A Look Back: Heckman Halloweens of the Past

A blog that I follow recently posted all of her family's past Halloween costumes; and I thought it was such a cute idea that I'm totally copying it. 

I love looking back at old photos. Like, an hour can go by and I don't even notice! So this was a really fun post for me. And I know the grandparents will love it as well.

As for the rest of you... sorry if it's just a big ol post filled with pictures of my kids. :)

Halloween 2005

Sweet baby Payton dressed up like a little gator (insert "Awe!!!!" noise.)

2006

Gator football player... of course! :)

 2007

Sadly, I do not have these photos saved on my computer. They are all saved on an external drive. But I assure you he was cute as a button!

2008

Totally & completely obsessed with Thomas the Train.

2009

Tim Tebow... possibly the best costume ever.

2010

Moving into the stage of video games. This year he was Mario (and Parker is a little bun in the oven in this pic!)

2011

Recognize Parker's gator costume? We've seen that one before!
Payton is now into Pokemon and dressed as "Ash" with Pikachu on his back.

This picture was just too funny not to post. Look at Parker staring in disgust at Brian's fake mustache!!!

2012

Payton is now into scary ninja's and swords, etc. We still had control over Parker's choice, so of course he is a Gator football player. :) At least we're consistent!

2013

At this point, we've lost all control of the kids' costume choices. No themes. Nothing cute. Parker is Spiderman and Payton is some sort of dark creature/zombie thing.

I tried to make it sort of themed by dressing up as Robin. Even though Parker wasn't Batman... I tried.

2014

Finally got  everyone to agree on a theme again. Last year it was Star Wars. We had a variety of characters going on, but it was fun to be a collective group again.

I even got Brian to dress up... sort of. Not sure why i have such a tight grip on his hand, but I'm sure it was warranted. :)

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and fun Halloween! 

Recipe: Breaded Oven Baked Salmon

I tried out a new salmon recipe this week and promised to post it if it were a success.

Well, it was a HUGE success, so here it is...

Typically I bake salmon about once a week. I use the same recipe almost all the time because I know the kids love it. But the main ingredient in that recipe is soy sauce, and when I went to make it this week... we were all out of soy sauce! Oops!

Off to Google I went.

I found a few "oven baked salmon recipes" that sounded delicious, but I was missing at least one ingredient in almost every one. So I improvised and created this delectable creation:

Breaded Oven Baked Salmon

Ingredients:

• 4 Salmon filets
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs (or Panko bread crumbs with some seasoning would also be great)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Honey
• 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 Tablespoons melted Butter
• EVOO for drizzling

Directions:

1. In a shallow dish, whisk together honey, Dijon mustard and melted butter until combined.

2. Place breadcrumbs in another shallow dish

3. Dredge salmon fillets in mustard/butter mixture making sure to cover all sides, then place in breadcrumbs and cover all sides with breadcrumbs. Place in a greased shallow baking dish.

4. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumbs over salmon fillets, then drizzle with EVOO.

5. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until salmon is easily flaked with a fork.

Serve with a green veggie and some brown rice and you have a delicious, simple, healthy dinner.

(Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the cooked salmon, but this is exactly what it looked like)

YUM!

Fall Feelings

It's officially fall, but it's still in the 90's here, so it's hard to really get in the "fall mood" just yet. But we did have one beautiful kinda chilly morning last week and you better believe I had the front door and the french doors wide open with a crisp breeze flowing through the house.

But that afternoon, I was back to wearing a tank top and flip flops...

That's Florida for ya!

I even tried my hand at roasting an acorn squash for the first time to stir up some fall smells. It was SO good, and super easy.

All you do is cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, rub the entire inside (generously) with salted butter, and add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar. Roast at 400 degrees until fork tender. It screams "fall!"

And since I was roasting veggies, I threw in a couple diced up sweet potatoes and a bag of carrots. The kids loved it all.

I guess one of the perks of this not-so-fall weather is that we still get to go swimming and boating without freezing our tushies off.

We went sailing with some friends last weekend and took the kids with us this time. They had the BEST time and keep asking, "When are we going sailing again?!?" Super big "thank you" to our dear friends Tom and Bahama for the amazing boat ride and delicious dinner on board.

On a totally unrelated note, I just ordered a rug for our bedroom, and I'm so excited for it to arrive!

My e-designer that I've been working with has been fabulous! Since she lives here in Tampa, she sends me texts when she's out shopping and she sees something that would work in our bedroom. So far, I've purchased these lamps and shades (both from Target). The shades are a light grey color and the inside in gold - it's so beautiful.

And I can't wait to show you what she bought for me this week. I'll give you a hint...it's white and gold and it goes over our bed... and it has something to do with an animal. Any guesses???

I am so happy with how the room is turning out. My biggest project is yet to come though. She wants me to paint our two dressers. Yikes! I have to do a lot of research before I do it, but I'm excited to see the pieces transform.

One last set of pictures to share, just because they're too funny not to!

Parker found a toothbrush under his sink the other day and decided to brush Harry's teeth with it. That poor dog just laid there and let him brush his teeth! It was SO funny!

Can you see Parker smiling? He loved it.

I hope you all are enjoying all the splendors of fall wherever you may live. And if you need some inspiration... just read this post. You'll be full of super fun ideas for fall by the time you finish it!

Happy Fall Y'all!