This & That

All Hallows Eve

Happy Halloween to all, especially to the little ghosts and goblins that happen to be related to me. If you have read here for any length of time, you realize that I really love seasonal things that I can put out at different times of the year.

Just like the changing of the seasons during the year, I mark the passage of time by putting these things out year after year. A lot of them I've spent time putting together.

Well, there's this. I didn't put this together.

Thank you, Target for giving me a Halloween-ish door....I just love Target. 

Anyway, my husband doesn't have the same inner need to see seasonal things come and go at the house, so I've had a little trouble getting him to fetch the various bins down from the loft....especially at this time of year when his interests lie mostly in the hills. And sadly, my slave boys have left the nest.

But I've learned to keep a few things where I can get at them easily just in case I can't nag negotiate the whole bin thing.

Does that make me passive-aggressively festive?

Possibly.

I can tell you that I was actively festive when I made these for the grandkids to eat at Sunday dinner. FYI they do not make that gel frosting stuff for left-handed people. I had to write "RIP" from right to left to make it work.

I haven't gotten costume pictures from all the grandkids yet, but Marc sent me this one of Isaac. He is very into sea creatures right now and told his mama he wanted to be a Blue Whale for Halloween. I'm thinking I would have curled up in a fetal position at that request, but Rachelle made it work.

One very cute little Blue Whale for Halloween.

And holy cow, look! I got pictures from my daughter of the pumpkin carving over the weekend. One thing you may not know about my daughter is that she doesn't really enjoy carving pumpkins. She has a real aversion to the slimy pumpkin guts thing.

But she conquered it this year by wearing a pair of gloves. Atta girl!

 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food stuff this week has revolved around a couple of goals...

The first one was to get the garden green chilies taken care of. They were just starting to get a little wrinkly around the edges and I really wanted to get a couple of chili relleno casseroles made for the freezer. You'll notice that I have put them in loaf pans. There's half a recipe in each one...the whole "cooking for 2" thing going to the freezer cooking level.

I roasted and peeled all the chilies. What I didn't use in the recipe, I just chopped and froze. I'll use them just like I use a can of diced green chilies.

The other goal was to put some food in the freezer for Eric's family. The other grandparents are in town for a while, but after they leave, I want to be able to have a few meals to take over so they don't have to cook. So I made some Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup, which freezes well.

And made a recipe of my sister's cornbread which also freezes. 

On the last Honey Day with Roger, we tried a new cookie recipe. I have made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies before, but the addition of some oats just adds to the "cookies are healthy for you" factor. I mean, pumpkin, oats = healthy, right? I found the recipe here, and right now it's one of my favorite place to find recipes to try. This recipe made about 5 dozen cookies for me. I used one of these cookie dough scoops to dish out the dough.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used all semi-sweet since that's what I have on hand most times)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Cream together softened butter and sugars. Add egg and mix well, then add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients, including oats and add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 350° for about 12 minutes. (Again, I prefer slightly under-done, soft cookies. I convection baked them for 8 minutes.) Then have your cute grandboy, who is very proud of his Bass Pro Shop hat, pose with the finished product:

 

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

It has generally been a gorgeous fall week weather-wise, which I have loved.

I finished off a Simon Says Stamp card kit that had been open and spread across my table for  a while now. I made multiples of a design by that was included on the project sheet in the kit.

And there were some multiples of this, the inspiration of which came from a member of Split Coast Stampers.

There was also some unfinished project wrap up. These small banners were stitched during the summer, before I broke my arm, but I hadn't gotten around to turning them into banners.

This is July's.

And August's. I still have September to do, but since it's October, I decided to move ahead and come back to it.

And October's.

The Project Life App pages for last week.

I feel like this has worked its way into my weekly routine so I'm not finding it too hard to stay current.

From the kids and grandkids this week, I got a few pictures of Collin, who is in transit right now between assignments. 

These were taken in Germany.

And apparently, the Rule of 13 is multilingual.

Since there wasn't much from the kids and I feel like it's been a long time since Ollie has appeared here, I thought I'd show you a picture. He follows me from place to place in the house. If I'm in the kitchen, he's in the kitchen, if I'm in the craft room, he's there as well. He's a social guy, who was also in trouble this week when he pooped in the crate where he sleeps at night. It never fails that this happens when my husband is in the hills. I don't know if he's making a statement about being left behind with me or what, but he was not my favorite animal this week.

That honor fell to Sam, who has a hard time holding still for a pictures.

And finally, from my sister's letter board....just in case you were wondering.

 

Hair-Raising Conversations

Yesterday I mentioned a conversation I had with a lady I'm acquainted with from my ward (church congregation). We discussed the weather, as I said, and then I showed her a picture of my new grandson.

It happened to be this one of Eric holding Ephraim. Then the conversation then took this turn....

"Oh...your son doesn't have red hair."

"No, I have half and half...3 redheads and 3 with darker hair."

"Well, which side of the family does the red hair come from, you or your husband?"

In my mind I'm pulling the knife out of my heart because when you're a (former) redhead, it really is part of your identity, and even when your red hair is changing color, you still think of yourself that way....thinking in your head that there are still enough coppery strands left that obviously you're a redhead. Then I realize I have to cut this very nice gal some slack, because she didn't know me when I was raising kids and had hair the same color as my daughter, and Collin, and Marc.

As an aside, perhaps I need to explain that I did think about coloring my hair when I realized the red was definitely changing into something else. I do miss my red hair, but I have chosen not to color it for a couple of reasons.

#1--It's really hard to get the same color I had out of a box or bottle, and if I can't have what I had, I'm not sure I want something that looks like it came out of a box or bottle, if that makes sense.  And #2--My hair grows really fast and I would have a lighter stripe down the middle of my head in about 2 weeks. I just didn't want to be tied to the hassle of maintaining it. I prefer to think that I'm aging gracefully, especially when I'm pulling knives out of my heart.

Of course, then I run the risk of what happened at my nephew's wedding reception. My brother's name is Ian, and it was his son that got married. We look quite a bit alike, probably the most similar of all the siblings. Well, this very nice lady came up to me at the reception and said, "You look so much like Ian, I can tell that you must be his mother." Now, I may be the eldest of the siblings, and my hair is turning color, and Ian is the youngest but really, I don't think I look old enough to have a 50-year old son. I'll take 36, which is how old my Evan is, but not 50. I very kindly told the lady that she was mistaken and she was very embarrassed, but I was too busy pulling sabers and ninja swords out of my heart to worry about it much. And that could probably be the subject of a Stuff I Know post, right? NEVER assume. Not relationships, ages, pregnancy status, what someone might be thinking or feeling, whether or not someone else's food/belongings are fair game to help yourself to. Just never assume. Always err on the side of caution, or ASK if it's OK to help yourself, and you'll just get into less trouble that way.

Anyway, my sisters (who have chosen to fight the whole greying thing) and my beloved mother, who actually IS the mother of said brother, laughed like hyenas, and it was at that point that I decided it was time to start the long drive home. It's taken me this long to be able to relive the moment without, well...crying. When I told my husband the story, he gallantly gave me a big hug and said, "Well honey, we're just a couple of old farts."

Thanks, hon. I feel so much better now.

On to the next part of the conversation....

"Actually, my hair used to be my daughter's color."

"Wow, really? So you don't color your hair? I just thought you were blond...or that you colored your hair blond."

"Nope, this is a redhead turning grey."

And trying really hard to keep it all in perspective.

Fall In Technicolor

I had an interesting discussion with a gal from my church the other day. I was waxing poetic about how I loved fall, and she countered with how much she disliked it. Turns out that with all of her pregnancies, she was morning sick during the fall and now she just has negative associations with it. Add the fact that she hates the cold. I can understand that. I really can...intellectually...in my head. 

But the rest of me is ecstatic about the cool and the colors. 

Fall colors just pull at me and make me happy. 

I can get behind spring, too, but as a (former) redhead, for my whole life these have always just seemed like the colors that belonged to me.

So I've been taking pictures around the yard for a few weeks now, just watching everything turn color.

The alien gourd species have been picked from their spot on the garden fence by the compost pile and are now decorating my front porch.

My weeping birch was this color all over about a week ago.

But we had a storm move through here over the weekend that had some wind blowing it along.

So now the tree looks like this. And is it just me, or can you see the one-eyed sad face on the trunk?

The wind blew most of the leaves around the corner by the garage where they will probably sit until I get motivated to rake them up, or until the grandkids want to jump in them.

Exuberance, Unlimited...

It's a little hard for me to believe how fast the grandkids are growing.

It's James' birthday today!

He's 3, if you can believe it. As with my own kids and all the other grandbabies, it doesn't seem that long ago that he was this size.

This boy has boundless energy and loves to explore anything, anywhere, any time. 

His adventures know no bounds. Love this boy and miss him now that he is far away, in the west. Happy birthday, James!

Monster Eyeball Cookies/Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'd pinned this idea for the Monster Eyeball Cookies a while ago, and having Isaac and Levi here a couple of weeks ago was a good excuse to actually give them a try. The original recipe is done with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. There's a link to them in that post, if that's the way you want to go, but with Levi's peanut allergy, I decided to go with plain chocolate chip. I've posted that recipe below.  Maybe you want to make these before Halloween and impress the kids in your life.

 

So you make whatever flavor cookie you want, and when they come out of the oven, you push a Rolo candy into the center of the cookie while they are still warm.

After the Rolos soften a little, you put a candy eye in the middle. I found mine in the Wilton aisle of our local Michael's.

As they cool, the Rolos harden back up. 

Below is the recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I've made since I got married. It comes from my grandmother's 1960-era Betty Crocker Cookbook. I almost always make a triple batch of these and hopefully I have enough after the locusts descend, drawn in by the scent of freshly-baked cookies, to freezer some. I've put the triple recipe measurements in parentheses for you so you can wear the Yet Another Day I Did Not Use Algebra (and by extension conic sections, Eric) t-shirt.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/3 cup (1 cup) butter, softened
• 1/3 cup (1 cup) shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 cups) white sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon (3 teaspoons) vanilla
• 1 egg (3 eggs)
• 1/2 teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups (about 4 2/3 cups) flour, depending on how you like the consistency of your cookie. I tend to add just a bit more flour
• 1 cup (2 cups, which is about 1 package) chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 375° Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Add vanilla and egg, then the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Blend well. Drop by teaspoonsful onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. (I like soft cookies, so I never bake them longer than 8 minutes.) Cool on wire racks.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

We had a day like this. This is borderline summer weather in my book. We're done with summer...over, finito, buh-by, go away.

And then we had a day like this. Most of the other days fell into my 50's-60's perfect weather range. Wow, I love fall. 

I was in Utah at the end of last week for my nephew's wedding. You might notice that both he and his cute bride have red hair. :)

They got married in the Payson LDS temple. What a gorgeous place, on a gorgeous fall day, and what a happy occasion.

They had a wall o'donuts at their reception, along with some hot chocolate. It was perfect for a chilly fall evening.

My photographer/letter board sister surprised us with this cute little addition to our collection of Halloween peg dolls. She even has red hair.

I started a very long-put-off chore of cleaning out the front hall closet. I knew it needed doing, but it always fell to the bottom of the priority list. When I couldn't close the door properly any more, I knew it was time.  It took about 2 1/2 days to get everything sorted, winnowed and organized. I found things in there I'd long forgotten about, but isn't that always the way it is with big clean-out projects?

I had a Honey Day with this boy. It's been since before surgery since we've had one. We went to Target and then came back to the house. When we came into the kitchen his question was, "What are we going to make today?" My plan was to try a new recipe for cookies, so I got the step-stool so he could help, but then he spotted the last of the Muddy Buddies I made last week with Isaac and Emmett and thought that might be just the thing for a snack. Just like the other boys, the candy corn pumpkins were the big hit. He didn't really care for getting the "power sugar" all over his fingers, though. In the end he just picked up the bowl and dumped it in his mouth. 

I did a little stitching. The quilt block was sewn and the wool flower fused on when I fell and broke my arm. I did the embroidery on the flower to finish it off this week.

Last week's Project Life app pages.

This really is the good stuff.

Baby Ephraim came home. Reports from my son say he's doing pretty well with the eating and sleeping so far.

Now this....this is our Gwen who fell off the monkey bars at school. She happens to be sitting on the very table I sat on to get my casts. She also has the very same type of cast I started out with. It was hard to tell on the x-ray, but there's possibly a little hairline fracture in the same bone I broke. They'll check it out again in a couple of weeks. 

She's getting used to figuring out how to cope with a cast. The silver lining here is that she is not left-handed.

I got this picture from Alison and boys letting us know that they made it back out west.

Alison also sent this picture of James. Notice that it's warm enough where he is right now that he doesn't need to wear a shirt. 

I took a screen shot of a thought that made me feel warm and fuzzy all over about fall.

And finally, the letter board sentiment from my sister for the week. How many agree? This is actually pretty funny, since this particular sister is generally kind of anti-vegetable.

 

Meeting the Newest Addition

Our tenth grandson has made his appearance!

Little Ephraim Gartside Allan has arrived safe and sound. 

His parents, his siblings and his grandparents are pretty thrilled with him.

Who knew that 10 years ago when Edward, aka the SGB (squeezable grandbaby) started things off, that he would lead a parade of 12 precious grandkids?

Each subsequent little one has blessed and enriched our family.

Not to mention the Mommy Moments that come from watching your kids with their kids.

Families are wonderful, amazing, complex entities.

We're so grateful that this one is ours.

Passing the Time

With the guys gone last week and Rachelle and the boys here, we had some activities to help pass the time. 

I'd pinned a recipe for Monster Eyeball Cookies. I mean, I raised 5 sons. I have 10 grandsons. I know that if something is called Monster Eyeball Cookies, they are going to be intrigued...and Isaac was.

It was also time to pick the apples off our trees while they were here. These are Red Delicious apples. Doesn't that just look like FALL?

Isaac found a Macintosh apple that was almost as big as his head to eat. Some of them and some of the Red Delicious were just huge.

Levi opted for a Granny Smith apple that was just his size. He's not a big fruit eater right now, but that morning he ate not one, but two whole apples. I guess the secret is just leaving a box of apples on the ground and letting him pick one out.

Here's one of the Red Delicious apples I shined up for the picture. I'm thinking I could put on a witch costume and carry one of these around, looking for Snow White, right?

This was the harvest from our trees and you can see that Isaac ate that entire giant apple. The left 2 boxes are Red Delicious and right now with them fresh off the tree, they are delicious, the middle one is a combination of Macintosh and Golden Delicious. They weren't as productive this year, and the box on the right is Granny Smith. I see lots of baking with those in the near future.

There was a day when I was tending Emmett for a while. We made some Muddy Buddies with him and Isaac. The candy corn pumpkins we threw in there were the biggest hit.

Then all the boys discovered that under Grandma Honey's piano is a great place to hide out.