THE BAKE SALE IS OVER, THE BAKE SALE IS OVER...

Chant along with me...its over, its over! YAY!

Note our nifty signs...yet another great use of my cricut!

Now whatever will I do with nothing to occupy every hour of my week??? From the planning, to the buying, to the driving, to the baking, I am hoping to finally have some time to myself and my family.

I have so many people who stepped up that I need to thank....

First, let me start with my hubby! He is my rock, and if he didn't support all these little projects I get myself into, I would be in big trouble! He keeps the house running for me when all my time is monopolized...laundry, dishes, dinner, running the kids everywhere all the time...He can't always be involved as much as he would like cause of his shift work, but he always tries to help, and boy, do I love him for it!

Second, I have absolutely got to thank my sister in law, Jen! So often she is my partner in crime...she sat with us ALLLLLL day long....through the 34 degree temps of morning to the hot melting temps in the afternoon. She helped me organize the table, price things, not to mention she made a bunch of stuff. She is the greatest!

And on a sidenote, I have to thank my equally adorable niece, who is so totally awesome I can barely stand it. It was great catching up with her, and "seeing" her all day long, and I enjoyed our little word game...which I would randomly do right now, but I decided it might not be a great idea knowing some people that follow this blog ;-)

Third, I have to thank my cousin, Shannon. She gave me inspiration when I was floundering, printed pictures, lent me numerous things I couldn't find at my house at the last minute, baked a ton of stuff....and most importantly watched Allyson so I didn't have the worry of her running into the parking lot. Thanks so much for everything! You don't know how much Fred and I appreciated it!

I also have to thank all the people that donated baked goods... I was so overwhelmed by all the donations. We had so much support from everybody, it really took us by surprised! Fred and I felt so loved that so many people stepped up to help Collin...even Collin was amazed at people's generosity.

We had so many baked goods that we couldn't even fit it on the two tables we had set up! How awesome is that!

So here is a big thank you those mentioned below...I really appreciated everybody's help, and I would give you a big hug for it if you were here. :-)

My wonderful mom (one of my best friends) - Made two pies despite working way over 40 hours..much appreciated, mom! I know I can always count on you!

My Aunt Donna - who heard of my bake sale, and called me to volunteer her amazing pumpkin raisin walnut cookies. They totally sold out! Love you, and thanks for the help and support!

My Aunt Diane - who also called and offer after hearing from my grandmom about the bake sale. She showed up with blueberry muffins, and barely had a chance to visit with all the chaos of my day..but I will be catching up with her soon! Love you, and thanks so much for thinking of us!

My friend Holly, and her mom, Donna - You guys really blew me away! Holly, I can't thank you enough, and then having your mom help was icing on the cake! I have never met two nicer people!

Denise (Collin's Mom) - Thanks so much for making the cupcakes and molasses cookies - the molasses cookies were a huge hit! Also thanks for stopping by with the boys, we enjoyed seeing them in the costumes!

Collin's little brothers on his mom's side

My cousin Shannon - Thanks again for making everything from lollipops to cookies and cakes. I so appreciated it. Thanks for also keeping me sane and helping me organize my thoughts...you know my brain is a jumbled mess and you still bear with me. :-)

My sister in law, Jen and my awesome niece Cory - You guys rock! Thanks for hanging with me all day, and keeping us entertained! Also thanks for making all the rice crispie treats, cheesecake cupcakes, and running down stuff I forgot. I so appreciate it!

Collin got to hang with his girlfriend...they are both in robotics so we split the money between the two of them.

Having a bake sale on Halloween with a little one and a tween at home wanting to go trick or treating was a HUGE challenge. I had to do something I never do, be organized. Yes, you heard that right...I had to bite the bullet and try to organize the bake sale, and then the trick or treating or I would have never been able to pull it off. Costumes had to be put together in a bag the night before for easy dressing...no more running around looking for a shoe or a sock...we had to get it together, but we pulled it off...although we might sleep for the next week or two...cause I am sooo exhausted!

This is how our tables looked right before we packed up. We started about 9:30am and packed up about 4:15. As you can tell by the pictures, we did sell majority of our goods. Cookies, pies and cakes seemed to be the best sellers so we will keep that in mind for the future.

All told, we made a total of $218 so Collin and Sam split that towards their respective $800 fundraising goals. As of yesterday, Collin has about $500 towards his $800 goal through various donations and fundraising. We are definately getting closer...now we just have to figure out a good way to finish it up. So if anybody has any good, but easy fundraising ideas, let me know?!

Mischief Night 101

We create "mischief"....that is just what we do...we were born into it, and it is in our blood. Mischief is us and we are mischief.

So the night before Halloween, no matter how tired and exhausted we are.....we drag our lazy butts out into the cold and work our mischief magic.

Like many family traditions-pepsi addiction, sugar addiction, OCD- Mischief night is high on the list. When I was just a whipper snapper, my father taught me the ways, and now I have passed those teachings down to my children like a good mom should. I have so many fond memories of climbing silos hiding out, being chased by dogs, being whacked with a broom or being shot with the hose by my grandfather on mischief night! What a great childhood I had!

Have you ever walked down a country road on a fall night under the cover of darkness with your family? It is a great bonding experience, I assure you! Looking at the stars, then having people shine spotlights lighting your way...it's amazing!

Since Michael was little, I have faithfully taken him out for Mischief night. Great memories they are. We generally go to my grandparents house, my aunts house and my parents house.

My Aunt even called and asked if we were coming, she looks forward to having her yard trashed, just like we look forward to trashing it! Like I said before, I have the greatest family ever!

Michael getting the job done...

After we got the posse together, we started at my grandparents house. The little kids were so excited, screaming in delight...not exactly the covert mission we planned.

It wasn't long before the porch light came on, and my grandmom, standing in her nightgown, started yelling jokingly at the kids. She was joking, right? Well who knows, but she loves seeing the kids so she is fine with it...really.

The little kids, which included my nephew Colt, and my cousin's daughter, Kara, along with Allyson, had a great time running up to my grandmom and then running away. Colt kept running back to the adults saying excitedly, "grandmom says get out of here"...and then running back up to the door where my grandmom was to hear her say it again. He is so freaking adorable!

Ally and Kara were running and just giggling the whole time. Kara did tiolet paper, but Ally just had a good time laughing and giggling having no real idea what was going on. Thats my girl!

Allyson skipping away from Grandmom's door

Then we walked down to the other end of the street where my ornery Aunt Donna lives. She's the one I mentioned was calling to see if we were coming or not....like we would announce ourselves??? Geez, she must think we are amateurs! She had bought water balloons hoping to peg Michael this year. That didn't happen, but she did toilet paper us adults while the kids were trashing her yard.

Arriving at Aunt Donna's and Uncle Bruce's house...

Aunt Donna, what a face!?

Anybody ever think they'd see Collin as a "mummy"?

My nephew Colt being the mischief maker he was meant to be!

There's Michael writing messages on the glass to my Uncle who is on the other side of the door.

After that, we walked back to our cars at my grandmom's....okay some lucky ones did not have to walk...but I am not jealous...well..maybe...just a little.

After we got back to the vehicles, we drove to my parents house where we finished out the night.

What a great night! I love keeping family traditions alive, and my kids so enjoy having a night of mischief! Of course, when we got home someone had gotten our house, but it is all in fun!