Halloween 2012

Scary Fairy and the Monster High girl

Trick or Treat!

Barbie Cheerleader and the Spider Bride

Halloween Fun

A few weekends ago Lainey spent the night with us. We went to Craft Warehouse for some Halloween craft supplies and the girls got choked by a witch:

Kennedy and I made a quilted table runner for the top of the piano.  Last year we made one for Christmas and she was a little leery to run the sewing machine herself.  She took off this time and quilted the entire top.  We stitched on the binding and it turned out cute.

Last Christmas when we were at Bob and Vicky's she inspired me to decorate for Halloween with pictures of the girls in their costumes from years back.  Vicky had a bunch of Christmas-themed pictures of her girls as they were growing up as her Christmas decorations and I thought it was so great.    

Shane made some decorations for Halloween out of scrap hardwoods he had in the garage.  I love the owl, he's so cute!

Aunt Nicole came to visit us this weekend.  She helped decorate the haunted house and played a round of Apples to Apples:

We drove to Grandview to check out a new pumpkin patch.  And naturally, Isabella decided to wear her Easter hat to it:

 The whole way there Kennedy taught Aunt Nicole her latest rhyme, something to do with Ice Ice Cream Cream...they practiced the whole way there:

Debbie and Don also drove out that day and brought Mason and Brady.  When we arrived the big kids went to slingshot apples at targets and Isabella climbed the hay bail pyramid:

We then went in search of a perfect pumpkin.  I didn't get any good pictures of Debbie that I think she would appreciate showing up on this blog :)  But, I thought this was a cute one of Isabella and her Papa:

After finding the perfect pumpkins, we took a tractor ride through the apple orchards.

 When we got through the orchard, Debbie and Don bought us all hot dogs and soda.  We sat at picnic tables enjoying the sunshine, blue skies, and fresh air.  I thought this display was beautiful:

The boys had to leave early so after they left we went to the animal part of the farm.

Isabella, Nicole, and I went to the petting zoo.   Isabella loved the alpacas with their big brown eyes.  She also loved the piggies but could really only pet Clarence the Cow.  After she was a little bored with the petting zoo, she said "Get me out of this farm."

  Shane took Kennedy for a pony ride:

After the zoo we decided to go through the corn maze and SERIOUSLY about 2.5 hours later we found our way out.  Farmer Bill had been kidnapped and the corn maze held all the clues to find out who did it, with what weapon, and where. 

Kennedy was ready to keep going and but Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we had to find the exit.  We had found all but one clue and after 2.5 hours of walking in a maze I had never been happier Isabella needed to go to the bathroom I was a little sad we were so close to solving the mystery and weren't going to be able to. 

When we got home we carved the pumpkins we picked:

Apparently Isabella has learned how to carve pumpkins Bruce-style.

 While Shane was trying arrange the pumpkins, Isabella was practicing poses on the stairs:

Isabella 4th Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Isabella!  Yep, I'm a few weeks late posting pictures.  She had a "Tangled" party this year. 

Her Gramma Wagner had brought a cake that weekend for the girls dance recital weekend.  The girls ended up hardly being home because of all the dance activities so we used the cake as Isabella's birthday cake.  The ballerina on top was a big hit with Isabella because she was quite the twirler this year.

Pinata hat

Tangled wig in action!

Easter Weekend

We were with the girls Easter weekend and it was a busy one.  Kennedy and I went to Shane's Gramma Bruce's to learn to make cinnamon buns for Easter brunch at Don & Debbie's house.  I learned alot of great tips (and got to use my new mixer - yay!) and Kennedy got to spend some special time with her great-gramma, who I also enjoy.  She is a special lady. 

We made homemade pie crust for her pumpkin pies

Kennedy got to roll out dough for her pan of cinnamon buns - she wasn't too excited when she saw the size of this rolling pin :)  But apparently this rolling pin has been around for a LONG while and is a special part of kids cooking with their Gramma Bruce.  I thought it was adorable!

Her finished pan of cinnamon goodness (they were so delicious, this pan got eaten before Easter brunch!)

So who knew this cookbook was so amazing? I remember Mom using this cookbook seemingly for everything. 

I bought myself the newer version of this book when I got out of college thinking it must be "T-H-E" book to have.  Shane's Gramma Bruce used her (older) version of Mom's BHG cookbook to make cinnamon buns. It had the same worn look, pages ripped out but stuffed back in place, stains on the pages of recipes commonly used, a few pieces of paper with extra recipes tucked here and there, all signs of a cookbook well used.  

The cover may change but the recipes apparently don't.

Maybe this won't come as a shock to you, but I have barely opened that book since I bought it. Until now I declare!  In fact, I used it Easter weekend.  I would like to say I'm high on culinary ambition but that would be a HUGE stretch, so I'm going to say I'm mediocre on culinary ambition and low on culinary confidence.  I was shocked and AMAZED to see that the recipe for hard-boiling eggs could be found in this cookbook.  How hard can boiling eggs be?  Not very apparently, but I just wanted to double check to make sure I somehow didn't mess up the girls' Easter eggs for decorating.  No wonder this cookbook has stood the test of time - it has it all!


Just one more shout out to the neighbors immediately next door - the same ones who sang us Christmas carols on our front porch in Russian at midnight on Christmas morning.  One of the kids brought this dessert surprise over to say Happy Easter...was that thoughtful or what?
 

It was a very sweet gesture and very happy cake decorating!

After successful hard-boiling of eggs (minus one that I broke dropping it in the pot - Shane so kindly showed me how to drop them in with a spoon - what would I do without him - seriously), the girls were excited to dig in and get their fingers dirty. 

Decorating has changed since I was a kid - you now longer just drop an egg in a cup of dye.  They have tie-dye kits and sticker kits and sponge paint kits, and glitter and special crayons; it is really crafty now.

Check out these beauts!