I Am a Witch

Well, here they are, pictures of me as a witch at Colin's party today. Yes, you can laugh. Also, the cake was made by Jen Alves (McMullen), Kaya was Sleeping Beauty, both boys were Bumblebee from the Transformers movie, Sarah (next door neighbor) was Vampira. Court was a cat, but none of the pictures I took of her came out. We got Colin some Sonic, the Hedgehog figurines. He loved them.

Trick or Treaters will be here soon. Happy Halloween!

What I Did on Hallows Eve...

This is the first time I've carved a pumpkin without children around. Or so I thought... I forgot about the cats. Here is Zee, exploring the cave I created just for her apparently.

Then there's 2 pics of the finished product.

Zee was very curious about the flashing strobe light inside, but it was too dark (clueless as to how to work all my camera features) to see her checking it out.

Maybe... just maybe... there will be pictures of me in my witch costume at Colins 5th birthday party tomorrow. No guarantees!

Halloween

Why I Love Halloween

by Miss Jen

As a child, Halloween was rarely allowed. Thanks to the news stories of razor blades in apples or drugs injected into candy bars, my mother kept us home most Halloween nights. That, and do you realize the time and effort that would've had to go into making 10 or more costumes? As the younger 5 siblings grew, the older kids were allowed to bring them out to a few "mother-approved" homes so they could experience Trick or Treat.

But that's not why I love Halloween.

My kids got to enjoy everything about Halloween. School parties, church functions, trick or treating, costumes, yard/indoor decorations, jack o' lanterns and CANDY! I have photographic proof that they had fun!

But that's not it either!

I like Halloween because, on the very next day,

Costumes, Candy and More are 50% off!

My dress-up chests get new stock. My food storage gets some added sweets. My book collection gets bigger. I can pick up a few new decorations for next year too!

Of course, if I wait another week, it goes to 75% off, but the selections are smaller and yucky.

Recipe of the Day

I have found this website, for those of us who are diabetic, that gives out a recipe a day.

http://www.diabetes.org/recipeoftheday.jsp

I've tried the Beans with Red Rice and it wasn't bad. Today's Cucumber Salad sounds easy enough to do. I don't know about the low fat dressing though.

Somehow, I won Larry's contest about the picture he posted on his blog. Go figure! I never win anything.

Fantasy Football this week: Brian is beating us by .56 points. We each have TEs to play tonight with ours being slightly favored. It's going to be a close one!

sad day

After three attempts in writing this blog entry about my feelings today, I've decided to give up. It became too depressing for me, and WAY TOO wordy for a simple blog entry!

Don't ask me what is making me depressed. It's just my life and how things/kids are turning out to be very different from what I had imagined even 4 years ago.

Maybe it was brought on by the rain today. Or was it the bills I paid or having to do the housework alone because my daughter no longer helps... she's 18 now. It's a yucky day.

Some Stuff and Such

I'm happy that I didn't get all my windows winterized this weekend. Today was a gorgeous day and the cats have missed being able to sit on the window sill and smell all the odors or watch the critters scampering about.

T said we had a few Mighty Maxx toys. I don't remember them and I obviously didn't save them! They were a HUGE success today for the boys. Now they think Santa can bring them more of their own! Sorry Santa!

Next door neighbors finally got a replacement sitter. C did a great job over the summer and set such a high standard that the Dad found it hard to find someone he could trust, stay the hours he needed, have a drivers license, be first aid certified AND not be allergic to cats. He found this 18 yr old English Major from Fitchburg (the college). She seems very nice and, like C did once or twice, locked the door and left the key inside of the house on her 2nd day! So they hung out with me this afternoon.

We LOST our fantasy football game =( The next game... we play vs. the husband of my boss! We beat him once already though! Here we come again, Brian!

Mighty Maxx

My girls were spoiled with the number of toys they received to play with each year. They played with many of the "mainstream" toys of the time. I mentioned Starcastle in an earlier entry, but what about the Polly Pockets?

Cute, little wallet sized toys with tiny little pieces. Perfectly sized, so any child could choke on the pieces if they weren't supervised. My girls loved them and never put the pcs. in their mouths. They made a great quiet time activity for church meetings or waiting for a sister to get out of dance class, plus when closed up, it fit into their pocket.

But what about boys? Not having sons of my own, I wasn't paying attention to what the boys version of Polly Pockets was at the time. The 2 boys have enjoyed playing with Polly Pockets, but wanted to know if they made "boy" ones. So, I did some research.

I came across Mighty Maxx pocket toys. Not a pink one in the lot! This collection of pocket sized toys has monster labs, caves and more for little guys to pretend with all day long. Yes, even with no little kids of my own anymore, I'm still collecting toys. My "far off in the future" grandchildren will love to visit their Noni's house. I hope.

What I Learned From Previous Entry

Well, the dinner in a pumpkin is over. What did I learn?

• Use an "eating" or pie pumpkin. The flesh of the jack o' lantern kind is very blah tasting.
• A 5 pound pumpkin would have worked out better.
• Thin out more of the flesh when cleaning out the goo to reduce cooking time. After 2 hours, the flesh was still crunchy.
• We found the meat/rice mixture a little on the bland side. After we added salt, we liked it better.
• I might alter the recipe to fit it into several acorn squash, whose taste I like better than pumpkin.

This is one recipe I will do again... with some revisions.

T, I tried to upload a video of todays snow, but it wouldn't let me. Watch the Pats game and you'll get a little idea of our snowfall, though here in NH, NONE stuck to the ground.

An Autumn Dinner... in a PUMPKIN!

Many years ago, at a church function, my daughters and I enjoyed a "Dinner in a Pumpkin". Over the years I have often thought of that dinner and how fun it would be to make it as a Halloween dinner tradition. But time went on and I never looked up a recipe for it. Until this year, that is.

It's cooking now and we'll be eating it at halftime as the Patriots play Tennessee. Just in case it's any good, here is the recipe.

Warning: do not try this recipe at home if you have to fight with your kids to eat squash!

Dinner in a Pumpkin (serves 6)

1 small to medium pumpkin (ours was 7 pounds)

1 diced medium onion

2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 pounds of ground beef (though I think ground meat of any kind would work)

1 1/2 cups of cooked rice (wild rice should work too)

8 oz. can of sliced, drained water chestnuts (then, chop them up a bit more)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

4 oz. can of sliced, drained mushrooms (though, NOT IN MINE!)

1 can of cream of chicken soup (I used the low sodium variety)

Cut off and save the top of the pumpkin. Clean out the seeds and goop.

In a large skillet, saute the onions in hot oil. Add the meat and cook thoroughly. Drain off the grease.

Add soy, sugar, soup and those yucky mushrooms. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the rice and chestnuts. Mix well.

Spoon into the pumpkin shell. (mixture filled our 7 pound pumpkin about 3/4 full)

Put on the top. (DO NOT REMOVE THE TOP DURING THE COOKING TIME! The rice may expand and overflow!)

Place onto a foil-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until the pumpkins flesh is tender.

(Note: my pumpkin was about 1 inch thick. It's been in for about 80 minutes thus far and feels like it needs another 20 minutes.)

Serve directly from the pumpkin as the pumpkin has become the veggie.

Happy Halloween!

Fantasy Football Update

Well, we're currently 3-2-0 with the 3rd highest points and ranked 4th overall. We're matched up against my employer this week.

She's 2-3-0 and thinks she can win based on the leagues "projections". She's promised not to give me a pink slip or a pay reduction if our team pulls off the upset. Of course, her husband has a lot to do with her current success. Morning sickness has made adjusting her team each week a little hard, so he does it for her. All in good fun! I'm not complaining. After all, B and I work on our roster together with B making most of the choices. He has time to do the research.

2 more windows down this morning. I'll probably do 3 more before the end of the day. This chore would go faster if I wasn't so picky about the dust and grime before putting on the plastic. The cats find this chore fascinating and full of smells for them to check out. Gracie's afraid of the hair dryer and vacuum so she runs away when I turn them on. Not Zee! She's fearless!

Well, back to work!

Matter of Perspective, I Guess

Four months from now, during a 46 degree day, we'll be in our T-shirts saying, "What a beautiful, warm February day!" However, in the middle of October, on today's 46 degree day, everyone is wearing coats and mittens. They're moaning and groaning about the upcoming, normal NE winter and its snowstorms!

I began winterizing our home tonight. I have 2 windows free of spiderwebs and dust. I filled any visible gaps with foam weatherstripping. I secured some "shrink to fit" plastic sheeting to keep out the drafts.

Two down! About 10 more to go! (We don't winterize every window.) In February I'll be looking forward to removing the plastic and opening windows on that 46 degree day (at least one of them).

Dress-up For Halloween... Remember?

Let's see if I can recall the costumes my girls dressed up in over several Halloweens. I won't even try to remember who was what or when!

A Clown. An Elephant. Snow White. Belle. A Christmas Elf. The Pink Power Ranger. A Ballet Dancer.

That's all I can remember, though I know there had to be more, even with "hand-me-downs".

Well, this year, the boys are both being Bumblebee from the Transformers movies and Kaya has been looking forward to being a real "Sleepn' Booty"! Here... she models her outfit. She says she won't wear it again until Halloween and that it won't be Halloween until it's DARK outside!

Her 3rd Bird Day

We had a little "Miss Jen" birthday party for her this afternoon. Her mom gave her a Mulan doll and her own collection of Snow White figures so she can stop asking daily for mine. Colin cooked her scrambled eggs and bacon (her favorite). Connor gave her some Y-Ties laces for her new shoes she'll be getting soon. I gave her a pink Barbie horse so all her princesses can now take turns riding a horse. I also got her to wear a Birthday Princess crown. She loved her bird day. Binky withdrawals were light today and mom reports that she sleeps in their bed now because of no Binky. Oh well! The toys you see in the picture are the ones I got from ebay to go with my girls Starcastle.

Birthday Eve

Tomorrow Kaya turns THREE! She's excited and sad at the same time. She's been warned for months that on her 3rd birthday, she would have to turn her Binky's over to the Binky Fairy. The fairy collects Binky's from 3 year olds then cleans them to give to new babies, like the one her mom is having next year.

She was fine with it all until today when the realization of the warning hit her. It was explained to her once more. Instead of agreeing as she had in the past, she pleaded, "But Mom! I will share my Bink's with the new baby, I pwomiss. Pleeze, no let the Bink Fairy take my Bink's!"

Gee. I wonder who'll win this battle?

I tried to sing Happy Birthday to her today, but she shut me down telling me, "Only sing dat song to me on my birdday, Miss Jem!" I set up the Playmobil unicorn castle for her when I found myself being scolded for placing the candles and the harp in the wrong places.

As annoying as her behavior sounds to others, I still love the kid. Strange.

Falling for Fall!

Today was a school holiday, also known as Columbus Day. After a morning of playing, watching Canterbury Ghost and eating lunch, we headed outdoors. First, we found a bunch of leaves. Then, in the driveway, we "waxed" them. We plugged in an iron. A heavy towel was our ironing board. We used paper towels to protect the iron from 2 sheets of wax paper. Next, we raked a pile of leaves over to the slide. They made a 3 person train on top and slid down repeatedly. They took turns getting a running start then landing in the pile. Kaya was good at the belly flop. Cupcakes for snack! A good day!

Apple Crisp

Jimmy and C went apple picking yesterday and brought the apples back to me so I would make them some apple crisp. How Sweet of them!

Jimmy is home for the weekend and won't be returning until Thanksgiving weekend so I guess I can make him some crisp. Besides, it does wonders for my self esteem when he tells me he likes it! Maybe I'll make him some Taco Filled Shells to bring back with him. He says that's his favorite meal.

My secret to this apple crisp? It's a totally different kind of crispy topping. It's not filled with oatmeal or brown sugar, just butter, flour and sugar. I need to thank a sister in church for giving me her recipe.

Well, they're off to the Topsfield Fair now. C promised to get me some honey sticks and a turkey leg since I didn't get to go to the fair this year. She's picking up some maple cotton candy for the kids. It's turning into a very brisk, chilly, sunny day, perfect for the fair!

Family

I got a message on my machine last night from a brother I haven't seen in about 25 years. He would be in the next town for the snowmobile grass drags and hoped I would be home so he could visit. I'll be in and out all day doing Saturday errands and chores, so I'll probably miss his visit, I hope.

This older brother was never close to me. He made choices that eventually made him lose his wife, kids and ultimately cost him his freedom. He was recently released from the California penal system where he had time to reflect on his life and the consequences his choices made on others. Now he wants to build relationships with his siblings. He has lived with my Dad in the North Country of NH for about a year now and while we've exchanged a few emails concerning our fathers health and the life of our mother (as I mentioned in a previous post, she passed away in 1968), our relationship hasn't blossomed.

This is OK with me. My family is large (15 siblings & too many nieces/nephews to count), and dysfunctional. Over the past 23 years I have tried to keep somewhat apart from them. Mostly to protect my children, but with T & C grown and on their own for the most part, I continue to feel the need to protect myself from my family. I don't want to be sucked into the various, destructive, addictive lifestyles that many have chosen. Nor do I wish to participate in the constant re-hashing of our family's troubled history or play the blame game they all play about why their lives suck so much. No success stories in my family.

I hope and pray that C & T will never feel about each other the way I do about my family. After all, there's only the 2 of them. Will they ever like each other enough to be friends and confidantes? I hope so.

Happenings of the Day

On my way to work this morning, the weather was beginning to turn gray. (Forecast called for a rainy day) Off in the distance something yellow caught my eye. Was it the sun making an effort to be seen? No, it was a hot air balloon bringing tourists for a morning ride over what may be the most beautiful, colorful sea of foliage in some time.

Easy day at work even with 2 extra kids. Connor had school, the neighbors did not, so they came over. Sarah played girl activities with Kaya while Colin and Jimmy played together. No fighting! Nice! We painted pumpkins. Oh... a "scruff" is a scarf in Kaya-ese.

Our home had its foundation sill fixed. Thanks Mario! Now B is reassembling the deck. Keep your fingers crossed. B took the cats to the groomer and experienced for the first time... cat carsickness! HEE HEE! Gracie had just eaten when he got the call that an appointment was available. Getting there was no problem. The stress of having her claws trimmed, combined with being in a cage and going for a ride resulted in... Blech!

Good-bye until the next post!

Cops and Globbers

Just a few more words or phrases I'd like to remember from a little girl who will be 3 next week.

Miss Jem, we locka da dowah so no let globbers get us, right? (robbers)

Pleeze, no chicken nuggets for my lunch. I no like a dem no more. (I agree with that!)

No! I no like ribbons for my lunch! (She meant ribs)

Just a quick THANKS to B for removing the air conditioners so promptly and neatly (for the most part).

C, start some laundry please.

And T, Octobers loan payments have been sent. At least the 2 that get billed to us. Good Luck with paying your other loans.

What Once Was Old Is New Again!

I'm glad I saved many of T & C's toys from childhood. They have come in handy in keeping the little one occupied without spending much money. The Disney princesses, waffle bricks and Happy Meal Barbie dolls to name a few, have been huge playtime successes with her.

Lately, she's been enjoying their old Starcastle Tea Set by Trendmasters (a now defunct toy company). She keeps asking me for her own Starcastle but I'm not giving this toy up!

I enjoy watching her little mind come up with imaginative scenarios to play out. The toy is a working teapot (I won't let her use this feature, who knows what T and C left in there 15 years ago) with removable teacups (which double as rooftops of the castles towers) and it opens to display the interior of a castle. It comes with 2 tiny princesses, a table w/chairs, a frog and several other little accessories.

She plays with it so much, I took to ebay to find additional accessories for the toy.

SCORE!

So now, Kaya will get a new look for this toy and since I'm keeping the toys, they'll be enjoyed by my grandchildren (which I'm in no hurry to have yet, but someday)

Defeated!

We can no longer hope for an UNDEFEATED Fantasy Football season!

With 1 quarter left to play in Monday nights game (GB vs Minn), we were ahead by 10 pts.

There was no way we could lose with our ace, Adrian Peterson, in the game. So I went to bed.

In the morning, I discovered we had LOST by 10 pts!

Adrian!

So we fall to 3-1-0. However, we are ranked 3rd this week and have the 2nd highest total of points.

Fall Decor and Peek Week

Connor convinced his mom that he was sick and couldn't go to school. She fell for it... again! I have no doubt that he woke up with a sore throat, but it's allergy season! My throat was scratchy too. It goes away after breakfast.

Well, with him at home, we decorated a Haunted House made of gingerbread. We went to Friendly's for lunch then off to Kaya's dance class. It was Peek Week! Unlike the others in her class who cried for their moms when they spied them, when she saw me "peeking" she smiled and wiggled her butt or tapped her feet or sang Yankee Doodle the loudest. What a show-off! Enjoy the photos!

I Didn't Mean to BUT...

As I was driving home from the bridal shower, I was finding it hard to see the road and my vision is 20/15 in both eyes, thank you very much. It was a warm, sticky, drizzly night with spotty fog covering some sections of the road. Also, they have repaved several miles of Rte. 108 (a twisty, turny road) and with no new lines painted yet, I had to go real slow to be safe.

This said, there was no way I could avoid them! What? Squirrels? NO! Chipmunks? NO!

I couldn't avoid the FROGS!!!

I don't like the creatures so one might think I was hunting them down on purpose. However, I don't want their frog spirits haunting my dreams at night. I assure you, I was not frog hunting with my car! With the fog and the dark road, they went unseen until they hopped out of nowhere in front of my car and ultimately under my tires. Squish.

EWWW! I just realized I have frog guts on my tires! I hope it rains a bit more tonight to wash their cooties away!

Another Marriage

I'm off to another bridal shower for someone I used to teach when I was very young. Kathryn Donahue will be married on Dec 18, 2009. OOOH, that's just a few days after my T celebrates her 2nd anniversary!

B is working some overtime today and C is down in her bedroom doing homework and more college applications. Johnson & Wales in RI is her latest one.

I'm grateful for the quiet day. It might sound boring to others, but I'm loving it! Have a good day!

Doctor, Doctor Tell Me The News....

Doctor checked me out today. Just a routine 3 month check-up. I've let watching my carb intake lapse a bit and so my A1c has crept to its highest level I've ever had. No more pasta with the kiddos! Blood pressure is good though! And my cholesterol, while still high, is lower than it was 3 months ago. Flu shot (not the H1N1), check, PT/INR (because they forgot to do it during my lab work 2 weeks ago), check, and weight (It hasn't gone up or down in over a year), check. and... Yeah, I know... I need to exercise.

Our Chicken Tender MAKING project went very well. However, the lunch EATING portion did not go as well. Maybe they weren't hungry? Maybe the tender was bigger than the frozen nuggets they are used to having? They liked the taste, I did too, but I couldn't get them to eat more than 1/2 of the tender. They ate their mashed "volcano" potatoes and sliced strawberries, just not the tenders that they made. Hmmm? Well, I have the weekend to come up with other foods to try on them and have them help me cook. Suggestions?

Stupid Camera Phone!

I took an adorable picture of Colin cooking scrambled eggs for our lunch today (he's almost 5) but my camera won't download to my computer... for unknown reasons! But boy! He was so proud of himself. He even persuaded his mom to let him cook some more eggs for their supper tonight. He wants to be the cook for tomorrows lunch too. I'll be looking online for an easy chicken tenders recipe later.

We listened to a CD of "kid-friendly" Halloween stories while waiting for Connor to get out of school. Kaya loved The Ghost With One Black Eye. We listened to it 3 times and later, she had me repeat it to her. She retold the story, in her words, to Connor and I wish my phone had video capabilities, it was that cute! (Not that my phone would've let you see or hear it!)

Zee has fallen asleep on my left arm so typing is slow. So I'm stopping now. Goodnight.