Happy Halloween

This is the first time I have gone trick or treating with the kids in 2 years. The last time I went, I was preggers with C-Man. This year was so much fun. Both of the boys had a blast and really raked in the candy. 2 grocery bags filled to the brim!!! Oh yeh baby, I'm in heaven!!!

I was so in the spirit this year, that I got all dressed up with Carter. We were Milli and Geo from Umizoomi. If you are not hip to Umizoomi, check it out on Nick Jr.. Tucker was a ninja, who couldn't breath with his mask on so he was just a kid with a cool outfit on.

All of the kids had the cutest costumes on. My SIL and BIL had everyone over for homemade soup and subs before trick or treating. I tried to snap a pic of every little creature, but they were everywhere!!!

Goofing off before we headed out



Umizoomi Umizoomi Umizoomi



C-Man aka Geo isn't having it



My Nephew Louis stole the show as Dr. Sues' Lorax



And equally as adorable are my niece and nephew Poppy and Sammy as Snow White and her favorite little dwarf



Most Creative has to go to Henry and Sidney as Chesire Cat's from Alice and Wonderland. They thought of those costumes all on their own. What imaginations!



One of the best parts of the night is trying to get all of the kids together for a photo. I haven't gotten a perfect one yet in all these years of trying.


And another...



C-Man in action



Ok so after we all come down from our sugar high we are going to pass out. Dreaming of frozen party size Snickers!!!

Straight out of camera shots

The heavens must've been smiling down on Tonawanda, NY this morning. The sky was crazy! In every direction you looked the sky was a different color and texture. One side of the sky was black as night, and the other the sun was blaring over the tops of the trees. The effect on the trees was amazing. The leaves looked like they were on fire. The wind was whipping and it threatened of rain...somewhere. But not over our tiny town. The pictures and colors were so gorgeous that I didn't edit a single one. Check out these shots. All of them were taken with in 5 minutes of each other. Look at the difference in color of the sky in each one.












This is a picture of a bird. I was standing outside taking pictures and this little guy was flying all by himself. He looked like a flying fireball with the sun beating on his wings. I wish I had my other lens on so I could've gotten a closer look.


The clouds were gorgeous in the front of the house

GLUTEN FREE OREOS

Now, I know what you're thinking...they can't be that good. You are wrong my friend, very wrong. They are not only great, they are WONDERFUL!!!! I happened upon a recipe on one of my favorite Gluten Free Blogs: Gluten Free Girl and Chef. I love these people, but love these cookies even more. And they are super easy. I changed up the flour that I used, so I didn't follow her recipe exactly. If you do not carry 50 different kinds of GF Flour and want to use All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, or you want to use Wheat Flour (I shudder), they will turn out just fine.

Here is your list of ingredients: Recipe to follow

For all of you who just don't "get" Celiacs and think "How hard can it be to go Gluten Free?" This is a mixture of different flours that I use for just one recipe. Next time you get out your All Purpose Flour from the grocery store to make a cake, think of us digging out all of our Gladware containers of Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Teff Flour, Almond Flour, need I go on?



Uggggghhhhh! Crisco? OMG YUCK!!! I have never even used Crisco out of fear. Crisco scares me. But now, it is my best friend. A fattening one, but a good one.



Mix together all of your dry ingredients



Add your globs of butter, mix well, then add your egg


I was looking at this mixer bowl thinking that this was never going to work. It was so dry. Just give it a few minutes, it will work. It works really well. And just when you are about to give up on your mixer and add more butter. DONT!!! It will mix into a wonderful dough ball. Then you use a heaping tsp. and form dough balls to flatten out on your baking sheet.



Put 'em in the oven to bake and start on your filling:

This grosses me out! Crisco and butter? Why oh Why?


After adding confectioner's sugar...I now know why. HEAVEN!!!


And the finished product puts smiles on everyones faces!



Here's The Recipe: Thanks to Gluten Free Girl and Chef-and notes by me

For the cookies:
3/4c sweet rice flour (I did not have Sweet Rice Flour, so I used 3/4c All Purpose GF Flour)
1/2c white rice flour
1/4c teff flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the creamy filling:
1/2 stick room-temperature, unsalted butter (After tasting the finished product I decided to
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening add 1 more Tbs of shortening and 1/2 c more of
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar confectioner's sugar, but you can do it to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Making the cookie dough. Put the sweet rice flour, white rice flour, and teff flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk, stir the flours together to combine and aerate them. Add the xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Turn the mixer on and let everything combine in motion. While the mixer is running on low speed, add large pieces of the butter until they are all incorporated. Add the egg and mix well. (At this point, you might think the dough will be too dry. Trust. Keep mixing. It will come together.)

Baking the cookies. Scoop a rounded teaspoon of batter (literally. scoop just more than a teaspoon's worth) and form a ball. Gently, flatten the dough in the palm of your hand. After you have flattened, smooth the edges of the cookie dough disk to make it evenly rounded. Place the dough disks onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. (These will not spread, but you do not want them to touch each other.)

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake until the cookies are crisp on the edges with just a touch of softness in the center, about 5 more minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven. After a few moments, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Making the creamy filling. Put the butter and vegetable shortening into the bowl of the stand mixer. (Clean the cookie dough out first!) Whip them up together, then add the sugar and vanilla extract. Beat the filling on high until it is fluffy frosting, about 5 minutes. (Be sure to turn off the stand mixer and scrape down the sides occasionally.)

Assembling the cookies. If you have a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip, you can pipe tiny dots of filling onto a cookie. We couldn't find ours, so we used a teaspoon measure and our fingers to spread the blob of creamy filling toward the edges but not entirely there. Gently, press the second cookie down onto the filling and watch the filling reach the edges.

Continue until all the cookies are little chocolate sandwiches with a creamy filling. Oreos.

Makes 25 to 30 Oreos. (or 12 if you are like me and want an oreo the size of my hand)

Bath Tub Fun

Well, if nothing else my kids are hams. I cannot deny that they may get that from their mother. However, no matter where we are and what we are doing, it is understood that a camera is not far behind us. This particular tubby time was so much fun. Carter went first and had a blast, he'd pose, I'd snap a quick pic, then he'd ask to see it immediately. Then Tucker wanted to see them and wanted to take pictures when it was his tubby time. So he'd pose, I'd snap a quick pic, then he'd ask to see them immediately. Only...Tucker never wants the photo shoots to end. I was in the other room already downloading the camera and he's still in the tub calling out "Mom, take a picture of me doing this" ,"And this", "And this"... he is such a ham!!!

Now for the not so fun part:

Monday night October 18, 2010 the world lost an angel by the name of Michael Biddle or just "Biddle" to his friends. Biddle was my brother Mason's best friend in the world. They saw each other the night before and hugged goodbye and said their usual "I love you man". Who knew it would be the last time they ever got a chance to tell each other that. Biddle had a very tragic and unfortunate accident that resulted in the loss of his life. Biddle died too young and left too many people behind that loved and cared for him. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Biddle many times and hear many hilarious stories about the kid that made every one laugh. Biddle will be missed. Please send a prayer out to Biddle's family and friends in their time of mourning. They could really use it right now. My heart breaks for his family and my brother. Mason, I love you buddy!!!

MICHAEL BIDDLE

BIDDLE, Michael Elliott, 21, of Mechanicsville, went to be with the Lord as a result of a tragic accident on Monday, October 18, 2010. Michael grew up in and was a longtime member of Pole Green Church of Christ. He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Joseph R. Liggan Sr. and Ruth Walker Liggan; and grandparents, Michael Biddle Sr. and Thelma Biddle. He is survived by his parents, Michael Jr. and Debra; sister, Megan; grandparents, Sarah and Joseph Liggan; uncle, Brian and his wife, Joy, and their children, Kyle and Connor; uncle, Lee Biddle; aunt, Deborah Roberson and her husband, Kenneth, and their children, Jason and Caitlin; aunt, Renee Spencer and her husband, Kent; cousins, Mandy Trainum and her husband, Billy, and their children, Gracie and Chase; cousins, Adam Spencer and Brittany Spencer; and girlfriend, Stacy Cottrell. The family will receive friends Thursday, 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Mechanicsville Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 8014 Lee-Davis Rd., where funeral services will be held Friday at 11 a.m. Interment at Hanover Memorial Park.

Morris 'O Lanterns

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...or just our Jack 'O Lanterns that we carved today. Have I mentioned that Fall is my favorite season? Today we made Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch (Gluten Free of Course), and Gluten Free Lasagna. It was delicious! We had so much fun carving the pumpkins this afternoon. Scroll down to see our designs and keep going if you want to cry...you'll see, cause I did (cry that is)!

What you don't see is the Tucker-Freaking-Out-Episode when he realized how slimy pumpkins are and his not wanting to participate ANYMORE!!!


You may wonder why this pumpkin is cut in half...long story short...mold!


This is my masterpiece! Blue's Clues





Notice no kids are anywhere to be found. This ended up being an adult thing...but we really enjoyed ourselves.


The finished products!!!! And Riley of course.


Keep in mind this is my favorite and I was so proud of myself. Now, thank God I am an avid picture taker and got a snapshot of it.



Because 1.25 hours later, I walked out of the house to toss out the garbage bag and....keep scrolling!!!!




OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG JEEEEFFFFFF! THOSE (expletive) SQUIRRELS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!!!OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! SOB SOB SOB!!!!!


They even took a chunk out of Jeff's! But at least it's still recognizable!


Those squirrels are absolutely dead to me. DONE!!! No chestnuts being laid out over the winter. NONE!!!



And this is what awaits you my dear squirrels....just wait! Happy Fall Everyone!!!

What else you missed during the summer...Part 1

Tucker joined the local T-Ball team for our town. He was such a great sport. And for at least a few games enjoyed himself. But I think what he got out of it was:

a. It's too hot to play summer sports
b. If you want good after game snacks, you should bring your own
c. Most importantly...Tucker is not a competitive sport player. I think he'll be the brains and Carter will be the brawn.

This is my favorite!!! Look at his face!!!

On the way home...

On the way home from Brown's Berry Patch, we spotted this charming little cemetery in the middle of a field. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera. With Halloween quickly approaching, my mind was reeling with ideas.

So here is a few examples of how you can quickly change a photo:

Straight out of camera:


Here are a few edits worth trying on Picnik.com!! I can't live without it!!!







Here is another straight out of camera:









This one is my favorite!



Give it a try. I have a premium account with Picnik and love it. For those of us who can't afford Adobe Photoshop, this is second best in my eyes.