Motha

Motha, the winged wonder

How fabulous is Martha,

or rather-- Motha,

on the cover of MARTHA STEWART Magazine

Halloween edition?!

I don't even typically buy magazines.

But this- I could not resist.

If you're a lover of all things

autumn inspired, like myself,

thenyouhavegottogetyourhineytothegrocerystoreandgrabyourselfacopy.

Chalk full of spooktacular ideas, I tells ya.

Feathered eyelashes, Mauled Cider & Pumpkin Whoopie Pies?!!

Have mercy.....

Cupcakes Won. They always do.....

I admit defeat.

The 'Cindy Lou Who' costume did not turn out as planned.

Or rather, I failed to even attempt it.

Booo me.

In my defence, there was A LOT going on...

Pumpkins to be carved,

Treats to be purchased,

Cider to be made (recipe to follow, your welcome),

Treats to be purchased again because we ate all of the other treats we just bought....

{I'm lucky Ava's hair even received some one-on-one time with the curling iron}

I may have been just a bit over-ambitious this Hallow's Eve.

So, as it were, Ava was satisfied to 'just be' a Cupcake Cutie...

(Although, just the day before Halloween she nearly had a meltdown with some crazy talk about wanting to be a donkey instead-- WTFudge?!)

And, Aaron was a Shadow Ninja.

Again.

Regardless, it was a Happy Halloween.

Our kids were still as ridiculously cute as ever.

The weather was fantastic for the third year in a row!!

And while we didn't have as many trick-or-treating friends with us as last year, the group photo would make you think otherwise...

Best Homemade Apple Cider Eva!

Get your crockpots out!

This cider recipe will rock the socks off any one of your guests because:

A. It's 'homemade' and the best dang cider you'll've ever tasted

And B. It'll make your whole home smell like it belongs to some cozy holiday special on t.v.

You'll be needing:

1 Litre of Apple juice

1/3 cup of Brown Sugar

2 Cinnamon Sticks

6 Whole Cloves

6 Whole Allspice

(I can never find 'whole' Allspice so I just use the powder and sprinkle a bunch into the pot)
That's how 'real' chefs roll...

And, 1/8 a tsp of salt

Add all the ingredients to your crockpot.

Crank up the heat and let simmer for at least an hour.

Keep warm all day long and enjoy throughout the day!

PS- You're gonna wanna double up the recipe..... Trust me.

Happy Halloween!!!

Ava Lou Who

Two weeks back now,

I managed to find Ava's Halloween costume whilst perusing Winners.

My excitement cannot be contained.....

Cupcake Cutie altered to become Cindy Lou Who.

I've been waiting to perform this costume since the day the ultrasound concluded 'It's a Girl!'......

And lucky for me.... Ava bares a striking resemblance to Little Miss Who:

Lil' bit?!

Or just reaching.....

No matter.

To my delight, it's happening either way.

Halloween Apples!

Okay, so I'm just going to bombard you with a million Halloween photos. Summary: It was ghoulish-good fun! We were a group of 13 kids and 12 adults-- quite the trick-or-treating posse. We started as early as possible, about 5:45ish, and were all wrapped up by 6:30. Enjoyed a hot cup of homemade cider along with Shelley's delicious brownies and finished the rest of the evening by handing out candy to the halloween-ers!

**The pumpkins are Shelley's handy work!**

Jack-O-Lanterns & Sassy Cake

It was my birthday yesterday. 27 big ones... Or, as Ramie likes to call it 'Old Balls'. Like the last couple of years, there really is no official plan for the day. Basically, we have cake and whoever shows up on the doorstep joins us in celebrating-- It works out great! Among the dropper-byers... Dustin, Dad, his wife Alicia and James' friend Dave from work and his wife Shanna (lovely american girl). The festivities yesterday included dinner, coffee & pumpkin carving. Loooove pumpkin carving!! I ended-up being too busy to get my own pumpkin carved so you'll have to check back in later for that (It'll be nothing short of fantastic and will certainly out-do the cinderella carving from last year... Oh yes, it will). It was a great night. These 27 years of my life so far, have been blessed... And I'm just really grateful to have the awesomeness of the best, most loving family and friends a girl could ask for.

Love you all! XOXO

Halloweens Past

The kids and I started our hunt for Hallo-ween costumes yester-day. Amazing-ly, we manag-ed to finish Aaron's costume (minus the turtle-neck and long johns he's going to need) and were able to gather a few pieces for Ava's, as well. I thought it would be fun to take a look at our costumes from past Halloweens!!