happy halloween!

This is our first year taking A trick-or-treating. We have always just gone around to relatives houses and showed of the costume. This year because we were in the house (and because almost all the relatives were gone visiting our out-of-town siblings!) we decided to take the boys around the neighborhood.

We dressed them up as the woodland king and knight,costumes we already had in the dress up basket, and went visiting. W made it about 3 houses before he was tuckered out and A made it around the block.

When he came home told me he "got sooo much candy!!" ~ about 10 pieces. And those 10 pieces will be traded in for treats we approved and that don't give him that insane sugar high. I find Halloween to be a difficult holiday because we don't want to give them all that junk, but at the same time we don't want to exclude them from the fun. Fortunately A is still at the point that trading the candy is still exciting, and he would much rather have cereal bars and fruit leathers over that tiny junk anyway.

pumpkinfest

This weekend we started to get ready for Halloween. The pumpkins were carved, the seeds roasted, and pumpkin muffins were made.

W thought he should try a taste

A took this picture of me on the sly

Papa made some very tasty roasted pumpkin seeds

Also, with Halloween coming up I've received this email a few times so I thought I should pass it on. I don't know how valid it really is, although I have checked it on snopes.com.

a new scarf and new bangs

These cold days gave me incentive to whip up a new scarf today; a nice long one in some lightweight plaid was perfect for adding just enough warmth with a fall coat. Even though it could be a bit tableclothy I really like the way it turned out. I've been looking for a good scarf, but all the ones in the stores would turn out to be viscose. When I saw this cute cotton at the fabric store last night I snatched it up. It is really lightweight, almost gauzy. I frayed the edges then stay-stitched it. Exactly what I was hoping to find. Plus, I have enough fabric left for a couple more scarves if anyone is interested in a swap.

However, I am not so sure about my new haircut. It is just enough different that I feel a little out of my comfort zone. It's a pretty boring 'do, but I've never been one for adventure when it comes to my hair. Once I got highlights and ended up with tiger stripe hair. After that I've been pretty run of the mill. I just can't decide about my bangs. Are they me or not...

autumn photos

a birthday gift

We are in love with Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip, and that love will now be sent on to a cousin. My sister's youngest and A are 3 months apart in age and both A and I thought that G would like his own copy of the book for his birthday. Then my sister mentioned how much she loved A's acorn cap and that G would like that too. Well, of course we couldn't stop there and though it may be a bit much, A and I have designed a couple red gnome hats and beards to be worn while reading the story. Or to be worn when G wants to "be other children" (a direct quote from G himself). At first I thought that I would just make G's gift and be done with it. Oh how wrong and silly I was for thinking that! What kind of mother would I be if I denied my own's son's request for a hat and beard of his own?

autumn foods

There has been a change in what we are eating lately. Instead of grilling we have been eating more baked foods, and lots of food with cinnamon added. Two of our favorites are apple crisp and whole wheat pancakes; we've had two baking sessions for apple crisp in the past week.

I love how simple it is to make. Except for using the sharp knife, A can make the whole thing himself. He loves measuring the oatmeal and flour, shaking the spices, mixing the ingredients together with both his spoon and fingers, and "scooping and sprinkling" the topping onto the apples which he has put into the dishes. He is always so proud of himself for making the apple crisp without help.

We love whole wheat pancakes at our house. Because I almost always make them from scratch I have been experimenting with the recipe each time. I am not one for precise measuring (except for baking powder, soda, and salt). I've been cooking and baking for a long time and I can eye the amounts pretty well, so I tend to approximate my measures a lot. That aside, today's batch was the best we've had so far. I think the key was the extreme amount of baking powder. Plus, I was the only person that stirred, so they were not overbeaten. They were surprisingly light and fluffy, and I wrote down my approximations as best as I could.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I've been using the white whole wheat, but any would work)

1 T baking powder (yes a Tablespoon and I always use aluminum-free baking powder)

1 t salt

Mix dry ingredients

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 T honey

2 T oil or melted butter

Beat wet ingredients with a whisk or fork, add to dry. Stir until just mixed.

We like to cut our pancakes into different shapes using cookie cutters. I've never been able to figure out how to get them to release from the cookie cutter without mangling them, so we cut them after they are cooked. A loves getting different shapes for each season, and even I enjoy having maple leaf pancakes with maple syrup on them.

quiet weekend

The boys and I spent the weekend at my mama's home. Such a nice restful weekend with lovely conversations, special time with Grandma for each boy, and some quiet morning knitting for me.

And this thrown in because I think it is hysterical.

new hats

I've really been into knitting hats lately. They are a fairly quick project, very portable, and I can easily do them while sitting outside watching the boys play. Before I had even knit A's acorn hat, I started a cream colored one from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for myself. But as soon as I had knit a few rows I knew that it was going to be much too small for my head. I tend to be a rather tight knitter and often have to go up a needle size to get the right gauge, but with this hat I ignored that factor and knit with a worsted weight yarn on size 8 needles. So it soon became a hat for cousin N. It is a little loose, but really fits about the same as A's hat. I always preferred loose hats over tight ones and I think it looks quite cute on her little head.

The next hat on the list was one for Papa, obviously modeled here by A. His was a special request, which is not a common thing for him, so I was happy to knit it. Papa requested a charcoal grey hat that fit like the Coast Guard hat his brother had given him, but he had lost after one season. After a bit of searching I came across this one on flickr, and found the pattern here. I wasn't thrilled with the way the pattern was written, and I had a little trouble with the decreases at the end - although that could have been trying to count stitches and decreases with two small ones being curious. However, I like how it turned out in the end. Papa was extremely pleased and said it fit exactly like the Coast Guard one. Yay!

winter pants

In August I decided to make W some pants for his birthday. I found some lovely, soft wool fabric at the store and set about making them with a Burda pattern that was styled with a simple wide-leg... and that’s where the pleasantness ended.

After that moment I had nothing but trouble from these pants, which is why they were finished 3 weeks after W’s birthday. First, the pattern was huge! The 12-18 month size almost fit A! Then, I cut the waistband funny, so I had to monkey around with it to get it to fit. Also, throughout this my sewing machine was jamming (not unusual) and the fabric was fraying. So once I got the pants sewn and decided they were too large, instead of being a patient and good seamstress, I just took my pinking shears and chopped about 3 inches off each side and a huge amount off the bottom.

After sewing them up, again, I decided to line the pants (!) with some knit fabric. You know knits - trying to stretch at the wrong time and doing their own thing. Once I finally got that under control they sat on my sewing table for about two weeks waiting to be hemmed. At this point I saw Jack Sprat’s super cute herringbone pants and I seriously debated whether I should throw in the towel and just order some from her. But I figured I had so much time into the ones on my table that I pressed on and yesterday morning sewed a hem and put them on the baby.

Thankfully, he looked really cute in his warm little pants, and you can’t see the terrible job I did. Also, they seemed to be comfortable for him. He wasn’t pulling on them or acting like they were bothering him. (This is quite good actually as he is rather unhappy in clothes, preferring to run around naked.) I’m glad I decided to line them since our last few winters have been extremely cold and it has already been a cool year. So all in all they are good pants, though it would have been much easier to buy Jack Sprat’s.