Happy Halloween

Halloween Parade

Our morning started bright and early to avoid any mishaps or being late. Everyone got up excited, had breakfast and then we started to put on our costumes...that is when it happened. Jackson was going to be a Storm Trooper from Star Wars, Ayden and Landon were both LEGO'S. When Jackson put on his costume we both gasped in horror, it was to small, not just a little a lot :( I panicked and so did he. I quickly talked him into being Ayden's Lego with Landon and dashed down to the basement to start finding Ayden a temporary replacement costume. I found a cute Lion I inherited from my mom that my brother Christopher wore when he was little and very quickly did his make-up. They all looked so cute and nobody knew that we almost had a mini disaster this morning. They all had fun in their classroom parties and are so excited to go trick or treating tomorrow. Who knows what they will be on Halloween *LOL*

4th Grade Rendezvous

Jackson and his buddy Christian had their first "Rendezvous" at school yesterday. The had to come up with a product, get a business license and set up shop. Being 2 days before Halloween they came up with a store called "It's In The Bag". They tye dyed "trick or treat" bags out of old pillow cases....with some loving help from their moms (thanks Liz)....it was so cute!! It was a bit messy but a fun project *lol* Great job boys :)

Happy Halloween

Three Little "Pumpkin's"

Yummy "Bugs"

Bugs on a Log
celery stalks
peanut butter
raisins

Spread peanut butter onto washed and drained celery stalks. Top with raisins. For children who are allergic to peanuts, try using cream cheese or processed cheese spread in place of the peanut butter.

Cookie Spiders
black or chocolate licorice twists
fudge sandwich cookies
chocolate frosting
red cinnamon candies

Cut licorice in half. Remove the top of each sandwich cookie; press 8 licorice pieces into the fudge center to resemble spider legs. Spread a little chocolate frosting over the licorice; replace cookie tops. Frost the tops of the spider cookies with frosting. Place red cinnamon candies on top for eyes.

Muenster Beetles
crunchy chow mein noodles
muenster cheese (or other soft block cheese)

Cut cheese into 2" x 1" rectangular blocks. Gently insert three chow mein noodles on each side of cheese block for legs. Using two broken chow mein noodles, insert into "head" as antennae.

Note: Cheddar makes a bright and colorful beetle, but can be very frustrating for little fingers as the cheese is a bit too hard to press the noodles into without breaking. Use softer cheese such as Gouda, Havarti, Monterrey jack, or even Mozzarella.

Peanut Butter Caterpillars
bananas
peanut butter
grapes
chow mein noodles

Peel and slice a banana. Join the slices together by "gluing" them with peanut butter. Carefully poke two chow mein noodles (or break a pretzel stick in half to make two pieces) through the top of the grape. Use more peanut butter to attach the head (grape) to the front of the body, with antennae (chow mein noodles) pointing up.

TRICK-OR-TREAT WARNING..PLEASE WATCH!!

This is REAL, I verified it for myself on snopes.com. Please post on your blogs and e-mail the link to all your friends and family so we can avoid this potentially disastrous Halloween!!

Bewitched Pizza

Cookie cutters make fun, quick work of uncovering the cheesy filling in a celebratory pizza.

3 C Original Bisquick® mix

2/3 cup very hot water

1 can (8 ounces) pizza sauce

2 cups shredded cheese blend (8 oz)

1/2 teaspoon spicy pizza seasoning

1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 450 degrees, Spray 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, stir Bisquick mix and hot water with fork until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Divide dough in half. Press half of the dough in pizza pan, using fingers dipped in Bisquick mix; pinch edge to form 1/2-inch rim. Spread pizza sauce over dough. In medium bowl, mix cheese and pizza seasoning; sprinkle over pizza sauce.

3. Place remaining dough on surface dusted with Bisquick mix; roll in Bisquick mix to coat. Shape into a ball; knead 5 times. Roll dough into 14-inch circle. Use cookie cutters in Halloween shapes to cut shapes from dough (leave 1 inch of dough between cutouts and leave 1 inch of edge of dough uncut). Fold dough circle in half; place over pizza and unfold. Seal edges. Place dough cutouts on top of pizza if desired.

4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted...ENJOY!!

Make your own Spooky Skeleton

1. You'll need several different pasta shapes for this project — some straight, some curly, and some round-ish. The more you can find, the better. It also helps to use black poster board or something really stiff for the backing as the glue can make the art kind of heavy.

2. You can start by briefing your "crafters" on body proportions. If nothing else, I like to have them see that people don't have arms that come out of their neck and legs that come out of their pelvis. People have shoulders and hip bones which make arms and legs spread apart, not stick together like in most stick people drawings.

3. Show the your "crafters" how to start with round-ish shapes to make a head, straight spaghetti to make the arms and spine and legs, and the curly shapes to make a rib cage.

4. Once the pasta has been arranged on heavy paper, lift each item up and glue in place.

Landon's favorite Halloween song

Five Little Pumpkins

"Mummy" Dogs....

1 can refrigerated bread sticks (11 oz)
1 package hot dogs (We love Nathans)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Using 1 dough strip for each, wrap hot dogs to look like mummies, leaving opening for eyes. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

2. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

3. Place dots of mustard and poppy seeds for eyes.

Mini Mummy Dogs: Use 1 package (16 ounces) mini hot dogs instead of regular hot dogs. Cut each breadstick strip into 3 pieces. Cut each piece in half lengthwise. Using 1 strip of dough for each, wrap and bake mini hot dogs as directed above.

This is Halloween

Not So Scary Halloween Movies

"Goul" Cheese

Directions:
Prepare sandwich for grilled cheese (two pieces of bread with cheese in middle).
Cut with pumpkin cookie cutter and grill.
Garnish. Green Olives with stuffed Pimento -- cut into slices for eyes.
Cut end of Green Olive for the nose.
A pickle sliver for the mouth.
Parsley for the hair.

Halloween is in 10 Days!!

Make your own Graveyard!!

These darling little ghouls will light up your child's face! Recycle an old cardboard egg carton into some Halloween craft fun with these ghosts in the graveyard.

You will need:

12 or 18 egg cardboard egg carton
2 twigs that look like miniature trees
3 cotton balls
small piece of white paper or cardstock
popsicle or craft stick
acrylic craft paint in white, black and green
black fine tip marker
hot glue gun or white craft glue

What you do:

Place egg carton upside down on work surface.

Mix together some white and black paint to make gray. Paint all but five of the egg cups with the gray paint. Set aside to dry.

While paint on gravestones is drying, paint the popsicle stick with black paint. Let dry then repeat on the other side.
On white paper or cardstock, write the words "Ghosts in the Graveyard" to create a sign. Use scissors to trim into a rectangle. Glue to the end of the black popsicle stick.

Paint the remaining egg cups with white paint and let dry.

Paint the edges and outer flap of the carton with green paint, let dry.

When paint has dried, use the black marker to add words to the gravestones such as "R.I.P." or "Here Lies My Feet". We also added years on our headstones. Add faces to the ghosts as well.

Use a pen to poke a hole in between two egg cups in the back row. Put some hot glue on the end of one of the twigs and insert into the hole. Repeat this process on the right side of the graveyard as well.

Poke another hole somewhere in the middle, add hot glue to the end of the black popsicle stick and insert the sign.

Gently pull apart 3 cotton balls. Glue the cotton around the edge of the graveyard, inserting some in between rows and around the sign.

He's BACK!!

We were all a bit apprehensive and nervous when Jackson took the field yesterday...but he played great :) He got a touchdown in the first 2 minutes of that game and played his heart out. His team ended up losing 13 - 7 but if Jackson was given one more play he would have scored again. He gave it his all during his teams final push down the field and got to the 10 yard line and then it was over. He of course was bummed but he played great and we were all very proud of him playing after his fluke injury last week. Way to go Jackson!!

If you go to the following url you can watch it in high quality...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=757IGfx5D9U

Make Your Own Pumpkin Patch!!

Salt dough is a great medium for fun and creative crafting. Take this sparkly pumpkin patch for instance! Salt dough recipes aren't just for kids. Make these fun and festive pumpkins this Fall for your holiday decorating.

You will need

1 cup salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup water
orange acrylic paint
paintbrush
Gold glitter paint
2 green toothpicks, broken or cut in half

What you do

Preheat oven to 250 F. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. BE CAREFUL. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

THIS DOUGH IS NOT EDIBLE, though it won't hurt you or your kids, it just won't taste very good!

Roll dough in your hands to form different sized balls. Line them up on a cookie sheet, touching each other so that they will be one piece after baking. Use a toothpick to draw lines on the pumpkins.

Insert toothpick halves, point size down, into the top center of the pumpkin to create the stem. Be sure to do this step BEFORE baking.

Bake for approximately 2 - 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For best results, allow to cool and dry overnight, or for at least 4 hours.

Paint pumpkins with two coats of orange paint, allowing to dry in between coats. When dry, paint with a coat of gold glitter paint or glitter glue. Let dry. ENJOY!!

Crazy Day.....

Although everyday *especially the past few* are crazy days in the Cundick house today was "Crazy Day" at school. The boys are true Bengals and wanted their hair orange and blue while Ayden sported a "feux hawk" Jackson sported just plain messy hair. They wore their shirts backwards, crazy socks, and one of each shoe....They had a ball getting dressed today and both look forward to a 5 yes a 5 day weekend!!

I've been tagged.....

My Darling HUSBAND
1. What is his name? Ryan Russell Cundick
2. Who eats more? depends on what it is...
3. Who said I love you first? defiantly me :)
4. Who is taller? Ryan
5. Who is smarter? Seriously, me but really he is very smart
6. Who is more sensitive? me
7. Who does the laundry? me
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? both of us, think about it
9. Who pays the bills? he does
10. Who cooks more? me
11. What meals do you cook together? none
12. Who is more stubborn? Ryan
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? me
14. Who has more siblings? ME = 6 Ryan = 1
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? me
16. What do you like to do together? golf, which we haven't done in years, go shopping together, have family movie nights, go to dinner and hang out with the boys :)
17. Who eats more sweets? me
18. Guilty pleasures? ????
19. How did you meet? High School, 3rd period
20. Who asked who out first? he did, he asked me to Prom
21. Who kissed who first? I kissed him first :)
22. Who proposed? He did once and I did once...long story :)
23. His best features? his beautiful baby blue eyes and his smile
24. What is his greatest quality? Ryan works very hard away from home so I can stay home with our boys. He is always striving to provide the best for his family.
25. Tag? Lisa, Michelle, Nancy

Thanks Amy, now you all know a bit more about my dh. I can't imagine my life without him :) It isn't always easy but nothing worth anything in life comes easily!!

Ayden #5 Black Scorpion Soccer....

Not our normal Saturday

Yesterday started out just like every other Saturday and by dusk we were all exhausted. But yesterday wasn't the normal run the boys to soccer and football we added a trip to PCMC.

We started the day bright and early gathering gloves, hand warmers, blanket, coats and layering thermal underwear under the boys uniforms...it was projected to be cold and snowy. We packed up the car and headed out one man short, Ryan was gone this weekend at a conference in California so it was just me and the boys. I dropped off Jackson 1st so he could practice with his team before the game and then headed to the soccer field. It dawned on me that I had forgotten the game ball for football and rushed home to get it.

We made it to Ayden's game with 10 minutes to spare and I dropped Ayden off and headed back to the football field to drop off the tent and the so important game ball. I pack Landon in the stroller with a warm blanket and snacks and headed to Ayden's soccer game. It was cold but Ayden was playing great, he stayed right with the ball and got a goal, and the next quarter he played goalie.

We headed over to Jackson game and it was almost half and it was starting to snow. We were on defense and I cheered for the boys hoping that Jackson would see that I was there, I don't think he did. On our next offensive play Huddy ran the ball and then I saw Jackson was in the quarterback position and I knew he would be running the ball. The ball was hiked high but he jumped up to catch it and took off on the far side of the field. I saw the tackle through the mist of snow and players and it was hard. Jackson fell to the ground with some other players. The pile broke up but one player wasn't getting up, who was it I asked?? OMG, it was Jackson he was curled up on the ball not moving, not an inch. His coaches started yelling "Nelson, Nelson" over and over again until Marcroft and Nelson two doctors on our team rushed to his side along with the field EMT. I was crying and completely panicked wanting to rush to his side. Finally one of the coaches yelled for me and I ran to his side...he was just dazed and was crying and complaining that his stomach hurt. He had been unconscious and he wasn't breathing that whole time. After about 5 minutes his coach carried him off the field. He was extremely nauseous, crying and in pain. After about a minute he passed out again and that is when I panicked and Nelson told me that he need to go to the hospital. I was just going to take him myself but someone had called an ambulance and suggested that if he passed out again that this would be the best.

They gave him oxygen in the ambulance because his limbs were tingly and that usually indicates not enough oxygen. Jackson was scared and his stomach hurt. At PCMC he had a CT SCAN (he hated it, he said it felt like he was going in a spaceship), EKG, lots of blood work, an IV (they had to poke him twice and every time a nurse or doctor came in he asked them to take it out) and X rays. He hated all the tests and just wanted to go home. When all was said and done 5 hours later, they concluded that he had bruised his small intestines and they are swollen and very tender. This is probably due to the force in which he fell on the ball. They couldn't explain why he passed out just said it was probably from pain and the hard hit. Jackson will be resting at home for a couple for days and was so thankful for all the calls and texts wishing him well.

He was so happy to hear that his team won 23-0 and looks forward to seeing them soon. I am so thankful for everyone that helped me during this scary time at the field. With Ryan being gone I was at a loss and all the support that came pouring in was awesome, we are truly blessed to be on such a great team with THE BEST COACHES, PLAYERS and PARENTS!!As to be expected, Jackson is wary of playing again and we will just have to let him heal and go at his own pace. He has wanted to play football since he could walk and loves the game but not getting hurt. He loves all his coaches and his team and has had a great time this season. We have been so fortunate to be on such a wonderful team and to have meet such great friends. We are so thankful that Jackson is ok and hope he will have a speedy recovery.

What if I'm not the superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?

Thought I would share, this is the final Twilight trailer and I must say it leaves you totally breathless. I think I watched it a dozen time just to get my fix *lol* There is only 41 days left until the premiere so if you haven't read it yet there is still time to get bitten :)

Parent's vs Blue Bengal's Flag Football Game

beauty through the lens....

Ryan got me a great birthday present this year...a new super fancy Cannon Rebel XSI camera! This is the first picture I took with it last Friday evening , yes he gave it to me early so I could snap away at Jackson's football game Saturday :) It is so great and takes awesome action shots..I took some of Jackson's touchdown's!! Photography has become a passion of mine especially since I have to blog and document everything, seriously I love being behind the lens......Thanks Honey!!!

Be "witching" ly good Halloween flicks...

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I would share some of my favorite "witch" movies with you. If you can find them for rent or to buy they are defiantly worth the watch!!

Deadline

Many American's have given their life so we can vote, this election is historical so make sure you are prepared to exercise your right to vote!!! Get your postage ready. The voter-registration deadline for mail-in applications is TODAY!! The Salt Lake County clerk will allow voters to register by mail if postmarked TODAY October 6!! Registration forms are available online at www.clerk.slco.org. You can get them from post offices, libraries or the telephone book. Once the mail-in deadline passes, residents will have two more weeks (until Oct. 20) to sign up in person at the Clerk's Office, 2001 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Also, the second Presidential Debate is tomorrow night!! VOTE VOTE VOTE!!

Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good: ‘Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rain or Shine

Although it was a cold and rainy Saturday we had a great time at the boys games on Saturday. Ryan and I again had to divide and conquer...He is one of the coaches for Ayden's soccer team so he left to the field first while I got Jackson ready for football. Ayden had a great game and scored a goal!! He had a great time and loved playing goalie again this week. I promise to post some pictures of Ayden next week!
Jackson's team played a great game...he had 2 touchdowns and his team won 37 to 0!! It was a fun game to watch and all the boys did a great job and had a lot of fun despite the cold and rain. Way to go Ayden and Jackson!!!

Sundance

Leaves by Elise Brady

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.
At other times they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare,
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.