Aren't They Cute???

Halloween has always been a bit difficult for me due to all the differing opinions people have about 'to celebrate or to not celebrate.' As a kid my family never ever celebrated it in any way. My husband's family on the other hand did dress up for school and different things. The other night my husband and I were sharing memories and he told me about the year he dressed up as an x-ray. Yes, my husband is a nerd. I don't have any memories like that. We had really discussed how we would handle it with our kids because we hadn't needed to yet.
This week AJ's preschool class is decorating trick or treat bags and going to the assisted living facility to trick or treat. I decided that Nathan and I needed to decided what we were going to do. After reading this post by KC we decided that we would let our kids dress up and go trick or treating. They are just not allowed to dress up as anything scary.
That being said, last night in our small town was trick or treat. I had no costumes for the kids. I sat wracking my brain trying to think of who might have something we could borrow. Then I remembered Heather has a box of costumes. I called her up and she loaned me some things for the kids.
JM was so funny. He kept looking at me and saying, "I'm getting candy!" He really got the hang of it. Little Peanut rode in the stroller most of the time but she kept a close eye on her little bag. AJ wanted to tell everyone that he was a fireman and that Grasshopper was a little pea pod. It was nice to get out in our neighborhood as a family and introduce ourselves to neighbors that we don't ever see. Nathan says he's just glad we have some chocolate in the house now. Our wonderful neighbor next door knew this was the kids first time so he went earlier and got BIG candy bars for them. They were really excited about that. They had one piece last night and we'll be dolling it out for a long time.
Our brother in law came over last night. Someone who knows my husband and knew him called and said we'd been out trick or treating so he came over for some candy. Here's what the kids looked like last night.

Fall Ya'll Giveaway...Burp Cloths

*Updated~ Will leave open until Saturday Nov. 3rd. at 10 p.m. est.
Hi, welcome to Mom of three...and more. Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer is hosting the Fall Ya'll giveaway carnival. I'm hosting two giveaways. This one is super cute homemade burp cloths. Made by yours truly. The lucky winner will receive their choice of three burp cloths. They can choose from two green, two yellow, two blue, and two pink. They are gingham with coordinating ribbon. Here's how you can win.

• Leave a message in the comments saying which three you would like, I must be able to contact the winner so make sure your profile has your email link or leave your email in the comment. You can spell the (at).
  
• Head over to Rocks in My Dryer to enter more drawings.
• On Friday Nov. 2 at noon I will use a random number generator to pick one number and that comment will win.
  
• The winner will be posted on Friday Nov. 2.
  
• This contest is NOT open to international participants due to shipping costs. I'm sorry.
  
• HAVE FUN!!!

Feel free to visit other posts on my blog and check out my other contest. Oh yeah, I learned how to make these beauties from Barb at A Chelsea Morning. Just giving credit where credit is due.

Fall Ya'll Bloggy Giveaways....Bows

*Updated~ Will leave open until Saturday Nov. 3 at 10 pm est.

Hi, welcome to Mom of three...and more. Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting a fall giveaway carnival. This is one of two giveaways I'm doing. For this one, two winners will get their choice of a set of hair bows. My mom and I made these bows this summer. You can choose either the green with white polka dots or the red with black polka dots. Here's how you can win.

• Leave a message in the comments saying which ones you would like, the red or the green. I must be able to contact the winner so make sure your profile has your email link or leave your email in the comment. You can spell the (at).
  
• Head over to Rocks in My Dryer to enter more drawings.
• On Friday Nov. 2 at noon eastern time I will use a random number generator to pick two numbers and those two comments will win.
  
• The winners will be posted on Friday Nov. 2.
  
• This contest is open to international participants since I got so many comments from those outside the States last time.
• HAVE FUN!!!

Feel free to visit other posts on my blog and check out my other contest.

Welcome....

Hey everyone....go over to my nephew Thaddeus's new blog and welcome him to bloggy land.Be sure and leave him a comment.

Wordless Wednesday

It took me all day for Blogger to let me post this . AJ was 2 when this was taken.

It Doesn't Stop

In our house Buzz is the coolest toy and the most played with toy. (thanks to a yard sale he was only 50 cents.) They also love to watch Toy Story 1 & 2. Our Buzz is the full-sized version with the laser, the talking buttons, and the wooshy helmet thing. :) His buttons say things like, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue." "There's a secret mission in uncharted space." and my personal favorite. "To infinity. AND BEYOND!"
It's this particular phrase that causes me to write today. JM has been saying this for months. He holds out one arm just like Buzz and runs around the house shouting at the top of his lungs. "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!" He does it first thing in the morning. He does it at bed time. Any toy he plays with flys and says this. He even has been heard talking about Buzz in his sleep. This has been going on so long that I pretty much tune it out. Although recently I've notice Little Peanut says something awfully close to that when she sees Buzz laying on the floor. And she says it just as loud. It's rather cute. I guess JM is rubbing off on her. I must say though she is definitely more gentle with her baby dolls that JM is. It's interesting the things they pick.

Who Doesn't Like Free Stuff?

Once again,Shannon at Bloggy Giveaways is hosting a fall giveaway carnival. Last time over 500 people gave things away. Head over there to see the details but I will certainly be giving something away again. I had over 200 comments. I wanted to give everyone something. I will post my giveaways on the 29th so get ready to comment. And it will be open to bloggers and non bloggers alike. You just have to have an email address. See you then!!!

My Graduation Present ...Finally

When I graduated from high school 8 1/2 years ago very dear family friends gave me a beautiful present, a quilt top in a wedding ring pattern made out of Nigerian materials. It was really lovely but unfinished. My sister wanted to quilt it for me but with her large family it just never happened.I got married 3 1/2 years ago and the subject was brought up that we should do it together. That never did happen either. I've asked about it occasionally and even looked into having it professionally done but that was going to be really expensive.
About 3 weeks ago my mother called and asked me to go with her somewhere on Oct. 11. She wouldn't tell me where, not even this morning when she came to help us get ready. Even as we were driving to another town near us she wouldn't tell me. We got to a church I was very confused. She made me bring the camera but said we wouldn't be very long. I was really confused. We walked into a large room and there were six older ladies there working on a quilt. I still was confused. They said they had something for me and it finally clicked. They finished my quilt! I. WAS. SO. EXCITED. They are a small group of women who finish quilts for a fee. They take the money they make and donate it to a mission organization that buys blankets for people in other countries. Mom had it done for me and its beautiful. I love it. Thank you mom and Aunt Delores. :) This is me 8 1/2 years ago with Uncle Frank and Aunt Delores.And this is me this morning with the ladies who finished it for me. p.s. for those of you with small children you need to check out this link It's about infant cough and cold medicines being withdrawn from the market.

Holiday Cooking ~Sweet Potato Souffle~

Overwhelmed with Joy is hosting a holiday recipe exchange. Since I love the holidays I just had to join in. I love this recipe. I'm always looking for an opportunity to have it but I usually only get it at Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's almost good enough to be dessert. Here it is.
Sweet Potato Souffle
3 cups of mashed sweet potato (3-4 large baked sweet potatoes, or canned)
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2/3 cup of milk
Mix all of that together and put in a casserole dish.

Topping
1 cup of chopped walnts
1/3 cup of butter soft
1 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of flour
Mix together and sprinkle on top of casserole.
Bake @ 325 for 35-40 minutes.
YUMMY!!!! In fact I think I need to go get some sweet potatoes cause I just can't wait till next month. For more tasty ideas head on over to Overwhelmed with Joy and look around. I'm sure you'll find something to taste. :)

Spabeggi

Spaghetti has alway been a family tradition, only when I was little I called it "spabeggi." When I was growing up we had it every Sunday for lunch when we came home from church. My mom would make the sauce from scratch on Sunday morning and leave it cooking while we were at church. I can remember walking in the door and the whole house smelling of spaghetti sauce. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. All we would have to do is set the table and make a salad. Mom would boil the spaghetti. If we were having company there would be garlic bread to go with lunch. Occasionally, whoever came over would bring dessert. No matter how simple or elaborate. Every Sunday was spaghetti.
My mom would use different spices in the sauce and she always used a bay leaf. She would leave it in the sauce and whoever got the bay leaf on his or her plate was responsible for doing the dishes. Guest or not this rule stood. Now there have been those who tried to get out of it. Some have eaten it whole. And others have sneaked it into their napkin and flushed it down the toilet. Others, like me, have tried unsuccessfully, and sometimes successfully, to sneak it onto someone else's plate when they aren't looking.
Now, Sundays are difficult in our house. Between lots of people to get ready for church and sometimes long services lunch doesn't always come out well planned. I do feed my family spaghetti regularly though. Unfortunately I haven't taken the time to make it from scratch, I just use a bottle. Here is the next generation enjoying a family tradition.

Girls Soccer

My niece Belle, Mama Lily's girl, had a night soccer game yesterday. Its always fun for the girls to play under the lights. And this game was particularly fun because they beat the rival team 9 to nothing. Belle made a beautiful goal. I have very awesome pictures but they are stuck on my brother-in-law's camera. I borrowed his very expensive camera and the very cool telephoto lens. So alas, the great action shots will have to wait til later in the week.
After the game Belle and the other girls had a cake fight. Instead of eating their reward they used it as a weapon. Here are her mug shots. All she needs is a number now. She wanted to go show Doodle Bug who's in the hospital but she didn't think they would let her in looking like this. So she settled for pictures. Here you go Doodle. You were missed.