Today is Mock Halloween

Today is Saturday, October 30th.  Tonight the boys will go from door to door saying "Trick or Treat" or "Tricks or Treats" (if you are Charlie Brown - and then look into your bag to find the first of many forthcoming rocks.)  Our town is "Trick or Treating" the day before Halloween this year, because the real Halloween is on Sunday.  Nuff said. 

I have all sorts of lovely things to blog about - pictures of the chocolate dipped pretzels I made at 11:00ish at night for Owen's class, and the feverishly fast, stuffed jalepeno peppers that we made for the work Halloween party (that I didn't get to go to), but alas I am tired.  My eyes are in a constant haze from the contact lenses that I prodded into my eyes with the hands that held the jalapeno peppers.  I have no creativity.  Did I spell jalepeno right?  I am tired - did I say that too? 

I promise big things later - after a nap, and a few cups of hot tea, which I plan to swill like the pirate (I mean farm girl) that I am...

Corn Maze! Check Point!

On the way back from the Apple Festival, we decided to stop at a pumpkin patch ...

and found a corn maze...

I have been wanting to go to one of these since a couple of years ago when we passed one on our way home from Myrtle Beach with the Tylers.

Farms make me happy - especially ones with green silos.



Loved the sunflowers too - the entire roadside was edged with them.



Have you ever heard of egg gourds? Or maybe they're called gourd eggs? Hmmmm...



Anyway, don't you think they look just like chicken eggs? I thought I could buy 20 or so to fill a black wire basket in my kitchen, but at .50 cents each, I thought I better not. (Especially since Jim was there with me! LOL!)

We did lots of running through the corn maze.

I worn my Keen's (I love them!) and I knew they wouldn't let me down.  Being able to walk the next day is important for a farm girl like me...

There were 12 checkpoints in the maze and a hole puncher for each checkpoint on our map. Jim loved to scream out "check point" or "found number 8!" I think he wanted a stampede of people chasing him.

We found all 12 checkpoints and turned our map in to be entered in a drawing... wonder when that happens? Wonder what we might win...? Maybe a big green silo?

Every now and then the mom has to be in the picture too... just to prove that she was on the trip - for alibi circumstances and all.  Ya just never know!

Everyone jump on mom!

See how happy my boys are at the farm?

Farmers have come a long way - ours was wearing overalls, driving this tractor and talking on his cell phone.  Who knew farmers had cell phones?  I wonder if they even know how to text?!

We were sad to leave, but I got all kinds of BIG ideas - like opening our very own corn maze - and how I would sell hot apple cider!  It WAS the apple festival.... Wonder why they didn't think of that?

Apple Festival!

On Wednesday we found out that "everyone" in Owen's 2nd grade class was going somewhere for Fall Break. Some were going to Disney, some to other places and one was going to Alaska... Jim was on his way home from Texas - by car. He wasn't even home yet, as the beginnings of a plan were rapidly coming together. We had to go somewhere - anywhere! That anywhere quickly became the Apple Festival in Ellijay, Georgia.

Sadly, we had to stay at the Crowne Plaza in Atlanta for lack of an available cabin. Next year we will be better prepared!

Look at all of the people!

There were all sorts of yummy things to eat...

Like these...

Ooooh...

 Yummmmm...

Eating fried apple pies can make a girl very thirsty...

There were just so many cute ideas to steal ...

Next year, we will be organized - you know, like book a cabin before the day we leave Guyton.  Little things like that can make a big difference!  ha ha!

Timeline Project by Owen Murphy...

We had a good time doing this.  Owen wanted to do a baseball theme - Milwaukee Brewers of course. 

We made bases, used baseball bats as the "timeline" and baseballs to mark the years.



Candy Corn Wreath - from the cover of Woman's Day October Magazine

You will need:
16 in (or similar size) styrofoam wreath
Black duct tape
Hot glue gun
Lots of hot glue sticks
Black ribbon
Candy corn

Cover the wreath in tape, winding around and around.

Glue candy corn in rows with the first row with points to the left, the next row with points to the right. Do the inside edge and outside edge last.

Woman's Day doesn't say to spray with a sealer, but I did so that the bugs don't have a picnic off the candy corn right on my front door!

Lay it on the grass, but first lay it on top of a paper bag - because laying it on the grass without anything under it invited lots of little critters for a feast.

Wrap ribbon through wreath and tie into a bow!  Isn't it cute?

Rincon Scarecrow Contest...

Further evidence to our small town lifestyle, Rincon hosted the first ever scarecrow contest.



Up and down Highway 21, every imaginable sort of scarecrow is sitting...



Standing...



Wearing Pink in support of Breast Cancer month...



On chiropractic tables...



Under salon dryers...



Working on trucks...



And whipping up the best batch of grits in Rincon, Georgia (this would be our Dicksie of Johnsons on 4th!)

Some were completely angelic...



Some were hard at work...



And still others were lending a helping hand...



Miles and I had big fun getting a closer look...



We saw a lot of scarecrows today, but we couldn't find anyone having as much fun as this guy...



Happy Halloween!

Little helper...

Jim found this sweet little guy in the yard. He likes to blog too.

Phantom Treater...

One night, a couple of years ago, the doorbell rang (yes, it has rung since then too, but follow along here!) and since we rarely have nightly callers, everyone ran to the door in surprise. On the front porch was a basket - with lots of fun Halloweenish things inside and instructions on how to continue the fun. So began the Phantom Treater!

Here are the fun things we bought for the Orsini kids. Oh how we love to be sneaky - that is the best part!



Here is the letter to put inside .... try to put 2 copies inside in case the recipient doesn't have access to a copy machine.

Along with 2 copies of the ghost...


(this gets hung in the window of your recipient to show that they have already been visited by the Phantom Treater and one for the basket they will deliver to a different friend.)


And here it is, all wrapped up and ready to be delivered...



We delivered it at night after football practice. Owen ran to the Orsini's porch and Miles and I waited in the car with the lights off - a little down the road. hee hee hee! Owen placed the cauldron of goodies on the front porch - right in the middle - and then rang the doorbell and RAN fast!

Apron Collection - First Apron circa 2002

Jim hasn't gotten around to photographing our apron photo shoot yet (really, he wants to - yeah, right!) but look what I dug up today - a blast from the past! This is my first apron - a gift from Jim in 2002. It's from Williams-Sonoma - I am about 6 months pregnant with Owen. The cookbook, How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson was one of my first cookbooks and it was a gift from Aunt Marsha-Marsha-Marsha. Who knew that a short 8 years later, I'd become completely obsessed with both aprons and cookbooks...