Bladen's Big Boy Bed

So now that we've found out we're expecting another little boy (HOORAY), & also because of the fact that Bladen keeps trying to climb out of his crib. . . we bought him a toddler bed today. He's got 4 months to figure it out before Craiger comes. We got him some CARS bedding & set up the bed tonight to see how he'd do. He LOVED playing on the bed. Once it was time for lights out, it was a different story. He bawled his eyes out. Non-familiar things are so scary for little ones, but he did eventually fall asleep & was SO cute in his new bed. Hopefully he'll get used to it & love it as much as we do. What a sweetheart!

Breadstick Spiders in Chili

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/hallmain/cauldron-chili.html

I'll let you read the recipe on this one. It's a little long, but not hard at all. And you can make your favorite chili or even just open up a can & pour it into a bowl.

For the spider bread, just get 1 package of refrigerated breadstick dough & separate into 12 breadsticks. Take four, cut them in half & then roll each half into a ball. You should have 8 balls on your cookie sheet.

Then cut each of the remaining breadsticks into 3 long skinny strips & then cut those in half. So you're getting 6 little strips out of each breadstick.

Pinch the "legs" onto your spider ball & then spread the legs out. I used foil so that my legs had a little bend in them once baked. Bake for 15 minutes & voila! You have a spider bread!

Spaghetti Brains

This is another one of my kids' favorites! And it gets them to eat their veggies!! Double Score!

Just carve your favorite colored pepper (orange are my favorite, but our local supermarket was out) like a jack'o'lantern, & then fill it with your favorite spaghetti recipe. Meatballs make it even "grosser!" Make it look like the pepper's brains are spilling out all over the plate. My kids love making comments & jokes about these. (I love them because it's the only time I can get my kids to eat a WHOLE pepper!)

Yummy Chocolate Bugs

During Fall Break (when the kids were home from school all day), we made little chocolate bar bugs to take to some neighbors. They were easy enough for all my kids to do & they made a fun little snack!

Get snack size Mounds or Almond Joy bars to use as the body. Then cut pretzels into little loopy looking sticks & push them into the sides of the candy bars to make little legs. Then put some chocolate frosting on top & put candies on top of that. (We used Nerds) VERY easy & a fun hands on activity for the kids.

Thanks to Taste of Home magazine for this fun idea.

Monster Hand Sandwiches

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Salad-2/Detail.aspx

These are also very fun & very easy. I used the recipe above for the chicken salad (& boy is it good!) & then made the sandwiches. Each person get's 2 sandwiches. . . take off the crusts on both. One full square is the monster's hand. The other square cut into 4 equal strips & assemble as fingers. Add an almond slice to each finger tip. Super Simple!

Cheeseburger Pie Pumpkin Head

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/holiday/jack-o-lantern-cheeseburger-pie-recipe.html

I got this recipe online (see above link) & it was FABULOUS!! I loved it, my husband loved it, & my kids ate it right up. It's much easier than it looks too!

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup ketchup

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

3 cups (12-ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided use

2 tablespoons water

1 large egg

Red and yellow liquid food coloring

Cook first 5 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Stir in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce; cool.

Unfold 1 piecrust, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread mustard evenly over crust. Stir together meat mixture and 2 cups cheese; spoon onto center of crust, leaving a 2-inch border.

Unfold remaining piecrust, and cut out a jack-o'-lantern face, reserving pastry cutouts to use as a stem. Place crust over meat mixture; crimp edges of crust, and fold under. Place stem on top of jack-o'-lantern face.

Whisk together 2 tablespoons water, egg, and 1 drop each of red and yellow food coloring; brush over crust.

Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes; remove from oven, and brush again with egg mixture. Fill eyes, nose, and mouth with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake 5 to 10 more minutes or until golden brown.

Pork Mummy

This was a very yummy dinner & VERY simple too. All I did was buy a small pre-seasoned pork roast & then 2 packages of refrigerated crescent dough...& an apple. I put the roast in the crock pot & let it cook all day on low. Then about 30 minutes before dinner I took it out & wrapped it up with strips of crescent dough. (The head is an apple wrapped up) The kids loved eating it & the pre-seasoned roast was fabulous!! So there you go. . . a simple, & fun Halloween dinner!

Then & Now

For those who didn't know, Trek & I spent our honeymoon in San Francisco over 9 years ago. Now that we live so close & go so often, I was looking through some of our old honeymoon pics & found some matches to some new pics we took. It's funny to look at them side by side to see how much & yet how little we've changed over the years. Enjoy! I hope they make you laugh as much as they made Trek & I laugh!

The Blue Angels Air Show

Did I mention how much I love San Francisco? It's been so long since I've been a city girl & boy does it feel good! We decided to spend the day at the Pier & Fisherman's Wharf so we could watch the Blue Angels Air Show!

We parked the car & immediately ran into this guy. . . he was his own one man band. At first I laughed because it reminded me of Burt on Mary Poppins, but this guy was amazing! He was playing modern alternative rock music with his guitar, harmonica, & drums hooked up to his legs & feet. It was VERY entertaining.

The girls were hungry so we stopped off at Burger King & got some good eats! I swear Phil (Tylee's roommate) is a total kid magnet. My kids wanted him to sit next to them. He was so good with them! He needs some kids!! He'll be a great dad someday!

After lunch we found a perfect shaded spot on the lawn by the beach to watch the air show. We were under a big tree so the shade was WONDERFUL on such a hot sunny day.

Bladen was the big winner of the day. Who knew he'd love airplanes so much? We were cracking up at him. It was like Christmas to him. What a cutie pie!

Where we were sitting we had a gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge. How cool is that?

After the air show was over, we walked up to Ghirardelli Square for some chocolate!!!

Tylee gave us a tour of the factory & we got to see how they made the chocolate as well as the chocolate river (that reminded me of Willy Wonka).

It was a perfect day in San Francisco. I can't wait until next month to see what we're going to do next!!! Love you Tylee!

At Auntie Tylee's House

Once a month we get to go visit Tylee in San Francisco. We always stay the night on Friday night & then go to the temple on Saturday morning. Then we tour San Fran for the rest of the day. I LOVE IT! And Tylee LOVES being with the kids which makes me really happy.

She lives right in the middle of the city in the cutest little yellow apartment. I love how all the houses/apartments in San Francisco are tall & have lots of stairs. They are adorable. Thank you Tylee, Phil, & Elliot for letting us stay in your home every month. We sure do love it.