Halloween Dress Rehearsal

 

We had a Dress Rehearsal last night and hit the town festival with the whole Smith family.  We went through every costume in the house and the only one Ryder would have was this "Treasure" outfit.  It was borrowed from one of his little friend's for a pirate birthday party earlier this month.  Thank you Danielle! 

Seeing each other all dressed up for the first time.  Melts my heart!

A Pirate and a Puppy

Keelie, Madison and our Pirate

Grandma and our Puppy watching a Puppet Show

 Lots of candy, bounce houses and a super fun puppet show made for two tired boys and now to do it all over again tonight!

Jack-O-lantern Oranges

 

Here is a last minute Halloween food idea.  These are Navel Oranges carved to look like Jack-O-Lanterns.  You can fill them with anything from chocolate pudding to fresh fruit.  I chose apples and grapes since Ryder will be taking them as snack for his preschool friends today.

 Simply cut the top off of the orange and scoop out all of the insides.  Place the guts in a container and you can eat them later.  (It will be a messy eat at best though.)  Use a sharp knife to carve out your Jack-O-Lantern face. It is a super fast process since the orange skin is so thin.  I carved 10 oranges in 30 to 45 minutes.  Stuff these little guys with whatever filling you decided on and you're done!

Dinner Update

Update:  Y'all gave me some great ideas!  I walked away from the computer after typing the post and stood in front of the freezer.  Since I hadn't seen any of your suggestions yet, I decided to pull out a package of buffalo.  If you haven't tried this, I really recommend it.  Buffalo is  much leaner than ground beef but it essentially tastes the same.  You can find it at Whole Foods and Central Market for sure.  I even lucked into some at Target last week.  So here is the concoction I came up with tonight:

1lb. Ground Buffalo (or Beef)
1 Jar of Ragu
1 Package of Cream Cheese
Spaghetti
Garlic/Salt/Pepper/Oregano/Basil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Boil water and cook spaghetti according to package.  While spaghetti cooks, brown your ground meat.  I always use my Pampered Chef Mix'N Chop to brown my meat.  It does an amazing job at get it all separated and finely ground.  Just put it in the pan and give it a little twist with your wrist.

 After the meat is brown and no longer pink, add the Ragu and cream cheese (softened).  Stir it all together and add the spices.  As much or as little as you like.  Let simmer for 20 minutes.  Drain your spaghetti.  Spray a baking dish (I used an oblong shaped deep baker).  Pour a little sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Add a layer of spaghetti.  Alternate sauce and spaghetti ending with sauce on top.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake for 30 minutes. Your end result will be a "Spaghetti" Lasagna.  Garlic toast goes great with this!

Ryder helped me mix up some Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread for dessert.  He felt so grown up to be using the mixer.  He worked so hard on this bread and it was a huge treat to have a piece before bedtime...and then he didn't even like it.  He is such a picky eater..sigh...I assume he will grow out of this one day.

Thanks again for all of the ideas!!!  I am going to make one of them tomorrow night!

Dinner

I have no ideas for dinner tonight.  I don't have very many ingredients either.  Chicken...think chicken.  Feedback is always welcome!

Hello World Series

We never sat down, cheered until we lost our voices, gave high fives to people we had never met, and had beer splattered all over us.  It was a night I will never forget.

To the Texas Rangers....We have always been your fans, winning or losing because let's be honest.... it's really all about the Nachos and they taste the same either way.  Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and Good Luck at the World Series! 
 

Ryder's Friends

 

These are Ryder's friends.  Are they not the cutest little people you have ever seen?  They all took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday at Preschool.  

The cutest little scarecrow lady read them a story.

It was a really good story.

Then they each picked a pumpkin.

And took turns petting a pretend crow.

Rustin tagged along and hung with the big kids.

It was a magnificent morning!

Reemerging

We are reemerging from the wrath of a stomach bug that has been hanging around since Thursday evening.  Our Washer/Dryer have run non-stop, we've gone through two cans of Oust, washed our hands endlessly, given lots of baths, had the windows open and sipped on Mommy's special tummy potion (gatorade and sprite).  Today was such a better day than yesterday...thank goodness!

Wordless Wednesday

(She has to love him because he is her cousin...otherwise I'm not sure what her feelings would be.  He cracks me up every single day.  Love these two!)

Pumpkins

Pumpkins, hay and being the finder of that one patch of mud is so much fun.  If you don't believe me, just ask these two.

 

 

 

Howdy from the State Fair of Texas

Howdy from the State Fair of Texas!  We walked, we laughed and we ate some really good food.  Thank you to my wonderful SIL(s) for the invitation!  We had so much fun!

Trick or Treat Buckets

Here is a super easy idea!  I'll have a few this Saturday at the AECPTA Mom's Market.  There will be lots of Fall/Holiday shopping.  If you are in the area stop by and help support the local Arlington Early Childhood PTA!

Wordless Wednesday

Double Trouble

Trouble is on our horizon.  These two are going to keep us on our toes.  We definitely need a second helmet.

We ♥ Camping

Seriously, we really ♥ it.  Thank you Lord for bringing us Fall...it was an amazing weekend.

Happy Birthday

These two share a birthday.  They are brother and sister, but they are not twins. They are Ryder & Rustin's cousins.  They belong to Aunt Kristie and Uncle Fold-it (translated to Philip for those of you who don't speak Ryder).  Aunt Kristie is Matt's older sister.  Happy Birthday Colby and Keelie!  We love you!