Friday Favorites: Most Memorable Halloween Costume

I have always loved dressing up for Halloween. Maybe it's because I started at an early age.


Even as an adult, I look forward to wearing a costume of some sort. Like today, for instance. My class had their Halloween party, and of course, everyone came in their Halloween costumes. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't show up in a costume, too? So I wore a poodle skirt. I even googled 1950's makeup and watched a few videos on how to apply makeup like they did in the good old days. (I said I liked to dress up, didn't I?) Side note-it didn't matter anyway because none of my students knew what I was. In fact, one of them thought I was a witch.?

In high school during Homecoming Week I had a blast dressing up in my leisure suit, and you better believe I made a fantastic nerd on Nerd Day! (Note the band shoes!)



So when I was thinking about what I would consider my most memorable Halloween costume, I went down the list of costumes I wore growing up. The list is miserably short because my memory is WEAK! Amongst the plastic masks were Cinderella and Strawberry Shortcake. There was a cheerleader, a doctor, a witch. There was also a punk rock star. That was a fun one. I got to spray my hair pink. Then there was that year I went trick or treating in college , and my friend and I took St. Petersburg by storm in our Marching Chiefs costumes. If only I had taken at least one picture of the look of disdain on the faces of those who opened their doors to the two 18 year old band geeks who were holding out their band hats for candy (and we weren't drunk.) Imagine seeing this at your doorstep...




FYI, the Goodwill is a great place to find some "vintage" clothing if you want to attend Disco Night at the hockey game. I held on to this glorious Goodwill find for awhile...


Now, I live vicariously through my children. And I google details when necessary.

Telling Stories

Ethan's teacher usually has a good laugh over things he shares with her and his classmates. This means: a)me being embarassed and b)me having to convince his teacher that what he has shared isn't true. Here are a few of the doozies he has shared so far...

Ethan is an adopted Jewish boy whose father works for DHL.

The Jewish part may come as a surprise to most. I guess he is expecting a visit from Hanukkah Harry this year. All I have to say is...this boy had better grow up to be an award winning writer who will take care of his elderly parents.

Sunset at the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend when Matt's parents came for a visit, we took a detour to the Pumpkin Patch. For Mack's birthday we usually go there to pick up a "birthday pumpkin" for her. The sun was beginning to set so we raced over there to pick out the perfect one and take some pictures. Here's what we got...


Our pumpkin is third from the middle, closer to the left, five in front of the camera... Just Kidding! All these pictures and no pics of the pumpkin we picked, so just use your imagination.


Our big girl


The Cateseez


Mini Kim and Mini Matt


Posing with the Grandparents Cates

Friday Favorites

Today's topic: Kim's Favorite and Not-So-Favorite Gifts

I've gotten lots of gifts in my lifetime. Some big, some small. Some from the Dollar Tree and some from not the Dollar Tree. I admit. When asked, my mind shuts down and I can't, for the life of me, remember a favorite gift I have received. Except for when I turned 16 and my parents got me a brand new Mercedes. Hahahaha! My three readers are saying, 'yeah, kim. Lay off the MTV.' I think my favorite gift has been my Nikon D40 that my hubby Matt gave me for our anniversary last year. It was our 10th anniversary, and my camera at the time had just broken. Yes, I might have thrown in that he was going to be gone during said anniversary. No need to feel obligated to make up for it or anything. :) We purchased it together,and we've been taking happily-ever-after pictures since then.

My not-so-favorite gift. That's an easy one. I was a first grade teacher before I had Mack and E. It seemed that some years the gifts I received from the students went along with some unspoken teacher-gift theme. One year it was bath products. (I literally had enough bath gel and lotion to last me one whole year. No joke!) Another year it was candles. Then there was the year of the Dollar Tree. Don't get me wrong! I LOVE the DT. I spend alot of time roaming the aisles of the Dollar. Lots of good finds are hiding amongst the tree-scented car deodorizers and Little Debbie Cakes. But there are some items that should be super-glued to the shelves,
never to be removed. Like my not-so-favorite gift I like to lovingly call "Babies on a Couch". Listen, I remember my student giving it to me. He was so excited for me to open it, so I opened it before anything else. Needless to say, I was stunned. Speechless. "Wow. Thanks!" I feigned excitement. I know he went to the DT with his mom and he handpicked this gem out just for me. I get that. It was the thought that counted.

Shall I describe the "Babies on a Couch" masterpiece? Of course, I'd love to. This statue stood about 5 inches tall and was about 7 inches long. Made of resin. It was a couch with about 5 babies sitting on it. They were all crying. Except for the one token black baby. But this wasn't a dark skinned African American baby. He was literally black, and he had red lips. There you have it! Should I have "accidentally" forgotten it in the parking lot or dropped it "by accident" and then run it over with my Saturn? Maybe. But I decided to do something better, more productive. I gave it as a White Elephant gift. I'll have you know that it was a hot item. (Well, maybe not as hot as the 'It's My Potty' toilet seat cover, but it did give everyone a great laugh.)

Last item on the agenda. A gift that I really want this year for Christmas. It isn't something that I think I will necessarily get, but...I would love to see my BFF LeeAnn! We haven't seen each other in over a year, and now that I'm working my schedule is that much tighter. I wouldn't need to be gone long. Just enough time to catch up and see her familia. If that doesn't work, I'll be happy with a new pair of sunglasses.

Our Girl

Mackenzie turned 7 on Saturday. What a whirlwind of a weekend we had! Matt's parents were able to come down for a quick visit. We had the family over for dinner and cake. She said it was the best birthday ever!

We are so proud of our little Kenzie! She's not so little anymore. Age 7 seemed a lifetime away back when she was a baby. Now she's all legs, skinny and knobby-kneed. She loves gymnastics and reading. Hannah Montana and High School Musical get her singing and dancing. Kenzie is so loving, and she is such a pleaser. We are definitely proud of the little lady she is becoming and so thankful that God has blessed us with our Kenzie.

The Doors

My dear friend Stacey posted a number of pictures of paths she has come across while living overseas. That reminded me of the numerous pictures I took of doors while visiting the Hunters in Vienna. Why doors? Most of them were HUGE. Some had intricate carvings on them. Others had ornate iron works. And others, being quite ordinary, opened up to beautiful streets and common areas.

I wrote about our trip in March, and I might have mentioned briefly how the architecture took my breath away. I really could have stood in front of the St. Stephensdom Cathedral all day. And gawked. One of my college roommates laughed when she read about how I loved the buildings and architecture, and she promptly reminded me how I thought the awnings of the Capital Building were beautiful, too. Dork. (Me, not her.) Regardless, I found lots of beauty in the doorways we came across on our treks through the city. Here are some pictures of what I saw.

Friday Favorites

I've joined a group of my friends in doing a Friday Favorites post. What is my favorite thing this Friday, my dear ones? Here are some hints that I've given my students about the mystery item in our classroom, the same one I'll post about today. 1. It's heavy. 2. It has ridges. 3. It's round. 4. It has seeds. If you're smarter than a four year old you will not have gotten stumped on the "ridges" part, and BINGO! It's a pumpkin! What is my favorite pumpkin recipe this year? This is a hard one because I love me a good pumpkin recipe, and for some reason these pumpkin foods just don't taste the same if it's, say, July. I'm weird like that. Ok, focus. Favorite pumpkin recipe:

Pumpkin Snack Bars!
Prep Time: 20 min.
Ready in: 40 min.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2 layer size) spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 cup Miracle Whip dressing
3 eggs
1/2 c (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
Blend cake mix, pumpkin, Miracle Whip and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour into greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Blend butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Spread over cake.

Ok. Ignore the pain that is shooting down your left arm for a moment. My new favorite baking ingredient is Smart Balance. I would always stand in the dairy aisle pondering the pros and cons of margarine vs. butter. (Not really, but let's just imagine I did.) Of course, I always went with butter but now I can go with Smart Balance! Why? I don't know. But I have reasons... for real, I do.

This recipe came for Kraft Food and Family. Another favorite of mine. It's a FREE magazine from Kraft. It comes out every quarter. Some of the recipes can be repetitive, but come on! How can you go wrong with a magazine that gives you Pumpkin Snack Bars??? Enjoy! Check out some more pumpkin favs here, here, here, here, and here.

Vintage Kim - Part 2

My third birthday, celebrated at home


All cozy in my footie pj's and ready for bed at Grandma and Grandpa's house


Ethan? That you? Did anyone else have the Dorothy Hammill haircut or was it just me?


My seventh birthday, celebrated in Rome-Funny for me to look at this picture of me turning 7 while my baby is getting ready to turn 7.

Every Christmas my family and I would take a road trip 24 hours north to Rome, New York where my grandparents live. (See June 2007's post about our most recent road trip to Rome...) My birthday was usually celebrated while we were visiting them. So a number of my pictures in front of the cake were taken at my grandparents' kitchen table. Good times, good times.