Halloween Cookies

Earlier this week, Andy told me they were having a Halloween lunch at work, Samantha told me they were having a "Harvest Party" in one of her classes at school and Amanda informed me they were having a party in Seminary. SO....I looked at Matti's blog from last year (her Halloween Dinner post) and then I went online in search of ideas. I needed something that wouldn't take us until midnight to make, (we get up between 4:30-5:00 in the morning), yet we wanted something that would be fun for their parties. We loved the monster fingers that Matti made last year, so we made those with a different twist of our own. We also made mummy cookies, which turned out better than I thought they would. (You know how it is when you see something online or in a magazine and when you try it, it doesn't look ANYTHING like the picture.)

Camping Overnight......Brrrr....

This last Friday night Andy and Samantha went to Mt St Helens with the 12-17 year olds and their leaders from church. They camped overnight and then went hiking through Ape Caves the next day. This is something our ward does every year in October and Samantha looks forward to it from one year to the next. Last year, however, it was canceled due to "activity" with Mt. St. Helens. Sam was not happy about the cancelation, to say the least! I had wanted to go too, but my sinuses have been acting up so I thought it best to stay home and take care of that insteaad of getting sick again. (DARN!) When going through Ape Caves, you have to have a flashlight, water and a helmet/hard hat. (Actually, the helmet is a requirement of the ward leaders. They don't want to take anyone back home with a concusion. Hmmm....I wonder why??) Anyway, both Andy and Sam had a great time!

Halloween roller skating party

Amanda and Samantha with Dr. Yorek (the orthodontist).

Playing "red light - green light".

Looking for prizes and candy in the hay.

The orthodontist the girls go to puts on a Halloween Roller Skating Party every year at the local skating rink. They have games for the kids (of all ages) to play, snacks and drinks, and, of course roller skaing. At the end of the evening, they hand out door prizes and prizes for costumes. Usually, both girls dress up in a costume, but this year Samantha couldn't find a costume. Amanda was a doormat! (She loves coming up with original costumes.) We went to the thrift store and bought a black t-shirt and black sweatpants. Then we spelled out the word "WELCOME" with silver duct tape down the shirt and one pant leg. Next we took brown paint and a flip flop (one that we could throw away, because I wasn't about to wash paint off a shoe) and added footprints and scuff marks all over the clothes. I made a "key" out of cardboard and covered it in aluminum foil to glue on the back of the shirt. Then we took a rolled up newspaper to glue to the front of the shirt. Her and I had fun making her costume. We love making our own costumes....it's more fun that way.

I've finally been caught.......

I have somehow managed to avoid being tagged, but thanks to Vera, Marie and (I think) Jeanette (not sure since Cristie is spelled different on your blog) - I now have to do it. Thanks guys!!! (Just remember, I don't get mad.....I get even!)

8 Shows I love to watch:
*Survivor
*Amazing Race
*Dirty Jobs (on the Discovery Channel)
*King of Queens reruns
*Wife Swap
*How it's Made
*Home Improvement reruns
*Cash Cab

8 Favorite restaurants:
*In-N-Out (too bad we don't have any around here!)
*Outback
*JR's Whistlestop (a local place)
*Olive Garden
*Claim Jumper
*The Ram (another local place)
*Puerto Vallarta (yet another local place)
*Red Lobster

8 Things that happened yesterday:
*Went to a Memorial site with about 80 or so co-workers for one of the bus drivers who lost her 3 daughters (ages 10, 11 and 13) in a house fire this last weekend.
*My bus broke down in the morning, therefore I had to turn back and get another bus.
*Dropped the girls off at the church for Mutual.
*Went shopping at Target with my friend, Cindy.
*Made white chocolate covered popcorn to give to the women I visit teach.
*Called the parents of one of the students on my bus to let them know their son is obnoxious. (Not in those exact words, but that was the bottom line.)
*Pulled left-overs out of the fridge so everyone could find something for dinner. (I love dinners like that!)
*Called the doctor to get lab results.

8 Things I look forward to:
*Halloween
*Going out 4x4'ing in the jeep.
*Thanksgiving
*Christmas shopping!
*The primary program (I play the piano for primary...I just want to get it overwith!)
*Halloween Costume party at the local roller skating rink (a free event put on by our orthodontist.)
*The first snow for the winter.
*Getting my hair cut next week.

8 Things I love about fall:
*Fall colors
*Using my electric blanket
*Halloween
*Getting out the hot chocolate and apple cider for the first time.
*Getting out my hoodie sweatshirts.
*Picking out pumpkins for Halloween and carving them.
*Thanksgiving
*Stepping on crunchy leaves. (Although, they don't get much of a chance to get crunchy around here. It rains too much!)

8 Things on my wish list:
*Get in better shape
*Get new carpet
*Go on a cruise
*A day to myself (the entire day) to scrapbook, eat, and watch movies
*For my girls to have the strength to stand up to peer pressure and remember who they are and what they stand for.
*To watch my girls grow up to be happy, wonderful, caring adults.

8 People I tag:
I don't have 8 people to tag.....most of who I know has already been tagged or has tagged me!!!! Besides....I would NEVER do such a mean thing to someone else..... :-)

Maris Farms

This is the cornfield maze. It doesn't look very big in the picture, but it's HUGE!

The corn cob cannon is fun. You shoot cobs out of the cannon and try to hit targets that are in the field.

As you can see, the slide goes underground, so it's pretty dark in there.

This is the shape of the cornfield maze this year.

Sam keeps forgetting that she isn't 16 years old yet....... What ARE we going to do with her??

The answers to the clues depict which way to turn.

Every year we have a tradition of going to Maris Farms. They have a huge cornfield maze that takes us over an hour to go through and is always in the shape of a pumpkin, spider, etc. They also have a corncob cannon, kettle corn and lemonade (Yum!!!) and lots and lots of pumpkins. This year they added a slide, which the girls had fun going down. Amanda's friend, Hannah, came with us today, too.

Happy 17th Birthday Amanda!

Yesterday, the 15th, was Amanda's 17th Birthday. It's hard for me to believe that 17 years have already gone by. Time sure flies fast.... While I was out shopping for Amanda's presents, (wandering around the store, trying to decide what to get her) I saw the isle of picture frames and decided to have some pictures printed out and put in a multi-picture frame. She really liked it and is excited to hang it in her bedroom. After she opened her presents, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Halloween Decorating

We've told Sam she can't date until she's 16 years old, but she found herself a boyfriend, anyway.

This last weekend the girls put our Halloween decorations up outside. Since I have a massive cold right now and wasn't really in the "festive" mood, I took all the decorations out of the shed and the girls did the rest. I usually love decorating for the holidays, but I think it was more fun listening to them laugh and being goofy than anything else.

Amanda's New Letterman's Jacket

Amanda has been saving up her babysitting money and finally got enough to buy a Letterman's jacket. A few weeks ago we ordered it and it finally came in yesterday. She decided to get her jacket this year (as a Junior) so she could wear it for 2 years. She was really excited to pick it up and wear it to the high school football game last night. I think she did a really good job designing her jacket. As you can see, the patch on the back of her jacket includes her saxophone and flute, along with bowling (she's on the bowling team at school every year).

Field Trip

We had a beautiful view of The Narrows Bridge.

One of my favorite things about my job is when I get to take kids on a field trip. On Wednesday afternoon, I took the Cross County Team from Graham Kapowsin High School (the school Amanda attends) to Titlow Beach Park, which is along the Pugent Sound. Samantha went with me on the field trip so she could watch a couple of girls that we know run their race. When we got to the park we had an hour and a half before the girls ran their race, so Sam and I walked to the pier, got something to eat from a fish and chips place and walked around the pier and beach. I had never been to this park, so it was nice to go somewhere that I had never been before and see more of Washington's beautiful scenery.