CUTE, my babies just being cute together!The 3 oldest kids decided to carve pumpkins this year (I tried to get them to paint them this year) Zach and Joey attacking their pumpkins, and Alli playing with her pumpkin guts.

eeewwww gross.

Here is abby showing off her cute painted pumpkin

And Jason very proud of his artwork.

Off to the pumpkin patch

Gate city reality invited our family to be part of their annual pumpkin patch and trunk or treat. our good friend erick who works for gate city was our realitor when we bought this property!!!

The kids had so much fun, but they were sooooo cold, the party started at 11:00 am, and we were done and back in the burb on the way home by 11:15. fast and furious thats my babies!Even though she could hardly carry it Alli insisted on getting one of the biggest pumpkins.
Zach, my tough boy, who 'didn't need a jacket' is cuddling in my jacket because it was freezing!once him and Joey picked out their pumpkins they decided to make chairs out of them.

And there is my Joeman on his pumpkin chair.

Salt and pepper with their little pumpkins, they had a hard time deciding on the perfect pumpkin! But they did good.

Jason just pulling a really cute face, and trying to stay warm, and abby behind him couldn't keep her cute little witch hat on her head!

I'M BORED

Ok so in my house the kids are not allowed to say the "B" word (bored), But this time when salt and pepper kept telling me they were bored, I couldn't ingore them, I was bored too. After being broke for so long, and not able to go out, and have fun like we had been doing before, I have had to become inventive. Lots of home movies, with popcorn, game nights, etc. well I needed to change things up a bit for all of our sanity! So I came up with the brilliant idea to make edible playdough. It was a total hit, and lasted for hours!!!!!

This is how it started, a bowl of playdough, a couple rolling pins, and cookie cutters, and then let the kids loose! Here are salt and pepper figuring out how to roll out the dough.

Salt is really getting into it!

Pepper loved making the little stars, especially when I showed her that she can eat them too!

Don't mind the mess behind her, I have been VERY lazy, and have not put my halloween totes out of site, I figure now, why, I have to take down my halloween stuff next week anyway right?
Sassy even got in on the fun after she got home from school! I am telling you it was so much fun watching all the things they came up with to mold and create.

Recipe for edible playdough

2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

Mix, mix, mix. and enjoy!

If I only had a brain

Now that we have the MRI results back for Joey, I guess it is only me that needs a brain, because Joey's is fine!!! MRI, and ultrasound both came back normal. thank goodness! Now on to the next step to figure out whats wrong with him. We will be getting an appt. with an endocrinologist soon. I will update you all as I can!

More medical updates. Zach aparantly does not have burcitis as he was first diagnosed with, now they think he has what is called severs disease, which is basically heel pain caused by an injury due to growth. I knew growing up was painfull, but come on this is crazy. At any rate, he is in a walking boot for a couple of weeks. and he may need to wear it off and on for the next year or so. As for the rest of the family, as far as I know we are healthy!!!!!

Wow 14 years!!!!!!!

14 years, and 5 kids later here we are......Ok so me and big guys 14th anniversary is today. I have been thinking of soooo many fun things we could to to celebrate, even though we aren't going to do anything, cause he is at work, it is so nice to imagine what we would do if he was here. So this is what I would have done had he been home. I thought I would share my thoughts, (and some ideas I found online) to celebrate our many years together!

1. Recreate Your First Date - Where was your first date?? The bowling alley? The park? Try and recreate it and remember the details. Remember the show "The Parent Trap"? The daughters recreate their first date at Martinelli's Italian Restaurant by doing it in their own home. And...they fell in love...all over again. Hopefully, you will too. Mine would include a lovely homemade speghetti dinner! yum. And a kiss to shut me up, because aparently I talk too much.

2. Plan A Romantic Getaway - This is always my favorite. My favorite getaway with big guy was when I won a night at a bed and breakfast in Midway. No kids, just the 2 of us. And one of the best cookies I have EVER had. I wish I could figure out how to make it. No kids is imperative.

3. Romantic Night At Home - You still need an over-night-babysitter for this one, but it's a lot cheaper because you're staying home. Isn't it weird to be home with absolutely no kids in the house??You've got the entire house to yourself...you can stay up late together, sleep in together, eat breakfast together, and just be together in the comfort of your home. Me and big guy love to cook together. I am not sure anyone would want my kids for a whole night so we may have to skip this one for a few more years.

4. Memory Treasure Hunt - This one would be extra work , but fun. You would have to plan ahead big time! Think of lots of different memories that you and your man have. I would put pictures all over the house, then send him on a treasure hunt. at the end you could have a nice hot dinner in the oven for the last clue, then sit down together ALONE for diner.Other ideas for fun anniversary gifts:
Camping equipment

Movies,

cuddle blanket,

treats

Board Games

Running shoes

Musical instruments
unfortunatley this year we are not together for our anniversary, so all my brilliant ideas are for nothing. but there is always next year!!!

ps. I promise this is not at pitty party post, I am very happily going to go make bread now:)

Happy Anniversary baby!!!
Posted by Carroll family at 12:19 PM 0 comments

wow

now this is yummy!

and so easy my sisters could do it (haha funny huh) peanut butter pie

first you make an oreo crust. smash(thats the funnest part) about 20 oreo cookies. Melt 4 tb. butter and mix into the oreos. line a pie pan with it.

Then mix 1 pkg cream cheese, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1/2 c. peanut butter. cream till creamy. Add 2 c. coolwhip. mix well, put on top of crust, and enjoy. you can top with hot fudge sauce, or since I didn't have any, I melted a few chocolate chips, and swirled them on the top.

Look how creamy!!! so delicious. I may have to make another one!!!

Bur..... what????

Zach has been complaining his foot has been hurting for a while now. (mother of the year, I kept telling him to get over it) well he wasn't getting over it, so we took him in to get it checked out. Turns out he has burcitis. He was put on limited activity, (he even got a note for p.e.) for 2 weeks, with anti-inflamitories, and ice 3 times a day. If its not better in 2 weeks, then we go see the orthopedic dr. which means, probably surgery,and a cast for a while. Is there no end. Lets just say that we are keeping him as still as possible for a 12 year old, so we can avoid further problems.

I am thinking that the medical black cloud has been hovering over my house for the last while. I am ready for it to leave!!!!!!!!!!

new perm!!!!

Not too bad for my first try. We decided to perm alli's hair last night. we wanted more of a wavy, than a curly, I think we did pretty good!!! what a cutie!~

We went up in the mountains the other day to get our first load of firewood, and let the kids shoot the guns, which is their reward for helping us gather wood, so here are Joey and Zach shooting, I have to say they are pretty good shots! Everybody doing their part gathering firewood, although Joey and Alli were more interested in chopping down trees, than gathering dead ones off the ground, but they were pretty cute anyway.
Salt and pepper worked so hard to carry this branch to the trailer! Good job babies!