A little dash of Christmas

Our very own Merry Christmas....... in pictures



My one and only Christmas Craft - yarn trees

Texas Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving  with cows, fireworks, s'mores on an open fire, and the beach -- only in Texas where the weather is gorgeous!  Our Thanksgiving started on Grandpa's Ranch with a great visit with family.  Next stop --- Galveston for a stroll on the beach and later a visit to the Rain Forest and Festival of Lights at Mary Moody Gardens.  Many memories from this trip... Hope you had a memorable Thanksgiving. 

 

The beach was empty - our own little paradise

 

sunset - almost time for fireworks

The Light n' go bonfire logs are the best.  Portable and inexpensive

fireworks on the fence line - great for staging

 

 

Fish made out of plastic water bottles

Falling leaf pancakes for Thanksgiving morning

I saw a picture of these pancakes somewhere
and wanted to give it a try.... here we go 

 

start with your favorite pancake batter and a squeeze bottle

 using squeeze bottle draw an outline of a leaf on your pan
cook until edges are brown

 

 fill in the spaces with pancake batter and flip immediately

 beautiful fall leaf pancake

 

 

 serve with butter and syrup

 

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours

Pumpkins in the mist

After a rain shower we visited our local pumpkin patch and corn maze.  The corn maze was tricky to maneuver and very slippery.   The fog and mist on the camera lens  produced some interesting pictures. 

hiding from her daddy

scoping out the maze

we only took a couple of wrong turns

a tired little girl

A spooktacular day

The next two posts should have been posted in October but time has slipped away.  So here are our fall October festivities

The weather here was extremely warm for October but that did not prevent us from having a Halloween get together.  The most fun was creating these cute egg Ghostbusters.  They were so easy to make and the girls loved them. 

hollow out eggs, wash, dry, and add baby powder, glue wax paper on the top

throw on the sidewalk and the baby powder explodes with a puff of smoke

spider web cupcakes

Donut Tree a tradition from England

Hard part was getting the string not to cut through the donut

Deliciousness at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's recently opened and of course we had to go and check it out.  Baking now in the oven is the  Truffle Baking Mix - they smell "delicious."  We shop at Trader Joe's for the baking mixes and the Cookie Butter --- oh and the kettle corn.  The baking mixes are 16 ounces of pure delight and only $2.99 a box.  The cookie butter is a decadent jar of spreadable goodness - worth every spoonful!





My favorite baking mixes

Delicious Pumpkin Muffins made in October

Autumn Owl Wreath

"A wise old owl sat on an oak..."   Owls and more Owls.  Go to a store and you see "Owls" on napkins, treat bags, pillow cases, blankets and made out of just about everything from felt to metal.  This inspiration came from using materials that I had around the house.  You take a simple flat floral wreath form, yarn, felt, burlap flower clip and an owl.  That's it - this took about thirty minutes to make. Nothing fancy and quick. 

Circus Fun

Going to the circus was a great way to end the Summer.  

I can remember taking Courtney and Christopher and

 it still holds all the thrills and excitement 12 years later. 

This was Sarah's first circus so it was extra special.   

 

 

At the pre-show on the circus floor

clowning around



She had to have cotton candy and of course a circus hat

Loving that cotton candy

 




 

Patriotic Candy Dish Stars



begin with star candy dishes from the Dollar Store. 
You can order these online if your local store is out



use painters tape on the outer edges of the star and then
tape the entire star and spray paint on the inside on the candy dish
one layer at a time
 

completed patriotic stars