my craziness....

So what do you do when your house is total disaster, you have a million things on your "to do" list and it is time to start thinking about dinner but you don't have plans??? Make applesauce. I cleared the counters from the piles of other things I need to get to, cleaned them down and made applesauce. Was I prepared for this mess? No, not really. I didn't have any canning lids, so I made the sauce and put it in my freezer containers. I made applesauce and apple pie filling. I think probably around 13 or 14 quarts of stuff. The kitchen was an even bigger mess by the end, but at least that huge box of apples I had purchased for cheap were no longer on my kitchen floor. I had to make room in the freezer so we had frozen fish fillets, french fries and applesauce for dinner. Sometimes I am a wee bit on the crazy side......but every once in a while you just need to do something you enjoy on a whim and forget doing the dishes, making phone calls, planning New Beginnings, cleaning the house and planning your weekly menu....for a moment in time I was just happy to be covered in apple mess and teaching my baby girls how to make applesauce and have fun making a mess.

And here is just a cute picture I took of Callie's most recent two favorite things.....

ode to carmel

Here are the younger three girls at Andrea's Preschool Fall Festival. We decided to have them all go as Minnie Mouse since they haven't been able to use these costumes yet! They had a blast. Callie just enjoyed eating her costume....

I never knew I liked carmel so much. That is until I made it myself. I don't recall ever really liking it growing up. Like caramel syrup and stuff is kinda yucky to me unless it is really good. I don't like those square carmel candies....but homemade is delicious. And after making 75 carmel apples for Young Women in Excellence I thought for sure I would never want to see or taste carmel again....but oh was I wrong. This recipe is to die for! And who knew???? I LOVE CARMEL apples. Especially the ones with pecans and chocolate....I like to call them Turtle Apples. I made all kinds....chocolate, pecan, turtles and plain. They were delicious and adored by all. I think I will make this my new Fall tradition. And of course, the apples were from Washington....oh how I miss thee my homestate of delicious crisp apples and cool Fall days.......

Wizard of Oz Preview!

At the Pumpkin Patch

Here is Haylee prior to costume....with not much of a real nap she was more like a zombie the whole night instead of Tin Girl!

I thought it would be fun to take a picture with what my girls affectionately call "The Funny Tree." This tree is on a major road here in Ocala with ALOT of traffic---we were quite the show.... but since the apple trees come to life in the forest on Wizard of Oz it was perfect. We were going to take a picture with him when I was pregnant, but never got around to it. This was better! One of my friends even stopped as we were walking through the trees because she thought our van broke down!!! Joseph got home late from work so he ended up not being able to dress up in time--he is going to be a Munchkin the girls decided. It was much funnier than the Wizard!

TRUNK OR TREAT!

We had our Trunk or Treat at church last night on mutual/activity night so that families can do their own thing on Halloween on Saturday. There are tons of free carnivals and things here on Halloween so it makes for a crazy night to do both. As crazy as it is to dress up 4 times in one week, I am at least glad they are getting good use of their costumes! They got to wear them to dance class, church, fall festival at school and on Halloween! They are loving it!

ROAR!!! She looks like a ferocious beast, doesn't she?!

I know it doesn't look quite right to have only a green face, but I wasn't up for a full body paint job and it was 90 degrees out so NO to the full long sleeve witch costume....

My new side job....

And of course Dorothy....thanks to Joseph's mom for helping me out and making this costume! I had all of the others to make and she found a great pattern! Thank you so much! I had purchased the basket a few years ago at Wal-Mart. And I bought the shoes, socks and Toto at once again, Wal-Mart. Thank you Mr. Sam for inventing such a place.

There's No Place Like Wal-Mart

Yea!!! I finally found the Dorothy shoes! These style of shoes have been in stores for years....until I need them for this Halloween. ANNOYING! I have looked everywhere...Target, Wal-Mart, Payless....ok everywhere I can afford. But the only place I could find some were on Ebay and they were way too expensive. Cheapest I could find that were sort of her size were $10 plus shipping. Finally this week they came into Wal-Mart for $10. YEA!!!! Halloween? Christmas? Who knows,....all I care is that Wal-Mart is the best! At least for today. Normally Target is my fave, but today, Wally's World wins the cup! Here is Andrea modeling Kiya's new shoes. I am so excited for Halloween......Anyone else!?!??! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! Especially since my kids let me dress them up still in whatever I want! I make them think it is their idea! When really it is a sneaky themed-out OCD mom who loves her kids to match! Last year was Lil' Red Riding Hood and the gang...this year is Wizard of Oz. I cannot wait! Yippy!!

Here is a picture of lil Miss Callie around 2 months.....


And here she is about one month later...chubby as ever. But of course still deliciously darling!

WARNING! The next picture is not so darling.....or for the faint of heart.



And here is Mr. Dead Froggy. He is 2 years dead. How do I know this? Because his death anniversary is somewhere in the near future. We found him squished to the door around Halloween 2 years ago. I didn't want to have to be the one to clean him off. And then I thought it was a funny gross addition to my Halloweenish spiderweb covered door, so I left him.....and never took him down. That is right. 2 years later he is still a conversation piece for the door to door salesmen and such. My friends don't even notice anymore. Amazing how the door jam has kept him so preserved. Disgusting isn't he?

Here is my babe with her belly full. Can't be happier than that. Full belly, fresh tush still in the nude enjoying the ceiling fan breeze....

Here is Miss. Ducky. She is not dead. Although she might wish she were with that buzz cut Andrea gave her. This was the best present EVER. I am glad that it is Miss Ducky and NOT Andrea with the buzz cut. My friend's twins gave this as part of Andrea's birthday present. Perfect since Andrea loves plants, scissors and cutting hair. She had 2 grass pigtails she has been working on the last few weeks until I found this the other day. Once again, glad it was this I found and not a pile of hair like I have in the past.....

And here is our new van! I forgot to post these pictures from when we first got it. Here is me demonstrating the "Toyota Jump" to my girls (if you blow up this picture you can see Kiya's "amazed" face!!!---and my crazy one....) since they had no idea what I was talking about....and only if you are a child of the 80s or earlier do YOU know what I am talking about! I can still sing the jingle and it still rings true......

"I love what you do for me....TOYOTA!!!!!" (And yes, all FOUR of my girls are wearing matching dresses....didn't I mention I am an OCD matcher when it comes to my kids?!?!?!?)

Amazing!

So I experienced a feeling I haven't felt in a long time.......COLD. We had a fluke--as it can only be such since it is never this cold this early in the year! I woke up this morning and had to put on a long sleeved shirt for my jog! AMAZING! It was down to 66 degrees! It is already warm again but it is definitely NOT the high 90s it usually is at 10am. It was so nice to really enjoy the weather in the early morning. The only time lately I enjoy the weather is when I am swimming!

Old Guys Rule

So apparently the only thing better than Gator Football, is Gator Football Cake. I had so much fun making this cake! I even made it black and white striped in honor of my referee sweetie for his 30th birthday. I can't believe that. Are we really that old? Well, he is. I'm not. I will never be as old as he is. I at least have that one on my side! In honor of his birthday, we went out to Longhorn Steakhouse with his parents and Grandmother. Then we came home for cake and ice cream with the whole family including our "friends like family" the Halls. Here is a picture of Joseph's buddy Brandon and their gift to him---Old Guys Rule T-shirt and red suspenders. I told Joseph he had to wear it to work on Monday.

loving life today...(and yummy recipe to follow....)

so that was completely sarcastic as i have had the day from haites. i don't even know if that is how you spell the darn place. to start my morning off on a lovely foot, i got a $168 ticket for parking in a handicapped spot at andrea's preschool--which by the way i was told BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL to PLEASE park there so that I wasn't dragging my poor crying babies up the hill from the lower level parking area every day. She said it was perfectly fine. Well, apparently some of the grandmas felt otherwise because the director thinks one of them called the cops on me because they had been complaining that the handicapped spots were always full by those who weren't handicapped. of course once the other parents saw me do it, they followed. there are like 5 handicapped spots on the upper lot and 1 normal spot which is always full during pickup/drop off, etc. ooohhh i was so mad. i am just as handicapped as those grannies with my crying kids during nap time. normally, i will walk my sorry tushie up the hill, but i was asked to PLEASE park there so they wouldn't have to watch me from the window every day. now i am a mad mama. the day went on from there.... got to the gas station next door to walmart (after waiting in a long car line...) to realize that Haylee must have been playing in my diaper bag in the cart because my wallet was missing and the only place it could be was in the wal-mart shopping cart. i raced over there on fumes since i was completely on empty....thank heavens for honest people. i nice man in the parking lot helped me search carts in the area i was parked in and he found my wallet. so i guess my day could have been worse. i was really stressed out since i had a million things to do today and all of these extra little mishaps kept coming my way. at least the day ended on a good note. i helped host a baby shower tonight. we did a yellow and orange shower. my friend doesn't like pink although she is having a girl. so everything was lemon and orange. i made a beautiful centerpiece which i forgot to take a picture of with beautiful lemons, oranges and magnolia leaves. We made a sweet citrus water punch with floating lemons and oranges. We had delicious finger foods--cute lil sandwiches, fruit, etc. but the best part was the 75 lemon poppyseed cupcakes with butter cream frosting and candied lemon peel. de-lish! here is the recipe if you are interested....

Ingredients:
Yield: 24 cupcakes
For the Lemon Strips: 3 lemons, scrubbed and dried

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1/2-cup superfine sugar (we used regular granulated, but the superfine is wonderful)
For the Cake: 1 box Lemon Cake Mix

1 (3-1/2-ounce) box lemon pudding mix

1/4-cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4-cup water

1/4-cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbs. lemon zest

3 Tbs. poppy seeds (I like even more poppy seeds)
For the Frosting: 1/2-cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4-cup heavy cream

1 tsp. natural vanilla extract
Directions:
Up to two days and at least one day before the shower, make the lemon strips:
Using a pairing knife, carefully cut wide slices of rind from the lemon. Trim the white pith from the underside of the slices
Cut the lemon rinds into 24 thin strips. Curl each strip around your finger, brush with egg white, and dust liberally with sugar.
Set the sugared strips on a clean baking sheet and place in a warm, dry spot overnight. Or place the sheet in a preheated 200 degree F oven for 3-4 hours, until dry.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners, gently spray the liners with nonstick spray and set aside.
To make the cake:
Combine the cake and pudding mixes in a large bowl, stirring to blend.
Add the oil, eggs, water and lemon juice, stirring after each addition.
Fold in the lemon zest and poppy seeds until just blended.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins, about 3/4 full.
Bake on the middle oven rack until the tops of the cupcakes spring back to the touch and are not too golden; about 15 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or decorating.
While the cakes are cooling or the morning of the shower, make the frosting.
Using a wooden spoon, cream the butter in a large bowl,
Add the remaining ingredients, and continue creaming until the frosting is well blended and fluffy.
Frost the cupcakes with a small spatula and decorate with the candied lemon strips.

So the shower was fun and turned out beautiful. It turned out to be an ok day by the time it was all over. It is now midnight and I am so ready for bed. A good night with a bunch of wonderful ladies really can turn things around. I really do love living here. Even though I came home and had to kill a dog size cockroach in my garage and I almost died of heat stroke today....my friends here make it worth it. So I guess I am no longer being sarcastic. I do love my life today.