Happy Halloween!

I was really excited for Blake's Halloween costume this year. I came up with it all on my own AND it was super easy to create!

Unfortunately, the stickers that were supposed to stick so well to Blake's shirt didn't stick well at all. And when I tried to secure them with tape, it made them even more enticing to mess with.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that I didn't get any pictures of Blake in his costume (or any of me in mine) during our ward "Harvest Party", which is the only time we will be wearing our costumes*. So for the sake of memories, I recreated Blake's costume. And I digitally recreated mine.

 You can be impressed with my MS paint skills.

Can you figure out what we are? (Check the comments for the answer!)

*You may be wondering why we only wore our costumes to our ward Halloween Party Harvest Party and not to go trick-or-treating. It's because we aren't going trick-or-treating. There are several reasons for this and all of them do a great job of taking the wind out of Halloween's sails:

1- Blake is 19 months old and while I'm sure he'd love to get a bag full of candy, as the mother of this 19 month old I am not keen on him consuming a bag full of candy.

2- If Blake isn't going to eat the candy then guess who will: me. As evidenced by the picture of me in this post, the last thing I need is a bag full of candy.

3- If we knew a lot of our neighbors or knew a group of people who were going trick-or-treating then I'd probably be up for tagging along. But we don't. So we aren't.

4- Blake won't remember hanging out at home on his second Halloween, so I don't feel too bad about not going.

the cutest little ghost

Halloween came early this year.

And Christmas, apparently.

little helper

This is what happens

when I turn my back for one second. (Ok more like 1 minute.)

Fall is here.

Welcome back, fall. We missed you!

antidote

Having a bad day? Feeling like a loser because you haven't showered and it's noon? About to pull your hair out because your toddler only took a 45 minute nap? Well I have just the thing for you!

The antidote to a bad day, if you will.

Homemade.Cinnamon.Rolls.

Oh yes.

Find the recipe here.

I don't profess to be an expert on making dough, kneading, or using dry active yeast in general. The last time I tried to make a loaf of bread, the finished product weighed about 5 lbs. But, these cinnamon rolls are delicious and not too difficult to make. Heck, I used a sippy cup as a rolling pin and didn't have enough ground cinnamon and they were still delicious. Essentially, if I can make these, you can too! (Don't plan on whipping these up in 30 minutes though...)

Warning: This antidote must only be taken in small doses. If you eat 3 or 4 cinnamon rolls you risk having a different sort of bad day. The kind of bad day where you feel like a lump of lard for eating 3 or 4 cinnamon rolls.

just another day at the playground

"Yo!"

Angry girlfriend continues walking.

"Yoooo!"

Angry girlfriend throws something in the street.

"Yoooooo, Dahlene (Darlene, but with a Brooklyn accent.)

Angry girlfriend turns around, then keeps walking.

"Yo, Dahlene, hold up! I'm not gonna call you no more!"

"Dahlene, hold the (expletive) up! Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Darlene: What do you want? Leave me alone!

"Yo, Dahlene, yo."

Darlene and boyfriend walk away, yelling at each other.

Ten minutes later they return, holding hands.

How sweet.

dance moves

The "hold and bounce" move

The "I used to be able to dance, but now I'm a mom" move

The "point to a random object" move

The "I'm gettin' my groove back" move

What's that? You want to see outtakes from our dance party? 

"Blake, come over here so I'm not the only one in the pictures!"

"Raffi's my favorite!"

When Blake grows up...

He might be a(n):

 

couch potato

 

 

 mechanic

street sweeper

old man who is finicky about the cleanliness of his porch (ok that was a stretch.)

body builder

tight rope walker

 

 soil scientist (totally a real thing)

bird watcher

 

wrench eater?

 

 daredevil

Down South

Some people would say Virginia isn't the south. Well, you can tell that to the guy down the street from my childhood home who proudly flies his confederate flag.

Anyway, I was able to visit my family recently and even though it was great to see them, it was even better seeing these guys:

source

source

(Cul-de-sac- in case you were confused...) 

(Central air)

I kid! Kind of.

We started our trip with a nice barf session in the back of the car service car we took to the airport. Then I stood on the curb at JFK trying to clean Blake's car seat while he stood there in his diaper. Good times with Sir Barfs-A-Lot.

Blake slept the whole flight to VA which kind of made up for the ride to the airport. We made a quick pit stop at Cafe Rio in Manassas, VA. Totally worth it even though it was a little out of the way.

Then we spent a week and a half playing in the 'burbs! We visited the children's museum and drove to groceries stores! And parked and went in and bought groceries! And then put them in our car and drove home and parked in a driveway! It was amazing.

Most of our time was spent hanging out with my family. And it was divine.

 Who knew ice packs could be so fun?

Children's Museum- Yes, I'm holding Blake. Yes, he's heavy.

 Raaaaaaaaaaaar!

He tried to eat some of the rubber bits. Of course.

Woohoooooooo!

 New friends

A "bup" (aka bus).

Broom ball with Papa!

We had a wonderful time. (Even though Blake woke up at 4am every morning. He'd slap my mattress, signaling he was ready to get in bed with me, roll around, kick me in the face, go back to sleep, and wake up at 7:30.) Can't wait to go back!

5 reasons why I'm switching dentists

1. Your office name, Gentle Dental, is deceiving. Never bled that much after a cleaning...ever.

2. Although you and your staff speak English, your accent makes most of what you say incredibly hard to decipher. And I hate just nodding my head like I've understood what you've said so you won't have to repeat yourself a third time.

3. I don't take kindly to being reprimanded for not flossing my teeth twice a day. And the whole, "Do you floss once a year?" comment was incredibly unnecessary. I'm never going to floss my teeth twice a day. I can commit to flossing once a day. But that's it.

4. Just because I ask questions doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention. So there was no need for you to stop mid-sentence and say, "Pay attention."

5. The whole, "Your gums are slightly inflamed so we need to see you again in 6 months. And if they're still inflamed I'll be forced to do a deep cleaning," threat ain't gonna work, sister. Cause you certainly will not be touching my teeth ever again.

I'm currently taking suggestions for a good dentist in Brooklyn.