Halloween 2009

We were so looking forward to Halloween this year. It was kind of a bummer in the end. My hubby LOVES halloween. It is his favorite holiday of all. He has collected body parts, spider webs & all things creepy just for this one day. He was beyond thrilled when we moved into our new house. Finally, a yard that would work with the plans that he had. He went out & purchased products at the man candy stores (Home Depot & Lowes) so he could make new tombstones for his master plan. Got everything he could possibly need...3-5 stores later with an additional fog machine. "Everyone must own one of these", he says. I just shake my head....ya honey.

Halloween arrives & the yard I must say looked incredible. He did a fantastic job on it. Body parts, tombstones, spider webs, spotlights, strobes & creepy crawlies all in place. He even mixed his own CD for all the creepy Halloween howls & screams. I'm telling you it was great.

Tarynn & I decided to take Travis to a carnival at a church nearby then off to trick or treat afterwards. The carnival was really cool but unfortunately geared for little ones. Travis went through a couple of games & was pretty much done after that. Besides being bummed that everything was geared to the young kids, we were misinformed on the times. Shortly after we got there they started closing up shop. So we pile back in the car & decide to go trick or treating with our friends in town. We get there & start heading out & there were NO lights on. We may of gotten about five houses total in our hour to hour an a half walk. I felt so bad for Travis. He is used to getting buckets full of candy. So next year we will have to do some serious planning to leave early.

In the meantime hubby calls & asks where we are & how we are doing. I update him on how bad it was sucking for Trav. He tells me after all of his planning, creating & delivering of all things evil....NOT ONE PERSON CAME! Awwww! I felt so bad for my boys. Hubby was so disappointed. Now mind you, we live out a bit from town but it's not like the only house for miles. We figured we would get a few people....not a one. So Halloween kind was a bust for us.

Here are a few of the pics that I took. Tarynn had fun dressing up like a rocker (a preggo rocker) & going around with Travis. Travis' costume came out great. We kind of threw it together & it just worked. I love it when that happens. He loved it so that made it even better.

Well I'm off to cut out some Christmas ornies that I'm making. Will share those with you later.

~Toodles

We went Boo'ing

I thought I would share this fun project that we did to some of our friends here in town. We went & Boo'd them. We had been Boo'd a couple years back when we lived in Idaho. We got such a kick out of it that we have wanted to do it ever since.

These are the cute little gifts that we made up of stuff that I had in my craft room. It was great for once I did'nt have to go buy something to complete a project. Not that I am complaining about shopping...dont get me wrong! Hahaha The thought here was simplicity....everything was on hand & ready to be thrown together. I had seen these digital printouts here. I purchased & downloaded them lickety split....seriously easy peasy & off we went to deliver them. Hopefully next year you can go & Boo someone. It really is a lot of fun to bring smiles to others.

Off to organize a few Halloween 09 shots to share with ya.

Toodles~

TGIF

*YIPPEE* its friday & a holiday weekend! So looking forward to spending those three days with my family. The hubs has been putting in a lot of overtime & I know I am ready for him to be home (I'm pretty sure he is ready too. LOL) We plan on doing some shopping for some home furnishings. Slowly but surely we are getting the house put together. I didn't realize how many things I tossed & have had to replace. Not that thats a bad thing. Love getting new things but it can be costly. Slow & steady! Hahaha

I tried my hand at Red Velvet Cupcakes yesterday. Oh my, they came out wonderful. I must not of used enough food coloring though because I had Pink Velvet Cupcakes. They were awesome though. It made a lot too. I made one tray of regular size & almost two full trays of the mini-bite size ones. That size works well for me. I cant have to many goodies or sugar so it's perfect. I went with Paula Deene's (I love Miss Paula) recipe for the first time figuring I could'nt go wrong with her. Without a doubt they were great. I had a friend send me another recipe to try. Maybe these will have more of the red color that I was shooting for. I'll let you know.

Here is a peek at some of the goodies that are going in my Halloween Tag/Mini Album. Cant wait to see it finished.

Well not much going on. We lost power yesterday so no computer. *Sigh* It made for a long day. So I havea ton to get to today. Have a wonderful day my friends. ~Toodles

Ewwwww

gross! I'm not sure if I mentioned that I HATE REPTILES! I hate them with a passion, Doesn't matter what they are snakes, lizards etc. Knowing that we were moving to the south I had been warned that they have all kind of eebie jeebies here. Not fun! Ok, I can handle my share of bugs. I dont like them, but I can tolerate them. I'm not sure if I told you the story from a week or so ago about the lizard I had a run in with in my garage. Well he was a slimy black snake-like looking lizard that was fast as heck. I was moving boxes & he darted out. I about had a heart attack right there on the spot. I tried to coax him out into the yard. Yeah, he was having nothing to do with that. So our dance continued with each other for a few days. I finally get him out this one day, after cutting off his tail twice, and he runs back in the garage. I'm furious! So I resigned to the fact that it wasn't gonna happen. Chapter two...hubby is home on the weekend & we're going through boxes & moving things all around. The lizard pokes out. I'm yelling at my hubby to Get Em!! Get Em!! Hubby tries to sweep him out the door. I'm on his back like a shadow. Well, once again the lizard darts for the garage & my hubby tries to block him with the broom but I'm so close he cant get him without knocking me out with the broom instead. Once again...the lizard is victorious! So since that day he has remained in the garage & we haven't seen him since. I know he's in there lurking, laughing at us.

So lets move forward to yesterday. Travis comes be boppin in the house after school & says there is a snake in the grass by the front door. I'm freakin out! I'm asking him, "Are you sure it's a snake & not a lizard?" "I thinks so Mom." So I yell at him not to go out there until I get my flip flops on (seriously not thinking....flip flops...really???) I slowly step out the door & Travis points to where he is. Yep! it's a freakin snake. It was rather small for what I expected...too much tv I assume. He didn't move at all. He just laid there in the grass all creepy. Me being the scrapbooker that I am had to grab the camera. What else was I gonna do?? Surely you didn't expect me to catch it or kill it. LOL So I grab the camera & get close enough to get good pics...it's always about the good pics. Hahaha So I text my daughter & tell her that there is a snake. She asks me to take a pic on my phone. I thought ok...he wasn't really moving all that much so I would try. Well, I am pretty blind & cant really see on my phone. I tried & tried to find hin in the viewfinder & just couldn't do it. I even bent down trying to get close enough. Crazy girl! We decided we couldn't do anything without the hubs so we went inside. Yeah, by the time hubs got home the snake was nowhere to be found. I finished the night by telling hubby that I would be entering & exiting our house by way of the garage & would not be checking mail anymore. LOL He laughed at me. I seriously do not like those creepy things. He said it was probably just a garden snake & it would take care of all the other bad things that are around. Ok, well I'm still not going out there.

Moving forward to today. Hubs took a pic in to work & asked some of the locals if they knew what type of snake it was. They weren't positive but one guy thought it looked like a rattler. WHAT????? They have those here? YES they do. So I decide it's my mission to do some internet searching & find out what this snake was. Well lo & behold....its a dang Pygmy Rattlesnake. Oh yeah, I was bending down in its face taking his pic like he was a covergirl model. Lets just say he is number 5 on the list of 6 deadly venomous snakes in Arkansas. Once again, welcome to Arkansas! Hahaha So I'm hoping we ( I say we loosely meaning hubs) can locate him & possibly relocate him to the woods. I really dont want him hanging around having more lil snakies in my yard. Oh & with my search I found out our little lizard is a skink. Gross in every part of their being. So we will be the Great South Reptile Hunters here. LOL

On to other current events....We are heading up to the Ozarks this weekend to check out Eureka Springs. I am looking forward to that. There is supposed to be a castle in the middle of nowhere up there. Also, there is a mini Golden Gate Bridge as well. So when I get back I am hoping to have all kinds of neat pics to share.

I almost have my banner done. I have to string it & it will be ready to list. It came out so darn cute. I will post the Etsy link once I list it. Here is a lil sneak peek of the banner & a small glimpse of my Halloween tag book.

Have a wonderful weekend. ~Toodles

Halloween Party

Hey you guys....

Remember the party I was talking about having for my son's birthday? The Halloween/Birthday party combo with the neighbors? Well we had it last weekend & the kids loved it. They wore their costumes & we judged all of them. There was some great
ones. My son had his heart set on a grim reaper but at the last minute decided on an alien....go figure! Here he is....

I have to show you this cake I made for the party. My neighbor wanted something creepy. Well my hubby loves Halloween & has been collecting gore items for quite some time. Well my neighbor picked up these gummy mice & asked me to use them on the cake. I had an idea but wasn't sure how successful it would be. Had I had more time to plan it could of been out of this world. I was very excited to see the end result. The kids absolutely flipped over it so that made it all worth while. Now to think of something for next year thats bigger & better :)

It was so fun watching the kids bob for apples. Kids dont get to do those kinds of things anymore.

As for me I am tired & glad it's over for another year. We still have Halloween night but I enjoy going out with my son...he still gets excited over it. :) I am just hoping it warms up a bit. It has been in the mid 20's here & thats just too cold to walk around outside for candy. LOL I saw this in someone elses blog & loved it....gotta love Maxine!

So Much Work

so little time!!!! It seems that the holiday season has kicked into full force. I have so much to do to get ready for the upcoming season & holiday shows. I have my first show in a month & am so not ready! Argh! I will be in & out until I get some stuff whipped up.

I am also trying to coordinate a Halloween/Birthday party for my son Travis' 10th birthday. We are trying to pull it off as a carnival theme. I am super excited about it!!! We are planning all kinds of games & contests. I want to try & get some of the props for the party built too. We have a cake walk planned along with bobbing for apples, fishing game, sandbag throw & costume contest! The kids are really looking forward to it. I will share pictures when it gets closer. What are some of your plans for Halloween? I am looking for suggestions for games & contests too. So email me!

I am not sure if I told you that my Dad & Stepmom are visiting from San Diego...but she brought her camera up to snap some pictures of my oldest son Taylor for his senior pictures. We went up to the Indian Mission here in town & took a few. They came out spectacular. It will be so hard to choose. I also had her snap some candid family ones. I think they came out cute for last minute planning. :)

Well I best get back to work.....will pop in soon to share completed projects. I have set a goal to get a few things done this week. Well a girl can dream cant she??? Hope your day is productive & fun! Until later.......