Halloween: It's not about trick-or-treating....it's about survival.

I loved my job as a teacher, but there are a few days each school year when I'm glad I'm not running crowd control in the classroom. Today is one of those days. Also on the list are the day before Christmas vacation, Valentine's Day and the last day of school. I'm no scrooge (well, that's not entirely true), but something happens to children on these days and teachers don't get much teaching done because they are too busy herding little people about the school. The little sweethearts we know and love morph into wild-eyed, sugar-seeking, party-crazed wild things. It's true. Don't believe me? Ask any elementary teacher. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. Some little darlings remain little darlings in spite of parties, full moons, fire drills, field trips, etc.. Nothing rattles their continence. But for a majority of youngsters self-control does not come quite so easily, especially on days like today. So this Halloween I am glad to be out of the classroom and happy to spend the day at home with my little goblin and our little goblin puppy. Best of luck, dear teachers.

How to make the most of a call night....if you're not the one on call.

Believe me when I say I would much, much rather spend a night at home with my husband than by myself. I know some women would love a quiet night home alone, and there are times when I find myself enjoying my alone time more than I anticipated I would, but I always prefer to have Jeff at home with me and Ben.  The novelty of eating what I want for dinner and watching what I want on TV or going wherever I want wore off after about his 4th night of call. But I have learned how to make the most Jeff's ridiculous work schedule because the alternative is, well, sitting around pining for my husband and waiting for life to go on when he gets home from work. Here's what I've come up with for a successful night alone:

1. Eat whatever you want. My go to meals are cereal or peanut butter toast.

2. Go someplace you enjoy. I like to go on Target runs.

3. Enjoy the outdoors. Today I took Osa and Ben for a nice afternoon walk.

4. Find a hobby. Currently mine is knitting. Scrapbooking, exercise and baking have also been favorites (although the whole exercise thing has sort of gone by the wayside now that my little buddy occupies most of my day).

5. Make plans with a friend in the same boat every so often. Misery love company :)

6. Go on a field trip to the hospital...if it's not too hectic at work for your spouse that is. Before Benjamin came along I used to love visiting Jeff at work, especially if we could meet during dinner. Eating alone for every meal during the day can get a little old. It broke the day up for me, and for him too I think. Now that I have my little guy tagging along with me we make our visit between dinnertime and bedtime. Benjamin lights up when we visit his daddy and Jeff always jumps right in to give him some attention.

7. Boot up Netflix or Hulu and stay up late watching shows, some ridiculous perhaps, that your spouse may not enjoy as much as you do.

8. Turn the heat to whatever temperature you like. I've got my thermostat set about 4 degrees higher than we have it when Jeff is home and the electric blanket is set on high. Cozy.

9. Do something nice for your spouse. I know that if I were putting in 30 hour days (how is that even possible?) I would feel so loved by anything my husband did on my behalf. It doesn't have to be anything big....perhaps baking their favorite cookies, putting away their laundry or mowing the lawn...and they don't even have to notice that you've done it. It just feels good to know that you have loved them while they were gone.

10. Lastly, don't despise your spouse's work or long hours no matter how easy those feelings may come. Remember that part of the reason that you admire your spouse is because of their drive and passion for their work. Don't take their absence personally. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that most people who work 30 hour shifts would much prefer a 9-5 schedule. I have to remind myself that Jeff's not choosing to work crazy hours. His career demands it, but he loves his career so it's worth it. It makes me happy to know that.

There you have it. Now have a nice, quiet night alone because tomorrow night you'll be cooking dinner and watching an action movie.

Copycat....or dog.

Benjamin loves, loves, loves his puppy. He likes to greet her in the morning with some pets and hugs. He enjoys digging and splashing in her doggy dishes. Osa and Ben entertain one another with games of Tug O' War and Follow the Leader...and by follow the leader I mean Benjamin follows Osa around the house while she tries to find a quiet spot away from him or Osa follows Benjamin around the house while he eats his snacks. These two are becoming best little buddies and I get such a kick out of watching them together each day. Well I'm afraid that Benjamin may admire Osa a little too much. He seems to do things just the way that she does them. For instance I've seen him laying on her doggy bed, climbing in her kennel, ringing her doggy bell, trying to eat her food and so on. Yesterday he picked up a new little habit of hers...eating off of the floor. Now my child has eaten things off of the floor before. Don't judge me. You know that your kids have too, and if you don't have kids yet they'll do the same thing one day. But when I say eating off the floor I don't just mean picking food up and putting it in his mouth. No, no. That would be a normal toddler behavior in my opinion. I mean that Benjamin dropped his Kix on the floor, got on his hands and knees, and then proceeded to put his little face to the floor until he was close enough to pick the cereal up with his mouth....just like Osa. Next thing I know he'll be scratching at his ears with his feet. Let's just hope he doesn't take to greeting his friends with a friendly sniff, if you know what I mean.

*Photo from about a year ago when Ben was just 6 weeks old.

Grandma's pumpkin cookies

One of my favorite things about fall is heating up the oven to whip up some baked goods and take the chill out of the house. I suppose I turn the oven to bake and 375* a little more often then I should, but I can't help myself sometimes. Today I made up one of my favorite recipes from my sweet Grandma R. If you haven't had your fill of pumpkin goodies this fall and your house feels chilly, these cookies may do the trick.

Grandma R's pumpkin cookies
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup dates (optional)
nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Combine both mixtures. Stir in dates and nuts if desired (I prefer adding dates and nuts, but the cookies are good without too).

Bake @375 for 8 minutes

Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
hot water (until desired thickness)

Pumpkin dip for apples

We have great neighbors. Seriously. Great neighbors. And not just one household of nice people, but several. They're the kind of neighbors that bring rhubarb and tomatoes, that shovel the sidewalk and take down garbage cans when you're out of town, and that give friendly hellos and conversation when you're out in the yard. Our neighborhood is one of the things that I'm going to miss when we move next summer.

One of our sweet neighbors brought us a treat last weekend....apples and pumpkin dip. It was so simple but so, so good. Of course it helps that the apples they brought us were honeycrisp and came straight from an orchard, but the dip was really good too. I've already made up another batch for the apples we picked up at the orchard the other day. If you like pumpkin flavored goodies try this dip. It's great with apples, but I think it would be yummy with cinnamon chips or graham crackers or as frosting.

1 8oz container Cool Whip
1 can pumpkin
1 package vanilla pudding (unprepared)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
*Whip together until fluffy

A knight, a princess and a dragon.

A few of Jeff's coworkers hosted a pre-Halloween Halloween party with some really yummy food including butternut squash bisque and pumpkin monkey bread. The food was fabulous and the company was fun, especially since people were decked out in individual and family costumes. There was a pirate, and Star Wars family (princess Leah played by the father and Darth Vader by the mom = pretty darn funny) and many others. I already had a costume for Benjamin, purchased on clearance and with a coupon to boot last November. When the invitation said costumes encouraged we decided to have a little fun with it. I made Jeff a knight get-up out of felt, duct tape and foil candy wrappers and made my princess skirt with some pink tulle and some more pink tulle.

So here is my little family, my Happily Ever After. Jeff suggested that our back story should include him rescuing me from a terrible dragon only to find it had a baby dragon which we then took in for our very own. Pretty sweet, don't you think?

You know why they call them hard-boiled eggs?

I love deviled eggs. Love them. I hate making them, but only because of the peeling. I never know what's going to happen from one egg to the next. I peel one egg and it looks perfect. Then I peel another egg and it looks like garbage. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. When I get lucky I think to myself, "Okay, I have to remember the exact circumstances under which this egg was cooked/cooled/cracked/etc." Then I peel the next egg and realize that the first egg was just a little white and yellow miracle. So I usually end up boiling extra eggs and use the ugliest ones for egg salad while using the decent ones for their desired purpose. I feel like I've tried it all...cold water, warm water, baking soda, rolling, shaking, room temperature eggs, old eggs, cracking the shell all over, blowing, praying. Nothing seems to work, and that is why they call them hard-boiled eggs....because they are boiled but they are hard to peel. Since posting about my egg-peeling woes on Facebook I've received a few more tips. I have to admit that when I read the suggestions I may have scoffed a bit (sorry friends, you were sweet to offer help), but frankly I had already given up the cause. That is until my neighbor friend gave me the perfectly cooked and peel-able hard-boiled egg guarantee. So I put all of my eggs in one pot and gave it a shot and what do you know???? It worked! I peeled an egg, then another, then another until they were all peeled and in perfect condition. She has forever revolutionized my egg making.

Here's the secret. Steam your eggs. Get a basket steamer. Put some cold water in a pot. Place the eggs in the basket. Put a lid on it. Turn on the burner and set the timer for 18 minutes. Peel. Done.

Now give me some candy...

Have you ever seen Adam Sandler's cheap Halloween costume idea sketch from Weekend Update on SNL?  I got a bucket on my head. I'm crazy bucket-head. Now give me some candy. I have...thankfully.

Benjamin is not the easiest child during diaper changes. Ever since he started crawling you just never know what you're going to get on that changing table. Sometimes he lays nicely and is just the most perfect little boy. Other times he turns into this freakishly strong Hulk of a toddler who flips around in the blink of an eye. I'm not exactly sure how a 23 pound person can out-maneuver and strong-arm a (I'm not disclosing my weight) grown woman, but somehow Benjamin manages to muster enough strength and speed to make diaper changes last for what seems like an eternity. By the end of those changes we are both in a sweat and we both need a hug. Jeff and I have discovered a few tricks that involve singing, dancing, zerberts and so on (this is where I came up with "What's New Poopy Pants" ala Tom Jones). It's like the Cooper comedy hour every time we go to the changing table. Most of the time we can find something to distract Benjamin or entertain him for the duration, but every once in a while he tires of our usual tricks and we have to think up something new in a hurry.

About a week ago I was trying to change Ben's diaper. I say trying because we were mostly just wrestling one another. In a moment of desperation I grabbed a bottle of lotion that was nearby, put it atop my head and said in my most animated bucket-head voice, "I've got a bottle on my head. I'm crazy bottle-head lady. Now give me some candy." Ben laughed. I did it again and he laughed harder. And so I continued to come up with variations as I changed his diaper and all the while he laid perfectly still, smiling and giggling. So now every time I change him I come up with as many cheap Halloween costumes as I can. Usually Benjamin provides me with a few ideas.

I've got a sock for a hand. I'm crazy sock-hand. Now give me some candy.

I've got a diaper on my booty. I'm crazy diaper-booty. Now give me some candy.

I've got some snot on my face. I'm crazy snot-face man. Now give me some candy.

I just can't wait to see how people respond to our little act the next time I have to change a diaper in the Target restroom. "I've got a paper towel for a face. I'm crazy paper towel-face. Now give me some candy."