I'm Moving

Hey if there is anyone that even still reads this: I am moving! Lately I have read several stories about moms who make a living off their blogs. It has got me thinking maybe I should really try to be better at blogging and see if I can't make a few extra bucks while I'm at it. So I've decided to try my hand at it. But compared to the other successful blogs I've looked at I didn't feel like this blog (title and design) was that catchy to draw an audience so I've made a new blog. You can start following me there if you'd like: Little Country Corner.

I'm still making a few adjustments to my design and will be practicing to get myself in the habit of posting regularly before I start making an effort to draw in a large audience so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Thanks and this will be my last post on this blog.

Halloween, Country Style

Do you remember when you were in elementary school and you got to parade around the school in your Halloween costume for all the other kids in school? Well in our small town that elementary parade is bigger and better! They didn't just have the kids parade around the school, they bussed them all over to Main Street and they did a parade for the whole town!!! And all the business came out and give the kids candy as they went by. How cool is that! Only in

a small town! I love it!

Our Halloween was an entire weekend production and so much fun. They had the parade Friday morning. Then friday night a big Halloween carnival. Saturday morning we went to a party with some friends. And then Saturday night the fire department, police, and ambulance hosted a trunk or treat. It was so much fun for the kids to get to trick or treat at an ambulance and fire truck and police cars! And of course trick or treating afterwards. We will have candy for years.

I love that in a small town there are so many more activities that can be done that don't happen in the city. It makes the holidays that much more fun. Oh how I love the country!

Halloween Treats

I had to make cookies today for the school carnival cake walk and I've also been meaning to take some treats to the neighbor who has been helping with rides to school. So I though, hey kill two birds with one stone right. I decided to make some cute Halloween sugar cookies and I used my Great Grandmothers recipe for sour cream sugar cookies. Mmmm! My favorite! And I'm going to share this wonderful recipe with you.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1/2 c butter

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 c sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

4 1/2 c flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs- beat well. In a separate bowl mix sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice. In another bowl mix baking soda, baking powder and flour. Now add small amounts of sour cream mixture alternately with small amounts of flour mixture until well mixed.

Roll out dough on a floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. Place cookies on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375* for 10-12 minutes.

I cut my cookies into pumpkin and ghost shapes. To decorate them I used a round tip to pipe on zig-zag designs. If you don't have cake decorating tips you can use a ziploc bag and cut the tip off.

For the ghosts I added two mini chocolate chips for eyes.

Then remember those little Frankensteins I made. I put some of those on a plate with the cookies and it made a fun treat for the neighbor.

Little Frankensteins

I saw this cute Halloween treat idea on another blog, but I of course can't remember which one. So sorry to whomever it is out there that deserves the credit for this one. They dipped big marshmallows in chocolate to create these cute Frankensteins. Here is our version: (Not the best picture but hey.)

The kids had a blast making them. And they are yummy to eat, probably a little too yummy.

Here's how easy they are to make:

Melt white chocolate chips in a mug in the microwave and add green food coloring.

Melt milk chocolate chips in a separate mug.

Dip the marshmallows in the "green" chocolate and put in the fridge to harden.

Then dip just the tops of the marshmallows in the milk chocolate for the hair. Put some melted chocolate in a baggy and cut of the tip to squeeze on the face and bolts in his neck. Put back in the fridge to harden.

I also saw another blog that did them as pumpkins. So fun.

Canning Season

Canning season is both hard and wonderful! It is a lot of work to do get it all done but so worth it. I love having the nice fruit to eat through out the year. As a kid I always thought my mom was so weird when she would get so excited every time a bottle popped. Now I completely understand the excitement and I do the same thing she did. I'm sure my kids are going to think I'm weird too.

I got a lot of canning done this year. I did peaches, homemade peach syrup and pears. I also have blackberries and pears in the freezer to make into jam. I was just a little wiped by the time I got everything else done that I need a break. But my husband is getting anxious for me to make the jam so I'm sure I'll get to it soon.

My Sweet Isaac

We celebrated (for lack of a better word) another angel day this week. Monday marked two years since you've been gone and we would have buried you tomorrow. I miss you so much. I am still trying to figure out how to spend this day. This year it was spent curled up with Daddy watching one of our favorite tv shows. It's really not a day to celebrate, is it? Maybe. Those in heaven celebrated your return. But how do we celebrate our loss? Maybe 'honor' would be a better word. But how?

I am learning there are people in this world that are cruel. Twice now we have had things stolen from your grave. I'm learning that maybe it is not the best place to leave things for you. Some friends have given me the idea of having a garden at home for you. I'd like to try when we can get around to putting in a yard.

You would be two and a half now. I look at other kids your age and I just can't believe you would be that big. You are a baby and will always be. Your baby brother is starting to out grow you. I've been thinking lately how even though he will always be your little brother, when we get to raise you, he will be older than you. He will be the one to teach you how to catch bugs, kick a ball, flirt with girls, when it should be the other way around. It is a strange thought.

It doesn't matter how good things are going, there will always be something missing in our lives. You. We love you so much Buddy.

My New Best Friend

I have a new best friend. Who, you ask. Actually it's not a who- it's a what.

BAKING SODA!

And why is baking soda my new best friend, let me tell you. Because I have a brand new house, I also have a brand new stove, right. But does my stove look brand new? Absolutely not! I am very good at making pots boil over and not very good at remembering to wipe it up as soon as dinner is over. So I have cooked on grease all over my stove and as hard as I scrub and as long as I let it soak, I can't get it off.

Well today I was flipping through this book that seriously came out in the eighties called "Today's Tips for Easy Living". My kids love the book because there are lots of fun crafts and food ideas that they want to try all the time. As we were flipping through today, I noticed there was a page with cleaning tips. I decided to glance through them to see if there was anything worth trying and guess what- BAKING SODA. They actually suggested using it for grease spots on pans, but I thought hey, if it works on pans maybe it will work on my stove. And it's a miracle- my stove looks new again and I didn't even have to scrub very hard.

So here's what I did. I squoze (if that's even a word) a little water out of a rag onto the stove top and then generously sprinkled baking soda on. The water and soda made a paste that I then used my rag to scrub around on the grease spots. They came off so easy. Anything to make cleaning easier tops my list, so thanks baking soda- I love you!

(I wonder if it will work on the soap scum on the bathroom sinks?)

Stretched!

So you know that feeling you get when your pregnant and sticking out a foot- the one that says I am so stretched I can't take it anymore, get this baby out, but at the same time you don't really want the baby to come yet because it's too early. Yeah I am there! I'm 36 weeks today and am starting to pray that as soon as I am 37 weeks my water will break.

And although I am getting excited to meet this little guy, I am starting to miss my other little guy a lot too. I just pray that having another boy after losing one won't be difficult. I keep wondering what if he looks like Isaac- will that be hard, what if he doesn't- will that be hard, and so on. I know it doesn't make since and it never does, unless you are also an angel mom- then you understand all the crazy, conflicting and outrageous thoughts and feelings that pop up with any and every subject.

Facelift

I decided my blog needed a new facelift. I still have a couple of things I'd like to add to it but for now I hope you all enjoy. For some more exciting news- we are hoping to move into our new house this week. Once we are in I will post some pictures of my very own domain that I get to decorate!!!! I am all too excited.