Boo!Bash

We are in the process of planning our first, hopefully annual, Boo!Bash fall festival type party. It will be held the Saturday before Halloween, in our back yard.

We are asking each family to bring their favorite fall dessert. I am making a pumpkin ooey gooey cake, a tray of brownie bites, a yellow sheet cake with chocolate icing, and an apple cobbler. I am sure we'll have a wonderful assortment of cookies, cakes, pies and cobblers, not to mention quick breads and muffins.

Drinks will include warm apple cider, cold lemon cider (a great mixture of apple juice, lemonade and ice. I slice up apples and lemons and add fresh mint from my herb garden to garnish. It's so good!), punch, iced tea and coffee with assorted stir ins. The coffee bar will include favored creamers, coffee syrups and toppings, such as cinnamon and nutmeg.

Games will be carnival type games that the kids can enjoy-bobbing for apples, clothespin drop (drop a clothespin from shoulder height into a quart canning jar sitting on the ground), horseshoes, and sack races.

Other activities will be pumpkin painting and/or carving and, the highlight of the evening-a costume contest for all ages. We'll have little goblins (under 12); teenage weirwolves (13-18); groan-ups (over 18) and mummies and daddies (couple costumes, although the wearers don't have to be "a couple"-the costume needs to be a couple)! Prizes will be awarded in each category.

I plan to decorate with mums, ferns, haybales and lots of pumpkins! Let's hope the weather cooperates!

It's Fall, ya'll!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I imagine that's because I'm a fall baby--and a fall bride! Both my wedding anniversary and my birthday are in October. I have always loved the rich, vivid colors of fall. It still amazes me that the same leaves that were tiny little green nubs in March are the gorgeous red, yellow, orange and even purple of the fall. God is amazing! He is the best artist I know!

I love to have parties in the fall. I've always longed for a place to have a wonderful fall party. We are giving it a shot this year! We'll be hosting a fall/Halloween carnival type party the last Saturday in October. I'll provide more details on this in another entry.

It always seems like fall goes way too fast. Here in Arkansas, fall is usually slow to come, brilliant while it's here, then quickly gone. It stays hot well into September, sometimes even in October it's too warm to wear those great fall fashions! Then, it seems like it's great football weather-cool, crisp nights, when you need to wear a jacket to the hometown football game. The leaves take on the glorious colors, the sky is that impossibly blue color that you only see in fall, and then-BAM-a big windstorm comes through and all the leaves are gone, the trees are bare and it's winter! Seasons in Arkansas seem to rarely consult the calender about when they should appear-they just do!

Think about what you like best about fall. Is it the gorgeous colors, the wonderful smells of pumpkin, cinnamon, apple, and woodsmoke, or the cooler weather and fall activities. The pumpkin patch and apple orchard are fun fall destinations. So is the local hometown high school football games, especially homecoming. It doesn't matter that you don't know anyone playing on the field, in the band or cheering on the sidelines. It's about hometown pride, school spirit and getting outside in the crisp fall air! Get out and enjoy the season...it'll be gone way too soon!

Welcome to the Holiday Hamlet!

Hey, everyone! I am glad you found your way here to the brand new Holiday Hamlet!!

Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the holidays-any and all holidays!
This is a spot to meet and discuss the wonderful plans, menus, thoughts and ideas that go along with all holiday planning.

Please feel free to join in the discussion.