Cody's Fall Class Party

So, along with 2 other parents, I am hosting the Fall Party in Cody's class this year.  Halloween is not one of my favorite parties, but I like to get in there for the first party so until I get to know the other parents I know what will be safe and who I can trust.  So in the division of responsibilities for the party, I naturally got the food.  So first I think we will order pizza, what a treat, right?  Then I will bring some carrot sticks and grapes so I feel like there is something healthy there, even though no kids will want to eat it, and I will make some cute Halloween sugar cookies.
As you know I like to involve the kids in party planning so I run this whole idea past Cody, and it gets the big NO.  He does not really like pizza.  I know, what kid does not like pizza?  And the answer of course is Cody.  Is he allergic to it, no.  He does not really like the sauce, because sometimes is squirts out from under the cheese and sometimes the cheese gets a little brown if you cook it too long, and why do people put other things on pizza besides cheese anyway?  I think I have said too much already.
So I ask Cody what he would like for us to have for lunch.  I remind him that it is a Halloween party and we are not having anything too far off the theme.  He decides on pumpkin shaped sandwiches.  ( He wants them to be grilled cheese and his will be but the rest will be ham or turkey, shhh don't tell)  With that he wants the Halloween shaped pretzels, and he wants me to bring my apple corer, peeler, slicer and slice apples for his friends to see me do it.  And for dessert he wants Krispy Kreme donuts that look like pumpkins.
That lunch will be safe and fun for sweet Cody.  And I have to give up on my idea of convincing him that hot dogs wrapped in breadsticks to look like mummies would be much cuter and go with the sandwich...oh well.  It is his party not mine :-)

I love PUMPKINS

So Fall is my favorite time of the year, and as you can tell by the infrequency of posting that it has me pretty busy.  Starting off October on the road has got me playing a lot of catch up, but it sure has been worth it.
I will come back to the Disney trip, but for today I will talk about my favorite Fall thing.  PUMPKINS!  I love to photograph them, eat them, carve them, play with them, go see them, you name it I love me some pumpkins.
I always say that next year is the year that we will do a big pumpkin trip to some amazing place far away, and I guess I will say that again.  We got a pumpkin at Corn Dawgs this year, and I guess that one will have to do.  We carved it last night and that was fun.  Cody and Emilee had a heated argument about what he would look like.  Emilee's stand is that Halloween is scary and the pumpkin should be scary, and this is coming from the girl that would have been afraid of the pumpkin she helped carve.  Cody said he wanted it to have a happy face since pumpkins were so nice.  So I was with Cody on this one, but I let them work it out.  Well Emilee did finally agree that she did not want to be scared by something that would sit at our front door for the next week and she agreed on the triangle eyes, rectangle nose, and big smile that Cody designed.
I have also been on the search for some yummy pumpkin comfort food.  My SIL sent me a pancake recipe that I want to try.  Another friend sent me some sinfully delicious looking brownies, and today I had some pumpkin chipotle salsa that I found at Whole Foods this week.  And of course there is the forever beloved pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks....now that puts a smile on my face anytime of day!

I will keep you posted on my cooking endeavors, until then get out there and enjoy this weather and have a pumpkin something for me.

Corn Dawgs Slideshow

Another free digital slideshow by Smilebox

How was Disney? The Trip There

So many people have asked...how was your trip?  So here is more of an answer that you ever wanted.  I will break this into a few posts as to not bore you to death.
Today's topic, traveling with a 3 year old and a 5 year old.
When we leave for vacation we like to leave early.  Cody gets so excited the night before that he refuses to go to sleep.  He did it for Disney and he did it before the beach this year too.  What can you do?  They like that we sneak in when it is still dark outside and tell them it is time to go.  They have a potty trip and then head to the car in the pajamas.  In the past this has lead to nice naps as we travel.  This time that did not happen.  They were so excited that Emilee slept for about 20 minutes at one point and Cody for about 30.  Oh well...
Cody is an excellent traveler.  First of all he should get some sort of award for his bladder.  He went the whole way there without needing to stop.  He was fine to watch movies, play Memory, and eat.
Emilee, well she is a different story.  That much time sitting still does not work for her.  She is not much of a movie watcher, at least not for long periods.  And she gets bored and fidgety quick.  So I bought several new coloring books, brought toys, and moved to the back myself to help entertain her.  The best thing ever for traveling is the new Twistable Crayons by Crayola.  Now you don't want markers in the car for obvious reasons, but my kids have never been that fond of crayons, until the Twistables.  No paper to peel and put on the floor of the car, no breaking, no sharpening, for me and Emilee they are a dream come true.
So we made it there with one potty stop and one gas stop in just about 7 hours.
What happened once we got there?  Stay tuned to find out.