Happy Halloween

Saline County opted to celebrate Halloween on Saturday this year instead of tomorrow so we've already handed out all of the candy to the trick-or-treaters. In an effort to out-do my neighbors I made goodie bags filled with candy and a Halloween pencil.

I got these precious bags at Target, my happy place.

Here is my assistant candy passer-outer:

I feel sorry for the kid who dressed up as a cat...

This was the candy station but eventually we moved it outside. By the way, I went through all of those bags, made some more and went through those too. Apparently we are in the right neighborhood if you like to pass out candy.

She looooooved it! All day I told her that trick-or-treaters were coming so she had been on the lookout for a while. I wish this picture could convey how fast that tail was waging.

In order to avoid a lawsuit from knocking a small child over, I leashed the 40 pound pumpkin. Actually, Mamie was dressed as a cat dressed as a dog dressed as a pumpkin. At least that's what she told people when they asked, "and what are you supposed to be?"

I thought I'd throw this in too since it's sweet.

Happy Halloween!!

Caramel Apples and Fire

Last night I made caramel apples to give to the wonderful group at the vet's office and the girls that do my hair. I've never made them before so they did not turn out as beautiful as I had hoped but I'm sure they were delicious.

Side note* I wouldn't know how they tasted because I have a near fatal allergy to apples. No, I'm serious. It is called an oral pollen allergy. These allergies are caused by plants or fruits that interact with the pollen in the air when eaten. For most people the reaction is limited to a small rash but rarely the reaction can be more serious causing the throat to swell, cutting off oxygen supply. Well that would be what happens to me. One weird thing about this allergy is you can have the fruit or plant when it is fully cooked so I can have apple juice or apple sauce just not raw apples. You also can touch the fruit just not consume it. It's strange but true. Now you know how to off me.

Here are the ingredients: Caramel, apples, toppings, popsicle sticks, milk and vanilla extract.

First you clean the apples, remove the stem and stick the popsicle sticks through middle.

This is about a bag and a half of caramel with two tablespoons of milk and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Melt in microwave.

Roll the apples in the caramel and toppings. I had three varieties; plain, nuts and Reese's Pieces.

Next you take your photo with your creation. Normally I would have my husband take the photo but he was long asleep on the couch.

I wrapped the apples in cellophane and secured with fall ribbon.

This the platter I made for the vet's office. I feel like I owe them for taking care of our little handful of a mutt. Although I don't think 40 pounds qualifies a dog as little...

This process took some time so at 11:45 p.m. I was cleaning the kitchen when I heard some sirens near by. I didn't think much of it since our neighborhood is close to a busy road. A minute or so later I heard a loud explosion. This I did think something of and ran outside to see what it was. This is what I saw...

It was a house on fire. This is not in our neighborhood but in the one that backs up to our culdesac. There are two empty lots of land that are between us and their tree line. I took this picture after a while - don't worry, it was not my first step of action. That step was to start screaming at Beau to get off the couch and get outside. Once he saw what was going on began throwing on shoes and a coat. I, on the other hand, was frozen. The scene was eerie. We could hear the fire alarms going off in the house, someone yelling, "No! No! No!" (obviously the homeowner), firemen yelling back and forth, emergency personnel radios, windows bursting and of course, the fire. The heat was so intense we could feel it from our backyard. Standing there I all I could do was cry and pray. At the time we had no idea if everyone had made it out of the house (we later found out they did but lost their cats.) I have never seen a house fire and especially at such close proximity so the whole thing was overwhelming to witness.

It's hard to tell from my picture because the flash was on but the blaze was insanely high, reaching way above the tree line. You can also see the ashes landing in the lot beside our house so we decided to go outside and get out of the house just to be safe, Mamie in tote. As we got to the street we saw about five police cars - they were knocking on doors on our street to warn people of the fire and prepare them to evacuate just in case. We all stood there with the police and watched as the fire spread to the house next to the house where the whole thing had originated. It was horrible and yet nothing could be done because the blaze was so intense. There were countless firemen working furiously but they hardly appeared to phase the fire.

I cannot even begin to imagine what it's like to watch your home burn to the ground along with your most priceless items; pictures, heirlooms, everything. Don't get me wrong, I am not focusing on material possessions because in the end, they mean nothing. However, I know it must be wrenching to watch everything you own go up in flames.

It took the firemen close to two hours to contain the fire to the point where we all felt safe to go inside our houses. Of course it was impossible for us to go to bed so we continued to watch from outside for a while. Eventually we did go to bed. Beau left the house at 5 a.m. to hunt and said the firemen were still on scene putting out what was left of the fire.

After work today we drove to the neighborhood and could not believe what we saw; total destruction of the first home. Hardly a beam standing. The other house looked to be a complete loss but was still standing minus the side closest to the other house. I got out and spoke to a man who owned the second house. I wanted to see if there was anything we could do to help. He was in total shock but very gracious. As I'm sure he'd done a hundred times today he began to tell me the whole story and how everything happened so fast. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Something like this really does put things into perspective. I will certainly snuggle close to Beau (and the mutt) tonight when I go to bed and be thankful for the Lord's protection.

Please say a prayer for these two families. I know it will be tough rebuilding their lives, especially with the holidays around the corner.

A Tuesday Post

Last night I made a Paula Dean recipe; goulash and boy was it good

(if you like that sort of thing.)

My grandma used to make goulash and I totally thought it was something she invented and named. It just sounded like a title she would give a dish. However, once I got into the real world I realized other people ate the same dish.

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
3 cups water
1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 cups dried elbow macaroni

House Seasoning:

salt
black pepper
garlic powder

Directions:

Brown meat along with chopped onions
Cook noodles. Once they are done, add rest of the ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat, stirring regularly.

The recipe makes a lot so it is perfect for a family or for two if you want leftovers for days.

We were in the attic the other day and I found the below craft I made last year:

I just printed the letters on an orange damask scrapbook paper and framed them.

This was my first take and, as usual, Her Royal Highness thought she needed to be photographed.

Still in the festive mood I made mummy dogs the other night.

Super easy! Hot dogs, crescent rolls, cut into strips, and cheese.

I asked Beau the next day if any of the guys at work had mummy dogs for supper. He said, "Nope."

I'd Like to Report a Case of Voter Fraud

I bet she showed her rabies tag as a form of I.D.

My mom will be the least amused with what I'm about to say

This picture makes me want to have a child just so I can dress him or her up as Colonel Sanders for Halloween.

Front Fall Decor

Here is the front door in all its festive glory:

The pumpkins are not real. I got them at Michaels (half off, of course) and painted them so that they can be used every year.

Beau did the spider webs.

Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Decoratin'

I have had my house decorated for fall for some time I just haven't taken pictures for the blog.

This is the first picture I took of the coffee table. Someone thought she needed to be in it.... Diva.

Notice that I haven't painted the table or chairs although I've sure talked about it.



A close up.

A cute faux floral arrangement.

This is the fabric I found earlier in the year. I made a table cloth for this end table out of it.

I'm working on the front porch so hopefully will have pictures of that soon. I'm really excited about it because I think it will turn out really cute!

2010 Vacation

My parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephews, Beau and I had a wonderful beach vacation last week. It was so nice to relax with family and make lots of memories. The weather was amazing, the beach was not crowded and the water was beautiful.

It was so clear.



We all stayed in a nice, three room condo on the beach. Here are a few shots of it:




Two balconies; one facing the beach


and the other facing the road and channel (at least I think that's a channel. It's been a while since seventh grade geography.)

It was great to see the boys have their first beach experience.




We hunted crabs. I swear that is what these are even though they look like spiders.

We also made several trips to the pier.

Fisherman Beau caught this puffer fish. The bait; shrimp.

Here he is with another catch. This little guy had some sharp chompers.

Yours truly on the pier. The first two days we were there the mornings and evenings were a little chilly but it warmed up the rest of the trip.

Here's Hudson showing off after his bath.

Beau fishing in the morning.

"Hunka Beau" and Carson buried in the sand.

Love this picture.

I spent a lot of time reading on the beach. This was the book of choice:

I know you can appreciate the book, Laura W.


And just because it was so beautiful, here's another beach shot: