1st try at Halloween pics

What can I say??  I really wanted to try for some cutesy halloween pics this year before the actual day.  I truly gave it my best shot, but it's tough with these 2.  [Now considering the remnants of Sandy & the cold weather I'm glad I took these when I did, actually it's snowing this morning...yikes]  Jessie especially just does not wish to have her picture taken, it's really a challenge.  After some tears & about 15 min. of me being stressed...I just gave them some candy corn to try & get something.  I should have used a slightly different setting on my camera, but the results are not too bad.  For memories sake they will be precious to me in years to come.  I'll try another day for some individuals, especially of "Jessie Jane" our cowgirl.  She really does look adorable in her outfit.  And Ella our Tinkerbell princess, well, she's just so cute, of course, I'll try for some of her also.  Everytime I try to take Ella's pic these days she just runs over to me & well, Jessie just runs the opposite direction, oh well, it's just for fun anyway, don't know why I get myself so upset if I don't get the pics just right....OCD at it's finest folks!  Enjoy some pics of my little monsters & have a wonderful day :)  Oh & Happy Halloween...we hope it's filled with lots of treats!


**So now because of Hurricane Sandy this will most likely be my only shot at Halloween pics.  They actually moved Trick or Treat until Saturday due to the weather, perhaps I'll get some then :)**

To say we got off to a rocky start would be an understatement...but look how cute Jessie looks in her cowgirl outfit...she has a hat & trick gun, but that wasn't happening & look at sweet, cooperative Ella

Jessie's costume was $4 at a consignment sale, Ella's was $8, good deals--I'm all about it

Ok, not so bad

Better

Some Halloween Treats that I've served to my little monsters:

Monster Mouths...takes me back to my dental school days of making dentures :)

This was breakfast this morning..."Boo" berry pancakes, yep, I used a cookie cutter to make pancakes look like ghosts

Looks like the ghost pancakes were a hit :)

Halloween cupcakes

These are easy enough for the shortest attention spans!  I got this recipe from my MIL & it is very simple and tasty....only 2 ingredients (well, I guess 3 if you count the chocolate candy pieces :)  I love to bake with Jessie, but I often find that she only has a very limited attention span for measuring, etc.  That's why this recipe is so simple.

Pumpkin-Cake Mix Muffins (Cupcakes):
1 can 15 oz purree pumpkin
1 box cake mix (your choice)
chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, candy, etc.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix pumpkin & cake mix together until well combined (Jessie loves to mix for me).  Then add in chips, if using.  Place in muffin tin & bake for 15-20 min. depending on your oven.  Mine usually bakes for around 18 min.  Cool, then frost & decorate as desired!

This is all you need...I added the Reese's pieces to be festive for Halloween & the pumpkin cupcake liners were a must!

When I first heard about these from my MIL she called them weight watchers muffins, so they really aren't that bad for you either, which is also nice (although after I added the candy & the butter cream, that may not be true :).  Enjoy a few pics of our Halloween cupcake experiment & have a wonderful day!

The batter is very thick

Despite no addition of eggs, etc.  they do indeed puff up nicely

I found these cute ghost decorations on sale at Walmart

Our masterpiece--I used a very basic butter cream frosting recipe

My cupcake critic

Looks like she likes it

Because our neighbors don't get out much we always take them some also...they are 80 & 85 years old & I believe that teaching the girls to be kind to others is important even at this young age

Daddy may get one....if he hurries home :)

Pumpkin Carving 2012

This years pumpkin carving was very exciting for 2 little girls.  Jessie wanted to pick out her face for her "jack" & she was insistent that Ella wanted a "kitty" jack.  We began by cleaning out the jacks & to my surprise Ella wanted nothing to do with the gooey pumpkin guts.  Jessie was interested, but really didn't want to get dirty.  Jessie was, however, very interested in helping me carve our jacks.  Michael ended up having a large haul of roasted pumpkin seeds, which always makes him happy, & the girls got to see their jacks aglow with candle light, which was very exciting for them both.  Enjoy a peak at our pumpkin carving.  I should have ran my camera in auto for this, but forgot to change it before we started so in some the exposure is off...oh well!  Still cute memories for us ;)

She didn't know what to think when daddy started removing pumpkin guts onto the island

I didn't let Ella carve for obvious reasons, but she did get to pull out the pieces

Forgot to turn on flash...oh well...still cute

Jessie's smiling Jack & Ella's Kitty jack