Sweet Little Porcupine

Can you believe this costume? Megan found it on line and ordered it before she knew if the baby was a girl or a boy - either way, the baby was going to be a porcupine for Halloween. Megan thought that the costume would be large enough in October for the baby to wear a full set of warm clothes under it, along with a sweater. No one knew that Peyton was going to be such a chubby baby! All that would fit under her costume was a diaper!

Halloween night was so dark, that with the chocolate brown costume, we could not get any good shots. Two days later, we carefully "slid" Peyton into the costume again and set her outside among the pumpkins in front of the workshop for her photo shoot.

I think that is an excellent idea for any scrapbooking Mom - a couple of days before Halloween and the sugar high sets in, set up a photo shoot that utilizes natural daylight when you have time to capture the shots that you want, without children complaining that they want to head out trick or treating! With some extra time and natural light, you will get the Halloween shots that you wanted, without the stress and craziness of Halloween night. With a little planning, the photos will turn out much better than they would have with a flash!!! Just look at those bright blue eyes - they would have been dark or red with the use of a flash.

Peyton was too little for candy, she really didn't get the whole idea of the event, but she loved all the attention. How could you resist kissing those fat little cheeks! I highly recommend being a Grandma!

You can win me!!!

This little goodie is up for grabs...take it home for answering a quick questionnaire! We need to know what you are thinking, so, if you subscibe to Monday Night Classes' newsletter, get the questionaire and be heard!!! We need your input! Two of these beauties are going to new homes, so don't forget to watch for the newsletter in the next couple of days and answer the questions!

Recipe for Antionette

This is a "warm you from the inside" supper or lunch idea that only needs a simple salad on the side. Enjoy!!

Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole

1 1/3 lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup salsa
1 can dark brown canned beans (any flavor)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 chopped canned jalapeno peppers (optional, but recommended)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
   



2. Fry ground beef and onions til no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes.
   



3. Put in baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam or other baking spray.
   

Topping:

1 cup flour
1 cup of cornmeal
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tbsp oil
bacon to taste

Stir until just moistened. Spoon over filling. Bake for 14-18 minutes.

Cutest Pumpkin In The Patch

Isn't this the cutest little pumpkin that you ever saw? Megan finally relented and let me post a photo of Peyton on my blog. We had a heck of a time getting Peyton to cooperate with our photo shoot - first she did not like the bright sunlight and then she was much more interested in following the traffic on the highway than looking at the camera. Most of the shots that I got were of the side of her head. She isn't really sitting up by herself, so we had to wedge pumpkins around her so that she would not fall over. Peyton also didn't like the poky straw bale, so we had to camouflage a blanket under her to keep her from lifting her chubby little legs and squealing at the top of her lungs.
Creston was perfect at Thanksgiving time, the leaves were just starting to turn and the weather was gorgeous! It was really too bad that Peyton did not like to be out in the sunshine, so I had to buy 20 pumpkins and bring them home so that we could stage a photo shoot and get her in her Halloween costume instead. Okay, so I didn't have to buy 20 pumpkins, but I wanted to buy them...so I did. The lady at the fruit stand was shocked, I guess no one had ever asked her for a price reduction if they took a truck load! I scattereed them all over the farm, but right after we got back it froze fairly hard, so all of my pretty sunflowers died and the pumpkins are starting to look a little "soft". We have had such a nice Indian Summer. I am going to have to get one of those kits and do it up with all of my fall photos!