READY FOR THE TRICK OR TREATERS

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I know that some of you don't like Halloween (and I respect your opinions) but it's always been a fun holiday for me. As a child I never associated it as a time for anything other than dressing up and going "trick or treating". I know that I had so much fun and remember my mother and aunts fixing all kinds of neat treats for kids. It was the ONLY time I remember seeing them make popcorn balls. When my children were young, Halloween was just under Christmas as a time they looked forward to coming. I'm sure those who live in subdivisions have MANY trick-or-treaters, but living where I do there isn't a huge amount. I can always count on 10 or 12 coming by. I'm ready and love pretending that I don't know who they are when my doorbell rings. I made cookies and have tons of candy ready. Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!!

FALL FESTIVAL AT CHURCH

Our church had it's annual Fall Festival Wednesday night and it was a huge success. We weren't sure the crowd would be as large because we moved it from a Saturday night to Wednesday. However, it doubled in size. We usually have around 500 but this year we had over 1,000 people. Yes....that's right....1,000! We were amazed. Inside the gym we had booths set up for the cake walk, popcorn and cotton candy, Go Fish, basketball shoot, and the duck pond. In our fellowship hall we served hotdogs and chips. Outside there was two inflatables, a hayride, and a train the kids could ride, boiled peanuts, coffee & hot chocolate. Everything was free. It's an outreach our church does for the community.

Each lady in the church was to furnish two cakes or sweet for the cake walk. This is one of the most popular booths. I made a chocolate and red velvet cake. The line was pretty long most of the night for this.

Here's a picture made early in the night from the balcony of the gym. You can see that the gym is beginning to fill. We had a great time and I think those who came had fun too!

FUTURE CHEFS

After making the "Haunted House", Aunt Beth took the older girls with her leaving the boys and Maddie with me. Every child likes to cook....right? These kids LOVED making cupcakes....from beginning to eating them ALL. Griffin and Maddie put all the paper liners in but each child had a turn putting ingredients in the mix. They helped me read what was needed and the most fun for them was cracking the eggs. They loved doing this, although it wasn't very smooth. I just had a dishcloth close by to clean their messy hands. The picture above shows Zack's turn with the mixer.

See how patiently Maddie and Griffin were when waiting for Keith to finish his turn. I didn't get a picture of the cupcakes after they were baked and frosted but I will tell you that they were delicious! I don't know who had the most fun....the kids or Gigi.

MAKING A HAUNTED HOUSE

As I shopped at Wal-Mart last week I found a kit for making a haunted house and couldn't resist getting it. I knew that I'd have five of my grandchildren and a great neice on Saturday and wanted to something "fun" with them. Somehow I had forgotten how messy gingerbread house making was in December!

It didn't matter at all to the kids that the icing was dripping everywhere or that their hands were covered with orange and black frosting.

Griffin felt the need to sit on the table at times. I wonder what Aunt Beth was about to do with her hand in the air???

I found beads, candy corn, and frosting under the table but it was worth the mess to see the "master piece" the kids created. Next post will be about more fun we had that day.

A QUICK TRIP

We made a QUICK trip over the weekend to Louisiana to see our son and his family. He had planned a surprise birthday party for his wife on Friday night so we went down for the night. She was totally surprised by the party (and us being there). We knew we'd have to come back on Saturday but were able to go with the kids to a pumpkin patch Saturday morning. The weather was pretty cool but everyone enjoyed it. The picture above shows why a fast trip was worth it.

Look at these sweethearts. Baby Emma isn't so sure about smiling for pictures. They will be here for Thanksgiving and I'll have more time to spoil them!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Several weeks ago my daughter, Amy, called and said that she had me signed up to go to Sips n Strokes with her and a friend. For those of you who aren't familar with Sips n Strokes it is a place where you go and they teach you "step by step" how to paint a picture that you bring home that night. You pay your money (which is very reasonable) and they furnish all your materials. You just bring the beverage that you want..... some bring wine, some softdrinks or water. Talent is not needed to attend!!! I am a testimony for that statement. In fact, when I told my sweet husband what I would be doing his comment was "is this a paint by number class"!! Each night a different picture is painted and you choose what you want. Being ALABAMA fans, we drove quite a distance for a class to paint a picture of "The Bear". It was so much fun to be with my daughter and my grandson's teacher(s). Here is Amy as she smears her pencil sketches. You can see Griffin's teacher in the back. I laughed so much and I still am sure that my gifting has nothing to do with painting.....but from a distance my painting does resemble our famous coach. Thanks Amy for inviting me......it helps for an "older" mom to have a night out with young chicks!!!

FALL DECORATIONS

I decided today might be a good day to pull out the fall decorations. It hasn't been cool enough yet for me to get in the fall mood, but since I was off work today I started putting some things out. Last year I saw this idea on one of the blogs I read and copied it. It was fun to pull it out again this year. I have this on my table in my foyer.

My dining room table is decorated very simple. I just put some pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves and berries on a tray covered with a fall napkin. Of course there's my old oil lamp. I'm not really pleased with my mantel but it's going to stay for now anyway.

One of the mums that our church sold for missions.....isn't it beautiful? I have five different colored ones around the pool. This one has opened more than the others. Fall colors are beautiful to me. I'll be happy when it cools off a little more but I know that will come soon enough. I hope you are having fun getting your fall decorations in place.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is my husband's birthday. Although he doesn't read my blog I wanted to take this opportunity to wish him a Happy Birthday. I am SO BLESSED that God chose him to be my husband. I'm not saying that our marriage has been perfect....but we endured the times that weren't good and with much prayer....our marriage is stronger today than ever. I've tried to think of things that I love about him...
* He loves God with all his heart
* He is a wonderful father (and grandfather)
* He is honest
* He isn't ashamed to cry
* He never complains about what I cook
* He is a wonderful Sunday School teacher
* He supports me when I am working on a project or job
* He looks for the positive in every situation
* He speaks well of others
* He loves ALABAMA football and Vincent Yellow Jacket (where he coached 29 years)
* He is faithful to his church
* He thinks things through before doing them
* He has taken care of me for 37 years
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the love of my life......I pray that we have MANY more years together.