What the . . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

A Smile of Sorts

The Captain and His Bride

By the Light of Day - Part 1

By the Light of Day - Part 2

By the Light of Day - Part 3

The Last One

I ate the last piece of Halloween Candy.

Boo.....Halloween is officially over at my house, ...........................or is it?

The Toadies

We went to see the Toadies tonight at the House of Blues with my Brother, and it totally rocked! Here are a couple crappy cell phone pictures of the show. If you've never heard of the Toadies you should really do yourself a favor and check them out!

Do Dinosaurs Have Lunch Breaks?

Yes they do!

Working near Jurassic Park proves to not be all it's cracked up to be for my co-worker John.

Kobra Kai

The Kobra Kai (The bad guys from the other Dojo) in the movie Karate Kid had some cool skeleton costumes.


Found this awesome picture of a crew that all dressed as the Kobra Kai for Halloween.


I couldn't find the original source for either photo.

Look Who I Meet at Work Today

Jack the Kangaroo

Edward the Goat


Sorry about the blurry photos, the light was poor and they’re off of a friend’s phone. They are both from Wisconsin and they’re the best of friends. Their owners brought them to Florida and they’re staying in our Kennel at Universal Orlando.

Don't You Just Love a Good Ol' Skeleton Costume?

I do!

A Cute Carver

The blog wasn't feeling very Halloweenish today, until now.

Fun Hat Sunday

Dog Mullet

Byrdie sporting her new .49 cent Mullet from Target.

Went to a real Laua/Sweet 16 party

Had a great time, once we got there!

Watch out the ceiling is low in here!

Caramel Popcorn Balls (Revisited)

They were yummy!

STS-126 Endeavour (Last night time launch)

Here is a very short video of the space shuttle Endeavour blasting through the night sky, shot from my front yard. You'll see a street light, the shuttle is the moving light to the right of the street light. Kennedy Space Center is about 75 miles away from my house, "as the crow flies". Not the greatest video because it was so cloudy, but it is the last planned nightime shuttle launch. Yeah, actually this video sucks but here it is anyway.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am so making these this weekend!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips



Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. You could also simply use a 1/4-cup measuring cup if you don’t have a scoop. Use a thin metal spatula to smooth and flatten the rounds.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Caramel Popcorn Balls

I got this recipe from vibhandaka over at the Zombie Pumpkins forums. We made a batch Halloween weekend and they turned out delicious.

Caramel Popcorn Balls

5 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups un-popped popcorn OR
3 bags of Natural Microwave Popcorn
1/4 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a 4 quart saucepan, and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove pan from heat. Place popped corn in oven safe container in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all corn has been popped. Set aside. OR Microwave your popcorn, place in oven to keep warm.

2) In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer inserted, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Stir well and bring to boiling over medium heat. Stir in condensed milk; simmer, stirring constantly, until thermometer reads 238 degrees F (114 degrees C). Stir in vanilla.

3) Pour caramel over popped corn and stir to coat. Butter hands lightly; shape popcorn into balls about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Work quickly but be careful because it is very hot at first.

Enjoy!

Cloaked Ghost

Over at the Grim Hollow blog, Grim has posted a simple step by step for creating these wonderfully creepy cloaked ghosts. I know I plan on making one for my yard next year. Kudos to Pumpkin Rot and Grim for these awesome props.

Image source

The Hollowmen

Over at Pumpkinrot.com, Rot has posted the pictures from this years haunt . . .
The Hollowmen

Amazing stuff!
Image source

I build my stuff because

I build my stuff for me.
I build my stuff because I love Halloween.
I build my stuff because I love horror movies and anything scary.
I build my stuff because I want to impress my online Halloween peers.
I build my stuff because I’ll probably never get around to writing that amazing horror movie I’ve always wanted to.
I build my stuff because most people frown on grown men trick r’ treating!
I build my stuff because I want to help create someone else’s fond memories of Halloween.

I build my stuff because . . . . .

"Home Is Where the Haunt Is"

Congratulations to Renee's Haunted Barn!


Click here to see a video of the winner's haunt,
and some of the other entries.

Is This Thing On?

WTF?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?

I Voted!

Did you?

Halloween 2008 - Voodoo (Rise Again)

Day of the Dead

The celebration is coming to an end. Winter is here. I love this picture.

Sugar Skull Tutorial

Cool blog with a awesome tutorial for making Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) sugar skulls. I want to try this really bad! The link is in the title above the picture.

Dia De Los Muertos

Just a few Dia De Los Muertos images that I had floating around on my hard drive.

For Marvin and Greg
RIP

Another Halloween

We had a good mellow evening, only 21 kids. Only 364 days till next Halloween.