A Halloween Inspired Gathering

Yesterday we hosted a little get-together of our friends over some creative snacks, spooky music, and a nasty looking drink only for the brave! Almost everyone wore their costume and we had a good time laughing and talking.

While I was in the kitchen, Nick carved a beautiful jack-o-lantern for the porch!

I found most of my snack ideas on the internet (or more specifically--Pinterest). Here are "eyeball carrots"

"Witch's Hat cookies"

"Mummy wraps"

I made an ice hand for the punch, but a finger broke off putting it in :(

And the drink of the evening was called "Brain Hemorrhage". Disgusting to look at and a little chunky to drink, it was not for the light-hearted!


Nick's costume was an ape...

My {homemade} costume was Jane of the jungle....


...and Brad was a zookeeper!


This is Chris who came as "chicken cord on blue"

Brad's cousin Zoe was there too

We had a good night with our friends, and hopefully they had a good time with us! We love the holiday season!

The New Addition

The Bentley that we bought a little while ago is all done and has been on eBay for a few days. The auction ends tomorrow so we have been keeping our eye out for the next project to flip! We have looked at a few cars but they were all duds. Until this one!

It is a 1968 Mustang GT in great condition! We got a really good deal on it and were able to drive it home. Our plan is to buy a Super Snake kit to put on the body then get it painted gun-metal grey with black stripes. Here is a pic of the *hopeful* end product:

We actually used to have a '68 Mustang in the past and Nick put a similar kit on it. He is completely able to do it all himself. We will have a shop paint it, but he can do the stripes. But we won't be doing anything until the Bentley sells! That was my only stipulation. So for now, both of our cars are out of the garage and in the driveway...

Here is a pic of my boys playing in bed one morning...

And here is another plain shirt of Brad's that I thought up some embroidery for...

That's about it for now! Say a prayer that the Bentley sells tomorrow! We are having a fun little Halloween party tomorrow evening so I will be busy cooking all day while the boys carve a jack-o-lantern!

Sharing Recipes

I made a soup tonight that I had forgotten how delicious it was! I have made it several times before, but each time is like the first time tasting it. It is yummy, easy, and has lots of veggies in it! I must share it with you. I have no idea where I got the original--I did not invent this.

Italian Pasta Canellini Soup

1. 2c chicken broth
2. 1 can diced tomatoes
3. 2c cooked/diced chicken
4. 1 small onion diced
5. 3 large peeled/sliced carrots
6. 2 stalks celery sliced
7. 1 can canellini/great northern beans (drain)
8. 4 slices raw bacon diced
9. 1c small shells
10. 1 chicken bouillon cube

Bring broth to boil in large pot while you are chopping veggies. Add carrots/celery/onion/canned tomatoes and stir. Keeping soup at a medium boil, add chicken/bouillon/bacon/beans and stir. When carrots are fork-tender and bouillon cube is dissolved, add pasta and boil until cooked!

Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan cheese.

Soooo good. I'm not even kidding. It is so amazing how everything is flavored naturally and the only "seasoning" added is one bouillon cube!! It is not bland at all so don't be tempted to add more salt! Yum. If you make it, comment and let me know what you thought!

Busy Bees

I haven't had much big stuff to blog about recently, just little everyday life happenings that seem to take up all of your time! The car we purchased recently to flip is now finished and listed on eBay! We will {hopefully} make a good sale on it after all of the hard work that Nick put into it.

Here are some hats I have been making for orders...

Brad is growing up into such a smart little boy! I'm sure all mothers think that about their kiddos. We are trying to get him used to using utensils, and here he is eating his veggies:

I recently went thru his winter clothes that were all 2T (he was still wearing some 18mo). I washed them and got them into his closet to prepare for cooler weather! I ran into a few blank shirts with no designs on them, so I am taking advantage of a blank canvas and embroidering them!

It is so funny how he acts when both Nick and I are around. If it's just daddy, Brad is quiet and plays with his toys without causing a fuss. But as soon as I walk in, he gets all excited and forgets that Nick even exists. Pretty much from then on, I have to hold him or at the very least be in the same room with him. If I leave he throws a fit (for about 30 sec) then gets over it. He doesn't really mind when daddy leaves ;)

It has gotten chilly around here FINALLY and we are loving it! For about the last 2 months we were just opening our windows at night to cool it down and hopefully not have to use the AC during the day. But we got a big cool front in this week and some areas are getting down to freezing at night! This weekend is supposed to warm back up to almost 80, but I do believe we are *almost* ready to put away the summer clothes!

I decided at the last minute to have a Halloween party next week. We kind of had one last year but it was just family over for snacks then we all went trick-or-treating together. This year I am making cute Halloween-themed snacks/drinks and encouraging people to wear their costumes! I have invited several friends from work so I am curious to see how big the turnout is!

On the subject of planning things, I have decided what day I'm cooking our own Thanksgiving dinner and what the menu will be. I love cooking for the holidays and having family over! But the thing I am MOST excited about planning is--our 10 year anniversary!! It is *only* 14 months away and will be here before we know it! I want to do it up big because I mean really--how many couples who married so young made it to 10 years!!?? No details yet, but I am working on it!

Oklahoma Aquarium

Yesterday the three of us packed up the car to head 2 hours NE to meet some friends there and go thru the Oklahoma Aquarium! I had a coupon for $2 off admission so we have been waiting for the perfect day to do it. We met our good friends Rachel and James there with their two little ones and we all enjoyed each display!

They had several little open pools where the kiddos could reach in and touch the fish.

This area was a shark tank where you could walk under the tank and the sharks swam over you!

We all had a good time and enjoyed spending time with our buddies as always! Thankfully my little one fell asleep on the way home and we got to enjoy driving thru some much needed rain!

We recently came across some extra money and I have been thinking about what we are going to do with it....of course half will go into savings! The other half I do believe will go towards our next excursion! It was a toss up between California and Washington, but I think Washington will win out because we have lots of family up there to see! Neither of us have been up there before so I think it will be a beautiful place to see. More to come on that later!

In Progress

Nick's progress on the Bentley is going well! He got a new intake manifold in the mail this week and pretty much overhauled the engine. Here it is all torn apart....

Thankfully my love is very good at these sorts of things and within a day he had it back to this:

Not too shabby, huh?? He test drove it afterwards and said it drives like a new car! Now he is reinforcing one of the fender supports, then just some minor cosmetic things and it will be ready to flip! We are already going to look our next project car today......check back later for details on that ;)

Another Craft Show Done!

Today was my fall craft show! It was at the same venue that my last several ones have been, and almost at the same booth! My mom went with me this time too, but she was just moral support this time! She has hung her crafting hat up for now.

I pretty much had all of my supply done and ready, but I still managed to stay up until 2:30am the morning before working on--my apron!

I worked an almost-13 hour shift and got off just before midnight, then had to relearn my embroidery software to design the font, then convert the file, then get my card reader to work with Windows 7.....yuck! I was bound and determined, and I am happy I stuck it thru.

I did pretty good, but I do feel that this show was slower than previous shows here. Maybe the weather was too nice for people to waste time at a craft show? Who knows! I'm happy there are more people out there who are wearing my things and like them!

You will notice in the next picture one of my newest investments--baby heads! I bought 2 styrofoam infant heads to display my baby hats. They weren't as small as I would have liked but they still worked out well.

I added a jack-o-lantern face to one of my pumpkin heads for a display idea and it got great comments! If you want to snag one before Halloween you can email me at kandyskrafts@gmail.com .

The day went by fairly quickly and several friends and family came to see me! It was a blessing to see each familiar face come and support me at my show and I thank you! My next one is the beginning of December at the same place. I am taking a little break and going to work on crafts for myself! I have a Christmas advent calendar that won't make itself ;)