the.amanda.sewell

I can't remember the last time Halloween was on a Saturday! We spent the day making chili, carving pumpkins and spending time together as a family. It was a good day. Busy, but good. Here are some carving pumpkin photos: Mic expertly scooping out the tallest pumpkin J scooping pumpkin guts out after I carved Mickey's face And the finished pumpkins this year: Shrek and Mickey Mouse Homer Simpson (DOH!) We did a quick photo shoot outside the house before we left to get some pictures of the kids in their costumes to put in our Costume Memory book that we made last year, and then we headed off to the ward Trunk or Treat. We got there thirty minutes late, and therefore we had to set up chairs to be able to hand out candy. It was chaotic and frustrating at first, but eventually, my awesome hubby made it all work out and we had a relaxing time hanging out with the Wright family and eating chili and handing out treats. Mic chilling out eating some chili and my mom holding baby skeleto...

My mom and I had so much fun at E and J's class halloween parties and trick or treating. The kids were all so well behaved and happy. E is Aurora this year, and J is Spiderman. They were so stoked to wear their costumes. They got SO much junk . . . not sure how we will ever go through it all. EEK!!! (*warning: Picture overload*) From E's Classroom: E and her popcorn hand and with her teacher Miss Merritt E and her desk buddy Lily E getting wrapped as a mummy and Aubrey wrapping Emi Aubrey, Emi and E as mummies From J's Classroom: Wyatt, J and Sierra being good little students J's bat with the red glittery eyes J & classmates making pumpkin faces cut and paste -- and Christian and J in their costumes Trick or Treating Around the School: J Trick or Treating and a cute picture of E & J's friend Ally as a cat E trick or treating . . . so pretty! E trick or treating from Mickey (Principal Cardine) and J with his class trick or treating Hey funny face! J bei...

We figured out that the last time we went to Schnepf Farms was 5 years ago. CRAZY! J was only 7 months old or so. We had such a blast this year. We did EVERYTHING (or at least it felt like it). We roasted marshmallows, played mini golf (where J left his mark on a bush because he *really* had to go suddenly and it was far away to the bathrooms *embarassing*), went on a hayride, rode tons of rides, saw pigs race, went in a petting zoo, wandered through the pumpkin patch, and more. We seriously had such a good time. I would TOTALLY go again. I think it had to do with the fact that we went on a Thursday. It was SO not crowded at all. Last time we went there were lineups, but this time, it was smooth sailing to go on everything. My kids went on some stuff more than once. FABULOUS!!! Here are some of our favorite pictures from the ones we got before my camera decided to die on me. On the Carousel Little's First Carousel Ride E's Pumpkin Face Painting J doing the Jr. Road Rally Tricy...

As usual, the autumn months are just swooshing by. I can't believe we have already made it to the end of October. I will try to be a better blogger . . . I am just finding myself SO busy lately. Anyway, I made two simple goodie bag tags for classmates for Halloween. I used my nestabilities to cut them out. The kids write "Love, and their names" on the back of each tag. Here are two pictures of the final goodies, with tags. I hope the kids like them -- I know my kids do! One contains: BooBerry Fruit by the Foot, a gummy eyeball, and a sheet of stickers and a card to make the funny faces on from Lillian Vernon. The other one contains: a halloween pencil, a halloween eraser, a caramel apple pop. I was trying really hard to make treats that would be okay for kids with peanut allergies, since both of my kids have at least one of those in their classes. Stamps : 2009 Halloween Tags (Papertrey Ink) Paper: Lovely Lilac (SU), Green Galore (SU!), Solar White Classic Crest (Neenah...

Okay, I want to see everyone's fun costume pics! Please post links in the comments section of this post! I hope you all had a wonderfully fun and super sugary Halloween!!! And now, here is a bit of the Halloween fun we had last night!! I worked hard during the day to get some chili made (I could have sworn I shared this one before - I'll have to look back through some posts -- it is yummy), pumpkin rolls made, and some sugar cookies (the easiest and super yummiest recipe -- reminds me of the ones at Paradise Bakery) with the glossy frosting made. (Click on any of the words above for the recipe I used). I was totally exhausted at the end of the night, but all the cookies, bread and chili I made got eaten, so I guess that is a good thing!!! White Chili 1 lb boneless chicken, cubed 1 medium onion 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp canola oil 3 cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained 1 can chicken broth 2 - 4 oz. cans diced green chilies 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp oreg...