Last night we had a "spooky" family Halloween Party. The kiddos previewed their Halloween costumes that they will wear this weekend. Halloween night is always busy.....each family having their own neighborhood plans. So we took this opportunity to eat, show off spooky costumes, play games and partake in some Halloween Fright!

Well, it was certainly CRAZY! So look on for some darling Halloween costumes (all made by the moms, of course!) some frightening finger desserts and goofy fun.

The littlest member of the family showed up in her "Tinkerbell" costume. The cutest!!!! Amy made this for her and Livy loves to chew on the netting. Perfect! She is a doll. What you can't see is the word "Tink" embroidered on the front of her little shirt.

Three little witches came to the party. Really....these are the cutest costumes. These three little girls stole the show! Their moms really worked hard on these costumes! Do you ever want to kiss a witch?????

Well now.....this is an eventful Halloween! We are use to seeing the "Boyer Girls" in the most beautiful "Princess" costumes. This is a switch! We were surrounded by Ninjas! You heard me....Ninjas! I should have passed on Ryan's Chinese Stars.....they would have been put to good use. Julie got a break this year and did the Ninja thing for her girls! They were authentic! Emma was so, so cute in her "China Girl" costume. You can't see it here, but her face was painted white with the cute little red lips, and black hair, in a bun. Perfectly Chinese!


Yes, Drew looks like he is going to faint!.....but this is the best group picture that I have of the boys! They just don't want to hold still! Little Zack is Peter Pan...a perfect partner to Tinkerbell. The only problem is that he wanted to hold Drew's gun all night! Drew really makes the perfect cowboy. He is decked out....but not excited about the pictures!
Little Tanner....Spider Boy! Next year he will be in full garb!

We played a fun game. The kids had to try and eat a donut dangling in front of them while they kept their hands behind their backs. We gave them one minute...... It was pretty tough! I do believe Emma won the contest!

We took time out for a Spooky, Frightening Dessert! Fingers anyone??

My friend told me about this fun recipe for Halloween "finger cookies". I gave it a try. They were so much fun to make....the kids, well, I don't know what they thought. Lucy was the most uncertain. Darn! I didn't get a picture of her face!

The rest of the evening was spent decorating cookies and pumpkins! It was a Boo-ti-ful evening.




The highlight was seeing all my little grandkids dressed up so cute for Halloween. It is no secret that Halloween is my absolute FAVORITE! Their Moms put in so much time and effort for their little costumes...well, it does my heart proud! Happy Halloween!!!!

Fall....My Favorite

It's finally here....and I have been missing in action for quite some time. "Fall" cooler temperatures, flowers, jeans, winter lawn, ripening oranges, and yes, HALLOWEEN! I love it! The fall feeling just does something for my spirit.

I am two weeks late in the decor department. I have been out of town and unable to pull all the Halloween out of storage. This year I will settle for just a little touch of the Halloween spirit and then jump right into Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Not so excited about that!)

While flying around in the sky I happened upon a few "fallish" recipes in a magazine. Since I was in the spirit of it all, I tried one of the recipes. It is a keeper! So for those of you who love soup on a "fall" evening, here it is. Try it!

Alphabet Beef Vegetable Soup
1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
3 medium-size carrots, finely chopped
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
3 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounces green beans, ends snipped, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups frozen petite peas, thawed
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
2 cups uncooked alphabet noodles or other small pasta shapes

Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and cook 2 minutes per side. Transfer to slow cooker.

Add onion and carrots to skillet and saute 3 minutes

Transfer contents of skillet to slow cooker and add tomato sauce, beef broth, chicken broth and green beans. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours. remove the cover and add the peas, corn and noodles. Cover and cook for an additional 45 minutes before serving.

This serves 8 people adequately.

I put this in my slow cooker on Sunday morning and had a great little mid-afternoon meal. Unfortunately, I forgot the alphabet noodles at the store and was disappointed. I substituted potatoes instead and it was great! But I do love those ABC'S!