My Little Baggar Vance

The Elmo costume he begged and pleaded for is hanging lonely on his doorknob. After days and days of trying.....he still won't put it on. No, he has not fallen out of love with Elmo, he just has a "thing" about the costume. Poor, poor, lonely Elmo. If I could fit it, I would wear it, just to include him in my son's Halloween fun!

So....a golfer he is. More fitting if you ask me really. People have always commented that he looks "English" or "old fashioned" since the day he was born. Especially when his hair was red and curly. This outfit looks just like him. The cardi is my husband's from childhood, it's brown and gold as is the bow tie.

Since I know there are some anxious people out there wanting to see him..... I trespassed on a golf course to take these, and ended up using the wrong lens. That's what happens when you trespass I guess!!!! One is all I had time for, in between activities.

Happy Halloween All!!! Be Safe! Have fun! Brush your teeth tonight!....well, you should brush your teeth every night, hygenically speaking.

The Pumpkin Palace...

Or um, itty bitty haunted house. Park had an absolute blast digging the seeds out, and carefully helping me clean them to bake. Every time we would cut another one open he would peek inside and make the biggest "O" of his mouth and then yell...MOMMY LOOK AT ALL DOSE PUNKIN SEEDS, I GOTTA GET EM' "...diving in with both hands and part of his head.

Since you can't see it in the other, she is flying over the side of the house. Bad picture...cool effect.

Halloween Week Treat

Okay, let's face it.... I'm not really a normal mom. I don't really do things the way things normal moms do. I'm a little funky. Unique per say. Yesterday was no exception. I wanted to make a treat for Halloween. It's important for me to make this week ultra fun for my baby. Anytime there is a holiday, you can bet I'll be celebrating for 7 days instead of just 1.....I love holidays, and one day of celebration just isn't enough. (Christmas is a whole month of celebrating!)
My baby LOVES to make stuff, especially if it involves egg breaking or cream smearing. Here's the catch, I wanted to make sugar cookies, in the shape of ghosts, pumpkins, cats, etc and frost them ..... and well, I really stink at making easy things, or things that I believe should be easy. Cookies in particular. Mac and Cheese for another. Pancakes too. Sooooo. I made cream filled eclairs instead. I topped them with cream cheese frosting (Colored orange and chocolate) and sprinkled them with white chocolate. They are like a dream in your mouth. Or a fluffy cloud. Seriously. And SUPER easy!!!! You can fill them and top them with whatever you like.....so I'll just add the recipe for shell.

Super Easy Mini Eclairs
1 stick butter/margarine
1 cup water
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Melt the butter and water over medium heat until boiling. Add flour a little at a time until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and cool. Add eggs one at a time with mixer. The dough should me smooth and sticky. spoon onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Cut in half and pipe filling in ( I just use a ziplock bag) That's it!!!
I filled mine with just whipped cream (homemade) instead of Bavarian cream.....it's lighter to me. Plus if you haven't figured it out yet.... I have a real thing for homemade whipped cream!!!!

It's a Rock and Roll Day.....

He was looking especially rock starish today. I thought it deserved at portrait.... or two.... or three, or four, or twenty.

Familar Faces and One New One Too!

Today started out to be a blustery cold horrible day and by the time it was time to take these photos, it was beautiful and sunny. It was perfect. They also brought along someone I've been waiting to meet..... she's pretty tiny and perfectly content to let me oogle over her as much as I wanted.

Two Ladies and a Little Man

These kiddos had soo much energy and were soooo much fun!!!! I got hugs right when I walked in the door and they didn't even know me! I love that. They were full of life and loved each other. The wind was blowing at least 90 miles an hour so it was a workout for everyone.

Autmn's Splendor

Another Public Service Announcement

I am now completely booked for 2008. I'm happily scheduling for January and February now. Thanks!

Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage

Since the cake was a bust I decided to try something else. Something more seasonal. Something that surprisingly tastes sensational. I had really expected to not like this dish, but tried it anyway, because I force myself to try new things every now and again. (I'm a really picky eater and it's a major mental process for me to try new foods) This was absolutely delightful and perfect for the season... and it wasn't really pumpkiny at all. (In case you were worried about that, because I was) The only drawback to this, is that you must peel a pumpkin. If you've never done that... look out, it took me a half hour just to do that. (I have a thing about not wanting to slice my fingers off... so I'm kinda slow)

This would be perfect for a Thanksgiving sidedish.

Definitely being served at my table.

Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage

Ingredients:

1 medium pie pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks

4 shallots peeled and quartered

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup fresh sage (this is a must, the fresh sage really compliments the pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil, and sage between two large rimmed baking sheets; season with salt and pepper, and toss. (I put it all together on one sheet and it worked just fine. I also use coarse kosher salt to season and it really brought out the flavors!)

Roast until pumpkin is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing once and rotating sheets halfway through.

I got this recipe from the Martha Stewart food magazine and here is the recipe online along with other helpful hints about sugar (pie) pumpkins ( I know I know, please don't make too much fun of me....)

Cake in a Cup

There was a little email circulating the Internet today that gave directions of how to make a cake in a cup. I thought to myself that this is just the perfect project for me today as I was craving something sweet. Plus it only takes a few minutes. Too good to be true? A little. While chocolate cake in minutes sounds convenient..... much like anything that is cooked in the microwave in minutes, the taste is a little, um, dry. But it was worth the try.

Here's how to do it if you would like to try anyway. Just for fun.

MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) a small splash of vanilla extract 1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Her: This is what you're feeding me today?
Him: Mmmm grass!

Mmmm leaf!
Her: The blanket is a little OK.
Him: They took my grass away.
Now that I'm alone, I can smile.....just a little itty bitty tiny bit.
I got a pumpkin.......it won't fit in my mouth.

Now we're talking... I look good.
Get it off.

Thanks to the Methodist Church for letting us borrow their pumpkins for the last couple of days. They are for sale there. If you need one....go pick one up!!

edited to say: wanting to give credit where credit is due, here is a link to the information about the "pumpkin patch" at the methodist church. With a lot of other fun events here around town!

Sublime Sunday

I have to say.... I love shooting little boys. They are so full of energy and life and curiosity. And you can tickle them and wrestle with them to make them giggle!


I'm also a total sap for little baby girls in fetching little hats with wide beaming eyes smiling right at me.

Marvelous Start

I love to start my day with a good cup of coffee and smiling baby. Especially one that has previously been a serious sal. He was happy as a lark this morning! The sun was just warm enough. We weren't cold. It was ideal. He just got his first two teeth in. He learned how to wave and point and say "hi" recently as well. I just get a kick out of them when they start learning so quickly!!
Like I said, it's a marvelous start to a day when you get to enjoy fall's rapture with a baby.

It's the Great Pumpkin Patch!

I really couldn't live with the fact that I didn't get to go out to a patch and pick my own pumpkin. Nor could I stand the fact that my son was denied tromping through a field and hauling his own pumpkin in either. I had seen another sign simply reading "pumpkins" with an arrow pointing a few weeks ago on the way to dinner in Fort Collins. So today we went to check it out. It was amazing. The most perfect autumn afternoon that one could ask for. On my way there, I drove through back roads past farms and fields. I scared up flocks of blackbirds and watched them scatter to the wind. I love blackbirds in the fall. We drove into the yard of the actual farm and parked. There was no fee for merely parking and we got to traipse through the fields for as long as we wanted. We lingered for nearly an hour looking at all the different kinds of pumpkins. Picking the perfect ones. (The perfect ones to my son were green. I came home with green pumpkins. ) We played in the hay and admired the animals. It was a very relaxed atmosphere that I really appreciated of the owners and told them so when we left. I also thanked them profusely for helping my son and I to have a perfect afternoon.

We came home to hot apple cider that I had put in the crock pot before we left. The house smelled scrumptious when we walked in the door. Tonight we will read "It's Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to commemorate our day and because it's my absolute favorite fall book for kiddos.
You adults out there could also read "Wicked" ..... it commemorates the season as well, detailing the Wicked Witch of the Wests' side of the story. You'll never see Dorothy in the same light.


The fields weren't green anymore...but it didn't matter in the least to us!

He was careful to examine them. All of them!

And this is quite possible the most plump pig I have ever seen!
This was taken right before he went into a rendition of "10 Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"...which he attracted quite an audience for. He loved it!

If anyone needs directions to this wonderful place, give me a shout!