Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Fun Halloween & Fall Day

On Monday, the kids were off from school, so we decided to have some Halloween/Fall fun. We started off with a Halloween art project. We made skeletons out of construction paper, cotton swabs, & glue. (All white swabs would be ideal, but I had this kind, so it worked for us.) ;0)


The kids laid out their pan for their skeleton by using whole & cut up cotton swabs then gluing them together. They drew a skull on white paper, and then glued that on.





They also added their own touches. Riley said his skeleton was breathing lightening.


Zach's is breathing fire:


And Lily added a moon:


After that, we played Halloween Bingo!





We played several rounds of that, and then made our Halloween treat so we could eat it while watching Hocus Pocus!!

Our treats were fruit candy corns. We needed pineapple, mandarin oranges, whip cream, and candy corn.


We put the oranges on the bottom, pineapple in the middle, and then whip cream and candy corn on top!



They were yummy!


To continue with our fall/Halloween theme, I made Tortilla Soup & apple pie. 
(recipe's to follow)


The apple pie had a cinnamon roll crust:



It was super yummy!!


It was a great day to spend together!

If you would like the recipe for the soup & pie, here they are:

Tortilla Soup
2 cups cooked & cut up chicken breasts
6-8 corn tortillas
small red pepper; chopped
small onion; chopped
1 clove garlic
1 cup crushed tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
salt to taste
2 tsp. chopped cilantro
cheddar cheese

Cut tortillas into strips & fry in olive oil until crispy. Set aside. In the same oil, cook pepper, onion, & minced onion & cook until soft. Add crushed tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Put mixture into large pot, add chicken, cilantro, salt, fried strips, & broth. simmer for 30 minutes. 
Serve with cheddar cheese & tortilla chips. (we like to fry more strips & use those.)


Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie

For the crust
1 refrigerated pie crust roll
butter
cinnamon
sugar

For the pie
7 - 8 cups peeled & thinly sliced granny smith apples
sugar/cinnamon
1 stick butter; room temperature
1 cup flour
1 cup light brown sugar

For the icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 teaspoons milk (may need more for consistency)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400*
 
Roll out crust, spread a light layer of butter on crust, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Place pieces in pie pan sprayed with cooking spray. Gently press rolls together to make crust, making sure there are no holes.

Place apples on top of crust, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Mix butter, flour, and brown sugar in a bowl. using your fingers or a pastry cutter to mix it up into crumbles. Sprinkle over apples.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, you can place a piece of foil on top to help it stop.

When the pie is cool, mix up the frosting:
In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, & milk. With a spoon, drizzle it over pie & serve.

 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Walter's Pumpkin Patch!

Om Saturday, we headed out to Burns, KS to go to Walter's Pumpkin Patch. This is the 9th year we have been there!


We met Amy, Sam, and Emma there. We were all excited to see Emma!
 













The boys enjoyed the zip line again this year!

   

The kids had fun feeding the goats. Emma was not scared of them at all!




 

All of the kids riding the horses!





Then it was time for Boo Mountain!! 
Emma wasn't hating it, but she wasn't loving it either....

 

The boys went down it again & again. They love it!
Lily does not love it.....so she went over to the jumping pillow: 




Eventually we all made it over to the jumping pillow & we all (except Jeff) jumped on it!

 

Lily got to ride the pumpkin train next. Amy wanted Emma too, but we were pretty sure she would have jumped out at some point. Maybe next year. :0)




Riley being silly:





Next up was getting on the wagon to head out to the pumpkin patch!







Zach found his pumpkin right away!










Here is Amy with Emma's pumpkin. She wasn't crazy about the actual patch.














After we weighed and paid for our pumpkins, we put them in the car & got our picnic lunch we brought with us. We ate lunch, and then the kids played on the playground for awhile.




After that, it was time for Punkin' Chunkin'!!








When the kids were through with all of their pumpkins, we met up with Amy, Sam, and Emma at a different playground. Jeff was "getting" Emma. ;0)





We went into the maze after they were done with that playground.




Emma thinks she is just as big as those other 3 kids!





After the maze, Amy, Sam, and Emma decided to go home. Our kids wanted to go play on a giant combine-turned-slide before we left, so we went over there. We happened to be next to a patch with giant pumpkins. So I decided to take more pictures of the kids. ;0)




On our way out, the kids wanted to take a few more silly pictures:






After 4 hours at the pumpkin patch, we got in the car and headed home. We were super tired, but we had had a great day!