Happy Halloween!
Month: October 2010
We started the day with candy
Then we played a little:
Then we handed out candy to the Milwaukee County trick-or-treaters:
Next up was dinner (Jack-O-Lantern Pizza) at the Strouds’ before Tosa trick-or-treating. We attempted to get a picture with all three boys. These are the best I got:
We were spending the afternoon outside cleaning out the garage. I wasn’t sure Alex would wear a hat so I went with the “choo choo” hat. He took it off constantly to look at the choo choo and then would want me to put it back on.
Alex recently added “firemen” to his vocabulary. No sign of “fire truck” yet.
Alex is still fascinated with pumpkins.
One of Alex’s favorite spots to play in the kitchen.
Just chilling. (Yes, we do eat a lot of apples around this house.)
I’m not ready for Alex to figure out the step-stool.
Very interested in watching this thing called Pumpkin Carving, but not interested in touching the inside of a pumpkin.
Wade and I host a pumpkin carving party every year (2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005). One of my favorite parts is trying out new Halloween-themed recipes and decorating ideas.
My favorites were the chocolate dipped marshmallows, ghosted tootsie pops, and the spider-web cookies. I also tried mummy-style pigs in a blanket. I think next year I will stick with regular pigs in a blanket. The mummy-style weren’t cute enough to be worth the extra work.
Riding on the East Troy Electric Railroad (and loving it)!
We had a fun-filled weekend. We started the morning with a ride on a choo choo. The East Troy Electric Railroad has a short ride between East Troy and Elegant Farmer. Amber, Nick, Abram, Nicki, Riley, Wade, Alex, and I arrived in East Troy with a little time to spare. We checked out the museum and the old trains sitting on the tracks. For the ride to the Elegant Farmer we were the only ones on the train and the boys had a blast.
Amber and Nick had an early morning meeting at Abram’s school so Abram came over to play. They brought donuts, which I loved. We gave Alex one with sprinkles and he pretty much pushed it aside for his regular breakfast of a boiled egg – silly boy.
Then the boys ran wild and had a blast.
And no play time is complete without the Firetruck and the Recycling truck. Thank goodness we have two:
Now we just need the pirate ship and the wrecker. (I’m not sure if this is my tendency to collect sets or Alex talking, but Christmas is coming!)
Some days you just need a good cry.
(Nothing was making him happy so I got out my camera.)
He’ll still want to do this when he is older, right?
Alex loves pumpkins. He gets really excited whenever he sees one and promptly says “monkey”, which is how he pronounces both pumpkin and monkey.
Raking leaves just to make a pile for jumping.
Alex and I were attempting to rake the leaves in the front yard when Amber and Abram came to visit. We moved the party to the backyard to let the boys run. Amber started raking a large leaf pile for the boys to jump in (and therefore raked my leaves). The boys didn’t get the “jumping” in the leaves, but they loved wrestling in the leaves:
I am enjoying pumpkin bread on my pumpkin plates. It’s definitely fall.
Recipe from Cooking Light:
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through mace) in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
Combine sugars and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin, oil, and vanilla; stir well. Add raisins and nuts; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack, and remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
*I left out the golden raisins and substituted pecans for walnuts.
I sent Alex into the living room to eat his grapes while I made lunch. I walked in to find him sitting like this.
(I recently realized I sit on the coffee table quite a bit and Alex has been trying to climb up with me. I guess he figured it out.)
Eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger while watching Thomas the Train.
(Don’t judge me. Wade has been gone since Friday morning and doesn’t get home till Tuesday night.)
Alex took a two hour morning nap and I decided to let him sleep through church. We then just played around the house in our pajamas till time for his afternoon nap. Alex got out his markers and managed to color the floor before I realized what he was doing:
I got out the cleaning supplies and Alex wanted to try the sponge. He motivated me to clean the rest of the house and even offered a little “help”.
Alex has gotten to the point where he doesn’t always ride in his stroller very well. Amber and I took the boys to the outlets and it appears that Abram running around and lots of food solves the stroller issue. Alex was pretty happy to just ride along.
Lazy Saturday morning.
Today Amber, Abram, Nicki, Riley, Alex, and I drove to Green Meadows Farm. What an amazing place! On this huge farm everything is kid-friendly from tractors to turkeys to hay bales. For one low admission price you have access to everything. We started with the pony ride. I wasn’t sure that Alex would be content to sit and hold onto the mini horse’s saddle. He did great. Immediately after getting off, he ran to the platform and tried to get back on.
There were tons of animals in small pens all over the property. The pens would have 10-20 animals and would all be fine for petting or picking up. Alex was fascinated with the chickens but didn’t want to hold one. He loved petting the goats. He touched the pigs once and then didn’t want to touch them again – their skin is rather coarse. (Note Alex’s I’m-gently-petting-an-animal-face in the picture with the goat. I see that a lot with Tabit.)
We visited a farm today and Alex loved the animals – especially the baby goats.
Tabit and Madison play really well together. Their favorite game involves the green chair in the living room. Tabit hides under it and waits for Madison to lay on the rug in front. Then they alternate Tabit leaping out to attack Madison and Madison trying to get under the chair to get Tabit. It cracks me up every time.
Eating apples is dangerous. It is best to be safe and wear a helmet.
(Abram’s bike helmet ended up at our house and Alex wants to wear it constantly.)
Abram has an awesome new toy – a powered motorcycle. He’s got it down pat. Alex on the other hand is just starting to figure it out.
And now we love hats. I can’t keep up.
Alex is practicing his Trick-or-Treating (or just playing in his pajamas – you pick).
Alex loves to play with his choo choos.
Tabit is quickly learning how to live at the Burch house. We have taken her outside with us quite a bit and this is what she does if she gets stuck alone inside. She is literally hanging onto the glass frame with the nails on one paw. I think she’ll have the dog door figured out pretty quickly:
She also loves to copy Madison’s behaviors. I don’t think she actually eats off the dinner plates, but she comes running just like Madison:
Tabit also tolerates a little bit of hugging from Alex before running away:
Alex has been saying the word “fire” for quite a while. This weekend he finally learned what it means. Wade let him “help” light the grill. Now Alex will point to the grill and say “fire”.
Isn’t fall fun?
Warm temperatures made a surprise return today. Alex and Abram took full advantage.
Yup, he’s definitely our son. Building things already.