Jack'o'lantern Beef & Bean Pots

For some reason, blogger won't let me upload any pictures tonight. . . could be the SLOW internet. ha ha ha. This dish is made in individual bowls (or pots or mugs that can go in the oven). I used 6 glass bowls that hold 1 cup of food. I'll add photos as soon as I can to help because you need the visual to see what to do with it all.

Jack'o'lantern Beef & Bean Pots:

1 lb. ground beef

2 teaspoons chopped onion

1 can of pork & beans

1 can tomato sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup Bisquick

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 tablespoon ketchup

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottoms & sides of your mugs/glass bowls/pots. Cook ground beef & onions over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes until done. Drain. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, & brown sugar.

Pour into mugs/glass bowls/pots.

In a medium bowl stir the Bisquick, water, & ketchup until a soft dough forms. Beat vigorously 20 times.

Place dough onto a floured surface & form into a ball. Knead about 10 times or until smooth.

Cut dough into 4-6 smaller balls & roll them flat. Cut with the rim of a cup about the same size as your mug/glass bowl/pots.

Carve a jack'o'lantern face into each dough piece & place on top of your bean mixture.

Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes until crust in light brown. Enjoy!

Jack'o'lantern Pizza

My dear sweet husband put this one together all by himself. Lorien had soccer practice until 5:30 so when I came home this was in the oven baking away. He even made a face on it. What a good husband I have!

Jack'o'lantern Pizza:

1 Frozen Cheese Pizza

Pepperoni

This one is simple. Cut your pepperoni into shapes for your pumpkin's eyes, nose, & smile & add them to your cheese pizza. Bake as directed on the box & you're DONE.

Cutie Pie Pictures

As I'm frantically trying to get my blog updated before Halloween hits (just a few days away), I'm finding some adorable random pictures along the way. So I thought I'd make a post with some of the cute randoms pics of the kiddos.

Craiger is getting SO big & can sit up by himself now. This has been HEAVEN for me because now I can get a cart that both he & Bladen can be strapped down in. It's REALLY difficult to shop when Bladen can't be strapped into a cart. I wind up coming home with some RANDOM things like toothpaste, candy, & cookies simply because he throws them into the cart (or onto the conveyor belt) without me seeing. Craiger is SO MUCH HAPPIER sitting up than he ever was laying down.

I will do a post later dedicated to costumes, but here's a sneak peak of Taya's since I finished her's first. We're doing "THE INCREDIBLES" this year & she is Edna Mode. Look at that sassy look on her face. She's PERFECT.

I can see SO MANY THINGS WRONG with this picture. Why is Bladen picking his nose (& why did he "miss")? Why does Bladen have the My Little Ponies & why does Taya have the ninja warrior? Seriously? Silly kids.

Craiger falls asleep in the weirdest positions. Silly boy.

Enjoy!

Taya's Birthday Breakfast

I know what you're thinking. . .

HOW MANY BIRTHDAYS DOES ONE KID NEED?

We do all three things in one day. . . I just like to separate them on the blog because there are so many pictures involved with birthdays. We always do a birthday breakfast in the morning, then their birthday party with friends later that day. Then we open presents from family later in the evening (usually). So, if it's your birthday your ENTIRE DAY is special.

So, we woke Taya up bright & early to start her special day off right! There's nothing like having your favorite breakfast served to you in bed.

With our birthday breakfasts, there are always ding dongs with a candle. The kids LOVE blowing out candles.

I can't believe my baby girl is FOUR YEARS OLD.

For Taya's special breakfast she requested Chocolate Chip Mickey Mouse Pancakes, scrambled eggs with bacon & cheese, orange juice, & her ding dong. YUM.

Bladen ALWAYS enjoys the ding dongs. . . he snuck onto my plate & ate mine too.

Happy Birthday Taya Girl.

Taya's 4th Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Taya. Taya had been talking for six months about having a Sleeping Beauty birthday party. I thought for sure she'd change her mind by the time her birthday drew near, but lo & behold. . . a sleeping beauty birthday it was.

My girls LOVE my barbie cakes. I think they plan their entire party around what kind of cake they want. Little stinkers. . . they don't even like cake! This was a really fun cake to make though. I think a little part of me knows that Taya is my last girl so I've got to hold on to these precious princess years as long as I can because before I know it, they'll be gone.

Taya dressed up like Snow White for her Sleeping Beauty birthday party. . . yeah, I didn't get it either, but she's the birthday girl.

Daddy even showed up in a Prince Phillip costume. Taya was SO SO SO excited to have Sleeping Beauty's prince come to her birthday. (even though she knew it was just daddy)

We had 9 little girls come over for her party, plus my girls (which made 12 total). Several of the girls were dressed like Rapunzel from Tangled. I had to laugh. It's a popular costume this year.

The first thing we did, because this was a Sleeping Beauty party after all, was make princess crowns. We can't have a princess party without crowns.

Then each little princess got to get their picture taken with Prince Phillip. The kids were SO excited about it. It made me laugh.

Next I had each little princess design their very own castle. I bought these fun sticker castle play sets on Oriental Trading & it was the perfect activity for a bunch of 3-4 year olds!

Bladen thought all the princesses & girly things were crazy. He thought it was fun to chase them all around the house!

And then there's Trek. What a dork dot. He called this the

"TWILIGHT PRINCE."

We had Oma & Tylee here for the birthday party & it's always fun for me to watch Trek & his mom interact with one another. They are a crack up.

For our final activity, I had each of the princesses come &

"prick" their finger

on a spinning wheel so they could fall fast asleep just like Sleeping Beauty.

Once they were all "ASLEEP," I gave them each a ROSE sucker to hold in their hands while they awaited their prince to break the spell. Then Prince Philip came & gave each princess a

"KISS" (aka Hershey Chocolate Kiss)

to wake them up.

Then it was time for cake & ice cream. Wahoo!

and a little friendly strength competition between brother & sister. Trek won, by the way.

Tylee's job was to keep the boy's happy throughout the party. She loves her nephews.

And finally we opened lots & lots of FUN presents. Taya got all sorts of FUN TOYS!

As the girls were leaving, Taya gave each of them a little goodie box. Each box contained 3 bags of surprises:

A red bag labeled: "The Gift of Beauty" bestowed by Flora

It had some nail polish, chapstick, hair bows, bracelets, & girly things inside.

A green bag labeled: "The Gift of Song" bestowed by Fauna

It was filled with a kazoo & a tambourine.

And a blue bag labeled: "The Gift of True Love's Kiss" bestowed by Merryweather

It was full of chocolate kisses.

The kids loved them. It was a TON OF FUN. Taya told me it was the

bestest birthday ever!

It was fun once everyone left & we were able to play with all the fun new toys she got.

Happy Birthday Taya, my sweet little princess. I love you SO much.