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Would you like a no mess pumpkin?

This pumpkin will not need to be gutted and there will be no messy seeds all over.

Here is a cute little Halloween game.



If you would like some more Halloween fun you can have some fun coloring some Halloween scenes in this game.



This is a link to a website that has a really neat little Halloween coloring game. They have a few different pictures that can be colored over and over again. It is the perfect thing to keep kids occupied while you have other things to do like cleaning up all the pumpkin seeds all over the kitchen. I even had fun coloring a page. The picture is a screen shot of the one I colored.

I just realized that I made the stem and the background the same color. Oops!

This is the time of year that I really start to miss Arizona. It is getting really cold outside but that is not bothering me YET. What is really bothering me is that I will not be able to get Harvest Pie!

For most of the world this means nothing. For areas of America that have a Coco's Bakery Restaurant you know what this means. I LOVE Harvest Pie!

If you like pumpkin pie even slightly Harvest Pie is perfection. I love pumpkin pie so I drool for Harvest Pie. Coco's only makes it at this time of year. I used to really take advantage of it and buy more than my share of them. As it was each time we went there to have dinner we always brought home a pie. During Harvest Pie season we went just to get a pie.

Harvest Pie is a simple miracle. I think I will have to make it myself this year. All you do is make a pumpkin pie but only use about 3/4 of the filling. When it is all cooled mix the remaining pumpkin filling with whipped cream or Cool Whip to make the top layer. Before serving add more whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.

I know, I know... I am a horrible person. I have gotten awards and tags and I have been ignoring you all. You must have thought I was being rude.

I really have not meant to ignore you all. I have not even been online to check my email for days. This has really been a loooooooong month for us. It feels like once we get back to normal something else has happened.

I really want to keep all of the personal family life stuff on the Make Memories blog so I will not go into all of the details here. I will however promise you that I will be feverishly trying to catch up on everything. Again I am so sorry that I have not been able to answer emails and post your awards and tags. I will be getting on that as soon as I can. If you do like to keep up with our crazy stressful lives you can head on over to Make Memories and check it out. For now I am off to another doctor's office.

I have an exclusive for you all today! These cute little packages are not out in stores yet but I was sent some samples to try out.

The girls loved them. I even had a taste. They have so many good qualities but we will start with taste and convenience because let's be honest as parents that tends to be a huge issue.

The girls loved the taste of Smashies. I was actually a bit surprised that Nicole loved it as much as she did. She is an extremely picky eater. Everyone agreed that Smashies tastes more like apples than regular applesauce. It is not as sweet so you can really taste the apples. It has a bit of a tartness to it even. It was not like sour apples but just enough tart flavor to be nice surprise. It is also a very smooth texture. I never realized how gritty feeling regular applesauce is until I tasted Smashies.

I love that Smashies come in the convenient packaging. They are perfect for all your parenting needs. I remember when the kids were younger and I had to grab snacks for car rides. Smashies would be perfect for that. You do not have to worry about them going bad or making a mess. They would also be perfect for school lunches or when you are in a hurry and need to get to clubs or practices. When Nicole and Neona had soccer practice I was always racing to find healthy things that they could eat on the go.

Okay now let's be practical and look at the other good qualities Smashies have. My kids love applesauce but we seldom buy it. If we get the big bottles we always end up throwing it away after we discover that it was forgotten in the back of the fridge and has started it's own science experiment. Those individual plastic cups are not as convenient as they claim. You have to be very gentle with them or the film on the top will come up and make a mess everywhere. That makes them hard to take on the go. Plus then you also need to bring silverware. The little drinkable pouches that Smashies come in are wonderful. No need for silverware, no moldy applesauce, and they can go anywhere without a mess.

Now I would like to talk about the health aspect. You all know that I am trying to be healthier now. That includes looking at what my girls eat. Did you know that regular applesauce is packed full of sugar? You would never think about feeding your young kids candy bars as often as you feed them applesauce but regular applesauce has just about as much sugar.

Smashies are organic and have no added sugar. In fact they only have three ingredients in them. When was the last time you saw something with so few ingredients? You can even pronounce all three!

Okay I have gone on long enough about Smashies. They are a small company right now and are not out in stores yet but I am sure they will be taking off in popularity soon. If you can not wait and want to give them a try yourself you can get them from the Smashies website. They sell them in a 10 pack for $14.99. The shipping is included in the price.

I just received this award from Thrifty Momma Ramblings. I would like to give a big thank you to Bonnie for giving me this award.

There are some rules for this award:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the persons you've nominated.

So now for the passing on of the award. It is always hard for me to decide on who to give awards out to. I do not want to just keep giving awards out to the same people over and over again. I also do not want to give awards out to people who just ignore getting awards. There is no fun in that. So I decided to give awards out to people who have blogs that I like and comment on my blog.

Happy Healthy Families
1stopmom
Friends Furever
Gandalf and Grayson
Try and Try Again...Diary of a Wannabe Work at Home Mom
Lora's Journal
This Blissfull Life


I am sure that a lot of you have already received this award so I do not expect you to give it out again if you already have. I just wanted to let you all know that I am thankful for your comments and I do read your blogs. I do run out of time in the day to comment on as many blogs as I would like.

Also remember that anyone that is interested in getting our award for their blog or website can get all the information by clicking on the award in the right hand sidebar.

I just got tagged by 1stopmom.

For this tag you list 7 weird things about yourself. The hard part is picking which weird things. I have way more than 7 things that make me a bit odd.

1. I have to join 1stopmom with the love for video games. I thought I was the only mom that sits and plays video games with her kids for hours. We have a Nintendo Wii, Xbox, PS2, PSP, 1 Nintendo DS Lite, 2 regular Nintendo DS's, Gameboy Color, and a Gameboy Advance. Now are you ready for the really crazy stuff? We have some very old systems too. We have the original Nintendo, Sega Game Gear (that really old handheld one that was the first to have a big color screen), Intellivision, and an Atari.

2. Rollercoasters and amusement park rides scary me to death and I refuse to go on any.

3. I rarely eat off of full sized plates or use full sized silverware. They feel too big. I also can not use anything plastic to eat or drink from. It feels gross.

4. I can not eat any type of bean. They make me want to puke.

5. I drink about 2 pots of coffee a day.

6. When I was young I started choking on a hard butterscotch candy and my mom had to do the Heimlich Maneuver on me. I still to this day have never eaten another piece of butterscotch candy.

7. I like to sip on pickle and olive juice. Noelle has started to also.

This is where I should tag 7 people but honestly I really do not like doing it because I just end up picking people that never respond. If anyone would like to do this tag consider yourself tagged by me. Let me know in the comments and I will tag you in the post.

Okay, so a tag goes out to This Blissfull Life. Come on brave woman let's see your list!

So why do I have a big nasty looking kitty litter picture? The reason is that Halloween is coming.

I have been so busy that I have not posted any Halloween things yet and I am very behind. I was waiting to post anything until I added Halloween things to the main website. Problem is that I am completely redoing the website so I do not want to add anything to it until I am done. So I decided to just put everything Halloween on this blog.

One of the things that kids love about Halloween is all the creepy, scary, and gross things. This is not just any kitty litter it is cake. It is gross looking but that is what kids love about it. Please use a brand new kitty litter pan and scooper.

You Will Need

1 (18 oz.) box	spice or german chocolate cake mix
1 (18 oz.) box	white cake mix
1 pkg.	white sandwich cookies
1 large box	vanilla instant pudding mix
12 small	tootsie rolls
1	litter box (preferably a NEW one!)
1	plastic scoop
	green food coloring

Directions

Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans). Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in blender, they tend to stick, so scrape often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix using a fork or shake in a jar.

When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, mix with the cake and "feel" it, you don't want it soggy, just moist; gently combine. Put mixture into clean litter box.

Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. (You all know how much I like to microwave things) Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top, this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter. Heat remaining Tootsie Rolls, three at a time in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around. Serve with a new pooper scooper.

It seems like I am finding that more and more people I know use online dating websites. I used to think that only crazy people did it. The more I talk to my friends the more my opinion changes. It is true that people are much busier these days and using online dating services does help you find people faster. Single moms and people that work long hours have a very hard time finding the time to meet new people.

I used to worry that my friends meeting people that they only knew online was dangerous. Then a friend pointed out that you never know anyone at first no matter where you meet them. You have to be careful and think of safety no matter where you meet people. I have also been reminded that most people find someone to date at a bar and then all you know is that they are drinkers.

The key is to be safe no matter where you meet people. Never give a stranger too much personal information and always have friends around. You do not want to meet up with any stranger unless it is in a public place. When you think about it a stranger at a bar is not much different than a stranger online.

When I saw this online dating site I was shocked at how far they go. They look like they take their site very seriously and they want to really be sure people are being as safe as possible with their service. The first thing I noticed on their site is all the warnings. They have warnings all over their site that they will prosecute anyone that uses their service that is a felon or is married. They also have an area to report people to them.

The more I looked at the site the more I noticed just how different they really are. They have a section full of safety tips for people that are dating. It really is a great resource. Times have changed and I am very glad that I no longer have to worry about dating. It can be a scary world out there. I plan on telling my friends about this site. If you are someone that is still in the dating scene you may want to check this out. It really seems like a great idea and you can search for free and sign up for free.

A woman in Connecticut sued L'Oreal claiming that they had brown hair dye in a blonde hair dye box. She claims that see will never be able to return to her natural blonde hair color. Okay first off why was she trying to dye her hair blonde if she loved her natural blonde hair color? Secondly, your hair grows back out it's natural color. It is not like your hair color stays the color you dye it forever. If this was true I would not be so worried about my roots.

The woman claims that she was tramatized by the reality that her hair is not blonde anymore. She states that it created headaches and anxiety that she had to live with. She needed to be on anti-drepressants because it was so bad.

She goes on to state that it ruined her social life because she no longer got the attention that being blonde gave her. It was so horrible that she often did not leave the house or she would wear a hat to cover her horrible brown hair.


She was never able to even prove that the dye was packaged wrong so the case was dismissed. Even crazier is that this case started in 2005 and it just got dismissed on Monday. What a crazy waste of time. Is being a brunette really that bad? Could she not just recolor her hair? She must have a lot more wrong with her than just hair color.

Where we live there are tons of bees out right now. The local gas station puts out what they call bee juice and it really helps. They are like a bee trap. The bees go in but they never come out. The difference is amazing.

We had trouble even opening the doors because the kids would freak out that a bee would come in. They would fly all around by the doors so the kids would not want to open them. Just a short time after putting out the bee juice or bee traps the bees were not around.

Bee Juice / Bee Trap

First you need a container. The gas station uses big ice cream buckets but you can uses smaller ones. The container should have an open area where the bees can get in. In most containers you can just cut a hole in the lid. The hole should be about an inch big. Plastic soda bottles without the lids are used often but be sure that you will not have small children around or they could try drinking the soda.

Next you make the bee juice for the trap. Mix together Mountain Dew with a few squirts of liquid dish soap. The bees love the sweet smell of Mountain Dew and the yellow color. The soap in the bee juice will get on their wings and they will no longer be able to fly.

You will have to change the bee juice in your bee traps when you start to notice the bees are around again. This is usually about once a week. I hope that you have found this useful.

Wow, was I surprised!!! I really believed that I knew what would happen.

***Warning - if you have it recorded and have not seen it yet stop reading because I am about to ruin it for you. You really do need to see it yourself to believe it.




I thought that Queen Emily would get second place. I was shocked that she was the first to leave. After she left I continued to be shocked.

I figured first place would be Nuttin But Stringz. They have it all. What an original act! Of all of the acts they appeal to a wider audience. When you look at what acts could put on the show in Vegas that the winner gets they seemed like the obvious choice. They put on an incredible show. Each week it got bigger and better.



In the end it was between Eli Mattson and Neal E Boyd. It was a toss up for me but in the end Neal E Boyd won. He performed after it was announced. He did such a great job that I no longer was as upset that Nuttin But Stringz did not win. It was an incredible performance.

I do still believe that Nuttin But Stringz should have won though.

Here are clips of the final five giving their last performances before the final vote.

James is finally back home. He is very tired and sore. He has a severely strained neck and cervical muscles. I would have thought a cervical muscle would be quite a ways in the other direction. I guess that is why I am not a doctor. They wanted to give him some kind of brace but he would not wear it.

Remarkably the Land Rover was able to drive all the way back home. The coolant leak was just a hose so that got fixed fast. It still needs new lights, grill, bumper, hood, and brush guard; but the thing still runs.

When he picked up the police report the man that fell asleep and his father were there. The man is only 26 and his father wants to help him. He claims he will pay for all repairs if we do not sue the son. So we will get an estimate and see what happens. I have a feeling they do not realize how expensive Land Rovers are to repair.

Tomorrow morning a Progressive agent is coming to the house to get the paperwork all done for the medical bills.

James was supposed to meet his regional manager in Chicago this morning. He left at 4:30 this morning since it is a 2 hour drive. At about 6:30 James called me to say that he was in an accident. He was only two blocks from where he was trying to get to.

He was sitting at a red light when a man that had fallen asleep at the wheel hit the minivan in front of him head on. James drives a tank so the minivan just crumpled. The police officers at the scene could not believe that the other vehicles sustained such damage and the Land Rover is still drivable. The airbags did not even deploy. The police officers were so impressed that they started to check it out. I guess the frame is still perfect and so far it looks like the radiator might have a small crack because there is a little leak. Other than that it will need a new grill, headlights, and brush guard. It does not look like much more was damaged but time will tell.



The one police officer even said that he was so impressed by it that he was going to get one for his wife. This is James' second Land Rover. The first one was a Discovery and this one is a Discovery II. He loves them and will probably always have one. He wanted me to get one as my next vehicle and now after this accident it sounds like a good idea.

Well, right now James is at some hospital around Chicago. He told me to not bother driving the two hours there so I am just sitting here waiting. I have been on the phone back and forth with him and the insurance company. His neck and back started hurting so they took him to the hospital. It has been getting worse so they are sending him for a CAT Scan. The couple in the minivan are at the hospital too but all I know is that the wife has worse injuries than the man.

The man that fell asleep behind the wheel was not insured. We just found out as I am typing that our policy with Progressive covers medical bills but not vehicle damage when hit by an uninsured motorist. So it looks like we will be paying for the repairs out of pocket. Land Rover repairs are not cheap either.