Halloween!!!

For the annual Halloween party. The Stuart's once again hosted a Spooktacular Halloween Bash. The decorations were amazing. I wish I could have got better pictures of everything. My camera doesn't work very well in normal conditions and in the dark it hardly works at all.


My older brother, built this amazing witch, her head turns, her eyes glowed, she stirred her cauldron which bubbled up spooky smoke bubbles. I must say the smoke bubbles were the coolest thing i think I have every seen. The kids loved trying to catch them. Next to the witch was a bookshelf with glowing potions and other nasty ingredients for the witches brew. Spiders and cobwebs were everywhere, there was even a giant spider in the basement that would jump out at you when you stepped on a pressure pad. Even people warned about the scary spider would still jump from surprise (Dad, Matt, Ellie(twice). The backyard was filled with fog and gravestones, and a very cool spooky ghost hung in the garage. Oh Oh and there was food too. Barbecue, green salad, caramel apples, pumpkin dessert, a bootiful cake and a super yummy drink.

James trying to catch the bubbles

Ryan and Matt in their scary costumes.

The witch and the potion shelf

Barry dressed up as a party pooper, James the dinosaur

Pirate and lumberjack or axe murderer, (wasn't sure)

Ellie fairy princess

Randy and Katie the party hosts. I am afraid they look like vampires because of this picture, but that just adds I think.

Dad the chef

Thunder and the Scary Monkey

My favorite pic of the night.

Apples!

apples, applesauce, dried apples, apples for pies, apple butter.

I have been lucky this year and have had unlimited access to quality apples this year.
Macintosh, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious. Red Delicious. Mmmmm

On one apple picking excursion, I picked over 40 gallons of apples in a couple of hours. Even Lauren helped by clearing away the leaves in the trees so I could see the apples better. When I climbed the ladder with her, I would pick the apples, and she would pick the leaves and stuff them in her mouth hoping I wouldn't notice.

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Barry surprised me one evening by coming home from work and saying that he had been thinking about me and realized that there aren't many women in my generation who are willing to do all the work of canning for their family to enjoy. So he had got me a little present.

A double burner Camp Chef stove!
He also bought me an extra canning pot and filled up our propane tank. Whoho! Now I can can outside, use both pots, and have my whole stove top free!

Happy Day! I got all my applesauce done in one day, with Barry doing most of the work. :)

I have been amazed with how many apples my children can gobble down. Especially James. Lauren loves to eat them too. She does pretty well and leaves little bite marks all over the apples, proving her teeth do exist, thought they are ALL currently still MIA.