Catching Up!

Good Morning!  Trying to play catch up with everyone as I've been super busy! I have Thanksgiving and Christmas on my mind as I'm sure we all do! When I was putting away from Halloween stuff, which is so hard for me to do since I love it so much, I had gone to Home Depot to get a couple bins and saw these twig trees! I've been looking for one for a while and couldn't find one anywhere.

It comes pre-lit and is battery operated. About 2 ft tall. I plan to purchase some new pip berries in Lancaster to decorate it as a year 'round tree. I was so thrilled!Only $21.00

October was a super busy month cause besides all the decorating, we had planned a trip to Hershey with my husband's brother and wife and their youngest son. But decorating continued until the very last day of October as I was still putting my little pumpkin around the kitchen on Halloween morning!

Here is Caitlin and my nephew Ryan at Hershey. What a great park. We try to go every couple of years. Mostly in the Summer though.

 We brought my son's girlfriend Amber with us. We adore her and she loves doing things with our family.

 I hit all the sales for Halloween thanks to a wonderful friend and got some great additions for my haunted house. A chandelier, a table and chairs and a few other little things! I wish I could zoom in better for you to see.

Then it was party time the night before Halloween! We had a small party and the kids had lots of fun!

Caitlin and her friends. They are so cute. They didn't all come in costume because we were using silly string and they were doing sack races, etc. A few did and some just wore Halloween sweatshirts.

These pictures of snacks and desserts were taken before the party started. By the time it was going, my table was beyond filled to capacity with yummy stuff!

On Halloween, Billy and Amber aka Mr. & Mrs. Freddie Krueger, took Caitlin trick or treating in the afternoon. My husband took her out at night and to a haunted house! She is dressed as a Pink Lady from the movie Grease!

 Now we move on to Thanksgiving! More fun ahead!

Have a great day!

Halloween Eve....

Good Morning! I have wanted to post all week but Windows 10 continues to make it a problem to post pictures. I found out that Google and Windows 10 do not jive....so I can't see my photos before I want to post them :(   I have to try and figure it out...So frustrating. Anyway...I got this far! We've been super busy preparing for our party tonight. We have about ten girls and a few friends of mine coming for the evening. I made lots of goodies cause our fun will continue into tomorrow as the kids go trick or treating and they come back and forth for snacks! My son and his girlfriend Amber will be helping out with the party tonight and then taking Caitlin trick or treating. Then tomorrow night he and Amber have a party to go to and my husband will take Caitlin out for some night trick or treating!

We had a great break going to Hershey park last weekend for "Hershey Park in the Dark!" I didn't take many pictures as the kids were on the go! We went with my husband's brother and his wife and their youngest son. What a great trip. Hershey park was wonderful!

Below is cousin Ryan who is 12 and my Caitlin who is 10.

I've been lucky enough to hit some of the sales at Michaels!!! Thank you, you know who!!!!I picked up at a reduced price an adorable bat table and chairs, a chandelier and a few other littles for my haunted house! I wish I could zoom in better for you!

I received an incredible package from a great friend, Cheryl! I couldn't believe my eyes when I received it! A beautiful Halloween garland that is now displayed over my stove...so I can see it every time I'm cooking..which is ALWAYS!

And this beautiful bag/tote bag/ purse! Handmade! Just lovely. I used it at Hershey! I got several compliments on it at the Park and at the restaurants!

Before we left Pennsylvania, I stopped at a couple stores. I'll be back there next month so I didn't want to shop too much . I got new placemats for my table!

A new rug to add to my kitchen!

here's how the placemats look :)   Love them!

Look at what Caitlin taped to our light switch! Isn't that cute?

Well, I'm getting an early start today to get ready for the party! I already made cupcakes, rice krispy treats, graveyard cake and fruit cups. Next up is pumpkin cream cheese bars and I have to see what else....Have a great day!

Halloween Is Almost Here!

October is half way over already! Can't believe how fast it is going...been busy working on crafts and fun things for our annual Halloween party. Caitlin has invited nine girls. I love when they all get together and we take a group photo.

We just finished stuffing the piñata ` ~ she chose a bat this year. I ran over to Dollar tree to get more of my crows before the Christmas decorations takes over the store. Got a few more. I have enjoyed making them so much!I have them all over the place.

Has anyone had issues with Windows 10? My new computer offered the upgrade for free and I took it but I find that it gives me trouble loading pictures for blogger :(  Now I find out that Windows 10 and blogger just don't jive together ....so if you are wondering where I am in blog land...it's cause of this Windows 10 thing...It took me forever to get that one photo above....

I hope you will join me on my facebook group if you are on faebook. I know some people fear facebook for strangers. I have had it for years and I only friend people I know. You don't have to allow access to just any one. The link for my group is up top.

So in the photo above I had gotten that big jar from a recent garage sale. Some barn stars, home spun, pip berries and a timer candle and there she is....

That's about it for me. I'm gonna play around some more with blogger and my pictures to see if I can upload them through something else....Have a happy day!

It's Crow Time!

Saturday is here again! And the start of a three day weekend. I hope you have some fun planned. The weather has cooled down quite a bit here and the wind is blowing. I had such a busy week between appointments for my Mom and some fun things at school, but I did do a bunch of crafting in the craft room my husband made me. God Bless that man for making me the perfect space. Caitlin and I have such fun in that room. I've been making more crows. They are so much fun to make.

 They are all over the kitchen and dining area just waiting for Halloween!

Caitlin made these spiders from a kit at Michaels. I had one of these spider webs in the Halloween stuff so I decided to use it to display her little friends. So often these little types of projects get lost over the years--now they can stay on their web and never be lost!

Everyone is waiting to celebrate. Plus we have our party coming up! We have some lists to make for that! Caitlin thinks she will have about eight girls...pretty easy.

I also made a bunch more pumpkin gals. Let me tell you that I believe crafting is a form of therapy! The sheer joy my brain feels when creating makes any problem seem less stressful!

Except perhaps for this guy below who has a big spider sitting on his head...that could be a problem! hahaha

I went to my favorite thrift store last week and as soon as I walked in I spotted two Lizzie High dolls!

Only $5 each! I was so happy and they even have their tags still on them!

I'm off to have another cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate chip coffee cake I made! Happy Saturday!

October!

My favorite month of the year is here! For so many reasons I love October! The Fall, the leaves, Halloween, cooler weather, beautiful foliage, comfort food....the list goes on and on!

I am almost done decorating the house. I started early so that we would have more time to enjoy it. Some years I was decorating until the very last day...now I like to get it up and add! Here is the kitchen so far...

These pictures are all in my kitchen dining area.

Still working on my Halloween tree. I have a lot more to add.

My scarecrow people and my pumpkin people. I am busy making more of these :)

My crows! I have had so much making them. I saw the idea on Pinterest. Only difference is I didn't use the big feathery crows from Michaels or AC Moore. They were 7.99 each and I knew I wanted to make a bunch. I found these guys in Dollar Tree and for $1 each I could make lots and lots, and they are actually fine. Less feathers made it easier to work with glueing outfits on them!

Happy october and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Welcome Fall!

Oh my goodness! Today is the first day of Fall! I feel so excited and happy! I guess I feel somewhat dormant over the Summer cause we get a little laid back when school is out but once the Fall begins there are so many things to do! Crafts to make, parties to plan, apples and pumpkins to pick, and lots more! It can be as busy as you want it to be and we are busy right up to Thanksgiving! Then a  whole new fun begins the day after that!!!

I've been having so much fun working on my Facebook group too. It's going so well and I have met even more wonderful people.  Anyway, I've been in the mood for pumpkin everything. Coffee, muffins and I've also been addicted to carrot cake! I never made one from scratch but I think I would like to try. I do have a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bars I want to try and my husband brought home a 25 pound box of Hershey chocolate chips last night from a job he has been doing! So I'll have plenty of  chocolate chips.....Oh man....

Dollar Tree has had the best stuff lately and if you haven't been there lately, they have lovely burlap flowers and leaves...

I haven't gotten my first pumpkin of the season yet...very soon. We have our plans for apple and pumpkin picking.

We did visit the annual pickle festival last weekend. There is also a nice farms stand there. This is on the farm my husband renovated last year.

Of all the things at the pickle festival, everyone, including my daughter (in the green) and her buddy, seem to like the most are the pickles on a stick! Yummy Koshur or garlic pickles on a stick. Delicious!

A ride on the antique "lollipop" railroad. this may be Caitlin's last year on it :(  We'll see....

 

School is closed today for the Jewish holiday. I have some things to take care of around here and this weekend down comes the rest of he Halloween goodies! We are having a party again this year but it will be small, maybe about eight girls. I still do lots of prep for it though. I'm going to make these little boo cups as one of their party favors:

I try to do a new party favor each year plus I keep some of my old favorites. It just wouldn't be Halloween if I wasn't making some of the same things every year! And it's cute that some of the girls know this and would question me if I didn't make a certain something! A couple of these girls have attended our Halloween party since they were infants!

Enjoy your first day of Fall!

Some Favorite Things

Good Morning! Has anyone done any decorating yet? I've started. Within the next two weeks Halloween will be out all over the house and porch. I'm enjoying taking it out a little at a time instead of one day where it is ALL out. I think it helps me where I place things too. For some things, they must go in the same spot every year. It's like a tradition! These little pumpkin guys must be in my kitchen.

 

And I look forward to seeing my three lady friends in the foyer to greet our guests:

They are right up the stairs in a big closet waiting to descend the stairs and start the Halloween season! I think I hear them cackling!!!

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary! We haven't celebrated out yet (we usually go out for dinner) but we plan to this weekend. I'm married to a wonderful man :)

We are starting to make up our plans for our annual Halloween party. Are you doing anything different this year? Caitlin will be inviting her friends and my son and his girlfriend will be helping to host the party. It's so much fun having another helping hand! (meaning his girlfriend!)  Her family loves Halloween too! Hurray!

 

I love these lights on top of my hutch so much! I've since added some pip berries up there too but those tiny orange lights are my favorites! And I love that they are on a timer. Every day at 4:30 they pop on!

The newest craft project I'm working on right now is my crows...I bought black feathered crows and I'm dressing them...kind of like how I dress the pumpkin people. I saw them on Pinterest. Hats, collars, etc.! So cute. I'm trying...we'll see how they turn out. Mine won't looking as good as those:

I made pumpkin spice muffins last night and I am going to have one with my second cup of coffee right about now! I'm craving pumpkin anything! I made these Pepperidge Farm Pecan Caramel rolls the other day...So good! They are in the refrigerated section of the supermarket with the crescent and biscuit rolls. When I pick my apples, it'll be apple everything!

Don't forget! If you are on Facebook, join my country decorating group! go to the top part of this page and you'll see it!

Have a happy Friday!