It's time......

(all the following photos from Google.com)
It's time!
I hate looking at all my photos!
I don't have enough energy!
I'm tired of wearing my "fat clothes"!
(I know, all my skinny clothes have been out of style for a long time and I only have fat clothes!)

Some friends at work have been on a kind of fad diet and are losing a ton (pun not intended- well, maybe intended) of weight. It involves taking some hormone injections, limiting their calories, and only eating certain foods, but I am just not comfortable with that kind of diet. However, they are losing weight and looking really good.

Anyway, I have given myself a "Take Ten" challenge to lose 10 pounds by Christmas.
I intend to do it the healthy way by eating a lot of these

and not too many of these.

I also plan on doing a lot of this.

Anyone out there want to join me in my challenge?

♥
JoAnn

"Grandma time"... Pumpkin Walk...and An early snow storm...

What's better than a little "grandma" time?


I just returned from spending a few days with my cute granddaughters (and their parents).

I enjoyed meeting this sweet little girl.
(Which included all the spoiling time I wanted!)

"The girls"
(Liz, Maddie, and Brooklyn)

Karl, Maddie, and I took some time out to go to the local "Pumpkin Walk".

The "Pumpkin Walk" is a big collection of displays created with pumpkins.

Yes, this is "Where the Wild Things Are".
All of these vegetables were created out of pumpkins.

Don't you love this cute little Yoda?
(No pumpkins used here!)

On my way home, I drove past this beautiful building.

Did you notice the white stuff on the ground?
We had a real snow storm.

I love this house, but I took the picture to show the fall bushes sprinkled with winter snow.
I wonder which season will win?
(I hope fall gets to hang on a little longer!)

♥
JoAnn

Second Annual Halloween Party!

"Once upon a spooky night......."

A group of silly creatures met together to celebrate their second annual Halloween Party!

A "spooktacular" feast was spread out for all to enjoy.

They even welcomed a first timer.....little Maxwell.

Loud laughter was heard rippling through the house as everyone played a wild game of "Lightening".

Stay tuned for more eerie details........

Oops!

Welcome to the world....!

Last night little Brooklyn Kay joined our family!
She was welcomed by her mommy, daddy, and big sister Madison.
We are all relieved and happy that she and her mom are both doing fine,
and we can't wait to meet her.
She weighed in at 7 pounds-6 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long.
(Exactly the same size as Maddie was!)

I am looking forward to spending a few days with them.
(I thought it was fun seeing them both at the exact same age!)


Thanks, Brooklyn, for giving me enough notice to get all my sub plans finished!

See you soon!

JoAnn

Simple pleasures.....

"Happiness...

is a way....

of travel-

not a destination."
-Roy M. Goodman

(Thanks, Liz, for permission to share these great photos!)

Yummy Apple Dumplings.....

Do you have any fall comfort foods that you like?

This Apple Dumpling recipe is a great one.
Who doesn't like the smell of apples, cinnamon, and sugar baking?

Carol Gilbert's Apple Dumplings

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add in shortening like you are making a pie dough. Add egg and milk. Roll out in a large rectangle on a floured board. spread a few tablespoons of melted butter on the top. Sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. Peel and grate about 4-6 apples and spread across the dough. Roll up the dough into a log shape (I like it to be short and fat- not long and skinny). Cut in 1 inch peices and place in a greased dripper size cake pan.

Make a syrup to pour over the dumplings.

Mix together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup butter

Pour over the dumplings and bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve watm with Vanilla ice cream.

P.S. Did you notice that someone couldn't wait to sample the dessert? Sorry! I forgot to hurry and get a picture.

P.P.S. The recipe comes from a good friend of our family. Carol was one of my mother's best friends and she was also the mother of my friend Danny (who recently passed away). Not only does it taste delicious, but I always think of good friends when I make it!

♥
JoAnn

Witches Night Out!

Recipe for Witches Night
Add:

1 cool night (do not chill)
hundreds of assorted witches (all sizes, shapes, and ages)

stir in:
Hot cheese and potato soup in bread bowls
energetic music
festive lights
lots of pumpkins
caramel apples

Mix together until well done.
Awesome!

There is a great Halloween cooking link on 320 Sycamore.
(Thanks, Melissa for sharing the link!)

Our Best Bites
click here

(Thanks to the girls at Our Best Bites who put this together!)

It has some fun spooky treat recipes and
I plan to make some of them for our Halloween party this year.

Do you have any fun ideas?

♥
JoAnn

P.S. Witches Night Out pictures coming soon......

(I won a gift basket at Witches Night Out, but since we had already left I have to pick it up tomorrow. Fun!)

Oh, brother.....look what's new!

I just got an early birthday present!
Yeah!

(It's a Brother brand)
Look at all the stitching options on the front.

I'm hoping to do some of the following things soon:

Be creative (by sewing up a little curtain for my kitchen)
Be useful (maybe I'll make some humanitarian school bags)
Be domestic (I'll leave it where people will see it and they might THINK I use it a LOT.)
Be thrifty (doing some mending?)
Be clever: (I'm thinking.....)

Bet you didn't know a machine could make you so talented!
(At least it sounds good on paper!)

Thank you to my family!

Do I know you from somewhere?

Ever hear the words, "I feel like we should know each other?"
A coworker of mine (she is new at our school this year) said those very words to me recently.
Nope, we couldn't make any connections.
I figured it must be one of those "you just remind me of someone else" situations.
BUT...

A few days ago she happened to mention the word "Franklin".
My ears pricked right up. Did she mean the town of Franklin -in Idaho?

Well, to make a long story short-
we were both in the SAME second grade class.
We lived about five country miles apart.
(Her family moved away the next year and we lost touch.)

Doesn't it just make you wonder who else you might be connected to- but just don't realize!

P.S. Is it a good or bad thing to be recognized from memories when you were
a seven year old?

♥
JoAnn

Pulling Out The Fall Decorations...and Witches' Night Out

It's official....fall has finally arrived at our house!
This weekend we pulled out our fall/Halloween decorations.

Spooky!
(O.K., not really, but we do enjoy the atmosphere.)

This little witch is trying on my new hat for Witches' Night Out!

If you want to participate in Witches' Night Out at Gardner Village, keep Friday or Saturday evening open (the 16th or 17th), pull out your best little black dress, don your most fancy black hat, spruce up your best broom, and plan on mingling with the most assorted bunch of witches you might ever come across.
It is so fun to join with so many other witches!

Maybe we will see you there!
♥
JoAnn

Autumn's beauty and a little fun at a pumpkin patch...

I wish I could say I took these three pictures,
but
I "borrowed" them from Google clip art. (You might have seen them before.)

I wish I had taken the pictures because I think that the photographers did a great job
capturing the splendor of fall.

(I really wish I'd taken them JUST TO HAVE BEEN THERE!)

Wow!

I wish I'd taken these next two pictures, too.

Good job to the photographer (Lacey),

I WISH I HAD BEEN THERE, TOO!

(I "double borrowed" these pictures from Liz, who borrowed them from Lacey!)

Thanks!

I hope you are enjoying fall as much as I am!
♥
JoAnn

Fall tradition.....homemade doughnuts

One of our favorite fall traditions
is to make a batch of Doughnuts (Spud nuts).
They are a bit of work, but they turn out so yummy and they are as light as air.

Last year we enjoyed them at our Halloween party.

Here is the recipe:

Easy Doughnuts (Spud nuts)

1 3/4 cups milk, scalded (or hot water will do)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup shortening, melted in the warm milk or hot water
1/2 cup mashed potatoes or prepared instant
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well, being careful not to put yeast in the milk until it has cooled off.

Add:
6 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Mix well and knead lightly. Cover and let raise (about an hour?). Roll out about 1/2 inch thick on floured surface. Cut in doughnut shape (we always use a large cup and a tiny lid to a salt shaker, but you can use real doughnut cutters if you have them.) and let raise until double.
Deep fat fry. (We just put a few inches of oil in a large skillet or electric frying pan and cook one side and then flip over to cook the other side.)
Dip in glaze while warm.

Glaze:
1/2 package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add enough hot water to make a rather thick glaze. Dip doughnuts while still warm. Use wooden spoon through the hole to let the glaze drip off.

Now we need to plan another Halloween party.
Last year we had a great one!
Who is ready to party?


♥
JoAnn