Melarky

With the 10 minutes I have left on Halloween I’ll make a post about this cool paper skull Mark found. We meant to try it out and show you how it turned out…but I didn’t get to it. I also didn’t get to carving our pumpkins, or dressing up for Halloween.

Click here to for the Neat Paper Skull. This looks pretty cool and I still want to try it. You just print out, cut out and follow the instructions to glue the skull together.

It was really fun to make a Halloween post everday this October but it got hard towards the end there to come up with stuff. I hope you all had a great Halloween. Ours was super busy and we just got home a bit ago…so I’ll have to write about it later.

	Poor Pumpkin Use a heavy clear trash bag. Fill with water and tie with string. You can use rocks in the bottom to make sure it stands up. Make sure and clean off all dirt and pumpkin guts first. You can also add some red food dye for an even more disturbing effect.
	Using Road Flares Go to the hardware or auto parts store and get some road flares.A road flare is 15 minutes worth of very, very cool light for your pumpkin.
	Sick Pumpkin This one makes use of the guts of the pumpkin. It looks like this pumpkin has had too much candy.

We finally got some pumpkins last night, I’ll carve them tonight just in time for Halloween.

Attention! There may be Zombies in your area!

My sister Carrie let me know that there are “Zombie Walks” taking place all over the United States and all over the world.

A zombie walk (also known as a zombie mob, zombie march or zombie lurch) is an organized public gathering of two or more people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls in a somewhat orderly fashion and often limping their way towards a local cemetery or other public space.

They really are all over, with places like Washington D.C., Idaho, California, Ohio, Oregon…..etc. There were tons of States on the list as well as Canada and some parts of the world. I’m sure there is one in Utah, but I didn’t see it right away. Click here for the complete list of places, times and dates.

As you can see I’m running out of Halloween things to post about…but luckily Halloween is almost here!

This is (from left to right) Me and my sisters Barbara and Carrie. This was Halloween at the Farmer household in either 1990 or 1991. We figured Carrie got her hair cut in 1991, but then my Mom mentioned that Barbara was missing her front teeth and that would have happened in 1990 when she was in first grade. So either one of those.

This was taken in front of our apartment in Farmington Utah. This was the second time we had lived in Farmington. We were in the apartment for about three years I figure…because I started 3rd Grade in Farmington Elementary and then we moved after my 5th grade year.

My favorite part of this picture is my rolled down black socks with my white tennis shoes.

Here is a site with tons of Halloween recipes….a few of the recipes you’d find are; Black Cat Cookies, Baked Brains, Carmel Apple Wedges, Quick Sand, and Terrifying Tamale Pie….

Readers Digest has a list of the Top 20 Family Friendly Scary Halloween Movies Mark and I were watching Beetlejuice the other day on TV and were wondering if Olivia would watch that.

Need some ideas for party games: here is a link for Halloween Party Games like Pin the Wart on the Witch, Mummy Wrap, Guess the Gross Food, and a Halloween Scavenger Hunt.

www.frightcatalog.com is dedicated to Halloween Props, decorations, and hard to find Halloween products. This is the same site that had the Torture Chamber guy I posted a while back.

Thanks for the picture Troy…! Its a great one of Carrie. Where’s my creepy zombie Halloween picture?? And Happy Blogging Anniversary Troy! Endless Ambush has been around for a year!

Whether your LDS or not, this Food Storage Calculator is a great resource to help you figure out how much food to store for your family.

Reminder: Don’t store foods that your family wont eat. Ie: If your family hates Lima Beans, dont store them!

I think Mark and I have taken it to an extreme with our stored Ding Dongs, Swiss Rolls, and Oatmeal Cakes! Hey they were on sale! I’m just hoping that if were in a disaster type situation we can trade our sweets for some real food.

Sometimes obtaining a food storages seems overwhelming but start with a Three-month-storage. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Web site said this, “Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage.”

You can make this cake by scratch or use a boxed cake, either way it will be a great spooky treat for the kids!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs

FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DECORATIONS:
18 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
Green and brown decorator’s icing or gel
9 cream-filled oval vanilla sandwich cookies
1 cup whipped topping
Pumpkin candies and gummy worms
Use any other spooky treats you wish to use.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a saucepan, combine butter, water and cocoa; bring to a boil over medium heat. Add to flour mixture; beat well. Beat in sour cream and eggs. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, milk and cocoa; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Pour over warm cake. Crumble chocolate cookies; sprinkle over frosting while still warm. Cool completely. For tombstone, use icing to decorate vanilla cookies with words or faces; place on cake. For ghosts, make mounds of whipped topping; use icing to add eyes and mouths as desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, add pumpkins and gummy worms if desired. Yield: 16 servings.

Other ideas for Spooky Treats:
Homemade pizza with the toppings arranged like a spooky face.
Heidi’s Sloppy Jacks
Heather’s Easy Pumpkin Cake
Gross Thorax Cake
Hershey’s Halloween Recipes

These are some pretty creepy contacts. You can order black, lizard, zombie, white, flame and many other colors and styles of contacts.

They will run you about $100 to $500 dollars. And its an extra $15 dollars to get prescription contacts. I wonder if its hard to see through those black ones? I bet they’re pretty uncomfortable to wear too.

I figure they could be good for a Halloween costume, If you wanted to spend that much on an accessories.

Two years ago I carved the Mario pumpkin. It took forever but it was worth it.

I don’t know what I’ll carve this year, but probably not a Mario. Any suggestions? Maybe I’ll carve it! What did you or are you going to carve on your pumpkin? Make sure and take a picture of your pumpkin!

This isn’t a pumpkin carving idea but I saw a good idea somewhere for what to do with a large pumpkin…cut a good portion of the top off…and scrape all the seeds and yucky stuff out. Then fill the pumpkin with crushed ice and put your sodas in it for a party. It looked pretty fun.

Once for Heidi’s baby shower. Korby used a large pumpkin as a way to serve soup. It was a great idea!

Need some ideas??
www.extremepumpkins.com Pumpkin carving is reborn.
www.zombiepumpkins.com Pumpkin carving patterns.
www.instructables.com LED Jack-O’-Lantern
www.nationalgeographic.com Kids How-To

Carving Tips:
• Draw your design on the pumpkin with a water-based marker beforehand. Mistakes are erased easily with a damp sponge.
• To prolong the life of the jack-o’-lantern, seal in moisture by coating all cut surfaces with petroleum jelly or vegetable oil, or cover it with a damp towel when not on display.
• Consider giving smaller children stickers, tempera paint, or markers to decorate their own pumpkins.
• Reattach a section that is accidentally removed by using a toothpick to pin it back in place.
• For a shaded effect, don’t cut all the way through the pumpkin. Instead, make a shallow, angled cut then peel away the outer flesh with a knife tip, spoon or vegetable peeler.
• Scoop out seeds and stringy flesh with a large spoon or ice cream scooper.

I love my baby Wellington. I love how his little personality is coming through. I love waking up to his smiley face. He is such a goof.

He has such a sweet disposition. He loves to cuddle. He’s spoiled. He’s determined. He loves to do whatever his Daddy is doing. He’s a mama’s boy. He laughs whenever we say “no”.

Wellington is almost a year. I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. It seems like not too long ago I was still pregnant with him. Having him makes me want to learn more things, be a better wife, and to strengthen my testimony. I love being a Mom and Wellington definitely makes me a better person.