• Fitness: Getting Jacked with Jack-O-Lanterns
  • Ask the Teacher: Is my child a tattle-tell?
  • Beauty: SPF that fights wrinkles!
  • Moms on 88.3 The Wind: Sunday Devotions

Life with Ladybug: Not-so-tricky treats for your Halloween party

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By Shannon Magsam

If you’ve been within earshot lately, you probably heard that I moved.

Not away. Just about 1/2 a mile from my old house of 14 years, actually. There was a bit of house drama (I’ll talk about that another day), but we’re finally here and settled. I still don’t have rugs down everywhere I want them, or pictures on all the walls (and the garage is still full of boxes), but still we thought: time for a little par-tay.

The month of October is perfect for a party because of all the fun fall treats and the weather is just right for being outside.

I thought I’d share a few of the treats from the house party in case you want to use them at a gathering you’re having this month. Let’s start with the caramel apple bar, which I plan to do again on Halloween night for friends and new neighbors who stop over while trick-or-treating here. This was my 13-year-old daughter’s idea and it was a hit with our guests.

The Caramel Apple Bar is not a bar/cookie, it’s this:

caramel apple bar, use this

You just grab some sliced apples (I cheated and bought them pre-cut), some caramel (you can make your own or buy) and then come up with all kinds of toppings that would taste great on a caramel apple. We had coconut, M&Ms, sprinkles and Skittles. There are tons of possibilities! I wish we’d added a spoon into the caramel (which is in the spider container in the above pic) because some friends just wanted to drizzle caramel over their apples.

Up next, MUMMIES!

Mummies, use thisThese were my teenager’s idea, too, and she made them. We realized after the fact that we should have used double-stuffed Oreos. To make them, just use icing to scribble the mummy faces and add edible eyes. If you use the larger Oreos, you can place a candy stick into each for a lollipop effect. Ours didn’t have enough stuffing for the stick, but I think they turned out cute anyway 😉

Our {Frightful} Fall Kettle Corn was also a big hit:

Frightful Fall Kettle Corn

We also cheated a little on this by buying bags of kettle corn to pop. So you just pop your kettle corn, pour it into a big bowl and add your favorite candies. We used mini chocolate chips, pretzels, M&Ms and candy corn (which makes it so cute!). After you gently mix the popcorn and candy together, drizzle melted chocolate over the top. We used decadent Ghirardelli dark melting wafers. YUM.

Those were the sweet treats. We also had chili (my husband’s special recipe) with all the fixin’s plus a few of my favorite appetizers. It was a fun party and the food prep turned out to be a great bonding experience with my teenager. Of course, as soon as we got finished cooking, my daughter went back to her regularly-scheduled Instagramming. It was good while it lasted.

Hope this inspires you to invite a few of your friends over for a fall get-together!

Sunday Devotion: Are you hiding behind a mask?

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by Kelli Artherton

I think the fall weather is finally here to stay. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love everything it has to offer, crisp air, falling leaves, football, and cooler temps.

With October, also comes Halloween and it got me thinking about masks. Yes, masks. It made me think about how many masks we hide behind daily, how we put forth our best “mask” on days we don’t feel like facing the world. How we might hide behind the mask of perfection that says we have it all together, when we secretly want to crawl in a hole and cry.

Did you ever stop to think that the one who made us, the one who thinks we are perfect every single day, already knows us. He knows when we are having a bad day, He knows when we might feel like a failure inside, but promote perfection on the outside. But guess what? He LOVES us so much and see’s us as perfect. No matter our past, no matter what we see as failures, He see’s as a success. He made us perfect and loves us beyond measure.

So, whatever mask you are wearing today, I encourage you to take it off. Be real, be honest with the world. Because guess what… we don’t need to “impress” anyone or hide behind any masks anymore. Because The One who created the world, stars and moon, created you to be uniquely, beautifully you.

Will you take your mask off with me?

“God Created you in His very own image. He looks past your mistakes and He looks right at you and says, There’s my masterpiece. That’s my son. That’s my daughter.”

Celeb Gossip: Celeb couples that fell in love at first sight

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ADAM LEVINE & BEHATI PRINSLOO 

The model revealed that she first got in touch with the Maroon 5 frontman while he was searching for someone to star in a music video. “He got my information through a mutual friend,” she told host Andy Cohen. “He was trying to get a girl for a music video. I couldn’t do it, but we started emailing. It was like weeks and weeks. And then finally, I went to L.A. for a job, and we met. And it was honestly less awkward. We felt like we knew each other. It was kind of love at first sight, because we had that constant back and forth.”

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON

Love at first sight was a little complicated for the longtime couple who met while making the 1987 film The Experts. Preston told host Andy Cohen on What What Happens Live! that she fell in love with the Grease star even though she was married at the time.

“Well, I was not that happily married, let’s put it that way,” she told Cohen. “I was really with the wrong person.”

Preston was married to actor Kevin Gage at the time, though the two quickly divorced in 1987 after two years of marriage. The actress then married Travolta in September 1991 and had three kids together.

PRINCE HARRY & MEGHAN MARKLE

While making their official debut as an engaged couple outside Kensington Palace, Harry revealed that he knew Markle was the one for him as soon as he laid eyes on her. When asked when he knew the Suits actress was going to be his future wife, Harry said with a smile: “The very first time we met.”

MATTHEW & CAMILA ALVES MCCONAUGHEY 

Although the Oscar winner was “happily single,” things all changed when he set his eyes on Brazilian beauty Camila. “Out of the corner of my eye, this sort of aqua-green figure went floating across the frame about 20 feet in front of me,” he told PEOPLE of seeing Alves for the first time nearly a decade ago. “My eye went up and I remember what came out of my mouth. I didn’t say ‘Who is that?’ I went, ‘What is that?’ As l was trying to get that’s attention across the room, I went in my head, ‘This is not the kind of woman you call over across the room, McConaughey. Get your ass out of your chair and go get her.’ Which I did.” As for what immediately drew the actor to Alves, McConaughey – who fronts PEOPLE’s 100 Reasons to Love America issue – was quick to respond: “The self-respect she had, the way I understood her and her relationship with family, the way she respected me but never took anything for granted, not putting on any airs whatsoever.”

MATT & LUCIANA DAMON

The pair’s initial encounter reads like the start of an epic love story, which Damon is more than eager to recount: “I saw her across the room, and it was like there was a beam of lighting shining down on her – she was radiating joy,” the actor recalled of seeing wife of 11 years Barroso, who worked as a bartender at the time. “I was like, I have to talk to this person.’ “

GEORGE & AMAL CLOONEY

“I knew when I met her that she was superiextraordinary,” the Oscar winner shared of the human rights lawyer, whom he would go on to marry in 2013. “I wondered if I would ever get a chance to date her. We were friends for a while and luckily she said yes.”

GISELE BÜNDCHEN & TOM BRADY

“I knew Tom was the one straightaway,” Bündchen told Vogue UK in 2015. “I could see it in his eyes that he was a man with integrity who believes in the same things I do.”Source: People Magazine

Moms + Meals: Easy taco soup

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My momma is an outstanding cook (and I am not just saying that, she REALLY is). The problem is, I can’t follow her recipes. I wish I could, but her instructions often include terms like:  pinch of this, a dab of that or just a little of this. Huh?! I am not a great cook and I am very much a direction follower, and that just does not work for me.

Her taco soup recipe, however, is easy peasy. Even I can do it! With this cold and rainy SWMO spring weather, we had it this weekend, and as usual, it was a hit. Enjoy!

Trish’s Taco Soup

  • 1 pound ground beef (I have also used ground turkey or ground venison)
  • 1 can corn
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can Rotel
  • 1 package of ranch seasoning
  • 1 package of your favorite taco seasoning

Directions: Brown meat with taco seasoning. Drain. Mix everything together (no need to drain the canned goods!) in a large pot or crock pot. Cook as desired. My mom serves with Doritos, shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, sour cream and jalapenos.

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 small kids). This makes a pretty big pot of soup, so I almost always freeze half of it or invite friends over to share. I have never had a bad experience freezing it, so you might try that if you have a lot of left-overs.

This fail proof recipe is sure to fill your tummies and will no doubt be a crowd pleaser!