Tricks and Treats

In honor of the Halloween season, here are some of Anna's tricks...


Why? Because she can.

x
She's just checking to see when her next appointment is.


We had a cold but fun time going around our neighborhood. My friend Barb went with us, I really appreciated the helping hand!


And here are the treats! Kit Kat seemed to be the treat of choice to pass out tonight, and I'm not complaining.

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Yum

Last week I made caramel apples for the first time. Here's how it went...


I had to go with Steph A.'s suggestion to use Granny Smith apples. The sour with the sweet? I'm drooling just thinking about it!


Oooooo. Just look at that bubbly caramel goodness. I bought a candy thermometer years ago and this was the first time I used it. It went extremely well. No one was injured in the caramel-making process.
This was the recipe I used. You really can't go wrong when butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and (look away Jenny M!) corn syrup are all boiled together.


Eeek! Look at those warty bubbles! I figured a smattering of white and dark chocolate should help to cover those up. It did help.
I would definitely make this caramel again. It was deeee- lish.
However, does anyone have any suggestions to keep it from totally sticking to the waxed paper? I liberally buttered the paper like the recipe said, but it really didn't help AT ALL.

Pumpkin Carving

Look at my man go! Don't hurt yourself, honey!


Rachel is going to lose a top front tooth ANY day- she is so excited!


I prefer my pumpkin cooked, but to each his own.


I helped Tommy with his pumpkin. Tommy has been the only one sick around here, which we are very thankful for. I am so SICK of hearing about H1N1 I could scream.


The finished products!

My fourth born

Abby got a little hair cut a few nights ago. I couldn't believe how blond that old hair was!


We have been experiencing nap rebellion around here. Thankfully she has been doing a little better this week. This picture was taken after Rachel read a book to her before bed the other night. Rachel is still talking about how cute Abby was that night. :)

I have been in the bonnet making mood ever since our trip to the River of Time. I found this tutorial on how to make one, it was perfect for Abby, who is almost 3. I need to enlarge the pattern to make one for Rachel now.

Abby has a heap of blankets that she moves from location to location. Here they have settled on our bed for a little story time. It's nice that the older kids do this with the younger ones. It really does get easier the older they get.


Um, this is my skirt. My son is in my skirt, along with every toy that he could possibly stuff in there. I'm at a loss for words.


Rachel had to make sure that Anna had a toothbrush for the picture, too.


Yesterday I went with Adam's first grade class to the pumpkin farm. It was cold, but everyone had a great time as usual.

Your Opinion Matters

I would LOVE to make some caramel apples-it would be a new adventure for me.

So I'm taking a poll...

*How do like your caramel apples- just caramel, or fun stuff added likes nuts and/or sprinkles? Maybe some chocolate drizzled on?
*What kind of apples do you think make the best caramel apples?

*Do you like homemade caramel or prefer to use the Kraft caramels?

The Usual

Somebody has decided that they are through with naps. Hmmm who could that be??? Here she is "watching" Jeopardy, so it's about 7:30 pm. At least she sleeps 12 hrs at night.


It's that time of year again! My frozen stash of applesauce ran out months ago, so I am soooo happy that the fresh apples are here!


I don't know what she's yelling about. Casey took this picture, she was probably afraid he was going to take her broom away.


Even though they are 5 years apart, Rachel and Abby really like to play together.


We watched our nephew Liam for a few hours on Friday. If there was ever a perfect child, this would be it. I love him. He followed Tommy around all afternoon, they were so cute.


My son cleaned his room today after school. Shocking. He was very proud to show me when I got home.
He didn't do so hot on his spelling test last week (60%), but this week he seems to know most of the words- yell tell mall call, you get the picture.