All Treats, No Tricks

The stage was all set...

...but only a handful of neighbor kids rang our doorbell. 

Perhaps we have a reputation for being too scary. 

Or we're bad treaters.

Thankfully, there were no tricks.

Cat's-eye marbles were used for the orbs of this squash-cat.
Purr-fect carving, Liesey-Lou!

We only heard "ding-dong" seven times. It's quality, not quantity, right? It was certainly a treat to open the door and see these faces:

Preston/Buzz Lightyear

Alex and Amelia

Claire, Quinn, Gordon, and their parents

Katie and Millie

Maddey and 'Mima

I neglected to take pictures of the two other groups of masqueraders, but by the end of the evening, when we added up all of the smiling faces (including parents), we had a total of seventeen people at our door. Maybe next year we will make it to twenty. That might be setting expectations too high!

Avast, me hearties!  'Ere's one more picture of a lovely lass.  

Okay, so a landlubber like me doesn't really know pirate-speak, but I had to give it a try. (Perhaps a hearty yo-ho-ho would be appropriate here.) Millie's not the swashbucklin' type, any way. At least I don't think she is... Arrrrr!

Hoedown Lowdown

Yeee-ha! The Harvest Hoedown was a smashing success! And you'd better believe that I've got LOTS of photos and details to prove it.

Twenty-five adults and thirty-one "buckaroos" (ranging in age from 4 months to 19 years, and everything in between) were present at the neighborhood shindig. Four new families joined in on the fun. We are blessed to get to live next to so many nice folks.

Grilled tri-tip, brisket, pulled pork, and tube steaks were on the menu. The neighbors brought appetizers and side dishes to share. Our kitchen island was filled with just about every kind of food from salad to beans to hatch chili casserole to yummy potato casserole to a baked "grown-up version" of mac-n-cheese to this to that and the other. I am missing several other offerings, but you get the idea. There was no shortage of chow.

Here are some of the smiles I was able to capture:

Claire, Jacinda, and Quinn

Macias Family

Jennifer, Cooper, Jack, and Judy

Alex and her Mommy 

(Alex is holding the "Dandy Duds" Award that she won for donning the best western outfit.)

Harris Family

Misailov Four

Cecily and Jens

Katie, Millie, and Lexie

Andrea, Liesey, Judy, and Barb

Dean and Jack

Cooper and his parents, Russell and Jennifer

Lanier, Livvy, and Lauren

I love fall decorations, so I have to share some of the fall-ish items we used to prettify the Smith Haus.

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Thanks to timely order fulfillment from Oriental Trading Company, and speedy-quick delivery via USPS, the kids had projects/crafts to do. Millie assembled this adorable scarecrow as a demo model. We also had an Indian corn craft and coloring activities.

Easy as pie!

The 2nd Annual Pie Bake-off was highly anticipated, and competition was fierce, in a neighborly kind of way. Seven pies were entered into the contest. The flavors represented in this year's event were: apple, pumpkin, peanut butter, buttermilk, and chocolate cream.

The highly-esteemed (upper crust?) panel of judges tasted each entry, took notes, then tasted a second time. It's a crusty job, but somebody's gotta do it...

I captured Dave, a.k.a. the General and head pie-tasting judge, and the "other" Dave engaged in an important discussion. This judging stuff is serious business, so there was much deliberation, debate, discussion... and disposal of pie. A third tasting was required. The judges reportedly had a tough time deciding which pies were the best of the best, since all seven pies were tasty. 

Scores were tallied,

Alka-Seltzer administered,

and the results were revealed.

3rd Place: Lexie's Triple Chocolate Pie

Somehow I missed getting a photo of this sweet eleven-year-old with her prize. Lexie won 1st place last year, but had to settle for 3rd this year. She was thrilled with a top tier finish, especially since there had been a three-way tie for 3rd place that had to be resolved.

2nd Place: Liesey's Peanut Butter Pie

(Thank you, Southern Living Dessert Cookbook!)

1st Place: Barb's Apple/Cranberry Pie

After the winners were announced and prizes awarded, it was time for dessert. YUM!!! Obviously, I had lots of forks and napkins at hand -- or in hand. Thankfully, everyone had saved room for pie. 

At the risk of having an illustration on my blog that is deemed as being in poor taste, I am going to share a tee shirt graphic that made me chuckle. It seemed to fit the occasion. (Please refrain from sending me any snarky comments.)

The aftermath

I'm thinkin' pie for breakfast...

Phone Photos

I recently got a new phone, which prompted me to download all of the photos from my old phone to my Mac. It is always amusing to see what is on my phone gallery -- I will go for months without ever really looking to see what is lurking there. There is always something interesting, that's for sure.

The following photos tell what we have been up to. Perhaps this post will fill in some of the gaping holes that this fairly neglected blog seems to have.

August 27 -- We saw MercyMe in concert before the Texas Rangers ballgame.

We had fun at the game even if we were all the way up in the nosebleed section. And we were still smiling despite the loss to Anaheim. The Rangers have been really fun to follow this season, even for those of us who are not die-hard baseball fans.

Mr. Smith has been a St. Louis Cardinals fan for as long as he can remember. As a young boy, he would tune in his transistor radio past all the static to the to hear Jack Buck call the games. I need to add that he has long been in the "the-National-League-is-better-than-the-American-League" camp; however, after living in Texas, he now has a favorite AL team. I think that the Cards will always be his favorite favorite. Let's just say that it has been an interesting World Series. My husband is a tormented, conflicted fan. The upside is that despite what happens in Game 7 tonight, he will be happy, well... sort of.

Is this really photo-worthy? I'm not sure, but it made us laugh.

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed to Waco for a visit with Mitchell and the Houston Thompsons. This summer, we endured 71 days (thankfully, not consecutive) of temperatures at 100 degrees or hotter, so it was a pleasant surprise to finally have temps in the low 80s that weekend. Ahhhh!

In Waco, we visited Heritage Homestead and got to do some fun hands-on activities and crafts.

We got to meet Pretty. I think she is smiling for the camera.

Of course, no trip to Waco is complete without a visit to the Dr. Pepper Museum.

I'm a Pepper. He's a Pepper. She's a Pepper. We're a Pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?

There are several apps on my phone for taking and/or editing photos. 

The WeCam app is fun to play with, but Millie Girl looks kinda sad about it.

Pepper likes eating apples. What an unusual little beast!

Bartholomew found himself on the wrong side of the wine grotto door and could not figure out how to shoehorn his portly form through the bars. Isn't that a pathetic face?

It's apple butter season! We found a nearby orchard to buy apples from, but were puzzled by the box. Texas apples = California Tomatoes? We now have a pantry well-stocked with homemade apple butter and apple sauce. Maybe it's really Tomato Butter, and I am the one who is confused. Whatever the stuff is called, we should be set for a couple of years!

I get to see this face every night as I get ready for bed. Bart jumps up on my sink and loudly, yet politely, requests a drink from my faucet. Never mind that he has his own pet water fountain -- complete with filtered water. 

My kitty-boy is a dork. I am a dork, too, for taking this picture of him and adding it to my blog. 

So, all of the pictures are deleted from my old phone. The new phone has an even better camera so that should be put to good use. There will undoubtedly be more silly cat poses to capture. And who knows what else my new phone's camera will shoot?  We'll see...