Halloween Craftiness

It's day 2 of the SITS Halloween linky and the theme for the day is to share something you have made for Halloween. So, show your creative side today and link up your post. You could win a Canon Rebel T2i!

Here are a few Halloween crafts that we have done. Some from this year and a few from the past.

Happy Halloween!

5 Months

5 months already?! Stella is growing so fast! She is eating her first foods now and so far, she has loved every new food we introduce. Of course she is still the happiest baby on Earth. Smiling at everyone she sees and giggling all the time. Today, her Poppy was absolutely sure that she waved at him! Who knows, maybe she did. ;0) She went to her first Halloween parade and although she was very sleepy, curiosity got the best of her and she just had to sit up and watch. She did not miss a thing! I keep thinking about how much fun Christmas is going to be for her and how very lucky we are to have her!

The Ghosts of Halloween Past

The girls over at SITS are hosting a series about Halloween. How fun! The best part, one lucky SITSta will win a Canon EOS Rebel T2i. Who needs candy when you can get a treat like that?! The theme for today, Halloween Past.

Spiderman (Michael), Dalmatian (Aaron), Firefighter (Brandon)

I am happy to share with you, my boys.This seems like so long ago. Now they are all teenagers and would not be caught dead dressing up in anything but a ghoulishly, bloody mess. I have fond memories of taking them out trick or treating. Now, I have to pat them down before they go out to make sure they are not taking the eggs or toilet paper with them the cause mischief! lol!

Dorothy (Felicia), Witch (Madelyn)

   But thankfully, because of our seven year pause between the boys and the girls, I still have a few years of cute costumes like these. This was taken just two years ago. I am sure when the girls hit their teenage years, I will be going through a lot of the same things that I am going through with the boys. So, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts! Happy Halloween!

Would like to share your Halloweens of the past? Link up over at SITS! Who knows, maybe you will even win a cool treat for yourself!

Stella's First Play Dough

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

A Spooktacular Meal!

This week's theme for Muffin Tin Monday is Halloween! I think the Halloween theme is my absolute favorite. You know, my very first muffin tin meal was a Halloween tin, 2 years ago! You can check it out here! That was way back before I knew the trick about turning the paper liners inside out so you can see the details. (Thanks Muffin Tin Mom!)

Well, this is what we came up with this year:

• A Mummy Dog (hot dog wrapped w/ crescent roll dough)
• Worms (Ramen noodles)
• A Jack O' Lantern (an apple half)
• Severed Bloody Fingers (carrots w/ pepper fingernails in French dressing)
• Spare Organs (kidney beans)
• A pumpkin patch (green pudding and pumpkin candies)

A hit as usual!

If you would like to participate in Muffin Tin Monday or even if you just want to see what other moms have made, please visit Muffin Tin Mom! I dare you to!

It Smells Like Fall!

This play dough recipe is a must for fall! It just smells so good!

You will need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (of course I had none, so I just made a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger)
• red and yellow food coloring

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir over medium-low heat. Continue to stir until the mixtures reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove it from the heat and knead it when it's cool enough to handle. (This is the best part! I love kneading the warm dough, especially when it smells so good!) Store in an air tight container.

We made a few pumpkins by adding some leaves and stems cut from pipe cleaners. Madelyn also just rolled out the dough and made some pumpkin "cookies".

Wordless Wednesday-More Fall Fun

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

A Tuesday Tin

Did you know that Muffin Tin Meals are just as fun when you have them on Tuesday? Well, they are! We were extra busy yesterday and missed our regular Muffin Tin Monday, so we decided to shake things up a bit and have it today.

Here is Miss Madelyn waiting patiently for the "okay" to dig in!

 And this is what she got to "dig in" to:

•  apple juice
• fruit snacks
• vanilla pudding
• cheddar bunnies
• bologna and cheese stack
• a clementine

If you would like to learn more about Muffin Tin Monday, check out this video that The Muffin Tin Mom (aka-Michelle) made. Or, if you want to see some other Muffin Tin meals from this week, go here.

We Love FaLL!

Fall has always been my favorite season. I love when the weather gets cooler, pulling on warm sweaters to take the chill off, and watching  the leaves turn from green to bursts of beautiful color. Traditionally every year at this time we take a road trip to World's End State Park. This year, was no different, (except for the fact that the boys didn't wan to go. Oh well, I DO still remember what it was like to be a teen.) But anyway, we had a girls day. My mom and I took the three girls for a fun filled day outdoors.

The drive up was beautiful. The sun was shining brightly through the trees and the colors were amazing. I never get tired of the view even though we have been taking this same trip all my life. When we arrived, suddenly out of no where, came the wind. Brrr, it was chilly! But, a little cold has never stopped us, after all, my mom reminded me that when we were very young, there was a time that it was actually snowing while we had our fall picnic. I was very thankful that it was NOT snowing!

We unloaded the car rather quickly, trying to stay warm. Sat down to eat, only to have our plates blow off the table and food flying everywhere. Of course the girls got quite a chuckle out of that. After eating faster than I have ever eaten in my life, we gathered up all of the food and chased down a few paper plates blowing in the wind and headed out for a walk.

Finding a good walking stick is the key to a good walk.

We stopped a few times to collect "the best leaves ever!"

And we took a few pictures.

At first, Stella was not so sure about this playing in leaves business.

But, eventually she came around and had lots of giggles.

We ended our day with some fun at the playground. (and a long nap in the car on the way home)

Paper Jack O Lanterns

Wordless Wednesday-Mommy's Helper

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

Muffin Tin Monday-Pumpkins

The theme of this week's Muffin Tin Meal is Pumpkins! Can you tell the girls were super excited about that? I only had one chance to get a picture of them because they really could not wait to dig in!

We used a few cute accessories to create our muffin tin today. Pumpkin vine sprinkles, pumpkin baking liners, and our favorite pumpkin cookie cutter.

And here's what we came up with:

Top row: an orange Jack o' Lantern, a pumpkin shaped grilled cheese sandwich, and Goldfish crackers
Bottom row: carrot sticks, vanilla pudding with pumpkin vine sprinkles, and a rice krispie treat with pumpkin vine sprinkles

Go here to check out some more Muffin Tin Meals.

I Could Have Googled It

Being a mom of six, I know a lot about parenting. As they say, "This ain't my first rodeo." However, sometimes I do have a question, like I did in this post about making baby food. I could have easily Googled it, but would I have gotten the same results? I don't think so. One of the things I love about blogging is making connections with other moms. Ask a question, and you get "real" answers. So, thank you to all of you who took the time to leave your thoughts and the links to sites or products that have worked for you. I plan to go through them all and work from there. 

Thanks again,

First Foods

When Stella had her 4 month well check a few days ago, her pediatrician recommended that now was a good time to introduce solids. Well, with the cold that she has had this week, she was not very interested in trying new things. So, the first few attempts failed miserably. But, I am nothing if not persistent, so I went along with the motto, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"  So, with much patience, I gave it another shot...and another...and another. Until at last, she got it! Just like a baby bird.

So far, she is just eating rice cereal, but looking ahead I am thinking about making our own baby food. This is something that I had always wanted to do with my older kids, but working full time left me with very little extra time, so I went with commercial baby foods. It was just so much easier.

So dear readers, I am seeking your advice. Have you made your own baby food? What worked for you? I would love to know. Thanks!

Sniffles and such.

Stella woke up last night with a bit of the sniffles. She was awake several times throughout the night, which really is not like her at all. Today, she slept a lot and was not her usual happy self, but coincidentally, she had her 4 month well check up today so that saved me from trying to get her an appointment. Of course, when we arrived at her doctor's appointment, she was happy as could be and really did not seem sick at all. (Isn't that the way it always is with kids?)

Her exam went well. She is now 12lb. 9oz. and 24 in. long. She cooed for the doctor and nurses as if to have a conversation with them. So cute! As far as her cold goes, it's just that, a cold. Her lungs were clear and no problems with her ears, so we'll just have to wait it out. Because she had no fever, she was able to get her immunizations. Here she is waiting for the nurse to come in. As you can see, she had no interest in getting her picture taken because she was too busy playing with her toy.

She did however, enjoy playing with the crinkly paper on the exam table.

 Then, the nurse came in and her fun came to an end. She got her shots and was not at all happy about it. :0( But, within a few minutes, she snuggled up with her blankie and fell fast asleep.

Wordless Wednesday-Two Crazy Kids

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Fall Leaves (Tie Dye Style)

Decorating for Fall is one of my favorite things to do. We couldn't decorate for Fall without some leaves, so here is how we made ours.

First, mix 2 tablespoons of water with 10 drops of food coloring to make some water colors.

Then,

Next, 

and lastly,

For another, mess-free way to make some colorful Fall leaves, go here.