Too Old to Trick or Treat???

My husband is so cute when it comes to little kids. If you ever want to see the lighter side of Mike Jones (yes, he has one) then you are going to see it when little kids are around. 

Seriously, he's a goofball.

He uses this high pitched and INSANELY loud voice.

And the kids eat it up.

However, when it comes to teenagers, mmmmmmmm, not so much. He's not a fan.

I mean, I think he wishes he could be, but he isn't. He has no patience for their sarcasm or their attitudes or their antics.

Now, take these two traits and combine them with Halloween, more specifically trick or treating.

When the little kids come to the door, Mike is so engaging and entertaining. Oooing and ahhhing over every costume. Praising them. Telling them how beautiful and/or scary they are. Even pretending terror when the costume warrants it.

But if the big kids come, you can sense his frustration. One year he even refused to give the big kids candy. Sent them away with a lecture instead of a snickers bar. (I believe our pumpkins got smashed that year.)

A couple of years ago, I decided we should make some rules for trick or treaters. There is the "manners" section and the "you're too old to trick or treat" section. Feel free to add yours.

MANNERS
1. If the light is off, DON'T RING THE BELL
2. If I give you candy, say "thank you." For the love.  Your grandma would slap the back of your head if she knew how bad your manners were!
3. If I open my door and greet you, say something. Don't just stand there with your bag open.
4. Don't scare the little people inside the house. For Real. I mean it. You scare my babies, and I will hunt you down and haunt your dreams.
5. Don't make up that lame story about why you have TWO BAGS that you are filling up. Newsflash!!! No one is buying it!

YOU ARE TOO OLD TO TRICK OR TREAT
1. If your voice has gone through "the change" . . . you're too old to trick or treat.
2. If your body has "developed" . . . you're too old to trick or treat.
3. If I can't tell if you are a hooker or a trick or treater . . . you're too old to trick or treat.
4. If you drove yourself to my house to trick or treat . . . you're too old to trick or treat.
5. If you grew your own beard for your costume . . . you're too old to trick or treat.
6. If you used a GPS to map out the "good houses" . . .  you're too old to trick or treat.
7. If you are out trick-or-treating long enough to fill up a pillowcase . . . you're too old to trick or treat.


All that to say, I'm sure you have some rules you can add to this. Feel free to jump in!

Sometimes My Imagination is Impressive

I have long since been an "upcycler," long before I even knew there was such a thing.  For those of you out of the know, an upcycler is someone who makes something better out of something that some might consider trash.  It's not the same as a recycler, so don't be confused.

What I have never been is a crafter.  I'm not particularly gifted in that way, but I am resourceful. So sometimes, when others might see something and think it is trash, I see something and see it as "potential."  (My husband calls this hoarding and will frequently say things like, "Carol, is there a reason we're saving old shoebox lids?"  . . . he's learned not to throw things away.)

Anyway, one day I was cleaning my bathroom, and I was shocked at how much toilet paper we go through in a week.  What brought this horror to my mind was that there were 11 empty toilet paper tubes in my trash can.  ELEVEN!  (Of course it is possible that it had been more than a week since I had last cleaned that bathroom.  Also possible is that I hadn't emptied the trash the last time I cleaned the bathroom.)

But nonetheless, ELEVEN empty toilet paper rolls!  I started thinking what I could do with those rolls (other than recycling of course) and continued to think about it the rest of the time that I was cleaning the house.  And then it hit me!  I could make a nativity scene out of them.

True story.







So, I collected my materials:

10 toilet paper tubes

2 glue sticks

Crayons

4x6 pieces of scrapbooking papers (these are the perfect height and width to go around a toilet paper tube

Flesh-toned Construction paper (this was all I had for the faces)

Scrap fabric (I cut mine into 4x6 rectangles)

Ribbon or twine to tie around the "waist" and headpieces of the characters and to make wings.

Cotton balls

Flexi Straws

I started with the Shepherds

The girls colored the faces of the shepherds and the sheep.  Then they glued the scrapbooking paper around the toilet paper roll and glued the faces on.   I cut one toilet paper roll in half for the sheep and let them glue on cotton balls.  While they were busy with that, I "dressed" the shepherds with their head pieces.  I stapled the fabric to the sides for extra support, and then tied the raffia ribbon on the waist of the shepherds, and lastly shoved the flexi straws through the belts to resemble staffs.  Voila.  Shepherds and sheep.

Then we made the Wise Men.

We constructed these the same way as the shepherds.  I love their faces!  We started off making them all different, but that was too much trouble and the girls couldn't agree on the fabric and the ribbon, so we just gave them all the same fabric and ribbon (which I ended up liking way better!)

Then we made the Angel.  

We had enough toilet paper tubes to make a host of angels, just not enough patience! We tried lots of fabrics, but nothing seemed right, so we settled for looping a piece of gold, wired ribbon and stapling it to the back for wings.

And lastly, we made Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. 

Do not be distracted by the fact that the baby Jesus has a mustache.  I mentioned that the girls decorated the faces, right?  :)

We made Mary and Joseph the same was as the other characters.  We made the manger and the baby Jesus by cutting a 1 inch strip out of the center of one of the toilet paper tubes.  We wrapped the cut out piece with swaddling cloth, tied it on, and THEN glued on the face.  We (and by we, I mean "I") took the other (larger) piece of the toilet paper tube, spread it open, and stapled raffia ribbon in it to resemble hay.  Then we simply placed the baby Jesus on top of it.

Here's a picture of the whole gang!

All that to say,  some might have seen merely empty toilet paper tubes, but I saw this.  Sometimes my imagination is impressive.  Just sayin'

The Secret is Out

Several years ago, my then soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Christina, and I were talking about what we wanted to make for our Christmas "goodies."

I told her that one of the things I had always wanted to make was peanut brittle, but every time I had tried, it had turned out tasting like c-r-a-p (sorry if that is offensive to you, but no other word accurately describes how my brittle had turned out in the past).




She told me, very excitedly, that she had actually made prize winning peanut brittle at the county fair when she was in high school.  Prize winning brittle?

Could it be this girl who was about to be in my family had brought with her the answer to my life-long desire of brittle making?  (okay, it wasn't actually a life-long desire, but it was a desire).

When we started talking about how to actually make peanut brittle, I realized that what she was a prize winner at was peanut patties . . . you know the pinkish round things that they sell at truck stops?

Sooooo . . .  we searched the Internet (believe it or not Pinterest was not around yet, or at least not popular enough for anyone to know that they should go to Pinterest to find a delicious recipe for peanut brittle!)  And after many hours of searching, we found the perfect recipe.  It's called "No Fail Microwave Peanut Brittle" but trust me when I tell you that name is TOTALLY not true.  They should have maybe called it "No Fail Once You Have Figured Out How Your Microwave is Going to Work Peanut Brittle."  But I guess that name would have been too long.  Regardless, it's a very misleading name.  (My point is you are likely to burn your first batch.  Watch the microwave carefully!)

We made some, adjusted the recipe, made some more, adjusted the recipe, and finally landed on our own version of  Carol and Christina's Microwave Peanut Brittle.

As a Christmas gift to you, I am going to give you our secretly perfected Microwave Peanut Brittle, though I did have to console Christina at the gym this morning when I told her I was giving away our secret recipe!

Carol and Christina's Microwave Peanut Brittle

1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of RAW peanuts (YES, THEY HAVE TO BE RAW!!!)
1/8 tsp of salt
1 tbsp butter (not margarine!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp baking soda (must be fresh!)

Here's how to make it!

First off, let me help you by telling you to get a microwave safe measuring cup that has a handle on it!  It is KEY to making this!  I like this one. 

Next, butter a cookie sheet.  Don't forget this step. There's no picture of this, but if you don't know how, just cut off a tablespoon of butter and rub it onto a cookie sheet until it's covered with the butter.  Don't use a cooking spray for this step.  Or margarine.

Place first 4 ingredients (in order) into your awesome microwaveable measuring cup with the handle. DO NOT STIR.  Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Remove from the microwave, by the awesome handle, and stir.  It will look like this when it comes out of the microwave.  After you stir it (not whip it, mind you, just a gentle stir) put back in microwave and cook for 3 more minutes on high.  Work fast.

 Remove from the microwave using the amazing handle, add 1 tbsp of butter, NOT MARGARINE, and WITHOUT STIRRING, put it back in the microwave, and cook for 2 more minutes.

Notice how brown it is starting to look?

This next part is tricky, and I was working solo, so I don't have a picture of it.  Instead, I have inserted a picture of me and Shannay which I think adequately depicts how excited I am about the awesomeness of this peanut brittle.  

  

Here's the tricky part.  Work fast.  Remove brittle from the microwave.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla (it will bubble and sizzle) and 1 tbsp. of baking soda.  Stir.  When you stir, it will foam up.  You have to work fast.  Stir quickly, and then pour out onto your buttered cookie sheet.  It is best to use a wooden spoon for this part and you need to press out the peanut brittle until it is thin (but not see through).  If you don't get it thin enough, you can't break it, and people can't eat it.

Here's how it should look when it is cooling.  It needs to cool about 20 minutes.  Then break into bite-sized pieces.  But don't worry, if it's not cool enough, you'll know because it won't break.  It will just bend. Oh, and BE CAREFUL!  This stuff is sharp.  I have actually cut myself badly doing this.  (But, sometimes I am klutzy, so you might not have that problem.  And also, spellchecker autocorrected clutzy to klutzy, so don't think I'm trying to be cute or play fast and loose with the English language.)

But I digress.

Finally, put your bite-sized pieces into a cute dish and give it away as a present.  Or eat it all yourself.  But be advised, in no way should this be considered healthy.  Eat at your own risk.  Also, make at your own risk.  Don't blame me if you burn yourself or cut yourself, or break a tooth.  That's my disclaimer.

All that to say, I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe.  And if you see Christina, tell her thanks.  She might still be a little sad that I shared our secret recipe.  But, well, the secret is out, so . . .

Cookies with The Joneses

Well once again, "Cookies" has come and gone.  "Cookies" (in it's present form) is a tradition that started in our family in 1997, when Mike decided that he wanted to deliver cookies to the families for whom he was a Deacon. (I seriously struggled with that sentence!)

He only had 10 families, but as soon as I did the math (not a strong suit in my case) I realized that was 10 DOZEN cookies, and that didn't even count any for our own family to eat or to give away to neighbors, etc.

Soooooooo, being the creative mom that I am, I encouraged the boys to invite some friends over and we made a competition of it.  Boys will do just about anything if you make a competition out of it, INCLUDING decorating cookies for hours.

Downside to boys decorating cookies is that they are BOYS!  They do weird things like lick their fingers, and pile on too much frosting and too many sprinkles!

So we had to make some rules.  And that's what started, "The Rules."

Of course, we have added to The Rules over the years as the need has arose arisen arose. Whatever.

For example, there's the rule of submission (not meaning you have to bow down to my authority).  In order to submit an entry into the official competition, you must decorate at least 6 total cookies.  We had to make this rule because one year a person, who shall remain nameless (but she knows who she is), created only one cookie.  In two hours, she made one cookie.  It was a masterpiece.  And of course it won!  But others whined, revolted, suggested that it was not fair, and so the 6 cookie rule was born.

And you have to name your cookie that you enter into the competition.  I don't know how this rule came about, but I think it was because we had two cookies that were really similar and so when the vote happened (yes.  we vote.  by secret ballot), there was some confusion as to the winner.

One year, we invited a lot of people over (thinking "more people, less time decorating") but that was NOT a good idea!  So from that day forward, we have pretty much only invited one family over to help us.  Thus the coveted "invite."  (I don't know if it is actually coveted. I just like to make stuff up like that so the night sounds really mysterious and awesome.)

Here are the official rules:

1.  You may not lick your fingers.  If you do, you have to wash your hands immediately.

2.  Less is more.  That means don't pile up a bunch of junk on your cookie.  They just don't taste good that way.

3.  The Rule of Submission.  You must decorate a minimum of 6 cookies in order to enter 1 cookie into the competition.

4.  You must name your entry.  The more creative the name, the better.  This year's winner was "Harry Connick Ginger."

5.  The Vote is by secret ballot.  Each person gets one vote and you cannot vote for yourself.

6.  You may not eat any of the cookies on decorating night because the frosting must dry for at least 12 hours!

There's probably more rules.  We make them up as we go sometimes.

The winner is awarded something different every year.  Sometimes they get a really awesome handmade trophy.  Sometimes they get a Cookie Winner Ornament.  Sometimes they just get a collective round of approval (laced with a little jealousy by the losers!)


Here are some pictures of the 2012 Cookies night:

Shannay enjoying her cookies. 

Nikki enjoying hers!  (They got to break the rules and eat one!)

Very seriously at work.  

Zack and his Grandma Nana.

The winning cookie "Harry Connick Ginger."

Tabulating the votes.

The Victory Dance.

All Smiles with her trophy.  (Yeah, we spare no expense for our winner!)

So happy for Grandma!

Grandma's Victory Dance!

Our honored guests, Seth and Shawna Johnson

Fun Night.

The Johnsons and the Joneses

All that to say,  Cookies 2012, you're in the can.

Why to the North Pole, Of Course!

This past weekend, we took the girls to see the North Pole Express in Grapevine, TX.  Downtown Grapevine is so beautiful and quaint, and totally would have been worth the trip (if we hadn't been traveling with TODDLERS!)

Several people  told us (AFTER I paid the $18 a person for the tickets) that the ride was somewhat "lack luster."

By lack luster, they meant that the ride was not going to, in any way, resemble the movie The Polar Express.  For the most part, they were right.


As we prepared to board, we were ushered into a tent where we were entertained with a show, a mini hit parade of Christmas songs (most of which children would NOT know, but that the grown ups enjoyed).  The Conductor, a Tom Hanks type character, came out and nervously told us that the train was in the station and that we had to board AS SOON AS POSSIBLE because it was Christmas Eve and the train could not be late!

And then the train arrived, (a fact that caused Nikki to just about flip out!) and we were ready to board.

NIKKI WHEN SHE REALIZES THE TRAIN IS COMING!

The promotional brochure told us we would travel through the Christmas tree maze as we prepared to board the magical train!  True to it's billing, we walked through the maze, which was in fact a very clever way that they hid the barricades that guided the crowds in an orderly fashion to the train.  I supposed you could call it a "maze" if by maze you mean walk in a straight line and go the only direction that you are allowed to go until you are instructed to get on the train.  But when you're 3.5 feet tall, a "maze" of giant Christmas trees is pretty impressive no matter how it's laid out!

Then we boarded the train that would take us . . . "Why, to the North Pole, of course!"

It was 81 degrees outside.  It was 2:30 in the afternoon.  It was very, very sunny and bright.  It's Texas.

Only the magical imagination of a 4 year old could imagine this train ride was going to The North Pole.

And that's just what happened. Nikki was amazed that the conductor punched her ticket! And they were both thrilled when he stopped to take a picture with them!

And though the train only traveled forward about a half a mile, and then backward about a half a mile, the magic of Christmas transformed it into The Polar Express, complete with a visit by Santa.

I suppose the more sophisticated traveler would have doubted the destination.  I suppose they might have doubted that caribou on the track was what stopped the train and caused it to have to back up.

But that's the beauty of being a child.  Their imaginations are not yet cluttered with harsh reality (though in the case of Nikki and Shannay they certainly could be).

They laughed and sang and squealed with delight.  And they even looked out the window with wonder at the dry Texas landscape.

All that to say, it was a great weekend.  I learn a lot about joy from Nikki and Shannay.  A lot about joy.

I Am Thankful for Pie

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Our first Thanksgiving with the three new Jones girls.  Well, technically, it is not the first one with our daughters, just our first one with them "officially" as our daughters.   It's our third Thanksgiving with them in our home.

And it was our first Thanksgiving with a daughter-in-law.  She is a welcome addition in many ways, but ESPECIALLY if she keeps making those ridiculously good buttermilk pies that she made!

We also had a little foster baby with us, "Baby D" as we call her, as well as my Dad and Step mom.

And then Jacob came home from college, something I always look forward to and am incredibly grateful for when it happens.

Man.  Full House to say the least!

I love that my family gets together at Thanksgiving.   Well, technically I always love that.  No matter the occasion.

But for the most part, I don't love Thanksgiving.  I spend two days cooking a meal that takes 15 minutes to eat and two hours to clean up from.  Mike spends most of the day outside cooking turkeys (he cooked THREE turkeys this year . . . I have no idea why!)

The boys typically spend the time napping.

The girls spend their day being toddlers, requiring interventions on an ongoing basis.


And me?  I'm in the kitchen cooking, and constantly answering the most asked question on Thanksgiving Day, "What time do we eat?"  (At least I had help in the kitchen this year!)

Even though I don't enjoy Thanksgiving, "the holiday," I do enjoy my family, in all their messiness, all their craziness, all their moodiness, and all their zaniness.

I enjoyed having my parents here and watching them interact with their granddaughters.  I want Nikki and Shannay to have sweet memories of holidays with their grandparents.  And I enjoyed having Jacob home, even though he left early.  And I enjoyed playing dominoes with Zack and Christina and my dad and Mike, even though I lost, again.  And I enjoyed sharing our home with a baby who didn't have one.

And I enjoyed the pie . . . man did I enjoy the pie.

All that to say, I am glad that we are moving into the Christmas season, the season of hope and joy.  I am "thankful" that Thanksgiving is over.   And I'm thankful for my family.  (And I'm thankful for pie!)

(Here are some favorites from the day)

Christina teaching Nikki to make Pink Salad (to die for!)

Chef Mike frying THREE turkeys!

Jacob, Nikki and Shannay with our guest

The family eating.   I love that everyone is either in mid-bite or looks grumpy that they had to pose for the picture!)

Christina taking her turn at Croquet.   Probably getting instructions from Mike here!

The girls with their mallets.  I have a massive bruise on my leg from one of these!

All That to Say: "Hi, My Name is Gary."

Our girls, of late, are very much into playing games that require interactive and pretend conversation.  Most often this happens with dolls or their stuffed animals, and the game usually goes something like this:

"What's your name?"
"Shannay."
"No, what your doll's name?"
"Oh, ummmm, Ellie."

"What's your doll's name, Mama?"
"Latoya."
"Latoya?"
"Yes, Latoya."
"No, her name is Ellie."

Once names are established, then usually we go on to really important topics like what we drive, if we can chew gum yet or not, if we are married. . . you know really important topics that FOUR YEAR OLDS should be talking about!!!

Well a few days ago, Zack was over, and the girls wanted to play pretend, but they wanted to use cars.  (They love cars, and if they had a car that their dolls would fit in, then the world would be a perfect place.)  Zack is always a good sport about playing with them, so he readily accepted his role in the game of pretend.

Shannay had the new blue van (which in reality is a broken down Scooby Doo van that I got from a garage sale, but they love it!)  We told her its name was Mystery Machine, but I inadvertently kept calling it the party van (what is wrong with my mind?!).

Zack had a plastic infant's squeaker toy car that he called, "Gary."

I had a cool revved up black race car called, "Midnight."  (Trust me, these details are important.)

And Nikki had a green, John Deere Gator that we called, "Deere." 

So the conversation went like this:
Shannay to Zack:  "What's your name?"
Zack:  "Gary.  What's your name?"
Shannay to me:  "Mama, what's my name?"
Me:  "Party Van.  No, I mean Mystery Machine."
Zack:  "Nikki, what's your car's name?"
Nikki:  "Beer."

Laughter.

Zack:  "Nikki, it's Deere, not Beer."
Nikki:  "No, it's Beer.  I like Beer."  OY

Shannay (noticing Zack's car was not cool like everyone else's):  "Zack, what's wrong with you car?"

Poor Zack, first he has to be a boy fairy for Halloween, and now he's got the baby squeaker car.  He always gets the raw end of the deal.

Zack:  "Gary needs to go to the mechanic."
Shannay:  "What's a canic?"
Me:  "It's like a doctor for cars."
Shannay:  "He gonna get a shot?"
Me:  "No, cars don't get shots."
Shannay:  "Zack, why he gotta go the canic?"

Zack:  "He's got diabetes."

Total Silence.

Confused looks by all the toddlers in the room.

Eruptive laughter.

Mischievous smile by Zack. 

Game over.

 

All that to say, you've gotta admire a man who can play with toddlers and genuinely enjoy it.  You're gonna be a great dad someday, Zack Jones. :)

All That to Say: Life in the Ville

I remember when the boys were little, and I had quit my job to be a stay at home mom, that I had this insatiable need to be "productive."  I went from being a corporate executive to staying at home with toddlers.  Man, what a career shift!

Never in my wildest imagination would I have dreamed that I'd be at home again, raising toddlers.  But I'm so grateful to have this opportunity and this time to be at home with them.  I have, however, realized that my insatiable need to be "productive" is still present.  Sadly, my need to be productivie is limited to creative things and not "necessary" things like housekeeping or laundry! 

Anyway, this week, I wanted to do something fun with the girls that they could make and give to their teachers.  I searched Pinterest for hours, well, technically I got on Pinterest to find a cute project and was distracted by all the crockpot recipes I'll never cook, cupcakes recipes I shouldn't cook, cute outfits I could never wear, and workout regimens I will never attempt.  But then, SUDDENLY, I found a cute little fall trail mix recipe and decided that would be our project.

I assembled the ingredients:  (I'd like to begin with a warning that this is not a healthy snack. It's filled with things that came out of boxes and is likely to contain all sorts of deadly toxins like high fructose corn syrup and maybe even monosodium glutamate.)

1 Family Size box of Honey Nut Cheerios
2 Large bags of Mini Pretzels
1 Regular size box of Reeses Cereal
1 Large container of honey roasted peanuts
1 Large box of Cheez-Its
1 Large (party size) bag of Reeses Pieces (you could use M&M's)
1 Large box of raisins
1 Regular size bag of candy corn (mostly for color)

Then we dumped them all in a giant size boiling pot.  (Note:  You will not actually boil or cook this, it just makes A LOT and requires something very large to mix it in.)   In hindsight, I would have mixed it in a garbage bag (new, of course) because that's what I ended up doing in the end!  Again, this makes A LOT!

The girls particularly enjoyed this part as they could open the boxes and dump the ingredients in!

Then we used an ice scoop to scoop the ingredients into clear plastic party bags (available at Wal-Mart on the party aisle, 20 for $1.49) and tied them up with cute orange curling ribbon and a sweet "Happy Halloween" printable that I got here.  By the way, curling ribbon is so cheap, available at all party stores, and is great to have on hand in many colors!  I have a big box of spools of ribbon, so I'm pretty much set for most projects.

The girls discovered that if they spilled some on the floor, they could "pretend" to go throw them away and eat them on the way.  It took me a few minutes to discover their little trick!

Anyway, here is our finished project. 

You could still make these and use these printables instead. 

And of course, you could make a healthy version too.  Maybe my friend Meagan Peters will create one for you all!  If she does, I'll let you know!

All that to say, life here in the Ville, "Toddlerville" is fun some days (most days).


I love being a mom.  I am working on my need to be busy all the time, but at least other people benefit from my "productivity!"