My Missing Pumpkin

This post has little to do with my grandchildren except that they all loved seeing the big pumpkin that sat on my kitchen counter through Halloween and Thanksgiving. I can't believe that I didn't get a photo of it because it  had a great shape, excellent color, and the cutest stem I had ever seen on a store bought pumpkin!

Well, one day following Thanksgiving I noticed that my pumpkin was missing from the counter. I had planned to somehow make a bird feeder out of it and place it outside my big kitchen window so that I could enjoy watching the birds helping themselves to the seeds and the flesh of the pumpkin.

Before I could ask anyone else in the house if they knew what had happened to my pumpkin I came across these photos on my computer.

Oh, my youngest daughter has taken it for a walk in the desert.

Not looking good, she has a gun!

Run, pumpkin, run!

Taking aim.

It looks like the local desert birds will still be able to 

enjoy the seeds and what is now the splattered pumpkin flesh.

Poor pumpkin.

I never thought my little girl would grow

up to love shooting guns.

A little grandma reminder:

Keep all guns securely locked up!

Trunk-or-Treat

I missed blogging about Halloween this year and it has been haunting me! The annual block party my girls hosted again this year netted record numbers of guests.

Guests brought crocks of chili and soups.

Homemade breads.

And, tons of desserts.

The guest tables were lit with strands of orange lights running down the center of the tables with jack-o-lanterns scattered throughout. The lit candelabras were perfect for this spooky after dark occasion.

After dinner there were hay rides for all. A couple of our neighbors had put up some awesome Halloween displays in their yards. The hay wagon driver took advantage of the free light shows by including the houses on his route.

All ten of our grands were on this hay wagon.

I was glad to see Papa and his watchful eye on the very back.

After the hayrides it was time for the Trunk-or-Treat.

All of the cars had parked on both sides of our block from

my house down to my daughters homes.

(There is about 10 acres of land between us.)

Papa and I had decorated his truck for the

Trunk-or-Treaters.

Our grands were pretty proud of their

Grandma and Papa's spider infested

Trunk-or-Treat display.

Once everyone had gone home and the clean up was just about

done Papa treated the cousins to a ride in the spider infested 

bed of his truck through our dark rural neighborhood.

The kids were all smiles!

The party was a huge success and the 

memories created with our grandchildren..... priceless!

Haunted Halloween Village Craft

All ten of my grandchildren crafted with me (in three different batches)  over Fall break to make these fun Halloween Village decorations. Simple, inexpensive, and oh so cute!

Check out the how to tutorial over at GrandmotherHen.

A Glimpse into a Creative Day

I recently took on the task to make posters for two upcoming events at church. The two events are one week apart. One is for the children and the other is for all ages. I decided to do a combo poster. This was a first of it's kind for me.

So the creativity in my head began. I thought about what I had on hand and I went to the local dollar store for some very affordable inspiration. Dollar Tree Stores have foam core poster boards for just a buck. I picked up two of those for my bases. I also picked up two black poster boards.

I found perfect graphics for both of the events. Something else I used as inspiration was the greeting card section where the cards are two for a buck. The Halloween Cards gave me a huge selection of brightly colored card stock graphics to choose from. The matching envelopes also gave me matching papers to matt with. The teachers section and the arts and crafts sections are also filled with fun resources.

The creativity while in my head seems to be very clean, organized, and prepared to move forward.

Then, the "hands on" creative process takes over my dining room table. I pulled down my Halloween tubs and pulled out papers, decorating items, and even gift bags with cute graphics to add to my creative space of resources. So, now my garage is in disorder too. Papers were pulled from my scrap booking drawer, and glues, scissors, and the yard stick were all nearby.

It can even spill over to the other pieces of furniture in the room.

The project was also strewn across my desk. 

A big yellow notepad of poster ideas I had 

scribbled down earlier in the day while waiting at the

doctors office, my receipt, the card stock for printing

the computer generated portion of the task, 

and discarded print outs that need to be put in 

the grands scrap basket so that they can be 

recycled by coloring on the other side.

Even the floor is covered in my discarded

creative scraps.

And, most often it takes over the kitchen too!

So, when hubby came home from work last night

the dining room table was clearly not available for dinner.

And, sadly neither was the kitchen.

Happily, out to dinner it was

using a lovely gift card my daughter had given us

as a thank you for helping with her kids.

The creative mess was left in place.

I was tired and I would start refreshed in the morning.

Morning brought out the glue sticks and 

the

BIG GUN

Hot glue!

Before I knew it I had my first combo poster completed.

Quite busy I know.

But, I am sure they will catch peoples interest.

The best part since I am working within a church budget.

All for just $7.75

Combo Posters....a great deal!

Now it's time to clean up, put away, 

wipe down glue smudged counters, more counters, and table,

sweep the floor, and de-clutter my overflowing 

creative workspace, desktop, and garage.

And, I had better start thinking about

what to fix for dinner tonight!

Pop Star Treats Inc.

Early Saturday morning we received a knock on the door. To our surprise we opened the door to find our nine year old granddaughter who lives right down the street and her friend who was spending the weekend with her.

We were greeted with a well rehearsed sales pitch. They had created a sign reading "Pop Star Treats", a product and price sheet, and a folded up cutout from a Halloween Costume catalog of two Pop Star costumes that she and her friend wanted to earn the money to buy . Their presentation of the cupcakes and their sales pitch were both adorable.

They had spent the day before baking up a storm and they had a WAGON FULL of cupcakes for sale! They had also made mini cupcakes on picks as free samples for their potential customers. They were confident that just one bite of their tasty free samples would greatly sweeten their revenues!

We were thrilled to be their first cupcake customers. Later in the day they hit us up for a car wash, and even later in the day they hit us up for some housework. Each time they returned they had a bit more cash in their tightly clinched fists. When they left our house in the late afternoon they had earned a total of $54! Not bad for a days work at 9 years old.

Creative, hardworking, and adorable are just a few of the words I will think of with this precious memory!

Ready for Trick or Treater's

My front entry is ready for Trick or Treater's. I took my autumn wreath and added some black leaf garland and a Trick or Treat banner. I added a swag of the black leaf garland at the top of the door. I put black light bulbs in the outdoor entry fixtures for some spooky lighting. My columns are strung with festive orange lights. I really went the extra mile with the spider webs that you have to duck under to get to the door. The webs freak me out because I have a HUGE fear of spiders and their webs. (notice NO spiders) On Halloween night I will add my electric Jack o Lantern and my flaming witches cauldron. The finishing touch will be my traditional Halloween CD playing some fun Halloween tunes to greet the little ghosts and goblins on Halloween Night!

Halloween Greetings

This is this year's collection of the nine Halloween cards that I am sending to my grandchildren. I try not to duplicate cards from year to year. I hope my memory is serving me well.

Trick or Treat

I'm a very lucky grandma to have all of my grandchildren close enough to trick or treat at my house. Just before they came to my door we had all had dinner and games together before trick or treating. I ran home quickly to get ready for their "surprise" knock at the door.

Happy Halloween!

My tradition for Halloween is to get each child a Halloween card and mail it to them. They all love getting mail with their names on it. I purchase adorable cards in the dollar store at 2 for a buck. I write a small personal note to each one and place a Halloween sticker on the back over the seal.

I do get to see them all on Halloween when they come to my house for their treat. All of the cousins trick or treat together with their parents and we usually meet as a family at the end of the night.

Old Fashion Fun

Back to nature and some old fashioned fun was enjoyed last October with a visit to Willcox, Arizona for their annual Rex Allen Days. We watched the parade down main street and visited Apple Annies apple orchard for an afternoon of apple picking. We had our picnic lunch in the apple grove with hot apple cobbler and homemade ice cream for dessert. Before heading home we visited the pumpkin patch. A haywagon took us to the open fields where each child picked their own halloween pumpkin. It was a fun day filled with fresh air and lots of new activities!

If you are interested in attending check www.willcoxchamber.com