A very Halloween House

Last night after trick or treat we went to Josh's friend's house. We'll call him Mr. Halloween. His house is really decorated. The kids love it! Here are some pictures. (this is where Josh and I went to the Halloween Party two weeks ago!)

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat

Here are some pictures from trick or treat last night. I would say that Tatum had the most fun! She was running from house to house. She also kept showing people the candy in her bucket!
Van and Petey were my little power rangers!!!!

Ollie was my little dinosaur.

Tatum was cheer bear.

ready to go and with two pumpkins!......really she just has Ollie's too.

Tatum keeping up with her big brothers. (no riding in the wagon for her!)


Ollie rode in the wagon!

Tatum enjoying a sucker.

The boys in front of the haunted house.


Ollie having fun running underneath the haunted house.

Petey checking out his candy.

Van checking out his candy.

Picture of Mommy & Tatum that Van took.

Daddy and his buddies.

Click here and here to see last years trick or treat.

words from a wise 5 year old.....

Tuesday night Petey looked at Josh and I and said........

"Sometimes a mans got to do what a mans got to do!"

lol....I am still laughing about this. :)

A normal day for me....

Ok, here it is, this is what a normal day is like for me. Josh leaves to go to work at 7:oo and he wakes me up. I usually don't roll out of bed till 7:30, unless one or more of the children are up....and usually they are. I get in the shower and get ready...(I have too or I can't function right) The kids are usually watching NOGGIN while I do this. I have Van's clothes laid out and he gets dressed on his own. I help Tatum & Ollie get dressed while telling Petey to get dressed. Then I have to dress Petey because he is still running around like a Power Ranger or Jedi or something like that.

Then we head down stairs. It is usually around 8:15. I make Van home made french toast (toast with sugar & cinnamon sprinkled on top) his favorite!! ...not always but that is his favorite. While he is eating.....I am putting coats and shoes on Tatum and Ollie. (Petey still running around like a power Ranger) Then I catch Petey and do the same. By that time, Van has shoes, coat and backpack on and no I didn't have to tell him to do any of it. Out the door we go to load up!

We drop Van off at 8:45 because he has to be there early and right when they let kids in! Then we head home. (Petey usually tries to talk me into taking a ride so he can listen to music) Sometimes I indulge him.

After we are home, I make the remaining three kids breakfast. Tatum and Ollie watch Nick JR and Petey hides in his room watching Cartoon Network......well that's what they all act like they are doing but really Ollie is sneaking outside with the dogs. Tatum is in the kitchen cupboards. Petey is running around acting like a Power Ranger or Jedi. This is the time that I check my blog , myspace, facebook, email....you get the picture.

Then I start thinking about Petey. Does he have homework ? is it done? Is all his school stuff gathered up? What do they want to eat for lunch? I make lunch. They eat and I start gathering up Petey's school stuff getting him ready for school......he usually has to change at least his pants or shirt from the morning. Oh yeah and he is running around like a power ranger or maybe Indiana Jones ?

My Dad usually comes over about this time. We bundle the kids up and start walking Petey to school. The time is now 12:00. It takes 30min. to get Petey to school and 30. min home. Sometimes we stop by the park on the the way home and let Tatum and Ollie play for a little bit.

My Dad leaves and me and the two younger ones have around two hours before we leave to pick up the older two. I usually do the dishes because they have piled up by now and if I don't they are a overwhelming before dinner. This is also the time when I switch laundry and put things away.

We leave a little before 3:00 to pick brothers up from school (even though they don't get out till 3:30) to be able to find parking out front so I don't have to get Tatum and Ollie out of the car. The boys come out and home we go.

Van and Petey have to snack when they come home. We get home about 3:45 and I start planning what I am going to make for dinner.

When there was football, Josh would get home around 6:30 or 7:00. Starting this week, football is over.

We eat dinner. I do the dishes. Time to start night, night baths. Tatum goes to bed first, around 7:00-7:30. Van is usually next with the bath followed by Ollie and Petey takes a shower and yes, of coarse, he is running around like a power ranger and Van is too! Van's homework is to read two books a night, every night. So we read books at bed time.....because we did this anyway. If Van had other homework we would do it before bath time. The after the kids are asleep, Josh and I usually watch a little TV. Then we layout clothes and all other stuff for the next day (because if not the mornings would be CRAZY!!!!!!) and go to bed to start the day all over again!
:)

Five Adjectives

Pioneer Woman asked the question today........"name five adjectives that describe yourself".
click here to read the post including the story about the movie "Heartburn".

Here are mine:
daughter
mother
wife
happy
silly

Kitty Litter Cake.......WHAT??

Yummy! My cousin Lisa found this recipe and gave it to me because she thought that the kids would enjoy it. It looks like kitty litter.....but it is actually cake. It's a Halloween recipe. Petey likes it, he said "um mm....good" but Van said" Mom you are trying to trick me, that looks gross, I am not eating that!"

Kitty Litter Cake

Notes: This is a fun Cake. It might look gross, but it taste good!

Ingredients:
1 (180z ) box spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 (18oz) box white cake mix
1 pkg. white sandwich cookies
large box vanilla instant pudding mix
12 small tootsie rolls
1 litter box (new one)
1 plastic scoop
green food coloring

Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans). Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in the blender. Set aside about 1/4 of crumbs. To the 1/4 cookie crumbs add green food coloring, mix with spoon or shake in jar.
When cakes are cooled, crumble into large bowl. Toss with half the remaining cookie crumbs and pudding. Put mixture into clean litter box.
Put three unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat till soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with three more and bury in the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of the cookie crumbs on top. Then scatter the green cookie crumbs over the top. Heat remaining tootsie rolls. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around . Serve with new pooper scooper.

enjoy :)


note: you can click the picture to enlarge it. That's Petey's hand picking the tootsie rolls off!

Favorites....

( I got this idea from G.R.I.T.S. )

1.CLOTHES: **well, lets be honest, I really don't buy a lot of clothes for myself anymore however if I did ** I Like Chadwick's , Newport News , J Jill , and Land's End.

2.Furniture ** don't buy a lot here either, but I would love too** Pottery Barn

3. City- Washington DC, then Williamsburg Va., Portland, Maine

4. Sweet - Chocolate, carrot cake (well, all cake) pie.....

5. Drink - DIET COKE! hands down

6. Music- I like pretty much everything......I go through phases.... I love Elton John, Coldplay, Ryan Adams, Pearl Jam, John Mayer, Van Morrison

7. TV- HGTV, Showtime ( The Tudors ), Discovery, History Channel, Animal Planet

8. FILM- way to many to even begin to name.......best movies I have seen lately... Smart People & Dan In Real LIfe.

9. Workout- walk my son to school & walk aerobics when I can find the time

10.Pastries- all of them!

11. Coffee- don't drink it!

confetti cake & weekend update

Well, as I mentioned in the last update, the kids stayed with Nanny & Papaw last weekend. Nanny bought confetti cake mix and icing but, ran out of time to bake it with the kids.So, Nanny sent it home with me........and here it is......It tastes pretty good too!
So, what did Josh and I do with our time away from the kids? We went to a Halloween party. (No, we didn't dress up) That was a lot of fun......I also did A LOT of laundry and Josh and I took a ride Saturday afternoon. I was a nice break....but I was happy to see my babies on Sunday! :)

Sunday drive to Coshocton

Nanny & Papaw took the kids for the weekend. Josh and I drove to Coshocton on Sunday to pick them up. I took some pictures on the drive there and on the start of the way home. I started taking pictures after Newark....so you'll just have to imagine I 70 through Columbus. Here is the Longaberger basket.







Conesville
We're here.
Hello Main Street.



Court Square.


goodbye Main Street.
over the bridge.

Heading Home......goodbye. :)

fall projects & lunch with Van.

Friday, Van turned in his Fall Project. He had to find 8 different types of leaves & 4 other signs of Fall. The teacher took his picture with his poster too and he had to tell the class what everything was. He was very excited. I also got to eat lunch with Van on Friday. Then I got to go to the book fair and recess with him. It was a lot of fun and I could tell that Van really enjoyed it too!

win a quilt....

Win this quilt.....now through Oct 17th.
...make sure you check out to see how you can get extra entries!