Halloween treats

With tomorrow being the first day of October and this weeks' cooler temperatures (low 70s in the mornings!!!!!!) it is time to whip up some of my kiddos' favorite cupcakes.

Each child gets a different job. Caleb is the one that likes to mix up the colored buttercreams, so he is in charge of the orange and yellow for the Candy Corn Cupcakes. Jansen loves to decorate, so he is in charge of putting the Milano cookies and M&M Mini eyes on the Mummy cupcakes.

Halloween creations....candy corn cupcakes

Mummy cupcakes....

Small table remodel...

So I have been looking for a smaller end table to take the place of my current end table. My current end tables are going to be relocated to the master bedroom as we redo it, so I wanted something smaller to fit in that small corner.

Here is what I found on Craigslist for $10. Isn't it cute???

But the finish was way too light, so I painted it black and put it in the corner. I like it for now. I am thinking I might want to crackle finish it at a later date. And then again, you never know. My mind could change...

Delicious Chicken Spaghetti

As you know, I am not a good cook. There are a handful of things that I can make well, and every once in a while I try something that works. This worked for my family, and when I get off this diet, I am going to eat it too!!!! In addition, it freezes beautifully...thank goodness.

So please excuse the ugly picture, but I took a picture with my phone before we cut into it, and then forgot to take a better picture with my actual camera.

EASY, YUMMY, and EASY again Chicken Spaghetti

• 5-6 chicken breasts, cubed


• 1 pound spaghetti


• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped


• 1 can chicken broth


• 1 can Rotel tomatoes


• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup


• 2 pound brick Velveeta

In a large pot, cook spaghetti. In a saucepan, cook the chicken. Once cooked, add bell pepper, broth, Rotel, soup, and Velveeta and warm through. Mix cooked spaghetti and chicken mixture together in a baking dish and top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

More Fall decor....

Honestly, Fall is not my favorite. I don't usually go all out to decorate in Autumn colors. Christmas, on the other hand....well....we border on Griswold. LOVE!

So I put up a few little things this year that will take us through Thanksgiving evening, when I take all the Christmas decorations out of the attic and start up the Doris Day/Barry Manilow Christmas medley music. Yep, I am awesome that way!

I hit up the dollar store this morning so get a couple of things, and picked up just a few Fall goodies. One of the things I found was this little gem....

I ripped off the twine and replaced it with a piece of brown ribbon that came from my Walmart purchase last week.

They tied that box together with some cute ribbon...and I am going to use it in a bunch of projects. I love to reuse the packaging!!!

Then I hot glued it to a white plate I had and put it in the kitchen. I LOVE it!!!


AND, today I finished up my mantle.

Something simple, but super cute. It passed the Jansen test, so I am definitely keeping it. He came into the house from school and yelled, "OH MY GOSH, I LOVE THE PUMPKINS!" That is all the validation I need :)

The raffia pumpkin was from the dollar store, as well as the pumpkin basket, and is mixed with the small boxed pumpkins from Walmart.

The "BOO" sign was made using some frames I had in the closet and by printing out the letters in different fonts. Simple and FREE!!!

PS I keep that picture up over my fireplace year round, because it was a pain in the butt to put up and it covers up some damage that I choose not to fix right now. Disclaimer complete.

That is pretty much all I have planned to do as far as Fall decor is concerned. Is it December yet??

New bedding?

Things have been busy the last few days. The Hub's birthday was successful! YAY! We ate dinner with my parents, had cake, and then while the kids were at school, the hubs and I went to eat lunch and get his tattoo that he has been wanting. When he was 18, he had a deer tattooed on his arm. Oh, to be 18 again, right?! Well, he has been wanting a cover up for a long time and he finally got it. Here is his homage to the Texans mascot Toro...

You can't even see the old deer head underneath, which is way cool. His artist, Jake, drew this out and in a few hours, it was finished!

Anyway....

Recently, we finally purchased a King sized bed, and are slowly getting used to it. Trust me, this bed is huge! And now our once large bedroom seems like a tiny closet with the bed and all our other huge furniture.


So our next project is to tackle this bedroom.
Yes, that is our bed with just sheets on it.


Yes, there is a massive pile of clothes in the corner.


Yes, the pictures over the bed are way too big for that spot now with such a huge headboard.

Now that you are sufficiently blinded by the awesomeness, err crappiness, err disorganization, (I don't have an adjective that can fully describe my feelings) of this room, let's quickly move on.


Little by little, this room will be changed. But FIRST! We need bedding. We don't have a comforter for the bed so we have been sleeping with blankets, hence the picture with just the sheets. Here are some options....
What do you think? I am leaning toward the one in the middle, but haven't committed yet.

Switcheroo...

I just have to write this quick post! Don't you love it when you can trade something you don't need anymore for something you do need???

Well, the hubs and I just purchased a king sized bed, making our queen bed and bedding surplus. BUT, my mom was looking to upgrade, so she took our queen mattress and box spring for her room, put our headboard and footboard with her old bed and moved it into her extra bedroom, and then gave us the twin mattress and complete bedding set that goes with it from her extra room. Now Jansen has a brand new set for his room. YAY!!!

So here is the bed and mattress we gave my mom and dad....

And here is the bed and bedding they gave us...

Good trade!!

Happy Birthday to the Hubs...(a little early)

The hubs' birthday is Thursday and my parents are taking us out for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate, so I wanted to make him a cake!!! YAY!! I love, love, love birthdays.

Oh boy, I had a whole different plan for this cake, but it didn't work out. That's a bummer, but at least I came up with something.

Did you notice that we are HUGE Houston Texans fans?????