in a pumpkin patch far, far away....

Today was Brielle's school annual Halloween parade and Grandpa’s Pumpkin Carving (annual for them, first time for us) and since she doesn’t have a grandpa that lives here, (so sad) Colby had to play the grandpa role and do the pumpkin carving. We watched the parade which was so fun to see all the kids parade around the school in their cute costumes. It always gives me so many ideas for years to come that I never thought of and then it was time for the kids to do a little singing and the pumpkin carving. The kids sang about 5 Halloween songs that were so precious.  I was wondering why Brielle has been practicing those 5 songs over and over in the cars everyday on the way home and now I know. Then came the part that we prepared for all night last night; the pumpkin carving.

I figured this pumpkin better be perfect since we went to 5 stores and a pumpkin patch to find the dumb thing and finally found a pumpkin at Trader Joes. All the stores were out of pumpkins. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a fiasco. (Enough ranting about that, cause I could go on and on about it.) Anyway, Colby found the best pumpkin online that Brielle was just going to love; a Princess Leia pumpkin from Star Wars. 

So they copied it. It turned out so awesome, it looked way good, check her out. Everyone was impressed it was by far the most creative and impressive pumpkin there (way to go Gramps).  Brielle, you should be so proud of your daddy he out did himself this year on the Princess Leia pumpkin. Now, I am not so sure how Brielle is going to take it when she finds out we have to throw her away after a few days. Oh well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

halloween carnival

Our kids were so stinken cute as we headed over to a fun little neighborhood Halloween carnival with the Posti girls in the LDS church parking lot by our house. It was great because there were tons of neighborhood friend there, the kids got to dress up and it was just simple and easy and not a huge fuss and totally fun. We had hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and candy of course. There were fun little games like the cake walk, ring toss, donut eating, dart toss, football toss, but I think the best thing there was this fun little train thing that they rigged up. The kids loved it. I think it was their favorite part of the whole little carnival. Cooper could have done it all night if I let him. Anyway, it was a great time had by all. Thanks Jennifer for making sure we were invited.

let the cookie crumble

Okay so if you are wanting to make some awesome sugar cookies that you can actually frost and set on top of each other without it messing up the frosting try these ones. I love these cookies and they are so yummy, fun to make, and pretty easy. You can’t beat sugar cookies when you can cut out any shape you want with a cookie cutter and walla you have a pumpkin, ghost, or even a bat that look good.  The sugar cookie recipe is from Colby's mom and the frosting is from a Pampered Chef friend of mine, Rachael, thanks girls for the yummy recipes.

Sugar Cookies

1 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 TBLS. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add rest of ingredients. Roll on floured surface and cut out. Dough may be chilled before rolling. Bake at 400 degrees for 6 8 minutes.

Sugar Cookie Frosting

(This will set up so the cookies can touch with out messing up the frosting)
2 1/2 Cup of Powder Sugar
1/4 Cup water
4 tsp. meringue powder
1/4 Cup light corn syrup

Beat Powder sugar, water, and meringue powder on low until combined then beat on high 4 min. (or so) until soft peaks form. Add light corn syrup and beat 1 more minute. Then add food coloring. Spread on cookies and let cookies sit out overnight and enjoy.

gorgeous gourds

Okay so if you are needing some Halloween or Fall inspiration check in each day because I am going to do some fun Halloween/fall activities for the next four days up until Halloween just to get us into the spirit.

Today we did a really fun activity I found last year in my Family Fun magazine (which by the way if you haven’t seen this magazine it is awesome if you have kids), the activity was called Gorgeous Gourds. It was really fun and turned out so cute. It would be really fun to do even after Halloween. I got gourds for really cheap at Walmart (2 different bags of different varieties) and then the kids and I went on a nature walk. We headed to Country Side Park and found fun thing to decorate our gourds such as pinecones, pine needles, rocks, leaves, pods, beans, berries, etc. Then we went home and later that night made our cute little creations. Are they not so fun, adorable and so creative? We had tons of fun and it was way cheap. (Oh FYI I used a hot glue gun to keep everything together) Now we have two cute gourd characters decorating our kitchen. The fat little round one is Brielle’s and the tall, skinny one is Cooper’s, cute little creatures. Have fun creating!!! (Oh don't forget you can always click on our pictures to see them nice and big, isn't Cooper cute with his gourd creation.)