Halloween Costumes

Now, of course Miss Marie Homemaker has to make her kids' costumes, right? I wouldn't have it any other way! Even though most of the costumes were easily put together from stuff we already had, and some things bought, I did have to make their hats. The older boys were Mario and Luigi,

and Luke was a toadstool.

I created their hats from scratch, no patterns or anything. This was a very hard thing for me to do, as I can do just about anything, as long as I have DIRECTIONS! To come up with them on my own, was a challenge, but it turned out to be easier than I thought.

Possibly the best cookie in the world!

If you're like me, there is nothing better than a chewy cookie! Bleh to those crunchy crumbly ones, right? It's pretty sad, then, that one of the best tasting cookies is a gingerSNAP. We all know that the snap definately means crunchy, not-so-chewy. What is a girl to do.......make THESE cookies!

Now, these cookies look like a gingersnap, taste like a gingersnap, but they do not snap like a gingersnap! So, here's to all you chewy cookie lovers, enjoy the cookie of the season!

CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 C shortening
1 C sugar
1/4 C molasses
1 egg
2 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt

Blend the shortening and sugar. Then add molasses and egg, and beat well. Add in the flour and remaining ingredients, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, and place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately and cool on a cooling rack.

One of my biggest projects....

So, about two years ago, Jeannie and I were chatting on the computer, and she 'hinted' to me that she wanted a stitchery from me. They already had one from Heidi, and one from my mom, and thought it only fair that they had one from me as well. I actually had been planning on doing one for them for a while. When they got married, I was only 16, and to be honest, to this day I am ashamed of the pathetic little gift I gave them. So, when they had decided to get sealed in the temple I knew this was my chance to make up for it. We browsed through photographs of the temple online together, and she gave me a few of her favorites. I picked one without her knowing, and had it sent into a company that turned your photograph into a counted cross-stitch pattern. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into until I actually started on the stitchery. There were 48 colors, and at least 12 of them were green! Yikes!

Not that I actually counted, but there are approximately 61,600 little tiny X's on the entire 16x20 inch final product. I received the pattern in the mail and started it on April 1st, naively believing that I would have it done by June 21st. Yeah Right! I worked on it day and night until the sealing, and revealed it to Casey and Jeannie, even though it wasn't finished. I then set a new goal for Christmas, but it soon came and went as well. My goal then was to have it complete by the first anniversary of their sealing, and I was SO CLOSE! My entire pregnancy I spent working on it, but when Luke was born on May 9th, my huge leaps of progress turned into baby steps. Thankfully, I had a trip planned to UT for the beginning of September,and KNEW that this was my chance. If I had it finished when I went down, then I could have it framed right there, and that way Jeannie could pick the frame, and I wouldn't have to worry about how to get it to her. I wouldn't call me a procrastinator, but I was working on that thing sitting on her couch. I'm kind of glad that it wasn't complete, because Jordan got to watch me do the last few stitches, and it was a special moment for she and I. Anyway, to add to my long story, I finished it on Saturday, September 6th. One year and five months after I started!

Experiment

Everytime I complete one of my projects, my mother in law gives me a lecture about not keeping some kind of evidence of what I've completed. According to her I am supposed to take a picture of all of them, and file them away. I used to just brush her off, but I realized she was SO RIGHT! Everything I make I seem to give away, and it wouldn't be such a bad idea to keep a record of them. I decided that I would blog them. I'm going to post pictures of stories of the projects I complete, as well as dig up the ones I've already completed. Jeannie pointed out that it could be weeks and weeks between posts, and that I should post other things as well, like recipes I love, things I can't live without, or special tips I may have. So, here goes. It'll be a bumpy ride at first, as I figure out how I want to do this, but I'm excited to get all my projects in one place!