Yee Haw!!

This is Ben in his costume on Thursday night. We went to the fall festival at the church. I realized that there wasn't a great shot of the boots in the other post. The boots will now be retired. If I don't...do you know how many black marks will be on my wood floor?? Those boots may have cured him of ever wanting to be a cowboy. I never should have bought boots at K-Mart!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood tonight. It was nice and bright outside when we began. Ben thought that he had to eat the candy as fast as he got it. His bag stayed pretty empty for a while. As the night progressed, we hit more and more houses and his tummy couldn't keep up. I kept telling myself...it is only once a year, it is only once a year!!

As the night wore on and the darker it got, the boys opted for a ride in the wagon!! Easton was a giraffe.

This is what the wagon looked like at the end of the night. I also found some empty candy wrappers in his bag!! Tummy Ache!!

I discovered a way to get a lot of candy....tell a Georgia Fan 'War Eagle' BEFORE they give your kid candy. They will load them up with sugar in hopes that they never go to bed that night.

Look at what my crafty neighbor made!

Creepy!!

This was the art du jour at our house tonight! There were a total of 6 spiders. Since it was Ben and his daddy's job to hang them up, these made it to the kitchen. The other 3 are randomly spread throughout the house. They sorta go with the theme that I keep all year long....cobwebs. Maybe I can just leave these lovely critters out all year and the cobwebs won't be as obvious.

Cute Craft

Look at these cute decorations that Ben and I made this afternoon when he came home from school. They were super easy. I had a string of Christmas lights under them, but Mr. Safety, Jr. thought it may be a fire hazard. He is only 4, but so much like his daddy. We decided to save the lights for the tree and let our new friends rest on a bed of pine straw.

Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved pumpkins. This is my 'pirate' pumpkin.

Michael carved this scary one. He did a pretty good job!

Happy Birthday Poncho!!

Saturday is Poncho's birthday!! We love you!!

How much do you throw away??

I used to laugh at my friend Amy for walking out of work with the boxes that the Capri Sun juice pouches come in. Then I noticed a plastic bag hanging on a hook in her class with scrap paper in it. Don't get me wrong, we recycled cans, paper and plastic in New Orleans because we had the blue bin to put by the street with our trash can every week. Well, Amy was actually taking this stuff home and putting it with her household recycling and bringing it to the recycling place. That seemed like a lot of work for me, so I just gave her my stuff from my class so she could bring it too. I know that Amy is a smart girl so I decided to try it. Let me just tell you. We have one of those big, rolling trash cans that is so big a riding lawnmower could fit in. I started with everything--milk jugs, milk cartons, newspaper, plastic bottles, cans, cereal boxes. We were averaging a bag of trash from the kitchen can everyday, sometimes more. That is at least seven bags a week. Now, we only have about three bags of garbage in our can at the end of the week. Oh no, it didn't all just disappear. Now, it is all in my garage. (Thanks Amy) Now, about every other week, Ben and I load up the plastic containers that are set up to keep everything separated into the car and go to the recyclers. I have to admit, I look forward to going to the recyclers. I feel like I am doing something for the Earth. If you don't recycle already, START!! (or you can bring your stuff to Amy and she will recycle it for you)

By the way, the picture is of the recycling that I accumulated in one day in our house. After I took the picture, I added an olive jar. It adds up very fast!!

Pizza Time

We have always loved thin crust pizza, but have a hard time finding a place that makes it just like we like it. We can thank Tower Pizza in Metairie, LA for spoiling us!! I know my new secret weapon has always been on the shelf at the grocery store--it just took me a long time to realize that great crust can be 'instant' and not have to rise for hours on the cabinet. I have discovered Martha White crust mix. It is super-cheap (66 cents) and only calls for one ingredient..water. I can get 3 pizzas that are about 12 inches round out of each pouch of mix...we like it paper thin. This is my pizza. I like a little sauce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese and a little sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Michael likes meat and peppers on his. I make Ben one with cheese and pepperoni. It is actually the most crisp one because it only has two toppings beside the sauce. The crust is great for kids. You can cut it in slices and it holds its shape so their little hands can pick up the whole piece. I figured out that if you use the least amount of water, the crispier the crust. So, don't even use the full amount called for on the package. Give it a try and let me know how fast your family devours it!!

Welcome Poncho!!

I have talked my partner in crime into starting a blog!! You can visit his blog too!!

Ben's Boots

By looking at these boots anyone will be able to tell what Ben is going to be on Halloween. Yee Haw!!

Sunday Gumbo

Seeing the picture of Ben sitting behind the pot of gumbo prompted me to get out my big pot and make a gumbo yesterday. I was able to get all of my ingredients ready while the roux and juice were boiling. I make chicken and sausage gumbo...even though for every bowl of c&s gumbo he eats, Michael will ask me to make a seafood gumbo. Maybe one day. My gramdma makes gumbo just like this!!
After the gumbo was made and the Saints lost their game, Ben woke up from his nap and we made cookies. These are the cookies out of the book by Jessica Seinfeld, Deceptively Delicious. I make them often. They are a very healthy version of chocolate chip cookies...there are chicpeas in them. Also, there isn't as much sugar and no egg yolks, only the egg whites. Another great thing about these cookies is that they keep their shape when you bake them. I use a little ice cream scooper and they are perfectly round on top and flat on the bottom. I put them in the freezer (notice the ziploc bag) and put a few in Ben's lunch everyday. I don't have to feel guilty about him getting junk...and they have lots of fiber because I also add raisins and oatmeal!!

If you have this cookbook and kids, get it out and look and see if there are things in it that your little one wouldn't eat when you got it but would eat now. Ben has discovered that he likes cheesesticks just recently and there is a healthy version in it. Next I am going to try the chocolate dip for fruit. Ben eats an apple almost everyday. I need to jazz those apples up soon or he is going to get tired of them, just like he did broccoli.

The Snack Bar!

I was looking on my mom's card in her camera and I found this picture that I forgot that I had taken. Every one of the grandchildren has sat at the snack bar at my grandmas and watched her cook. This has got to be where I learned how to make good food. Mo Mo makes everyone their favorite..some like peas, some like pork-n-beans, some like cabbage. She knows what every grandchild, great-grandchild and great-great-grandchild likes and makes sure to have it all cooked when it is time to eat. It looks like we were having gumbo in the picture of Ben sitting at the snack bar. Of course, some don't like okra in the gumbo, so it is always on the side. I personally like gizzards in my gumbo. Mo Mo is still cooking on that old stove in Louisiana.

Sunday at Our House!

I can't say that I am crafty like one of my blogger buddies. I am so far behind on my scrapbooking that I am scared to open the cabinet where I keep my unfinished projects. I don't bake either like my friend Amy. Since I am a Cajun from Louisiana, cooking is what I do best. Mom and dad brought some shrimp when they came. I decided to cook them on Sunday. I started peeling them and saw that I had enough to keep the peel on some and boil them up. As I was working on the shrimp, Michael fried some green tomatoes. It wasn't easy to get this picture. Michael and my dad were wondering why I was taking their treats. You always think that you have enough of this cajun delight, but you never do. We put some remoulade sauce on the side for dipping. We weren't done when these goodies were devoured. I used the peeled shrimp to make shrimp creole! I even made my roux from scratch! C'est Bon!!

The Rock Ranch

We are keeping Nanny and Paw Paw busy while they are in Georgia. Today we drove about an hour northwest to the Rock Ranch. There are lots of activities for children spread out over about 15 acres. There is a corn maze there and I have always wanted to go through one. Upon entering, we were given this stick with a flag on one end. If we were to get lost, we just hold up the flag and there are people sitting on deer stands and they will guide us back on track. I wouldn't say that we were lost, but we surely didn't have the patience to find the exit. Apparently we were some of the first visitors and all of the workers weren't there yet because the 'guides' were not in place. Luckily, we found the entrance and used it as an exit. When we came out of the maze we made a big deal about being out of it so Ben thought that the 20 minutes that we were in the maze was all it took to really find the exit. I didn't realize that corn is such a complex plant!
The REAL reason for our trip was to see the 'Pumpkin Cannon.' It is this redneck creation that shoots pumpkins a very, very long way. Since we were cannon 'groupies' Ben was picked to help aim the cannon for the first firing. The pumpkins go so far that they had to drive a four-wheeler into the field on the other side of the pond to get the cows to move out of the way!

We had a great day. After we left the Rock Ranch, we drove through Barnesville and Nanny spotted a restaurant that looked like it might be good. She was right! With our tummies full of fried squash, ribs, fried chicken, veggies, and a little dessert, we drove up to the outlet mall in Locust Grove.

The Fair!!

Today we went to the fair. Ben has been talking about it for a year. It wasn't the rides or the food that he didn't want to miss, it was the baby chickens. Nanny and Paw Paw are in town from Louisiana and they wouldn't miss the fair.

Can you see Ben and his daddy in the pink bucket? Last year he wouldn't get near the sky buckets. This year he rode them twice.

Here they are with the famous baby chickens. Poultry World is always our first stop and usually our last.

The bumper cars and the racing car roller coaster were Ben's two favorites! Daddy was a good sport....fair rides aren't the smoothest rides.
The weather wasn't the best but we had a great day! It was a wonderful way to kick off our Fall Break from school. We can enjoy our days off and our visit with Nanny and Paw Paw.