Happy Halloween

From our web to yours!

I saw these Spider Pops last year on the Family Fun website. When I found the spider web bowl at Pier One, I knew what our new Halloween tradition would be. This year we made around 70 and surprised teachers and Trunk or Treaters with this Halloween treat. Nathan had a day off work and got his hands in on the fun, too.

If I had a million dollars . . .

I might pay someone to round brush my hair everyday.
The salon where she works is called "Fountain of Beauty" and she has clients that drive from Dallas every 6 weeks to have HER do their color.
(That's over 2 hours, folks).

Heard at the Hunts: Heaven

When we got home from the Trunk or Treat, there was a LOT of candy trading at the table. Bryn handed me a plain Hershey's bar and said, "Here, mom. It's HEAVEN."

Diana piped in, "I want a bite of Heaven."

I shared.

"How is your Heaven?" I asked.

"It's good."

Fall Favorites

Flag football
Fall colors on the trees in Chicago
September weather there
Butternut Squash Soup
Baking
Hot cereal on a cold morning--if I wake up in time to make it.
Harvest time: My neighbor brought me green peppers, fresh salad greens, fresh herbs, and lemongrass. She promised more to come. Yum.
Fall fabric centerpiece. Bought the fabrics on my only Black Friday early morning shopping trip EVER. In Ohio, with Sarah.
Halloween Pumpkin shirts (matching hand me downs in two sizes from two sources).
How I love those cheeks! So kissable.

Time is ticking.
Soon it will be Thanksgiving, my Favorite Fall Favorite.
What pies are you baking?
We are having:
Two Pumpkin
Rhubarb
Apple Cranberry

A new favorite: FALL WALL "Blank Slate"

I read (too many) blogs with great design and great photos. One of them featured a wall covered in scrapbook paper and it got me thinking. Since we don't have fall colors here, why not make my own? The first photo is the "blank slate," including the helper who helped me put it up. It is in our kitchen, right behind Nathan's spot at the table. The second photo contains our fall artwork. I hope my kids remember me coloring with them.
It's one of the best parenting duties.


Did I mention my kids don't have art class at school?
Can you imagine elementary school without art?

Diana this morning at breakfast: "My pumpkin is weird."

The best made plans . . . . (Fish week)

If you were to title this week's menu, it would be "Fish week."

Monday night we ate frozen fish sticks because it was a busy day and Nathan wasn't going to make it in time for dinner.

Tuesday night: Refried beans and rice.

Today I discovered that my kitchen helpers put the frozen fish into the fridge, not the freezer. They were so efficient that I didn't even notice them or give them a second thought, until I found 3 dinners worth of fish in the fridge, (plus 3 lunches worth for N to take to work).
OOPS. When I found the first package, I thought "Great! I didn't have a plan for dinner tonight and since they are already thawed, it will be perfect."

Then, hiding behind package one, I found packages 2 and 3. I laughed because what else could I do? It was too late to re-freeze them.

We ate Tilapia Fish Sticks tonight. This is a favorite Tara gave me when we were neighbors in Chicago. Tilapia was always on sale at one of our favorite stores, and it has become a family favorite (for some of the family, that is).

Tomorrow will be LOTS of salmon, are you coming for dinner?

My helpers begged to have their picture taken after their baths and combing their own hair. I love my helpers and their working hands.


Friday will probably be fish, too.

Now, I wonder, "Was it my helpers? Or was it me?"

Gatesville

Today Nathan was assigned to speak in Gatesville, a town of about 16,000, about 40 minutes from our house.

To get there we passed other small towns named Flat and Moffat, and drove by the North gate to Fort Hood, the largest army base in the USA. We crossed the Leon River, pictured below, which looked more like a lake.

We admired the practice field for the H.S. band. The Gatesville Hornets have the nicest band field either of us have ever seen--fenced in, marked astroturf and a stand for the drum major about 10 feet in the air. All the schools in Gatesville are in one central location, and the church is right across the street. Wal-Mart, the next big landmark, is less than half a mile away.


His message today was from Thomas S. Monson's talk from April Conference, "Be of Good Cheer." Nathan's thesis stated that being of good cheer will not only help us grow it will save our lives: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Here is a section of his talk:

"Being of good cheer will save you physically. When I was growing up, my friends and I learned that we could be cheerful doing things that were difficult. When I began middle school I talked with one of the counselors at school that encouraged each student to get involved in activities outside of class. She talked to my mother and me about cross country. I grew up scouting and enjoying the outdoors so this sounded like something I would really enjoy. When I learned more about this sport I wasn’t so sure it would be fun. However, I had signed up and I was going to do it until it was over. On the first day of practice I learned we could run and laugh and enjoy one another’s company and for the next 15 years it became a regular part of my life I as ran cross country in the fall and track in the spring through middle school, high school and much of my time in college. I ran road races and fun runs in the summer and winter. We sang and laughed while running. I laughed and laughed at those practices. We stopped and went swimming in ponds or irrigation canals. We raced each other, cars, and occasionally an intimidating dog. We ran through sprinklers, up hills, in the sand, and on the asphalt and when it was over we were glad we did it. We ran cheerfully. The task of running did not change, it was and is still difficult for me, the difference is I learned, at a young age, that I can choose to be cheerful even if what I am doing is difficult and that has made a tremendous difference in the way I approach running and many other difficult chores and situations. The task in itself does not change but my approach to the task has. Vigorous exercise is important to our health and learning to be of good cheer while doing it has physically saved my life."

He choked up a little when he got to "For the next 15 years," and I did too.

Diana got to stay with us during class time and seemed OK with it, until church was over. When she realized church was over, she said to Nathan, "I forgot to go to nursery!" and cried. They didn't have any nursery children. Can you imagine?

On the way home we stopped took this photo as evidence that the Texas National Guard is alive and well, not far from our house. Across the aisle from this row of helicopters was an identical row. Andrew was SO excited to see all of these in one place.


It was a lovely day together.

the DRESS part 1

Background: Eight years ago, I was pregnant and did not find out the gender of my child. When SHE was born, I decided I would sew her a blessing dress. Less than a week after her delivery, I was at Joann's buying fabric and a dress pattern. What was I thinking? A few days later, (the night before her blessing, when the dress wasn't finished), I stayed up late next to my mom as she sewed the dress. I think I only sewed one seam, and even that might be generous.

Having my first daughter made me want to be able to sew dresses for her. Specifically modest clothing that is also cute. I set a goal to sew her one dress each year.

Fast forward eight years, to 2009. In that time, TWO dresses have been sewn, and only ONE for that daughter. Nevertheless, time moves on and we are planning a December baptism. Once again, I am pregnant with a child of unknown gender . . not that much has changed. Bryn will have a dress sewn by my two hands, and my mom will not be finishing it the night before. Due to my current pregnant and highly emotional state, I will not be either, it must be done in advance.

That said, last night I finished (almost) Bryn's prototype baptism dress. I didn't get the hem done. This morning I sent her to school with the dress on a hanger so she could wear it for school pictures. She did, though the strings hanging off the ends at the bottom bothered not only her, her teacher offered to trim them for her.

"My mom is still sewing it and I might get in trouble, so please don't," Bryn told her. I wish I could have been there.

Here it is.


New skills: I sewed my first darts and set in sleeves! The sleeves were easier than the darts. It might be that because of the elastic gather in the sleeve, the mistakes on the sleeve don't show? Darts in an of themselves don't seem so tricky. The trick is trying to match the second dart to exactly the same size and shape as the first.

Isn't she lovely?



The icing on the cake is that if my baby is a girl, she has a dress already waiting for her in the closet. Thanks, Mom.