Halloween 2012

I love my Maverick and Goose!  Jackson is sporting an official "Top Gun" flight suit, and Andy is wearing my dad's original flight suit from his Air Force days.

First time trick-or-treating

He got really excited by the noise of the candy plunking in his bucket, and he'd grin really big and start shaking his bucket up and down, spilling out the 3 pieces of candy that were in his bucket. Love the delight of a child :)

 He loves his first sucker

 And he's even willing to share

Then, a costume change...he was also a tiger for Halloween, and this is our funny attempt getting a picture, post-bedtime, of Jackson with his friend Mac

We enjoyed celebrating my parent's last Halloween in their current home, as they're moving this Monday to their new home, with a beautiful view overlooking downtown Birmingham. 

Just a couple more pictures from other Halloween activities:

Testing out the Tiger costume for the first time

 Nothing like a mouthful of Chick-fil-A, but I'm grateful for a mommy/son pic

 Checking out everyone's costumes at our church playdate

 Lunch with our friend Knox

 Showing off at MDO before the Halloween parade

This is how they eat their lunch at school...too cute

Couldn't resist cute Edith in her cupcake costume

20 Months

Jackson is almost out of his 20th month of life (sounds cheesy to say), and so I thought I'd record a little bit for my own memory.

1) He's very very very attached to his loveys and pacifiers these days.  While he's always slept with them, since he was a baby, this past month has consisted of him wanting them with him at all times, which leads to many moments of enticing/demanding/playing games of getting the loveys and pacifiers back in the crib.  Perhaps he senses that "baby sissy" is coming, and that changes are happening.  I usually give in and let him "cuddle" with his loveys after naptime, while we watch Disney Jr.

2) He's still mischievous, and funny, and makes us laugh all the time.  (See picture above. Look at that "I'm up to no good" face)  Andy and I comment that while he can have his moments of tantrums (see picture below), Jackson overall has a sweet heart, a willing smile, and we can decipher more and more the root cause of the tantrum.

Lest my mommy brain forgets, this sprawling out on the driveway resulted from me not carrying him into the house (as I had to carry in all my groceries). I am trying to train him to walk in the house himself (and not down our steep driveway, not around to the back of the house, but directly into the house), as I know I'm not going to be able to chase a toddler while carrying in a pumpkin seat with a newborn in about 61 days!

3) Jackson is still very observant, imitating everything we do.  I have to be careful with this, as he grabbed my lip liner and very quietly tried to put it on his eyes, like he watches mommy do with her eye liner.  Quietness in the house, when Jackson is awake and walking around, is never a good sign.

You can faintly see the light pink lipliner on the side of his eye

4) Since Andy has been traveling out of town virtually every week, and since I have the lovely plantar fasciitis in my left foot and am gimping along at almost 8 months pregnant, Disney Jr. has become our best friend and babysitter these days.  I do try to limit it, but sometimes I just have to put it on to get ready in the morning, or to get dinner on the table.  It usually results in Jackson sitting still for extended periods of time.  Wonderful!

5) When Andy is home, he has been wonderful about diving right in, playing and tackling and wrestling with Jackson, and also watching Jackson for 13 hour days when I'm at the hospital.  The hilight of my day is watching my boys all wrestle.

6) Jackson had a very mild fever virus last week, for which I kept him out of school.  It led to lots of snuggle time, some photo ops, and more Disney Jr.

Oh, and don't forget Mommy's pregnant run to Dunkin' Donuts to get a pumpkin doughnut! It's the only time I ever allow myself the luxury of a fattening, not-good-for-you doughnut, and it made all my boys happy that we went :)

7) Jackson's vocabulary is ever-expanding, which is wonderful for us to be able to decipher what he wants/needs, and also to teach him ongoing manners of please/thank you.

8) He still doesn't like it when I drop him off at Mother's Day Out two days a week, but his teachers say he quickly quiets down and plays, colors like a champ, and has fun.

We love you so much Jackson, and we know you'll be a great big brother to Baby Sissy (nope, we still haven't finalized a name, and we'll still keep it a surprise until she's here...but we have to figure out a name first)  :)

Edamame Hummus

Delicious, easy, and very healthy recipe that Jackson gobbles up.  Enjoy!

Edamame Hummus
from Publix's "Family Style" magazine

1) In a saucepan, cook 1.5 cups frozen, shelled edamame in boiling water 5 minutes or until tender; drain. Rinse under water until cool.

2) In a food processor, combine edamame, 1 (15-16 oz) can rinse and drained garbanzo beans, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup water, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and process until smooth.

Makes 24 (2 Tbsp) servings

Fall Recipes

King Ranch Mac 'N Cheese

Southern Living

Photo courtesy of myrecipes.com

(Note, I don't usually cook with Velveeta.  In fact, the thought/texture/look of it grosses me out.  But Andy loves to make cheese dip with it on chilly football Saturdays, so I used up what we had.  My boys ate this easy recipe up!)

Baked Orzo with Eggplant and Mozzarella

from Smitten Kitchen

Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

(Hoping for her new cookbook for Christmas :)

Focaccia Bread 
Pioneer Woman

Photo courtesy of Pioneer Woman
(Note: I don't like olives. So I made her rosemary focaccia that she made on her Food Network show. Easy and delicious!)

 Pumpkin Cream Pie

Pioneer Woman

Photo courtesy of Pioneer Woman

(Also eager to purchase her new cookbook)

Hand-Applique Shirt

Here's a little football t-shirt I quickly made for Jackson.  Tutorial here.  If you don't have time, or the desire, to hand applique, head on over to my friend's 418 Stitches non-profit site, and she can whip you up a delightful appliqued item in no time.

I finally bought a pants sewing pattern, so I'm off to learn how to quickly sew brown corduroy pants for Jackson.

Happy Crafting! 

(confession:  My Heat-n-Bond Lite they suggested in the tutorial did not have a second side to unstick it, so I basically just sewed the interfused felt onto the t-shirt. Do any of you expert/handy women out there know what I did wrong?)

Sugary Sweet

Yes, that's what I crave in both of my pregnancies...sweets.

I've been baking and nesting like crazy.  I did this last pregnancy too.  If only I'd clean my house more than I baked...oh well!

Muffins 
Healthy and delicious.  My "add-ins" were raisins, grated carrots, and mashed bananas.

Strawberry Muffins
These aren't super healthy, but I had strawberries I needed to use up, so voila (and who doesn't love Halloween-themed cupcake liners?!).

Rum-Coconut Key Lime Pie
from Southern Living's "Homestyle Cookbook"

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softenened
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key lime juice
1 tsp. rum
Coconut Crust
Garnish:  whipped cream, grated lime rind, shredded coconut

1) Beat cream cheese and milk at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add lime juice and rum, stirring to combine.  Pour filling into Coconut Crust (recipe below).  Cover and chill at least 4 hours or until set.  Garnish, if desired.

Coconut Crust

15 cream-filled vanilla sandwich cookies, finely crushed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
6 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) Combine all ingredients; firmly press on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool completely.

Photo of regular Key Lime pie from myrecipes.com

And since you have the rum out, you might as well make this:

Pear Skillet Cake with Caramel-Rum Sauce

from Southern Living's "Homestyle Cookbook"

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 pears, peeled and cut into 6 wedges each

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 small pear, unpeeled, cored, and coarsely grated (I coarsely chopped it instead)

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

Caramel-Rum Sauce

1) Preheat oven to 325.

2) Sprinkle brown sugar evenly in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Add butter, and place skillet in a 325 oven for 8 minutes. Remove skillet from oven; stir brown sugar mixture until blended. Arrange pear slices spoke-fashion on brown sugar mixture, working from the center of the skillet to the edge.

3) Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil, beating at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in grated pear and ginger.  Spoon batter evenly over sliced pears in skillet.

4) Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a knife around edge to loosen from pan. Cool in pan on wire rack 20 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm with Caramel-Rum Sauce.

Caramel-Rum Sauce

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 Tbsp dark rum

1) Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until butter melts and sugars dissolve. Bring to a boil; cook 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in rum. Let stand 5 minutes.

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

from Southern Living's "Homestyle Cookbook"

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

6 cups peeled, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples

1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup uncooked regular oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup caramel topping

Vanilla ice cream

1) Preheat oven to 375.

2) Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Add apple slices, and toss until coated. Spoon apple mixture into pastry shell; set aside.

3) Combine brown sugar, oats, and 1/2 cup flour; cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture. Bake at 375 for 55 minutes, shielding edges with aluminum foil after 25 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Drizzle with caramel topping. Let stand on wire rack at least 25 minutes. Serve pie with vanilla ice cream.

Photo courtesy of myrecipes.com

 

Burlap continued

I had posted here about some burlap curtains I made for our dining room, and I questioned what to do with the extra burlap.

Thanks to my friend Lauren, for her guidance and encouragement in making burlap footballs for our front door.

Here's the pics and easy tutorials :)

This was the first football I made.  Then I realized this tan burlap matched our front door perfectly, hence making for a not-very-pretty-colored door hanger.

So I scooted back to Jo-Ann's and bought some chocolate burlap to make this:

Happy Crafting :)