Turkey cookie treat

At my last MOPS meeting, someone in my group brought a sweet treat for us to enjoy:

So cute, huh? The turkey's body is a chocolate-covered cherry--yum! It was a nice surprise. Everything was "glued" together with chocolate frosting. The girls loved eating theirs up as I was able to bring a few of them home with me.

Just another cute idea to remember for next year.....

Edible Indian Corn

Here's a yummy treat that I made for A's class right before Thanksgiving break. I found this idea on Family Fun and I could not wait to try it out! This edible Indian corn looks hard to put together, but it really is not. I did the majority of the work and then A helped me put on the green fruit leather at the end.

These treats were a huge hit with her teacher and classmates.

So, here's the recipe for ya if you want to give them a try. I'm sure you can make some interesting shapes, perhaps stars for the Christmas season. :)

Edible Indian Corn

Makes 15 treats

4 tablespoons butter

4 cups mini marshmallows

5 cups puffed corn cereal (KIX)

1-1/3 cups diced dried fruit

popsicle sticks

fruit leather

In a large pot, melt butter and mini marshmallows over low heat (about 5 minutes). Remove the mixture from the stove and use a wooden spoon to stir in puffed corn cereal and diced dried fruit. Allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes. Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of the mixture around a popsicle stick. Add fruit leather husks to the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed.

The Thankful Tree

We started a new tradition in our house this year for the Thanksgiving season. We have a thankful tree on our dining room wall. It is not complete yet, but hope to have more thankful hands on it before the month is over.

I used brown packaging paper to make the tree and wrote "The Thankful Tree" on it as well as First Thessalonians 5:18 ("In everything give thanks....). Then, on most days after lunch we trace one of our hands and write something we're thankful for. It's been an encouragement to me in so many ways. I have been delighted to see A get so into it. In fact, she has written a few of them herself. My heart smiled after I asked her what one of them said. She said, "I'm thankful for you, Theo." :)

What traditions do you have for Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear about them!:)

Lovin' my pumpkins!

Happy Fall, everyone! I hope you are enjoying the sights and scents of the season. There have been days when I look outside and see that fall is in full swing. But, there have been days that feel like summer and a few days where we've seen a white Christmas! It's kind of strange, but that's Colorado for ya!

If you were to come into my home, you'd see lots of pumpkins in many forms--some ceramic, some fabric, and a few that are the real thing. Here are a few of my favorites, including an easy craft idea:

I made this fabric pumpkin at one of my M.O.P.S. meetings. It's adorable and sooo easy to put together. I think A and I will make some of these for our Thanksgiving potluck at church (and perhaps use them for our Thanksgiving celebration with family). All you do is take a fabric quarter (found in quilting section at the craft store) and place it right side down on a table. Take a toilet paper tube and place it standing up in the center of the fabric as you put three plastic grocery sacks around it forming your pumpkin. Take the corners and edges of your fabric and push it into the tube. Use a small piece of a paper lunch sack and twist it to make a stem. Then, curl green pipe cleaners (two are recommended; I lost one of mine!) and stick them next to the stem. Now you have the cutest little pumpkin to decorate--and take apart later if you'd like for easy storage.:)

A can't wait to roast pumpkin seeds this year! I'm going to teach her how to scrape out the seeds and cook the pumpkin meat. Perhaps we'll even make that pumpkin pie that Q has been hinting about!

Do any of you have a wall flower from Bath and Body Works? I love their scents and right now, I have creamy pumpkin. It has been one of my favorites! You've got to try these if you haven't yet.:)

What's your favorite thing about fall these days?