Gingerbread Houses

Last week the kiddos made gingerbread houses.  Instead of one large gingerbread house, like we usually do, I opted for each kiddo to create their own little gingerbread masterpiece.

I love the determination in each of their faces as they were decorating.  Daniel quickly finished his before I could snap any pics of him, but it was a fun activity enjoyed by all.

make two challenge

I am curently in the throws of making Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends this year.  I saw this on one of my favorite blogs, and knew I had to take part, and you should too!!

The idea, is to not only make a handmade gift for someone you love, but to make two of that gift, and donate the second to someone in need.

I'm excited to get the kiddos involved with this.  Making gifts for their teachers or friends, and making a second one to donate. 

I'll share later what we made,

what will you make??

11 - 16 & Potato Soup

11 - Trick or Treat Bags
        I purchased some inexpensive bags at the craft store in both orange and black, along with some self-adhesive felt and a few paint pens.  I found some glitter glue in our personal stash, and invited the kiddos to the table. 

No rules, just decorate your bags. 



Daniel went for candy decorations, since that what was going in them anyway, Josh freehanded a lizard, and Caleb chose to use some cookie cutters to draw pumpkins and ghosts.  Natalie was too busy checking out the boys handiwork, and wasn't interested in anything but strawberries (she's very into strawberries righ now!!)

The best past, we still have another side to decorate in the next few weeks, and it was fun to watch their personal creativity.

12 - Mummy Dogs  - fun little snack for the kiddos, except ours had red eyes, since no one likes mustard except daddy.

Directions: Cut crescent roll dough into thin strips and wrap around hot dogs. Bake according to crescent package directions and use ketchup or mustard for eyes. I cut my hot dogs in half to make them bite-sized.
(recipe and pic courtesy of Our Best Bites)


13 - Treasure Hunt  - I was silly and also feeling a little lazy, so I hid clues that had the kids go from room to room, at the end was a Halloweeny snack.

14 - Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (super easy!!)
       1 - box Spice Cake Mix
       1 - 14oz can pumpkin
       1 - bag chocolate chips

Mix together and drop dough onto cookie sheet in rounded spoonfuls and bake...350degrees for 8-10 min.

15 - Pumpkin watercolor.  Have the kiddos draw pumpkin with pencil.  When finished outlinw with sharpie, and paint with watercolor.  Fun and quick decorations..

16 - Potato Soup (the best ever!!)
       My friend Rachelle had this recipe and the above picture on her blog, and I couldn't refuse trying it.  It's actually one of Dave's favorite soups and I don't think I've ever made it for him (at least I redeemed myself after making this)

It is so warm, hearty, and smells like a fully loaded baked pototo. So good!!

Best Ever Potato Soup

6 bacon strips, diced
3 c cubed potatoes
1 - 14.5oz can chicken broth (or 2 cups homemade broth)
1 small carrot
1/2 c chopped onion
1 T parsley flakes
1/2 tsp each of celery salt, salt and pepper
3 T flour
3 c milk
8 oz cheddar cheese (grated or cubed)

In large saucepan cook bacon until crisp; drain and reserve drippings.

Add potatoes, onion, carrot, broth, parsley, celery seed, salt, and pepper.  Cover and simmer about 15-20 min until pototoes are soft.

Combine flour and bacon dripppings until smooth, then add milk.  Stir into potato mixture.

Bring soup to a boil and stir for about 2 minutes.  Add cheese, stir until until melted, and soup is heated through.  Top with cooked bacon.

7,8,9 & 10 - Pumpkin Muffins

a quick catch up of our 31 days of Halloween crafts and goodies...

7 - Clothespin Bats  http://www.marthastewart.com/article/clothespin-bats

8 - Skeleton Brains
  So hubby was out of town and one of my kiddos favorite dinners is Alfredo Pasta.  We chose one from the pantry that looked like curly brains, and then added homemade alfredo to it.  They all enjoyed saying many times through dinner whose brains they were eating, and were so so silly.  (but all the plates were clean, so they must have enjoyed their brains!!)

9 - Ghost Jugs http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-crafts/ghost-crafts/spirit-jugs-673388/

  I would love to have enough of these to line the driveway up to our front door, but I'm not sure we'll go through 20 milk jugs between now and Halloween, I'll have to start earlier next year!!

10 - Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I had these a few years ago, and they were so delicious, that I immediately called my friend's mom just to get the recipe.  We've been using it every fall since, and we sure do go through a lot of pumpkin around here.

We also like them without frosting, and chocolate chips inside the muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 15oz pumpkin
2 cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Beat together eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin
Mix dry ingredients together and then add to wet mixure above.
Place in muffin tins, and Bake at 350 for 25-30min, or until center is cooked.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz cream cheese
1/2 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup powdered sugar

Beat well with mixer

5 - Haunted House

5 - Natalie pulled out one of the Halloween clearance crafts which happened to be a gigantic haunted house.  Dave called just as she did to tell me he was on his way home, and I told him about the gigantic pile of foam shapes on the table ready to be assembled. 

First off, he is not a fan of those foam stickers. Have you ever tried to remove one from the wood floor, or refrigerator, or toolbox?? So not fun.  They don't come off!! So when I mentioned the word foam craft, I think he got a little anxious, just thinking about where they would all end up, in fact we talked about his entire trip home.  Yes, we talk every day as he drives home from work, kind of our time before the kids pounce on him as he walks in the door, and I have to share him again. 

And as he walked in the door, he was met with a challenge, one he could walk away from and let me deal with, or he could conquer on his own.  He sat down on the bench, scooted up to table, and looked at Natalie, who was already beaming at his very presence.  "Let's build a scary house Natalie"  He was pleasantly suprised to find it was more of a 3D puzzle that needed to be assembled, with a only some decorative "foam" stickers.  Soon he was joined by Caleb, and then the other boys came up to see if Daddy was home.  I made dinner as I watched all the kids offer advice on where this piece might go, and "oh, daddy here's that piece".  When they were finished they all had smiles on their faces, and were excited to show me the finished result.

Sometimes it's the uncomfortable things that we tackle that we find the most joy from, we surprise ourselves and we please others.

(Photo is currently hiding on an SD card inside of a camera on a plane heading for a work trip, will post later!!)

3- Crepes 4 - Foam Fun

3 - Crepes, delicious.  Spread with nutella, bananas and whip cream, one of my big favorites.  We decorated them like pumpkins, and did scary faces, before rolling up their goodness so we could enjoy them.  We tried apples and caramel, strawberries and whip cream, and some just did syrup and whip cream.  Either way delicious, easy and fun!!

4 -  As I opened up the Halloween Decorations (all 4 bins) this year, I became super impressed with myself.  Last year I purchased a slew of Halloween Crafts for 90% off, I did this sometime around the first of December as I recall, and I remember climbing through the garage to locate the Halloween boxes, only to find there was no room.  I had to create an additional box, just to fit all my new treasures.  The best part, I completely forgot about them, and what a huge surprise to me and the kiddos when we found them.

So we opened a few, and created scary pumpkins, and cute ghosts with foam shaped objects, googly eyes, and glitter glue (all included) 

2 - Bat Tissue Paper Garland

picture from marthstewart.com

This was so simple and easy, and although that's not my mantle pictured above, hopefully it will soon be fully decorated and just as spooky, and festive.

Here are the simple directions found which I found at marthastewart.com along with lots of other fun ideas I will be doing throughout the month.  You just need one package of black tissue paper, a bat template/or cookie cutter, and scissors.