happy halloween!

happy halloween from queen eleanor, sir samuel, sir george and henry the dragon

Mini Pumpkin Pies & Our Halloween Menu

here it is, for your cooking pleasure...the halloween menu:

appetizers and snacks:
french onion dip (from scratch...with "everything" bagels)
buffalo chicken dip
the candy corn/peanut payday mix
on the stovetop:
truck stop chili
italian sausage soup
sweet treats:
pumpkin muffins
gooey butter cake
mini pumpkin pies (see recipe below)

mini pumpkin pies
combine in a bowl:
15 oz. can pumpkin puree
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

mix ingredients well, pour into mini phyllo shells (found in freezer section).  bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until set.  top with whipped cream and pop into your mouth!  yum!

watch me grow!

it's been a busy couple of weeks for henry! on monday he reached the nine month mark (that's 75% of a year, and it makes me very very blue that he's growing soooo fast).

but that's not all.  in the past few weeks he has:

learned how to pull himself into a sitting position

mastered the art of pulling himself into a standing position while holding furniture

taken a bath in the sink

helped with the dishes

eaten a book (appropriately entitled "just me and my little brother")

and learned how to wave "bye bye"

 while i love watching all of these new tricks, each one makes me cringe a bit.  i miss the newborn days, especially after visiting the newest newborn in the family.  but i am thankful that he is growing big and strong, and already showing such cleverness by helping mama with the dishes. 

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

back to reality

the last few weeks have been rather chaotic around these parts.  my children's school festival was this past weekend, and i co-chaired the event with my good friend amy.  we had some crazy fun together putting on this festival, but it was very very time consuming, and energy draining, and maddening at times.  but in the end, it was a great experience.  we worked our tails off and the effort showed.  we made an incredible amount of money for the school's Smart Board fund, and provided a fun filled afternoon for so many families.  my kids enjoyed being a part of the process as well.  they all spent hours at the school with me doing all kinds of prepwork. 

now i am dealing with the aftermath:  a house that hasn't been cleaned in weeks, laundry that has been piling up, halloween costume prep that was put off until the last minute, upset parents who think that things could have been done better, thank you notes to all of the volunteers who helped make the festival happen, documentation of everything from the festival for future years, halloween party prep for the schools & for our family, blog entries that are rolling around in my head waiting to be written, legal documents that need to be read and written (more on this tasty tidbit monday), custom birthday invites and the list goes on.  hopefully i can do some catching up this weekend so i can enjoy the halloween holiday!  i'm not trying to sound whiny, as much as i love putting on the school festival it's just nice to be back to reality around here.  I missed the everyday stuff, and I'm excited about a new note card job...i've missed making cards.

for now i leave you with a picture of my little girl in the fabulous falcon picture board her father made for the festival.  i will return soon with pictures, recipes, a halloween menu, a cloth napkin tutorial of sorts, and much more! 

bob & alaska

max's adored pets.  a dog named bob and a "cat" named alaska.  you might think that the cat looks suspiciously like an alaskan huskie.  but you would be wrong.  it's a cat.  i've given up trying to prove otherwise.  alaska the cat was a gift to max from aunt tessy on his second birthday, and she hasn't left his side since.  bob showed up about a year ago, and he was named after our tenant who lives upstairs.  max just loved the name bob.  he also wanted me to name henry "bob".  these pets are his world. 

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

books + crafts

You know by now that our family loves loves loves our local library.  We spend alot of time there, and take advantage of so many of their wonderful resources.  One of Ella's favorite sections is the arts & crafts section in the children's library.  Recently she borrowed several drawing books and set to work drawing pictures.  The boys tried their hand at it too.  While I love for the kids to use their imagination when drawing or doing art projects, sometimes it's fun for them to have some guidance and to have new ideas provided.  And the library is the perfect place to find ideas for projects!  So if you are looking for something fun & new for your kids to do, or a craft project related to a certain subject or holiday you should check out some books from your local library!  Or if you have a hard time coming up with ideas that are age appropriate or are having a day where you aren't feeling very crafty or creative, be sure to check out how your library can help you. 

What is your favorite resource at the library?  What kind of projects are you doing at your house right now?

swashbuckling ~ sam style

the kids have been playing "dress-up" and make believe quite often lately.  together.  without bickering.  it's been fun for me to sit back and watch the plot lines develop and the creative interactions take place.  and of course i love the costumes.  sam is particularly partial to the pirate ensemble.  and even though mama frowns upon toy guns he has of course designed his own from kinex, and he has perfected his "arrgh matey".

snacks for dinner

some nights i just don't feel like cooking, and most nights my kids just pick at their food.  so every once in a while we forego the traditional type meal and have a "snacky" dinner.  the kids love it because they love snacking, and i love it because it's easy to prepare.  last week for family movie night they had a little picnic in the living room and had all of their favorite snacks: popcorn, apple slices, cheezits, salami rolls, pretzels and cheese sticks.  not the healthiest meal...but it's quite a treat!  what's one of your family's favorite dinners?

welcome fall!

i guess you might have noticed, many of my blog entries of late have been centered around fall.  i love autumn, it's my favorite season.  i'm not a fan of heat and humidity...give me the cool, crisp days anytime!  soup, windows open, leaves crunching, sweaters...love it!  the next best thing will be a fire in the fireplace!  ok, enough about my excitement over fall.  today ella raked a little pile of leaves and we let henry play in them.  he LOVED it!  perhaps he will be a fall fanatic like his mama someday? 

henry just learned how to pull himself up into a sitting position this week, and he's oh so proud of himself.  he's been sitting for a month or so, if i put him on the floor in a sitting position, but on tuesday he mastered the trick himself.  and then on wednesday he pulled himself into a standing position.  oh my.  next thing you know....

sometimes i hate how fast they grow.

apple pickin'

last week while the munchkins were on fall break from school i took them to evans orchard to go apple picking.  we met up with some dear friends and had a marvelous day.  this orchard is fabulous because it has a playground, a petting zoo, orchards, pumpkin patches, hayrides and more.  my favorite part though is meandering through the orchards looking for the most perfect apples to bring home.  we ended up with two baskets full.  one basket full of apples for pies, and one basket with fuji apples for eating.  i think that we've had apples with every single meal since we brought them home.  they are so delicious!  do you have a favorite local farm?  or better yet, a favorite apple recipe?  please share!

our own chihuly sculpture

a few months back i read about a very cool art project for kids on the blog mary making and it inspired me to do the same project with my children.  i think that the idea of exposing children to famous works of art in order to inspire creativity within them is a brilliant idea.  and we are lucky to have some fabulous museums in our area, so i decided to take advantage of our local art museum and do our own family dale chihuly-inspired sculpture.

first we went to the cincinnati art museum to visit the dale chihuly sculpture that hangs in the front lobby of the museum.  it is a gorgeous blue glass sculpture called  Rio Delle Torreselle Chandelier.  the kids and i spent quite a while underneath this sculpture talking about how it was made, and what it looked like to them (the answers included fish, snakes, blue grass, flowers, and more).    have i mentioned how beautiful it is? 

also over the summer we visited the children's museum of indianapolis (amazing place to take the kids!) where there is another dale chihuly sculpture: Fireworks of Glass.  and that's exactly what it looks like, fireworks.  this sculpture was awesome because there was an exhibit at the museum oriented around (or shall i say "under") the sculpture.  you could lay back on a rotating couch and look up at the sculpture.  it was as if you were inside of a kaleidoscope.  there were also hands on activities for the kids, like using plastic pieces replicating the glass pieces to make their own sculptures.  very very cool stuff.  this piece is chihuly's largest permanent installment, and is made up of over 3,000 pieces of glass and weighs 18,000 pounds. 

the kids were fascinated by these sculptures.  they have always loved exploring museums of all sorts, but this focus on chihuly's glass sculptures had intrigued them, and it was a great conversation starter for them.  i loved hearing their  imaginative and unique perspectives on the sculptures.  it was fun for me to watch their young minds at work on this project.  dale chihuly has installations all over the world, and i highly recommend you find one near you to check out.  and then, if you'd like you could do this art project.  because it is so much fun!

here's how to make your own chihuly-like sculpture.  first you gather your materials:  shrinky dink paper (i found 8x11 sheets on etsy - aka Polyshrink), sharpie markers (the more colors the better), an oven, and a hot glue gun. 

i cut the large pieces of polyshrink into smaller squares, circles, hearts, and other shapes.  then i let the kids loose with the permanent markers (an old plastic tablecloth is a must for this project).  i worked right alongside of them, coloring my own pieces of plastic.  we worked on these pieces over a period of several days, because it was alot of coloring!

after you color each piece you heat them in the oven according to the directions on the package.  keep a close eye on them, it doesn't take long at all...when they start curling and shrinking yank them out of the oven.  while they are still warm you can manipulate the plastic a bit into designs.

once all of the pieces are "cooked" and contorted into their funky shapes you can use the hot glue gun to mesh it all together into one big sculpture.  we hung ours from the dining room chandelier.  the kids were so proud of their work, and very excited about this project.  and i was excited that they were interested in learning about artists and enjoyed our visit to the art museum.  i am looking forward to doing a few more artist inspired projects in the future! 

and thank you again to mary making for the great idea!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

autumn in our yard

 

mums!

  

the old man in the tree



 



one of michael's many bonsai trees





sam's pile of sticks...he's been working on this pile for months, getting ready for the winter months & fires in the fireplace.



gorgeous tree in the backyard - looks as if it is on fire when the sunlight hits it just so.

mary (and daddy long legs)

i love this old stone wall & staircase



ella & max's pumpkins - ella wants you to know it took her a very long time to pick that ghost pumpkin out!



rock collecting ~ sam style

oh my, look at those hands!  you can certainly tell he was having fun! 

Note Card Giveaway Winners!

Happy Monday & thanks to all of you who entered the note card giveaway this past weekend.  If you didn't win, not to worry, I'll be giving away more note cards in the coming months.  Until then, feel free to do some shopping on my website: http://www.cards-by-katie.com/ or in my Etsy Shop!

The Winners are:
Cindy Reaper & Not Blessesd Mama
Let me know which design you would like and I'll get right to work on them!

note card giveaway ~ winner's choice!

I took a poll this week on the Cards by Katie facebook page to see what cards my customers thought I should give away on the blog.  Two choices seemed to be the most popular:  Personalized cards or Miscellaneous notes were what many of you were asking for.  So instead of picking just one or the other I have decided to spice things up and let the winners choose.  That's right, I said "winnerS", plural!

On Monday I will pick two lucky readers & they will get to choose a FREE pack of Cards by Katie Notes!  They can either choose the lovely new Personalized Gingham Notes (set of 5) or a Miscellaneous Pack of Christmas Notes (set of 5 - designs chosen by Moi). 

Entering is quite easy, and you can enter twice!  Double the fun all around during this giveaway! 

Entry #1 - Leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to use snail mail (I know it isn't paying bills!), and while you are at it, I would love for you to "follow" my blog there on the right-hand side of the page, either via google or facebook!

Entry #2 - Leave a comment below telling me how you spread the word about this contest, whether it be facebook, twitter, email, or your own blog, just shout about it from some venue and let me know you did.  I appreciate you getting the word out about my cards!

On Monday October 11th at 2pm I will randomly choose 2 winners, and notify them on this blog (and through email if you leave contact info).  Winners can choose either personalized or misc. holiday notes.

Good Luck!

{this moment} ~ past & present

Inspired by SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

a walk in the woods

yesterday the sun was shining, the air was crisp & the sky was blue.  and i longed to be outside.  so we shunned the to-do list for a few hours and took a nice long walk in the woods.  we talked about nature, discovered new paths, stopped & listened to the sounds of the woods and walked hand in hand.  it was a great learning experience, and a much needed break from the go-go-go lifestyle we have been living lately.  when we got home it was obvious that the fresh air and long walk were much needed.  everyone was calm and happy.  i felt invigorated & exhausted all at once...if that is even possible.  the kids settled in at the dining room table and drew pictures of what they saw in the woods and i put a pot of soup on the stove for dinner.  welcome fall!