Halloween

This Halloween went over a lot better than last year's Halloween.

All of the children were happy to wear their costumes. :)

We had a wonderful evening and got way too much candy!! 

Pumpkin carving and scooping lasted all of a few minutes with the kids!!

Madelin dug out a bit of pumpkin "guts" and Anders wanted nothing to do with it.

Little Miss didn't really get too into it either.

 Here is a lovely picture of our bumblebee, goldfish and Buzz Lightyear before going to Boo at the Zoo.

Now here we have another lovely picture of the "trio," yes, the "trio!"

Notice the bumblebee laid flat out on the ground (Anders and Madelin are trying to cheer her up)??

Somebody was a little uncooperative! ;)

Anders sporting his "handmade by momma" jet-pack and wings (made with craft paint and cardboard).

The "Buzz Lightyear" costume alone just wasn't doing it for me.

And a happy "Buzz" from the front.

I spray-painted an old pair of Madelin's shoes yellow (Joann's didn't have orange) and also added some sparkly spray paint. Do you like how the socks match the shoes? Nice, huh? ;)

They look slightly ghetto in this picture but looked pretty cute with the costume.

Madelin's list of all of her loot. :)

 

A Few Things Fallish

 

Snack mix...candy corn, fall-colored m&m's, peanuts, pretzels and raisins. 

 

 

Treats for Madelin's class...idea found here.

 

 

Remember these from last year? I had to make them again because they were so easy to make!

 

 

The girls playing at the Pumpkin Patch. 

 

What's a trip to the pumpkin patch without taking a picture in one of these? ;)

 

 

Chris and the girls picking out gourds and pumpkins.

 

Anders playing in the corn pit.

Bags for all the Loot

Candy, that is, not money!! ;)

 

Back in the day when this bunny was little, I made her a trick-or-treat bag.

I figured it was time to make one for Anders and have one on hand when Kate got older.

 



When I originally made Madelin's, I stuffed the candy corn with stuffing.

To make hers look more like Anders' and Kate's I took out the stuffing and trimmed it down a bit.

 



 

Anders had the choice of a bat or a spider.

He chose a bat and later asked, "Where is the spider?"

"Sorry, Homey, one creature is all you get!"

 

And a pumpkin for our sweet little Kate. :)

 

Madelin's plan this year is to fill the bag to the top!!

Pretty sure that isn't going to happen, as we would be out ALL NIGHT LONG!

1: Kate's Rainbow-Themed Party

Last year my friend had a rainbow themed birthday party for her daughter.

I loved the idea so much that I knew that that was what I wanted to do for Kate's 1st birthday.

So here you have it...

The rainbow image is from Google images; I then added the text on Photoshop.

This cake was a labor of love!!

With some help from Chris we created this masterpiece together.

It was NO easy feat; there was a lot of cutting involved and leftover pieces.

Some of the leftover pieces became this little masterpiece...

 A miniature rainbow cake for Kate; with a slight lean to it. :)

 A tray full of fruit.
Need I point out the obvious? ;)

 When Madelin turned 1...she DOVE into her cake and "demolished" it!!

When Anders turned 1...he was bit timid at first and then took charge of his cake!

Well, Kate was a little less of a cake destroyer...there was no destroying at all, just picking here and there!

1

 Little miss and her crumb covered face! :)

 Kater with one of her presents.

 I, of course, had to make tissue paper pompoms that are all the rage right now.

They were so easy and quite addicting to make.

Here are some more pompoms.

I created the "one" with cardboard and painted it with craft paint.



 

 

1: Kate's BIRTHday

This little lady is a busy little thing and quite feisty!

She LOVES to climb, dance, adores her family, eat fruit and not much else, give love, and get up in her brother's space (which drives him up the wall).

She's not too fond of sleep, her car seat or car rides and Anders pulling on her!!  

 

We started the day out with a trip to the Farmer's Market...a Hansen favorite.

 Kate swam with her brother and sister and the neighbor girl.

Not quite sure what is going on with Anders... 

 

Sister "helping" sister open presents.

 

 

Now this is more like it!

Anders and Madelin in the background opening the presents while Kate is throwing a fit amidst the chaos.

Welcome to opening presents for.the.rest.of.your.life.Kate!!!

 

Kater Bug timidly eating her "Husker" (first football game of the season) cupcake.

 She loves that frosting and sprinkles!

 

Happy 1st Birthday to our baby! :)

The Last Four Months of Kate's First Year

Do you remember this post just a few short months ago?

Here is a follow-up to the last 8 months...

 

 

9 months

 



 

10 months

11 months

 



 

And wouldn't you know at 12 months she would be sitting oh-so-nicely for her big sis!!

Girlfriend is quite the little mover!

Remember these from when she was born?? I swear that JUST happened yesterday. :)

Party Time for Little Mister

So, yeah, this little shindig happened oh like two weeks ago!

I guess that's what happens in the summer...less time in front of the computer and more time outside.  

Anders has become a HUGE Toy Story fan; Buzz Lightyear being one of his faves. I found the cupcake toppers here. I glued them to tongue depressors, they were a bit large but that's what I had and I mean really, Anders could care less. :)

The rest of the Toy Story gang on top of green and purple cupcakes.



Can we say, "Goofy?" Yep, that's Anders for 'ya!!

Some of his presents.

Kate had to be placed in "jail" during part of the party. Such is the life of the baby of the family!  

Madelin and some of the party guests racing boats in the pond (in our backyard).





JUNE Recipe (Without the Recipe) from the Garden: Zucchini Bread

Since my last garden post, you can see that the zucchini plants have grown a bit! That stuff is crazy, out of control and we have gotten quite a few mammoth zuchinnis from it!! Short of giving it all away, I need to become more creative with it.

That would be the zucchini plants on the left, towards the center.

You really can't go wrong with zucchini bread...

I would post the recipe for this zucchini bread but I honestly don't want to because zucchini bread recipes are so easy to find and I'm really just too lazy to post it! ;)

MAY Recipe from the Garden: Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I hesitated whether or not I should post this since it was from May but I thought it was necessary because the recipe is VERY yummy. So yummy that my neighbor (who I had shared some cake with) asked me to make one for a work get together and paid me to do it!  

This is our garden back in May when it was tame and under control...

We have strawberries at the other end of the garden. We also have watermelon, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers and peppers. 

This picture doesn't give this cake justice. Go here for the recipe and some good pictures!

Try it, you will be very happy you did!!