Monthly Archives: November 2011

Nov 8

When The Weather Turns Cooler

I haven’t felt good lately. I’ve had really bad migraines off and on for the last two weeks, so I haven’t gotten that much done. I feel bad when I have days like that, when my head aches, and my hands don’t cooperate, it is difficult to get anything accomplished.

Today though, the weather is cool and rainy. So far I am migraine free, but it is extra noisy with the littlest ones at home, so we’ll see how that goes. Back on subject, since the weather is finally starting to cool off, here are a few things on my to do list.

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Weather-proof the drafty windows. I weather-proof the upstairs windows that have the window air-conditioning units in them. I should probably do the same to the downstairs windows, but I go a little stir-crazy if I can’t look outside.

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Drink lots and lots of Hot Chocolate! I use my mom’s recipe (she makes it from scratch) and it is crazy good. I like mine with an obscene amount of tiny marshmallows.

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Come up with more School @ Home projects. I know there will be (lots of) snow days in our future, and I need to keep those busy boys focused on some school work. Dylan and I do School @ Home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he getting pretty fast at completing his worksheets. He loves it though, and I love to see him learning.

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More projects for me… I am starting to journal again, and clip come coupons every now and then. I would love to get some major projects done around the house, but time is working against me.

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Get the Thanksgiving plans finalized. I’m pretty sure I’m hosting, I should probably figure out who all is coming, and get a big meal ready to go.

What about you… Do you have any plans or projects now that the weather is starting to turn cool?

Nov 6

Shakey Shakey

Wow!!! I just felt an earthquake!!! I’ve lived in the midwest my entire life, and I never thought I would experience one, and we did, and it was a bit scary.

The kids slept right through it, but I don’t know if I will be able to sleep tonight. That was unreal.

Nov 5

October’s Tasty Treats

I’m pretty sure that I baked and cooked more than this, but I must have forgot my camera. I’m pretty bad about that.  We had a lot to celebrate in October, and lots of tasty dishes to go along with it. Here are some of my favorites from the month.

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We visited the Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch, and had an awesome Funnel Cake. I have got to try and make these at home. I think it would be a fun and tasty experiment.

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Cakerdoodles! Yum.

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Super-star Cherry Pie. One of our favorites, well James and my favorite. The kiddos just don’t like fruit pies.

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Coffee! Not really a baked good, but a necessity in this house. Morning, afternoon, and night, I’m usually found with a double cup of coffee.

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My take on Pumpkin Pasties. I had extra pumpkin pie filling and pie crust, so I decided to whip up this Harry Potter favorite. The kiddos (again) didn’t like them, but I thought they were cute and very tasty too. My kiddos are crazy, Pumpkin rocks!

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Pumpkin Pie! Oh yeah! I love pumpkin pie, and I like to make a practice pie or two before the holidays. I do not want to have a pie failure on Thanksgiving or Christmas, and James doesn’t mind the extra treats too.

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I didn’t bake these, but they were too cute not to share. We got our Halloween pumpkins from a local farmer, and I didn’t carve them. I just can’t cut into them, they are too cute.

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I made two kinds of mints for Agnes’ birthday party. I made the traditional mint, and then I tried vanilla too. The vanilla ones tasted like Cinnamon Roll Frosting, they were amazingly good. I’ll definitely be making those again.

So here we are another month to bake, cook, and mess up the kitchen. I have a big menu planned for Thanksgiving with plenty of desserts too. I can’t wait to get started.

Nov 4

October Favorite Photos

October was a crazy month! There was a lot going on every single day. It is my favorite month though. I love the cooler weather, and Halloween too. I even got a few favorite photos to share.

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The kids were so excited for Halloween this year. Thade was Harry Potter, Dylan was Buzz Light-year, and Agnes was a Green Bay Packers Cheerleader. I don’t know why she was looking so somber in this photo, she only smiles when she gets to take the picture.

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Agnes was pretty excited about her 2nd birthday.

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Miss Agnes snuggling in her new coat.

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We were at Thade’s Halloween Parade, and it was so cold. I only got one single picture, that parade was moving fast.

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I took this one of Dylan at the Fort, he absolutely loves the Fort.

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This sweet photo is of Agnes and Daddy, we were outside on a warm Autumn evening.

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The big kids received Transformers masks from Grandma, and as you can tell from this photo, they really love them.

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These are the bricks from my neighborhood.

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My very favorite spot in town.

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Downtown at dusk.

And you know, just because there aren’t enough kitties on the interwebs.

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My lil guy, who hangs out by my desk at night.

Nov 3

We Have Too Much!

I never thought I would say this but… We have too much!!!

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Too much Halloween Candy!

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I bought a lot, Grandma brought a lot, and the kiddos trick-or-treated a lot, and well there is just a crazy amount of candy going on in the house.

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I decided to dump it all out, and organize it a little bit. Too see just what we are working with.

I moved all of the inedible goodies (pencils, plastic toys, cups) into a big bowl. I then separated out all of the fruit candies, gum, and fruit chews into another bowl. Lastly I sorted through all of the chocolate. Dylan has a peanut allergy, so I separated any of the peanut butter/peanut candies into a gallon sized bag. I put the chocolate M&M’s into another gallon sized bag for baking, and treats. Lastly I combined all of the rest of the candy bars into it’s own gallon sized bag. It is still way too much candy.

O.k. so I know I’m a mean mom, I don’t want my kiddos to eat all of this candy, but I don’t want to see it all go to waste. I’m trying to think of a few recipes/activities to use up some of this candy. I also have to keep my ideas Peanut free for my little Dylan.

  • Candy Bar Cake, could be tasty
  • M&M Oatmeal Cookies, would use up some of those M&M’s
  • M&M Chocolate Chips cookies, another good use of those candies
  • A special treat jar: filled with the gum, smarties, lollipops, and tootsie rolls
  • I’ve also seen a few Candy Advent Calendars, you use the favorite candies to count down to Christmas

What about you… What are you doing to creatively use up all that extra Halloween candy?