been baking up some goulish recipes. Most of them have tasted as scary as they've looked but hey it's all good.

Perhaps my love for this holiday has something to do with the fond memories I have of halloween as a child. When it came to celebrating holidays, nobody did it better than my Dad. We'd almost always help him make a homemade pizza, then we would get into our costumes an hour before leaving the house (thus becoming overheated and cranky) and then ...finally...it would be time to go trick or treating. Dad thought through this outing carefully making sure that we stopped at the local dentist (for a toothbrush) the milkman (who gave away chocolate milk), and the Cooks (who always gave away the big chocolate bars.) We cleaned up. When we got tired, and no sooner than that, we would head home and dump all of our "loot" into a giant roaster and then the four of us kids, wide eyed and brimming with excitement would just sit and marvel at all we got. Of course it was an unspoken rule that the coffee crisp bars were off limits. They belonged to Dad! Even after we grew up and had kids of our own he would still buy a ridiculous amount of candy, WEEKS in advance and dump it all into that same vat of a roaster, and just wait for the moment that he could divide it up and deliver it to each of his grandkids.

I've often thought about how much more enjoyable holidays have become to me since having kids. It is fun to be able to go back and experience that excitement all over again through the eyes of our little ones. That said we've been busy celebrating already! Here is some of the scary things we've brewed so far.



My sister Jewel sewed this Dorothy dress for Abby! She's amazing.



John is so patient. He's willing to go along with whatever silly things I try to orchestrate. He'd probably be fine with not dressing up at all!!!



Lovely. Doesn't he play the part of the cowardly lion well. Personally, I think he is crying because he has no c -c- c- courage:)


I made this costume up for John last minute because I knew he really didn't want to show up at the High school on Wednesday and teach a bunch of high school students, dressed as the tin man. (We likely will all wear different costumes at different times throughout the week.)

We've got a lot planned! "Boo at the zoo" in Calgary...Halloween party on Tuesday...pumpkin carving...trick or treating on Wednesday...Johns Birthday (on halloween day).... The next 7 days will be a lot of FUN!


Monster toes and fingers.

Because there isn't much to say...

about our lives this past week, we'll just put up a couple of pics o f the random things that have kept our kids busy the past few days.



Abby and her cousin Mya made cinnamon buns together this week. And when I say cinnamon "buns" I really mean "big fat mounds of dough that have been played with for 20 minutes and then covered in butter and sugar. ...hold the cinnamon" Yummmm:))))



With Halloween coming up soon (my FAVORITE holiday!) we decided to clean out the dress up box. We emptied out the old and boring stuff and made a trip to two local bargain stores to stock up on better dress ups. Abby and Sam have been busy this week playing Fireman, doctor, something that requires abby be dressed like a genie in a cowboy hat, and of course...Ariel. I love this pic because it captures John's mood this week perfectly. Doesn't he look tired. It was a busy week for him:(


Jessica of course is perfectly content to play on her own. Of course how could she not have fun when she's making a mess like this!



The kids enjoyed this sunday evening game. It is a variation of keep away I guess, only we like to call it "pass the carbon monoxide detector".

Nope. It doesn't take much to keep us happy!

Talk of the town...

Jessica has graduated from eating puree veggies and fruit to the real thing. Yesturday she had real, fresh, PEAS! It is the cutest thing to watch her little eyes focus on her little fingers as they pinch a pea and then very slowly ...brings it up to her mouth...trying the whole time to get it in. Soo darn funny to watch. Meal time takes a bit longer these days but it is fun to think that she's starting to "grasp" the concept:))

Ok that really isn't the talk of the town, infact nobody but me really seems to care that Jess is eating solids. The town did hold elections on Monday...and that was the talk of the town. It is so fun to get to vote. I think it is one of John's and my favorite things to do. Many people here seemed to want a change and that is what they got. The new mayor, and most of the newly elected members of town council won by a landslide. Hopefully good things will come as a result in the next few years. If any of you are in a town/city with elections coming up...get out and VOTE!!!

Sunday at our house...

This morning I worked very hard to compile two church bags that were full of snacks and books/toys to keep the kids happy for the LONG one hour sacrament meeting. I felt very proud of the contents of those bags, thinking perhaps this might be the week that our kids sat quietly for the entire meeting. However, Sam discovered these bags while John and I were busy getting ready and he did enjoy them. He enjoyed dumping everything out and throwing things around. Abby came to us in absolute tears. When I asked her what was wrong, she said through her tears, "Mom...Sam is ruining SUNDAY for EVERYONE!" He later redeemed himself by staying in nursery the entire time without crying...or being mean to anyone. Good day for him.


I dressed my girls in the two cutest dresses ever. My sister Jewel had sewn them for her girls and has since lent them to me. Today my kids looked adorable! They were clean, happy, and they all matched (right down to the pony in Sams hand). Spontaniously I decided we needed a family photo. I had to photograph the kids in these outfits. So we hauled everyone out, posed took the pictures,...and were late for church. When I got home this was the photo we had.


Aside from the fact that the lighting was Terrible, I was so upset to not see all of the kids. When I asked John why he didn't get the kids outfits in it he said one word. ..."headshots?" lol:) Clearly John didn't appreciate the significance of that moment. Clean kids,...happy kids,...kids with nice hair...kids in cute home made outfits... May never happen again, but take my word for it...they looked great and did great today!

Abby, Sam, Jess and I enjoyed a nice Sunday walk this afternoon. The weather was beautiful! There is something about nice sunny day, this time of year, that I particularly enjoy. Perhaps it is partly due to the fact that I know it could easily be snowing instead. Makes me really appreciate the mild weather. All in all a great day and we almost feel ready to start the work week. ...almost.



PS: I don't mean to brag but we have the most pleasant baby you could ever imagine. Seriously I dare you all to have a baby who is happy 24/7, sleeps 9 hours straight at night, and cries ONLY when her old brother is sitting on her. What a doll!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is officially thanksgiving here in Canada, but for our little family the celebrating is almost over. On Friday we drove up to Calgary to have a thanksgiving dinner with my siblings and their fams. I am so amazed at how well my sisters can pull off a grand meal, and it is always so nice to get together with them and to get to the city for a bit. John kept laughing at how "rushed" I was the whole time trying to squeeze as much out of our one day in the city as I possibly could. Visiting, a trip to walmart, a jog with my sis, and seeing some of our favorite former neighbors...we tried to do it all! Saturday afternoon we returned home for a thanksgiving dinner with Johns family. Several of his siblings travelled up, and it was a great time. Aside from the fact that you'd never find a better chef than John's Dad, we also got to see our little niece Brooklyn be blessed. We've so often missed out on these family events seeing as most of John's family live in the states, so we were glad to have been able to be a part of that. Family is just the best and we are so grateful for weekends like this to remind us of how lucky we are. We wish we could have seen all our loved ones, but we were sure thinkin of ya!!


My sister in-law Heather is the one we call on every get together to make dessert. It is no wonder why when she produces pies like this! Pecan Pie or good ol' apple. Pumpkin? okay we'll try all three. lol:)




This is my brother Chad...ready to eat I guess:)) I'm posting this pic only because he seemed to be the victim of much heckling by all of the nieces and nephews. It was pretty funny to hear these little kids telling "cop jokes" and teasing him the way they did. They did have a good leader...AVA!







This is our celebration with John's family. Their meals are legendary and the company is great! We sure love you guys.
The highlight was having an intimate little baby blessing for our newest niece at home so that Grandma could be a part of it. What a nice evening... and what a DOLL!!!


So that was our weekend:) We hope you all are enjoying thanksgiving as much as we have.

I YAM all over these dishes!

We had a ward enrichment dinner last night in which they served several turkey dishes, (in efforts to demonstrate the many things you can do with your turkey leftovers.) I think I tasted some of the best Yams I've EVER had. If you like yams...you'll love this. I'm also including two other recipes they shared as well.



Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Praline Sweet Potato Bake

3 cups cold mashed seet potatos
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1teas. vanilla extract
1/2 teas. salt

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans
3 TBSP flour
3 TBSP melted margarine

In a bowl, beat, the first 7 ingredients until fluff. Transfer to a 1 1/2 qt baking dish. Combine the topping ingredients until blended. Sprinkle over the top and bake @ 350C uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until golden. This serves 4-5 people. IT IS AMAZINGLY good!!!


Turkey and Rice Casserole

4 cups leftover turkey
2 cups regular rice
Water mixed with bouillon cubes (approx 5 cups of water)
Mix water mixture and rice and cook in pan until rice is done. Add one onion sauteed and 2 can sof cream of mushroom soup to the rice and chicken mixture. Add dried parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Put in a casserole dish.

Mix 2 cups of bread crumbs with margarine and poultry seasoning. Brown crumbs in frying pan. Sprinkle on top of mixture.

Bake at 350C for 30 minutes. This casserole freezes well!


Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie

1 can pure pumpkin (28-29 oz)
1 can evaporated milk (13 oz)
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs

Mix all of the above ingredients together. Pour into a 9X13" pan. Glass pans work very well. Sprinkle (from the package) one yellow cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture. Melt 1/2 cup of butter and drizzle on top of the cake mix. Pecans can be used on top if desired but are optional.

Bake @350C for 50 minutes. It is great served warm. Serve with whipped cream!

These are some dishes that we will be enjoying in the near future. (I think it would be a lot of fun if someone created a blog in which we all could just post favorite recipes) An online recipe book.
Anyways, here are my faves... Try them this weekend! Enjoy

There was a moment...

...a very breif moment today when my children were all in the same place, doing the same thing...and there was peace. Sam was not pushing Abby, or pulling Abby, and Abby was not slamming doors. No one was spilling water, nothing was being thrown, and most importantly...no one was upset. Don't you love those moments when they are together and all is well? I had to take a picture as it really only lasted a few minutes.
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Yes looking at this you'd think they actually love eachother:)) There is something about watching my kids sleep that almost makes me want to wake them up and play with them and love them better than I had during the day. ...almost