All Treats

What do you call a skeleton who won't work?
Lazy bones!

What is a witch's favorite subject in school?
Spelling.

What is a mummy's favorite genre of music?
"Wrap" music, of course.

Do you know why we didn't have any candy leftover at our house at the end of the night?
Everyone who came to our house was a goblin... Duh!

Had enough tricks? On to the treats:

 I purchased spooky caramel apples for my Smithlings. It turned out that the coating wasn't really caramel, as advertised; it was more of a white chocolate. Cute, nonetheless.

Our sweet neighbor girlie turned 11 on the 31st. After school, I invited her over. We gave her a gift bag filled with 11 gifts for an eleven-year-old. She loved it! I just hope that she never gets too old to hop over the backyard fence to come for a visit.

Our "Heros in a half-shell" neighbors were our first front door visitors. 

Donatello and Leonardo display their adorable turtle power!

Geek alert!!!! My daughter is a nerd.

The two friends she went out trick-or-treating with were also nerds. 
Best of all, they didn't coordinate being white and nerdy. 
It just happened. Naturally.

They were adorable nerds.

I'm beginning to think that our grown-up neighbors have as much fun dressing up as the little ones do. Maybe even MORE fun?! Love it!

We had a fire in the front courtyard, which was reminiscent of our California cul-de-sac firepit gatherings. Sigh!

Yes, the black-eyed Ps came for a visit. No autographs, please.

It's a proven fact that two, two-year-old "Ariels" are more fun than one.
These two look very tired. My camera was also getting tired by the end of the night, as my images are a bit out of focus. Oh, well!

I didn't "document" all of all of our trick-or-treaters by taking pictures of them, but I am guessing that we had well over thirty visitors. I handed out over 35 full-sized candy bars, 18 Capri Suns, a dozen Play-Doh containers, and a few other treats. The real treat was getting to visit with our spooktacular neighbors! Boo.

That Face!

When #3 Smithling was much younger, she would rarely smile for the camera. We have countless "pouty face" portraits. This is one of my favorite shots, as it tells the story quite well. I spy a little bit of 'tude peeking through that seemingly expressionless face. Despite being a happy-go-lucky kiddo, something about going to a portrait studio brought out a very solemn attitude in this little girl -- without fail.

Now that Millie Girl is all grown up, she smiles all the time.

This weekend brought yet another opportunity to take pictures. Heck, in our family, EVERY day is a reason to take pictures! (Okay, so I enjoy using my camera.) No, we did not venture to a portrait studio.

On Saturday night, Keller High School's homecoming week ended with a semi-formal dance at a nearby hotel ballroom, so naturally I wanted to take photos of my girlie.

After Millie was all ready for her first high school dance, I made her pose for me with "that face" that she used to make. She knew EXACTLY which one I meant, too.

She's still got it.

After that request was satisfied, I let her turn the smile on.

We stopped and picked up one friend.

 We added one more...

 ...and yet another.

These lovelies are all dressed up with someplace to go!

Texification or MUMmification?

Ahhh, behold the homecoming mum, Texas style.

Tradition in the Lone Star State dictates that high school students wear elaborate, floral/ribbon creations for homecoming. This "corsage" is no shrinking violet. Remember, we're in Texas. These mums are usually bigger than a dinner plate and are covered in one or more artificial chrysanthemum flowers, lots of ribbons (that reach the floor), noisemakers, and stuffed animals. Homecoming mums are worn around the neck and can weigh several pounds.

Native Texans have told me that this trend toward bigger and "better?" mums started sometime in the 1980s. Up until then, a homecoming mum was made up of a real chrysanthemum flower with a few ribbons surrounding it; nothing out of the ordinary. Modest. Tasteful. Understated. Times have changed, the corsages have grown, and mums have morphed into (sometimes tacky looking) monstrosities. 

In this photo from the early to mid 80s, the trend for "bigger and better" was well underway.

A basic, no frills mum now starts at about $45. These pre-made corsages can be purchased at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or at almost any (believe it, or not) grocery store. There are florists and specialty homecoming mum shops that make mums. Some of the groups/clubs at the local high schools also make and sell mums as a fundraiser. And then there are the die-hard DIYers, like me!

My newly found mum designing friend, Angie, has been in the business for 23 years, and she said that she has seen it all. Her business is only open twelve weeks out of the year. She employs twenty mum artists, who build homecoming mums for girls and garters for guys. FYI, a garter looks pretty much like a mum, just on a smaller scale. Guys wear their garter on their upper arm.

It used to be that freshman could only wear a corsage with one flower, sophomores had two, and so on. That tradition no longer holds. Teddy bears are the stuffed animal of choice; however, it is becoming acceptable to use other animals. The only rule that I was told that I had to follow was to stick to the school colors during the first three years of high school. Simple enough. Seniors are the only ones who can deviate from the school color theme. Seniors get to have white corsages with either gold or silver accents. They are also allowed to add splashes of whatever other colors they want.

I told Angie that I wielded a pretty mean hot glue gun, and she assured me that I would have no trouble creating something unique for my daughter. She even started me out with a basic heart-shaped arrangement of mums and ribbons. I purchased a few interesting decorative ribbons and trinkets at her shop, then I visited Hobby Lobby, where I found more ornaments and ribbons to add to the mum. I even got 40-50% off my purchases. Yay!

One floral designer told me that she has had more than one client willing to pay $600+ for a one-of-a-kind custom creation. Real flowers have long since been replaced with silk flowers. White chrysanthemums are the most commonly used flower, but anything goes. The silk flowers are glued onto a cardboard plate with ribbon, streamers, trinkets, and stuffed animals attached. Some folks go all out with LED lights, moving parts, and sound. Creativity and individuality reign.

So, it's homecoming week at Keller High. 

Our girlie was not too sure about whether or not she would even want a mum... I decided that I didn't want our daughter to be the odd one out, so I made her a "corsage" to wear to school today. She will also wear it to the football game tonight. 

With the presentation of this more modest Texas-style mum from her mum and dad, our transplanted Cali gal now looks like a Texan.

Texification complete.

No, this one will ALWAYS be a California girl.

We stopped by Makenna's house on the way to school. I simply had to take a picture, or two, of these two friends dressed in their homecoming finery. Does this make them mum chums or chummy mummies or mummy chummies? Or perhaps they're just buds...

Let's go, Keller Indians!

Lots o' Reasons to Smile

Here's a download dump of unrelated images for the months of September and October. What's the one thing these pics have in common? They all make me smile. 

Snuggly kitty-boys and a terrific teenaged daughter (almost!) always bring a smile to my face. 

 How 'bout a little friendly competition?

September provided a bountiful harvest of visitors and veggies.

 Take homegrown goodness -- from Washington and Texas gardens,

 add homemade pappardelle (Perniconi style) noodles...

 ...and what do you get? A bowl full of yum and yet another reason to smile.

We were sorry to see our September visitors leave, but they left some fresh Italian noodles in our freezer. And they'll be back in November! More smiles.

We had never tried pitaya until a few days ago. I had never even heard of it before. There are so many exotic and unique fruits and veggies to try, but the problem is knowing how to serve or prepare them. Hooray for Google! This one was easy: slice and eat. Pitaya (or dragonfruit) reminded me of kiwi fruit (similar texture), yet it tastes different. We will definitely buy this one again.

 Prov 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently)."

After 20+ years, I had to tosseth the rod in the trash. The spatula head had gotten all gummy and sticky. Mr. Smith and I purchased this monstrous tool at a kitchen shop in downtown Spokane, when our son was a tiny baby boy. We had been out on a date to eat dinner at Clinkerdagger, and we did a little shopping in The Flour Mill before going home. They used to have a really neat kitchen store there. I think I've always felt a little guilty about this purchase. Oh, well!  Although we love kitchen gadgets, this spatula was never once used in the kitchen. Nor was it used all that much for chastising our young'uns. It was more of a visual aid. And it worked quite well. 

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about... and then you take a picture. 

Wait! Those are not the right lyrics.

We three Smith girls had to snap a shot of us wearing our Scandalous Designs sandals. Texas-style Swarovski bling makes for happy feet.

Yay!!! Fall color is starting to be seen in my backyard, and that makes me smile!

This makes me smile, too. Thanksgiving must be just around the corner. There appears to be a gigantic turkey hovering over the Lone Star State.

I do not quite know what to say about this. Again, I am smiling. No! I am laughing; out loud, even.

I had never seen anything like this before -- until we moved to Texas. I made my husband stop the car so I could take this photo. I do hope that the owners of this beaut didn't mind, but I just HAD to. (There are oh, so many possibilities for captions for this image. Any suggestions?)

Millie is going to be needing a set of wheels next year. Hmmmm...

This Girl's Got Wheel Power!

My youngest just got her hands on her learner's permit! Training wheels?

I'm likely going to be taken for a ride. In Texas, student drivers can get behind the wheel (when accompanied by a licensed driver aged 21 or older) as soon as they turn 15, provided that they have successfully completed the classroom portion of driver's education. Millie and her friend Mak were enrolled in a driver's ed program this summer. They passed with flying colors. The fifteenth b-day recently occurred, so now the behind-the-wheel segment of learning to drive can officially commence. We're ready to roll. YIKES!!!!!!

I'll be keeping my sense of humor about me as we navigate the backroads/streets/freeways/toll roads of the DFW Metroplex. Learning to drive here is akin to baptism by fire. You get tossed in and hope you survive. 

I'm sure I'll throw some bad puns in the direction of my student driver to keep things light. I'll probably tell her stuff like, "I couldn't figure out how to fasten my seatbelt. Then it clicked." Or I'll remind her that driving on too many turnpikes can really take its toll...

I'm ready.

Let's do this!