Happy Halloween!

I was inspired by my son's preschool teacher to create a marshmallow pumpkin centerpiece for a Halloween party my son and I attended today. Here is the finished product...

It is really easy to do and makes a great statement! I simply bought a bag of large marshmallows and dipped them in melted chocolate. I did that by melting some baking chips in the microwave. Once the marshmallows were dipped (with some help from my little guy) they were placed on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. That's when Jonathan went to town with the sprinkles! We then placed the cookie sheet in the fridge for a few minutes to let the chocolate set. Once the candy had hardened we were ready to get out the skewers.

We poked the the marshmallows to the flat end of the skewer then speared the skewers into the pumpkin. Around we went and before you knew it we were done! The kids had a ball pulling out the sticks with a tasty treat on the other end...which also helped avoid sticky fingers! A great treat to make with your little ones!

When the party was over, we decided to let Daddy in on the fun and gut out the pumpkin in order to hammer in more holes to turn into a great jack-o-lantern!












It is now glowing on our front porch!

My Fall Decorations

I decided to repurpose my plant stand that I had placed by the front door this past spring to fit in with fall. In early May I had bought these cute little pots and planted pansies in them, then for the summer, I switched to petunias, and now in the fall....I have put in some pumpkins!

We grew the two bigger pumpkins in our garden. They didn't amount to much, but the little guy had a ball planting them, watching them grow, and proudly picking them and putting them on display.

I also decided to repurpose a planter that was on the back deck all summer. The annuals planted around the outside had long ago lost their luster, but the grass in the middle still looks beautiful! So, I pulled out all of the annuals and placed the planter on the front step next to a nice pumpkin we got at the farm market.

We also added some corn to our lampposts and bought HUGE pumpkins at a local farm market along with some mums to finish off the post display. There is also a local gift shop that I love to shop at called Chickadees that had the cutest pumpkin decorations that you stick right in the ground. They make an instant display and I love them! Here are some more pictures of our fall fun decorating!

Only I Could Do It

Yes....only I could manage to gain 5 pounds the week I decide to go on Weight Watchers! Don't ask me how, exactly I did, but I did. I was sooo good to....the first four days anyway. I was down 4 pounds by Wednesday. I was thinking, "this is awesome!" I even went to the gym two days last week. Something I hadn't done in quite awhile. Then...Friday night rolled around and a friend of mine decided to have a party. That's when it all went out the window, and back on to my hips! This morning when I got up to weigh myself for the big one week finale...I weighed a pound heavier than I did when I started!

So, needless to say, I have been depressed all day. While I decided to be good and stick to the eating portion of my "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change" philosophy, I am NOT going to the stinking gym! After all, tomorrow is another day! (Hopefully not another five pounds)

Pink Eye!

My oh my, we have pink eye! I didn't want to hear it...hoping that it was a simple allergy, or cold, but no...."We definitely have pink eye going on" was the exact quote of our nurse practitioner at 8 o'clock last night. Jonathan has had a cold for the last week or so, with a running nose and cough, then yesterday the bloodshot eye reared its ugly head. He had the same thing about a year ago, so I am REALLY hoping this is not going to be a yearly occurrence in our household. Last time, however, he was given an oral antibiotic....this time, not so lucky. Eye drops. Have you ever tried to put eye drops into the eye of a fighting cat? Because I swear that was what it was like trying to put one single eye drop into my three-year-old's eye. It took both me and my husband over a half an hour to get the task accomplished. A lot of screaming, crying, and kicking, and hitting ensued...and that was only my kid. I too burst out into tears...feeling useless. Funny how they don't give you any suggestions on how exactly to administer those eye drops....if I knew then what I know now, I probably would have marched right back into that Dr. office this morning for them to do it!

Jonathan did much better this morning with his drop. I think it helped that Grandma was here and was able to coax him a little better than I can. They always seem to behave better for the grandparents, don't they? Anyway, only four more doses to go...

Our New Pet

Jonathan came home from preschool with a new pet!




That's right....a pet rock! He lovingly named him "Rocky" as you can see on his paper. He painted Rocky purple and blue, so he had to try off on the paper towel for awhile. My son loves rocks! In fact, one time Grandpa took him into a toy store and told him to go ahead and pick something out. Do you know what Jonathan came out of the store with? Yep....a bag of pretty colored rocks!

Rocky has now joined the collection we have at home and Jonathan plays with his rocks on almost a daily basis. If only the dog was so maintenance friendly.

Movie Confessions

Okay...fess up! Do you take your own snacks into the movies?

For the longest time, I would not do it...afraid to get caught. What exactly I thought the "movie people" would do to me is somewhere in my wild imagination, but I truly remember the first time my husband suggested such an outrageous idea. (yes, I was married and a full grown adult before I even attempted such a thing) I felt like I was packing heat in my purse instead of gummie bears. I looked around to make sure no one was looking as I carefully removed the bag from my purse and quietly tried to open the bag....which is quite a task. I felt like a siren was going off as I tried to open that sucker! Of course it didn't take long for guilt to set in, because that is the one true emotion I think I feel on a daily basis. I did enjoy them though. I have broken the "rule" on occasion since then, but I have to say that I truly LOVE movie theater popcorn. It is almost an obsession! In fact, I remember stopping at the movie theater on my way home from work when I was pregnant, because I just had to have some! That's right...I would go to the movies, walk in and buy overly priced popcorn, then turn right around and get back into my car! I would be lying if I said I have only done that pregnant, by the way. It was only the opening of the can of worms. So...since things have gotten a little tighter budget wise for all of us, I might have to start sneaking my microwave popcorn back into the movies....let's hope I don't get any butter on Vera!

(Vera, by the way, is my overly priced granny purse!)