Trick or Treat Thursday....

The boys and I went to Boo at The Zoo tonight with "Miss Jenny"(my friend and the boys 1st ever babysitter), her niece Sarah and nephew Jake. Dave was at the hockey game with a client, we missed him and he missed a great time! We had so much fun, there were scary tunnels, a funny show with live animals, sliding, rides on the carousel, fireside story time, snack and more..The boys wanted to wait and wear their costumes tomorrow night, so they asked if they could be soccer players? They looked so cute! was a beautiful day and night here and it is supposed to be the trend for the next few days....

Sarah, Jake, Matthew & Michael
So cute....

Passed out :)


A blast from the past....
Last years choice:
Batman & "Baby Batman"
&
Bailey the Dinosaur

We are gearing up for a fun night of Trick or Treating :) For the last week , it has been all about jokes...The boys are constantly saying them, trying to get ready for Halloween night. We even have one on our voice mail....It has been a lot of fun :)

Here are a few of "ours" :

What did the coffee bean say to the other coffee bean?

How you bean?

What did the nacho chip say to the other nacho chip?

Nacho cheese!

What is a mummy's favorite type of music?

Wrap!

What does a skeleton order at a restaurant?

Spare ribs.

What do ghosts serve for dessert?

Ice Scream!

What about you? Do you have any good ones?

We have another busy weekend ahead....Tomorrow there is a Halloween party, and we will trick or treat and have dinner at my friend Natalie's house. Saturday we actually have no soccer games, but are going to see Thomas the Train, plus we will "fall back", gaining an hour of sleep..(YES,we need it), but losing an hour of daylight :( Sunday will be filled with church, scouts, dinner with my dad, and teacher conferences. Hopefully I will have time to post an update :)

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Halloween with your families...

*(to leave a post, scroll way down...Sorry??)

Wish you enough....Wednesday

I came across this email today in my "keepsakes", it was sent to me a few years ago from a friend whose mother had passed away the month before. This was the last email she sent to him, before she died.....

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments
together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said "I
love you. I wish you enough". The daughter replied, "Mom, our life
together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I
wish you enough, too, Mom". They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I was seated.

Standing there I could see she wanted and
needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed
me in by asking "Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be forever?".
"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever goodbye?".
"I am old and she lives so far away. I have
challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral" she said.
"When you were saying goodbye, I heard you say 'I wish you enough'.
"May I ask what that means?". She began to smile.... "That's a wish
that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to
say it to everyone". She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to
remember it in detail and she smiled even more."When we said 'I
wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life
filled with just enough good things to sustain them".
Then turning toward me she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye
She then began to sob and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to
appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to
forget them.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Here a pumpkin, there a pumpkin....

The boys had so much fun tonight carving pumpkins....I just love this time of the year and all of the fun traditions that we share as a family. Michael just wanted his to have a "cool face". Matthew chose a patriotic one, based on the upcoming election.

I bought these for them to stick inside of their pumpkins, instead of using candles they are much safer and WAY cooler!

I think both of their creations, with Daddy's help, turned out really cute :)

Here is one of my FAVORITE pumpkin recipes to make this time of the year:

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

*Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with fresh whipped cream.

YUMMY! YUMMY!

I wanted to end with a devotion that fits this week and my pumpkin post well.

I hope you enjoy it :)

How a Christian is like a Pumpkin

A lady recently being baptized was asked by a co-worker what it was like to be a Christian. She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin: God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

1. Take a pumpkin. "You aren't a pumpkin, but all of us are something like one. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins." Talk about how a pumpkin is like us: it has an outside and an inside. The outside is what people see. The inside is like our soul or our heart. A pumpkin left to itself will soon rot and die. We will die some day too."
2. Carve out eyes and a small "o" shaped mouth. As you make the holes and pull out the pieces of rind, ask people what they see inside (yucky stuff). "This is what we look like to others and what we are like when are hearts are not changed. The hearts of men are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live (Ecclesiastes 9:3). How can we get rid of this icky stuff?"
3. "God is the only one who can change our heart. But in order for God to change our heart we must become open to him." Carve an opening in the top of the pumpkin big enough to put your hand through. You might want to quote Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
4. Put in your hand and pull out the insides. "God scoops out all the yucky stuff inside of us. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, impurity, and greed." Talk about the cross and how Jesus was willing to become messy for us, so that we might be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25b-27).
5. "But if we leave a pumpkin with just the insides taken out, then it's just hollow. We need to have a light inside that will truly make us alive! Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' Add a light to the inside of the pumpkin. "When Jesus lives inside of you, you can glow! You will want to be kind and honest. You will want to please God, to help others, and to tell other people about your Friend and Lord."
6. At this point you might want to carve the mouth into a smile! "God carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

***P.S. Scroll down t o the bottom of my blog and "carve" your own pumpkin :)

Blessings,

Some like it "hot"...some cold

As promised, I am posting the chili recipe that I made for the Chili-Cook Off this weekend. I hope you enjoy it!

Fire Roasted Irish Chili

1 ½ lb sirloin about 1 inch thick (coat with chili powder, cumin and chipotle cook to medium, dice and set aside)

Brown 1 ½ lbs coarse chili beef with the following Ingredients:

½ cup chopped green onion

½ cup chopped red onion

½ tbsp chili powder

½ tbsp chipotle chili powder

½ tbsp ground cumin

Bring to boil 2 14.9 oz cans Guinness with the following ingredients:

2 tbsp Hungarian paprika (adds smoky flavor)

½ cup chopped red onion

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp chipotle chili powder 1

½ tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp granulated beef soup base

12 oz tomato paste

2 tbsp lt. brown sugar

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

*Make sure beef base is completely dissolved

Combine drained beef with the grilled sirloin and the Guinness base with 1 28oz can Fire Roasted Tomatoes Drain and rinse 2 cans black beans and 2 cans of red kidney beans in a strainer. Let dry.

1 hour before chili is served, add beans.

Cook on low heat for 3 hours.

This is the ice ream that that I talked about a few weeks ago....It is very yummy and perfect for this time of the year.

Since my post is about food today, I should tell you that I made this yummy recipe tonight and we loved it! Thanks Lisa for being such an inspiration, in so many ways....

Happy Monday!

Playing "catch up".....

We had a wonderful, but once again PACKED weekend! I am trying to catch up so this post will be brief....Hope you enjoy the pictures!

On Friday night we had a 1st club Mom's movie night, we watched Sex and the City. Had lots of yummy food, awesome drinks(Thanks Bob)and a great night with awesome Moms :) Thanks so much Bev for once again hosting an awesome party :)

Saturday we had lots of soccer....Michael had his last game and scored 6 goals!!! He was so excited and was strutting all over the field. I was very proud of my little kicker! Instead of a trophy, he got a really cute soccer picture frame for his room.

Matthew also had a game. They lost, but played so well. It was a beautiful crisp fall day.

On Saturday night, we went to a church Chili-Cook-Off. We had a great time, and ate lots of yummy chili. Yes, I submitted one, but did not win :(
Lot's of compliments though...I will try to post the recipe tomorrow. It was given to me by our friend Brent and it is AWESOME!

Today we celebrated my SMIL's(Step-mother-n-law)birthday and took some pics outdoors. Then we headed to our School & Church Harvest Party. The kids were able to come in costume, and do all kinds of things....there was a bounce house, pony rides, balloon animals, face painting and so much more. The kids had a wonderful time seeing all of their friends and their costumes. Then we grabbed pizza with our friends Dave, Denise & Delaney. The boys were so tired, but seemed to really enjoy the day! I once again feel so blessed to have weekends filled with my precious family and friends....

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening .

1 Chronicles 23:30