Halloween!

The kids had a blast with Halloween this year! They were definitely old enough to "get it". They loved looking at all the Halloween decorations in people's yards, making their own Halloween crafts, and dressing up. And of course, they loved the CANDY. Last year, we took them trick-or-treating, but they didn't really care about the candy. This year was another story! They loved getting candy, with lollipop's being the favorite. We practiced saying "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank You" all week and they were so proud of themselves when they did it right. Last year Riley and Kaiya did not want to go along with any theme, but this year they wanted the quints to dress like them. The little girls were already planning on being fairies, since my mother-in-law made them cute skirts and shirts for the birthday and all I had to get to complete the outfit was wings wands. Kaiya had no problem going along with that idea. Riley wanted to be a ninja and talked Rustin and Ryder into wanting that too. They were hilarious doing their ninja moves.

Ryder, Riley and Rustin doing their "ninja" moves. It is amazing how much different Rustin looks when you cover up his red hair!

Kaydence, Kassidy and Kyndall---the little fairy princesses

Princess Fairy Kaiya

Ninja Riley

National Instruments, the company that Jayson works for, held a big family Halloween event. The kids loved playing the games and doing the crafts. This is the group shot with the photo background they had set up.

Doing crafts at the NI Halloween event----I thought it was funny that all the quints (with the exception of Kassidy) are all coloring with "their" color of crayon. This is so typical---I think I have branded them for life with these colors. When I asked Rustin what kind of candy he was going to get trick-or-treating, he quickly replied "blue ones!"

Halloween morning I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. The kids were so confused----they kept telling me that the pancakes did NOT look like pumpkins. I had to explain that the pumpkin was IN the pancakes.

With all the confusion at breakfast, I tried to make lunch a little more visually Halloween---we had mini mummy dogs and jack-o-lantern apple slices.

Kaiya, Riley, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall and Kaydence....we did all our "Trick-or-Treating" this year at our church "Trunk-or-Treat" on Friday night. I was so excited to find pumpkin pails in all the quint's colors (except Kaydence who had to use orange, which isn't too far from yellow). Riley and Kaiya opted to carry pillowcases instead because they hold more :-)

It was so entertaining to watch the kids---their little personalities really came out. Kaydence was always lagging behind the rest, Kassidy always remembered to say "thank you" (and then made sure to tell me that she said it), Rustin ran from trunk to trunk and was super excited every time he got something, Ryder wanted to finely examine each piece of candy before he would put it in his bucket, and Kyndall was her usual sneaky self. When we got back to the car at the end of the night, Kyndall's bucket was fuller than all the other kids buckets, even though we went to the same number of trunks. While we were out, I noticed a few times that Kyndall would wait until the person handing out the treats was busy putting candy in someone elses bucket, then she would sneak her hand into the bowl and grab an extra handful for herself!

Halloween!

Pumpkin Perfection

Pumpkin Pancakes

With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, I thought I would share some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 T sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs--separated
1/4 cup melted butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine milk, egg yolks, vanilla, butter and pumpkin puree. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour onto hot, oiled griddle about 1/3 cup at a time. Cook until tops bubble and turn and cook other side. (Note: sometimes I don't bother to separate the eggs and the pancakes still turn out great!)

These taste great with syrup, but my kids favorite way to eat them is to sprinkle mini chocolate chips on the warm pancakes, let them melt a little bit and then top with a dollop of whip cream. YUM!


Pumpkin Dump
(It tastes better than the name sounds, I promise! It is kind of like a pumpkin cobbler.)

1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves)
1/2 tsp salt1 pkg cake mix (I like vanilla, but the original recipe calls for yellow or spice)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices. Stir in the milk, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Sprinkle cake mix over the pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle on the pecans. Drizzle melted butter over all. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool.

4. Serve with whip cream, refrigerate leftovers.

I have found that when I drizzle the butter, I sometimes get areas of dry cake mix in the end result, so what I do is take the butter (cold) and slice it thinly and cover the cake mix with the thin slices. It takes a little longer, but I think it is worth it.


Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
(OK, so technically this isn't a pumpkin recipe, but it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, so I am including it anyway)

1 40 oz can sweet potatoes
¼ cup orange juice
¾ cup all –purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place sweet potatoes in a 8x8 inch shallow baking dish and pour orange juice over.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt; mix well and then cut in margarine. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with marshmallows and broil until browned.

Even people who are not sweet potato fans love this recipe (how could they not---let's face it, by the time you add all the extra stuff on top, they can hardly be considered a vegetable!) If you have extra time, I think it tastes better to use "real" sweet potatoes rather than canned. Just peel and slice 2.5 lbs of sweet potatoes, then boil until soft.


Pentuplet Pumpkin Patch Pictures
(Yes, I know there is no such word as "pentuplet", but "quintuplet" doesn't start with a "P")

5 adorable 2-year olds
1 pumpkin patch
1 digital camera
2 adults who are willing to embarrass themselves, if necessary, to get a good shot

Kassidy, Rustin, Kyndall, Ryder and Kaydence. This is the "October" picture for the new 2010 Wilkinson Quints Calendar. To see more pictures from the calendar, or to order your own copy, use the PayPal link on the right, or click HERE.

Pumpkin Perfection