Halloween

Twas the afternoon of Halloween and the ordinary was starting to look a little scary.

Was this tree always this dark and sinister?

Could it just be the day of the year?

Pumpkins were huddling together hoping to be safe from the the ghouls and goblins that would be coming out after dark.

Some pumpkins sprouted wings and donned a mask just to blend in with the crowd sure to come by this evening.

This fireman decided to hang off to the side to make sure that the crowds stayed orderly.

For now the sun is still above the horizon, but soon it will be dark.  Soon the streets near and far (except in New Hampshire) will have front porch lights on, kids in costumes and laughter and joy will be in the air. 

When all have been tucked in bed, what will come out from the shadows then?

Happy Halloween!
Kristin

Valentines Day Ideas

I thought I'd post a few links to some valentines ideas I've seen as I've been cruising around blogland.

I've always really enjoyed Valentines Day, but I consider it a family day - not necessarily a couple kind of thing. My parents would give us girls a small gift and we'd all try to find the funniest cards to give each other. We'd usually go out to dinner, too. It was so much fun.

So here are some fun kids valentine ideas and things to do with your kids. I've never tried any of these things, as I don't have any children in the house and my nieces, sadly, live a bit too far away for me to do these projects with them. Let me know ifyou try out any of these ideas.

Lots of Valentine Ideas for you and your kids at Nikki and Danny's blog - she calls it All Out Valentines Day.

"Quite a few years ago, with funds being very low, I
came up with a perfect gift to give my hubby. I
decorated a glass jar with red & white painted hearts.
I decorated the lid with a red and white lace-trimmed
fabric. Inside, I placed 52 little white & red notes with ‘Things I love about you’ or ‘Things I love doing for you.’ Every week he could pick out one to start his week right! To this day, it is his favorite gift and he still pulls a note out every now and then." ~ Linda (posted on Creative Frugality)

Valentines Day printables - Family Fun

Butterflies and suckers make for one sweet valentine - Scribbit
and
"Cheesy Valentines" also from - Scribbit

Valentines Day Clothespins -- Martha
and
heart button covers - Martha
and
crayon hearts - Martha

Hope you had a Fabulous Groundhog Day!
Kristin

How to Bake a Sweet Potato

How to Bake the Perfect Sweet Potato

Preheat oven to 450º
Put a foil* lined baking sheet into the oven on the lowest rack.
*parchment works well, too

Place sweet potatoes onto the rack above the baking sheet.

Don't poke any holes into the potatoes, just place on the rack.

Set timer for 20 minutes.

When the timer goes off, decrease baking temperature to 350º

Bake for an additional 60 minutes. Set your timer again.

Depending on the size of your sweet potaotes you may want to increase or decrease this time, but I've found that an hour is just about right for two large sweet potatoes.

When the sweet potatoes are done a knife will easily slip through the potato. The skin may be tough to get through, the potato itself will be soft.

The exterior of the potato will look like this 

You can poke at the skin and it feels puffy. I poked at it several times!

That pocket forms because of the high temperature at the beginning of the baking cycle.

The skin literally peels off in a matter of seconds. The inside has been steamed and baked at the same time, so it stays really moist without being wet or dry. Ooooh it is fabulous.

I bake these two at a time, eat part of one potato for my meal and save the rest in the fridge. These microwave real easy after baking, too - just scoop out your portion, nuke for 30 seconds to one minute and eat!

Thanks Mom! They turned out great!