A Vampire and a Zombie

Happy Halloween.... however you may celebrate, there's no getting around the fun of this candy filled holiday! We got to experience what trick or treating is all about here in Bigfork and I have to say, it was so much fun.

The boys got decked out in their costumes and we drove down to the village where all the shops are up and down the main little drag.

All the kids in town gathered and traveled up and down the street collecting candy from the local businesses. It was great and definitely the hot spot for the evening.

 

After about 45 minutes, the boys were loaded with a bag of loot and we headed home for pizza. Because we live off the beaten path, no trick or treaters made their way to our door. Lots of fun and a change from Halloween's in the past. I hope your Halloween was fun, a little scary and loaded with candy corn!

A Digital Crafty Creation

I mentioned the other day on my dashboard post that homework has been a little overwhelming. While that's true, I have to be honest.... I am loving every minute of it. Maybe I'm a freak, but I love the challenge of the homework in my graphics design classes. It's challenging and stressful, but because it's so relevant and not just junk I have to remember long enough to pass the final, it's fun too.
I will show my works as they progressively get better, but I wanted to pass on a fun little project I worked on for my Photoshop class. Our assignment was to create a desktop wallpaper and have it available for different size monitors and even the iphone. While I haven't received my grade yet, I feel good about the way my wallpaper turned out. What does all this mean to you? I am going to share it with you and if you like it, feel free to save it to your computer and enjoy it.


I put the month of November on there so a calendar would always be handy on your computer.  It's only for November, it won't change months, but maybe I'll have another to share by December.

If you'd like to save the wallpaper and use it, visit my google site and click on the size you want.  When it opens in a second window, just right click on it and save it as your background or desktop.  Easy peasy....

My dashboard says it all......

An Update and a Money Saver

Okay... so it's been a little while since I've posted.... here are a few of the things I've been up to, in no particular order...

• Corn harvest.... we had to pick, shuck and process all the corn in one day.... about 170 ears
• I turned 40
• Classes are crazy busy.... lots of projects to try to keep up with
• I got 10 new gray hairs
• Flew down for a weekend visit to Temecula and had a great time with my friends Teri and Suzy
• Laundry
• Suffering dissapointment with the news about remaking of the movie Footloose... some things just need to be left alone....
• Packing away my flip flops and capri pants
• Shopping for long underwear and snow boots
• Thinking about all the things I should be blogging about
• Getting ready for a visit from my friend Lauren

So, if you can imagine, I've been a little busy.  But I had a break in the action this afternoon so I thought I'd catch everyone up.  Actually, my break isn't long.... just long enough between loads of laundry, but I'm making the most of it.  Before the break, I was busy making sandwiches and I thought I'd share my strategy for saving time and money when it comes to lunches for school.

My boys love peanut butter sandwiches in their lunch box, whether they are made with honey or jelly, they love them.  They always ask for the Smuckers Uncrustables but it pains me to pay $5.00 for 10 little sandwiches, so I came up with an alternative.  Here's what I do:

Start with bargain bread.... either use a coupon or find a thrift store.  It just so happens I had a coupon for a free loaf of store brand wheat bread and was also able to pick up a loaf at the thrift store for .68 cents.  Each regular size loaf should make 10 sandwiches, more or less depending on the size of the loaf.

Spread half of the pieces with some peanut butter, then drizzle on honey (or spread jelly).

Top with the other piece of bread and squash it like a bug.  Then cut off the crusts and crimp the edges with a fork.

Put each sandwich in a ziploc baggy and then pack them all back in the loaf wrapper.  Since they are compacted, you should be able to get all 20 sandwiches into one wrapper.  Then put it in the freezer.  Each morning, just grab a sandwich for the lunchbox... it's thawed and ready to eat at lunch.

I figure each sandwich cost me .05 cents in peanut butter and nothing in honey and .03 cents in bread, so easily under 10 cents each.  It's a great deal and with about a half an hour on one Sunday to knock out 2 weeks worth of sandwiches for my boys, it's really a time and money saver!

This week I have some other good posts for you.... an update on the basement and some tummy-warming Fall recipes!