my obsession for group theme costumes

it's that most wonderful time of year again in a child's life: halloween. when otherwise responsible parents allow their children to dress up and go knocking on doors at night asking strangers for candy.

ok ok, so most parents don't just let kids throw on a costume and go out and about. i'm sure most subscribe to the same practices that i do, which is we go with our children in well lit areas, only going to houses of people that we know. still, the getting free candy and running home to gorge yourself is pretty sweet to anyone under 10. and many over 10 i'm sure.

well, knowing halloween is coming fast, and not wanting to have to dig through the lame costumes that get left behind (really, what kid wants to be uncle sam?), i went this morning and picked out what my kids are going to be. of course, we sat down together and decided what kind they wanted and i went and got it for them. or, really, it was we sat down and they decided to agree with what i wanted them to be.

it may sound strange to some, but i really care what my kids dress up as. i mean, they're boys, and until fishie gets older, i don't really have to worry about costumes like "sexy nurse" or "sexy fairy" or "sexy black cat." i do want them to dress up as something different every year, and even though it may sound crazy, i like to pick a theme for them to be. i'm really not sure why, but i like it when my kids dress in theme costumes. like last year they were both ninjas, and the year before that they were transformers, and the year before that they were both superheros. four years ago would have been lumpy's first halloween, and i wasn't in a position to buy them both costumes, so we raided the dress up chest, and bumble was a fire fighter and lumpy was fighter pilot, which kind of works as "cool occupations" theme.

so now, to continue the tradition of themes, my boys will be knights, which they were totally fine with. much like letting them be ninjas last year, any costume where they get to carry around a sword is fine by them. now, i know i could have dressed up fishie as a princess to match, but i think she'll make a much cuter dragon. i even plan on sewing bows on the little head piece, just so people know she's a girl dragon.

so this year is done. now to start planning the costumes for next year. i mean, it never hurts to be prepared and look ahead, right? and discounted, end of season costumes are so much cheaper. maybe bumble would be uncle sam, and i could probably throw together a statue of liberty costume for fishie, now what could lumpy be?

just one of those days

you ever have one of those days where you just wanted to stay in bed but you knew you couldn't because your alarm clock happens to be a seven month old without a snooze button? yeah, this morning was like that for me.

i knew i couldn't stay in bed anyway because i had tons of calls to make and tons of stuff to get done. and i actually accomplished everything i needed to do today. so why don't i feel like i got anything done? probably because there are still so many things that i need to do, even though i wasn't planning on doing them today. so yeah, tomorrow is looking like a busy day also. this whole week in fact is looking like i should start taking notes so i don't forget anything. and hopefully i won't lose my notebook, which has happened and was awful. i write things down so i won't have to remember them, and then i lose the thing everything is written down on, it just makes me want to cry.

oh well, onward and upward or some such happy hopeful stuff. i do believe that if i can survive this week, i'll be able to get through anything.

the best laid plans...

so when last we spoke, i talked at length about apples and pie and such. as much as i would love to tell of how many wonderful pies i made, and how great they smell and awesome they taste, if i want to be honest i really can't say any such thing. now, it wasn't because things didn't go well in the kitchen, it's more like i found other, better things to buy at the farmer's market on friday. concord grapes for instance, which were so ripe they made my car and the fridge smell fabulous, a smell which also reminds me of long ago and far away when my family would visit my great grandparents farm, because they had vines in their yard. i also bought peppers, which i am turning into stuff peppers as we speak. so even though things didn't quite go as planned, i have plenty of good things to eat.

pie in the sky plans

it's finally fall, which just happens to be my favorite time of the year. the cooler weather, the longer nights, getting to wear jeans again, and of course the awesome food. now i've never really limited myself to making food when it's seasonally appropriate, but somehow those warm and comforting flavors taste better when it's the kind of day that you want to curl up on the couch and snuggle with a loved one. or maybe it's just when you're eating foods in season, things are fresher and more full of flavor, they're perfectly ripe and ready to go. whatever the reason, i've set my sights on getting a bunch of apples this weekend and doing some serious pie making.

i've always loved apple pies, and i've got quite a collection of recipes. i have been tweaking things for years so that i get the perfect consistency of sweet apple and spicy cinnamon, and my pie crusts are always light and flaky. when i was growing up i used to help my mom make apple dumplings, and we would make dozens in one afternoon. now, i don't really have the time or patience to make all those little dumplings myself, so i've switched to making pies, which i can wrap and freeze and bake as needed.

i'll admit i look forward to making these pies every year, the simple act of making dough and filling i find calming. and knowing that with a little heat and time, my creations turn into mouth watering dessert just makes me so proud. the other bonus is that frozen pies make wonderful gifts, all recipients have to do is pop one in the oven for an hour or so and they have a homemade apple pie hot and fresh and just for them.

now i already have all the flour and sugar and butter i'll need, so hopefully tomorrow i'll be able to hit up a farmer's market to get the apples. i personally like to use mackintosh or smokehouse, nothing too juicy, and definitely nothing that turns to mush in the oven, but something that still has the clean flavor of apples when it's all said and done.

this year i'm going to try and keep things simple. a few years ago i got two bushels of apples, and all my help left me high and dry, so i was left to peel and cut and roll and wrap and freeze 18 pies all by myself. it was way more work then i wanted to do, and i almost called off pie making the following year. last year i tried to keep things simple by just getting apples off the trees in my dad's yard because he had tons, it had been a great growing year. the problem was that he didn't spray for bugs or anything, and i spent hours cutting out the bad spots just to get enough to make four pies. so this year i plan on one bushel of apples. i'll make as many pies as i can with that, maybe 8 if i'm lucky, and i'll call it a day. i'll let you know how it goes.

fashion unconscious

it is officially fall now, which of course means cooler temperatures. or at least i thought that's what it meant here, even though the weather channel tells me it'll be 94 on friday(?!?!), but warm weather isn't what this post is about. technically it's not really about cold temperatures either. it's going to be about how fishie needs to stop growing so quickly, and that she only had two sleepers that fit her big bottom, and that after having two boys i was sorely lacking in the baby girl clothes department.

i honestly didn't know what i was going to do.

well this morning it was mommom to the rescue!

she had been talking for awhile about taking fishie and i out on a shopping spree, so she could spoil her precious grandbaby with new outfits, and finally our schedules clicked and we were able to go.

on my random errands out and about over the past few weeks i had been looking at the winter clothes as they were being stocked. i had noticed a sad trend in little girl clothing. it seems that the in style is long shirts or dresses and leggings, which is all well and good on a skinny girl, but on a chunky monkey like my fishie leggings just get caught up around her diaper bottom, and instead of going to ankles they'd stop at her knees. that's all well and good during spring, but when it's down in the 60's, i kind of want her whole leg to be covered. this is why i wasn’t sure how i was going to manage clothes shopping, because i knew i’d have to try clothes on fishie, and for some reason they don’t actually have changing areas for babies. i guess most people know exactly what size they need to get for their kids... lucky people.

so really, that's why i was so thankful that mommom was able to come along. having an extra hand while trying to manage to squeeze a squirming baby into a pair of pants perched on a display shelf is not the easiest thing to do by yourself. it was also very nice to have someone help pick outfits also. anyone that really knows me could tell you i am not the most fashion forward or trendy person. my style is past casual and into the realm of pajamas. i pity my girl when she gets older, at least she has five aunts to show her the way. and now she has a bunch of cute outfits to keep her warm in the coming months. until she grows again.