I am thankful for. . .

When the kids were in daycare one thing they did every November was talk about the things they are thankful for; as we all do.  One of the ways Kim (our daycare provider) did this was she made a turkey with no feathers.  Every morning she would ask the children what things they were thankful for and write them on a feather and tape it to the turkey. 

Doug and I have chosen to continue this tradition and have made our own turkey.  Our permanent turkey (the colored one) still needs to be laminated that way we can use it every year.  This year our turkey is blank but already has lots of feathers as you can see.  We aren't very good at remembering to do it every day, but we do the best we can.  The kids have enjoyed this activity some of the things they have come up with are Dad's job (Masyn), Mom staying home (Ayden) for Masyn (Ryleigh), their is a definite variety.  We give the kids ideas but they ultimately decided what will be written down.  I am going to have to find a way to document each thing at the end of the month!

Happy Halloween!!

For the first time in several years Doug and I went to a Halloween party (Thank you Emily and Christian! It was a blast!).  Yes costumes were a necessary part of this party.  They were so great and even had a camera up to take pictures of all who attended.  Doug came (prepare yourself!) as a police officer and I was a prisoner.  Doug had to work later in the evening and was planning on leaving directly from the party so it worked for us.



In my family we always try to get the kids together for trick or treating.  This year with Halloween being on a Monday night Doug and I decided to stay home and take the kids around our neighborhood.  We invited others if they wanted to go.  Below is a picture of all but the babies that came.  We ended up having 13 kiddos come trick or treating (this includes babies).  Everyone had lots of fun.

From left to right: Adriana (witch), Masyn (Buzz Lightyear), Ayden (police officer), Ryleigh (witch), James (pirate) Katie Jo (pirate) Quincey (dragon fighter)

Because we had so many kids I had to become a "line leader" no kids were allowed to pass me and I assigned who rang the doorbell.  After they received their candy and said thank yous my mom would send them down to find me and line up again; Ryleigh's broom became really handy when she got tired of carrying it. 

Here is a picture of Ryleigh, Ayden and Masyn after trick or treating.  It took several tries to get this one!

The kids has a blast carving pumpkins this year also!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Happy birthday Ryleigh!!

I can't believe Ryleigh is 5 years old!!  She has been such a blessing in our lives.  Ryleigh's favorite thing to play right now is babies.  We bought her a doll swing/high chair and she has played with it all night!  She loves to go to story time at the library and even though she doesn't participate she knows exactly what is going on.  Ryleigh is also very anxious to start school next fall, it took a lot of convincing that she couldn't go to school right when she turned 5.

For her birthday she requested a princess cake, specifically sleeping beauty.  I knew I could quite make that but told her I would do my best.  Below is a picture of Ryleigh and her cousin Adriana with their cake. (Adriana is less than 24 hours older than Ry).

Worms and dirt cake

Doug and I went to a halloween party this last week and had a blast.  There was a contest for "scariest" dessert.  I made the following:

Jell-O worm dirt cake
Bloodworms
 Wax Paper
100 flexible plastic straws
1 empty, cleaned 1-quart milk or orange juice carton to hold straws (I used a popcorn box that I bought at target for $1)
1 pkg (6 oz) raspberry or grape flavor jello (I used a small box, I think that may have helped the worms look more opaque)
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (1 box has four envelopes)
3 cups boiling water
3/4 Cups= whipping cream
12-15 drops of green food coloring

Combine gelatins in a bowl and add boiling water; stir until gelatins are completely dissolved. Chill until lukewarm, approximately 20 minutes (mine took like 30 minutes).
While gelatin is chilling pull straws to full length and place in tall container. Wrap straws together loosely with a rubber band, so the straws stay together. Blend cream and food coloring with lukewarm gelatin (I mixed the food coloring and the cream first then added it to the gelatin). Carefully pout into container, filling straws. Chill until the gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days (I let mine chill overnight).

Pull straws from the container, or if using a carton, simply tear it away from the filled straws. Pull straws apart. Run hot tap water for 2-3 seconds over 3-4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty end push worms out with a rolling pin or use your fingers.

Lay worms on wax paper lined baking sheet (I put mine into a bowl all grouped together). Cover and chill until read to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Worms hold at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Recipe from http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/09/jell-o-blood-worms.html

Dirt Cake
1/2 Cup butter (I didn’t use this and it tasted great!)
1 (8 oz) pkg of cream cheese
1/2 Cup of powder sugar
2 (3.5 oz) pkgs of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 Cups milk
1 (12 oz) container frozen cool whip, thawed (I whipped the rest of my whipping cream added about 3/4 Cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla)
32 oz Oreo cookies

Chop cookies very fine in a food processor, the white cream will disappear. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl. In a large bowl mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together. Once incorporated combine your cream mixture with your pudding mixture.

I used a casserole dish and layered my pudding mixture and then some worms then crushed cookies. I ended with the cookies and then used my hand to pull some worms to the top of the crushed cookies to appear as though they had dirt on them. Once complete I chilled the whole thing until it was time to leave, which was about 2-3 hours.

Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/dirt-cake-i/detail.aspx

Here are a couple of pictures of the treat!!

 Believe it or not they are not real worms!!

And, yes we won first place!!!