More Party Pics

Finished cake pops on display with the crock pot of the most delicious chili I have made in a long time. I LOVE my new crock pot. I have never owned one and now that I do cooking around this house will never be the same. I already have plans for stew this week and many homemade soups and things as it gets colder. Comfort food, mmmmmmmm.

Autumn making the cupcake toppers to match the glass jars we decorated above. This is her 1st set of toppers all by herself! She even used her own paper and supplies.

Her cutie toppers on the cupcakes she and her friends decorated, so adorable... and they were delicious too!

Broomstick bread sticks to dunk in the chili and mini mummy dogs, the kids added mustard eyes after this photo was taken, they were scrumptious and totally cute.

I love this picture when Autumn got her hand stuck in the pumpkin they were carving for the contest. I thought I was going to have to cut her out! Her costume isn't really visible here, I will post pics of all the costumes after Halloween...

Remember this mess? I finally have the party photos edited, so here goes!




The cake balls that I rolled the night before cooled in the refrigerator overnight, on party day (about 2 hours before we were ready) I took them out and prepared some of the melting chocolate in the microwave. I dipped the lollipop sticks in the chocolate and then stuck them in the cake calls about 1/2 way, then put them back in the refrigerator to let that sit. The chocolate acts like glue to keep the cake balls firmly on the lollipop stick during the dunking process (I learned this the hard way after losing about 5 to the process).





When we cook and bake the counters get really messy, I tried (to no avail) to corral things in baskets during the process but eventually it all spilled out. I think I may have just given away the secret to my light and flaky pie crust (it's the box on top of the bread), hee hee.



The chopsticks work great for stirring the chocolate without loosing to much to the spoon. I used a small open bowl and used the chopsticks to fill in any areas that didn't cover by drizzling on top. I have seen a lot of tutorials on cake balls and let me tell you, it is HARD. They make it look easy, but they are lying to you. The mixture I made was no good, and doing this for the first time the day before the party was a bad idea. I know I will make more because they were freaking great, but I have learned a few things along the way:

1. Use an entire cake and an entire container of premade frosting. Don't try to use 1/2 a cake and guestimate the amount of frosting you need.

2. Make the balls 2 days before you need them, dip them the day before and store in a cool place.

3. Do not use candy melts, they suck. Use white chocolate and dye it with food coloring (NOT LIQUID FOOD COLORING, use Wilton's)

4. PATIENCE is your best friend, along with lots of coffee and a lack of 2 year olds running amok.

Here is the early stages of the outdoor area, we decided that with the wind and snow that the outdoor area was not going to work about half way through the day. Yes, you heard right we had snow... just a flurry mind you but it was enough to be freezing outside. We ended up moving the outdoor activities to the garage, and the eating and games inside to the dining room and kitchen.

Still he tombstones were so cute and only $1.00 at the store! Can't beat a spooky bargain :)

Hurray for Friday on Thursday! We have a busy, busy day tomorrow so I took the day off work. Long weekends are the best. Autumn has planned a Halloween party for tomorrow night, although she invited more than 20 people I think the busy season combined with ALMOST snow weather has dwindled the brave partiers down to manageable number (hopefully around 10). In preparation for this grand event we have done a lot of planning, but the bulk of the work will be done tomorrow. Here's the schedule right now (subject to change at any second):




Wake up around 7ish


Go to get coffee


Pick up the pop tent (10 x 10 tent we are borrowing for the event)


Pick up mexicorn and hamburger for the chili


go home and start the chili in the crock pot


set up tent


*go to Dr office for both kid's flu shots at 11 sharp!


Go home, pick up more coffee


Nap for Lili


Autumn out to decorate the yard, set up the luminaries and other spooky things


Decorate these puppies:
Those are the beginnings of Cake Pops if you couldn't tell. Yes it's after midnight, yes I am the crazy mom who bakes cake after her kids go to sleep at 10 pm and then wait for it to cool so I can create a ton of cake balls because they have to refrigerate for the night before they can be decorated. I know, it's nuts, especially when the schedule starts at 7... but someday, when my kids are 30ish they may actually appreciate all the hard work I put into making everything awesome for their special days.
After the cake balls are decorated (yes I will remember to take pictures for you :) the day is pretty much open, maybe I will take a nap too! I LOVE naps. I do have to check my work email and I have a few swaps to get out, check the snail mail and of course laundry, dishes and grocery shopping, but I can usually get all that into about an hour if I'm careful.
I got this beauty from Autumn today, I love pottery, and I love it when she gets to make things that we can actually use. This little bud vase she made is so cute and the colors and textures make me think of the sea. Perfect in the gloom of winter, which is quick approaching. There was snow on the hill at work today and I have a feeling we will be getting it in the valley any day. Hurray for skiing, snowboarding, snowmen and ice skating! Poo to shoveling the driveway :(