Halloween!!!

Miss Hermoine Granger

And, of course, Mr Harry Potter!!!

Halloween party at school

Lauren & her buddies at the school Halloween party!! Where else can you see Cleopatra, a snow princess & Hermoine Granger together in one room???

snakes??

Lauren's school Halloween party is tomorrow, so we put her hair in braids to make her hair kinky like Hermoine's. Ethan, however, thought they looked more like snakes. In TRUE Harry Potter fashion, he proceeded to talk to Lauren's hair in Parcel tongue, the language of snakes...

Painted faces

Today, the kids were feeling good, so I got out my halloween face paints & we went to town!!

"The Kate"

Today, I was hard at work creating my halloween costume. Wig haircuts are not the easiest or most enjoyable thing I have ever done, but this one had a purpose. Brad & I are going to my cousin Heather's Annual Halloween bash as "Jon & Kate". This is a picture of a similar wig to the one I purchased, so you can see that I had my work cut out for me... The rest of the pics are pretty funny...
This is what was in my trash can after the initial cut.
(what didn't end up on my carpet of course...)

in progress... I started out by cutting it on Brad's bowling ball. It worked out ok! After a while I had to do it on my own head though. I only cut my own hair once (I think).

Like mother, like daughter...

Lists like this one are a very common sight in my house. I am a list person. I make a list for things that I need to do, need to pack, need to remember... But I never thought I'd find this in Lauren's room...

Burfy's halloween costume

Burfy may look like an ordinary bear to you, but he is a big part of our family. He has been around longer than Ethan!! Lauren was 18 months old when she got Burfy. As is tradition in our house, Burfy always gets to dress up for Halloween. In the past, he has been a Carebear, Superman, a cowboy and a doctor.

This year, the kids are going as Harry Potter & Hermoine Granger from the Harry Potter films, so naturally, Burfy is going as... Ron Weasley!!

Andy's Party

Yesterday was the big surprise 21st birthday party for my awesome little brother in law, Andy!! Unfortunately, the kids are still really sick, so I stayed home with them & Brad took off to the cities to celebrate with him!!! Here he is with Gma & Gpa... He looks so weird with a beer in his hand!!! Put it this way, When Brad & I started dating, Andy was only like 9 years old. I love you Andy!! Happy Birthday!!!

What's for breakfast?

Pumpkin pancakes!!

doppelganger.

by definition, a Doppelganger is a "ghostly double" or "look alike" of a person.

Here is the coolest one that I have ever seen.

Here is a little girl dressed up for Halloween in the movie "Monster House"

Here is my cousin Heather (I've spoken of her blog, view it here) dressed up for halloween in the 80's.

What's for dinner?

Pork stir fry
Ingredients:
1lb boneless pork ribs, cubed
1 head cauliflower
1 stalk broccoli
1 onion
rice
Mr Yoshida's sauce
chow mein noodles

If using long cook rice, start it before you begin the stir fry, or else you end up waiting on rice. Chop onion & pork. Heat 1 Tbsp oil and add in skillet when hot. Cook meat through. Chop veggies. When meat is all cooked, dilute yoshita sauce 2/3 sauce 1/3 water and pour into skillet. Add veggies and cover. Bring to a boil & turn heat to med or med/low. Cook veggies to taste. Enjoy with hot rice & chow mein noodles!! Mmmmm...

Free stuff at Walmart!

Today, with the sick kids still quarantined at home, I needed to get out of the house!!!
I made a trip to Walmart, and scooped up some free loot!!!
Airwick I-motions (3) on sale for $6 used $6/1 coupons = FREE
Glade candle on sale for $2 used $2/1 coupon = FREE
Friskies Natural sensations cat treats (2) (for Mom & Stacy's cats)
used 2 "try me free" coupons = FREE
Kashi go lean cereal (2) on sale for $3 used $3/1 coupons = FREE!!!!

knitting project FAIL

For some reason, I thought that I could knit Gryffendor scarves for the kids' halloween costumes. I have not knitted since I was like 10. There is what I got done during naptime today. Crap. I am never going to get this done in time. I need a plan B. Stay tuned.

Piggy flu 2

Piggy-gate has a new victim...

Piggy Flu

Nuff said...

"the sickness" has invaded our house

Not a good day here, Lauren has been sick with a fever for 2 days, and not feeling well at all. Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Apple dessert FAIL

Today, I tried to make a cool dessert with our apples from our neighbors... FAIL.
I would give you the recipe, but it did not turn out at all. It was supposed to be a raspberry/apple crumble dessert, but ended up tasting ok, but had a consistency of a raspberry rubber band. Eew.

Tip of the day

Tip of the day:
Softening your cookies!!

Coming up on Christmas cookie time soon, so today's tip of the day has to do with cookies!! Sometimes, no matter how perfectly you follow the recipe, your cookies are not as soft as you would like them. There are 2 sure fire ways to fix the problem.

Trick #1 Put cookies in a ziplock baggie with a piece of bread (I always use the end piece because it never gets eaten anyways). Within hours, your cookies will start to soften up!!

Trick #2 If you can't wait that long... All you need to do is set desired number of cookies on a plate, and cover with a damp paper towel. Nuk 15 seconds at a time until desired warmth & softness are reached. (be careful not to microwave too long, scorched cookies don't taste any better than crispy ones!!)

Flashback one year ago...

My little man one year ago today!! He is soooo little!

Apple day!!

Today, after picking Lauren up from school, my neighbors called us over to their garage, and handed us a HUGE bag of apples!! They had just taken everything off their tree & had a ton leftover. I gladly accepted this awesome gift!! After peeling & coring, I put them in the crockpot with a little water & some cinnamon and a little pumpkin pie spice too!!

My kids think this stuff is dessert. (and don't tell them otherwise!!)