the festivities

grouchy pumpkin -- the 2009 version

as i sit here with my mug of cider and my toasted pumpkin seeds, i think i can say we had a very successful halloween.
we started off the morning by purchasing our cider and pumpkin at the farmers' market, followed by an afternoon of watching the buckeyes stomp their opponents something fierce. next we carved the pumpkin, sorted the guts, and made our pizza.
our candy at the ready, we greeted kids at the door. between bites, we enjoyed seeing many cute little ones for trick-or-treat. after dinner, we dressed our little sweetie in his costume, and daddy took him around to the neighbors' houses for a quick-or-treat (it was a little chilly, and sam's got a bit of a cough). sam was highly interested in all the kids coming to our door, so we sat by the front door so he could see what was going on. we ran out of candy shortly before 8, but things had pretty much quieted down by then. all and all, i think it was pretty good.

getting prepped and ready.

what you REALLY wanted to see. sammy as a candy-corn! i think he gave me cavities just by being in the same room with him. too sweet!

needless to say, i was very happy with how the costume turned out. even if it wasn't what i had originally planned, i think it turned out well. maybe we'll ninja-up next year (when putting something over sammy's mouth hopefully won't be so trauma inducing -- wearing a candy-corn costume for 45 minutes was trauma enough for one night!)

apropos of nothing...

autumn eats

after eating all kinds of super yummy fall foodaliciousness at missy's place last week (still waiting on the recipe for those pumpkin cookies and creamcheese/maple/cinnamon icing *hint hint*), i decided i really needed to cook up some of my own. not to mention that sammy ate the pumkin like such a champ, i wanted to see if my luck would hold out.
it was so nice, i could've eaten it twice. sammy, on the other hand, thought once was enough.
joke's on him. i've got leftovers for tomorrow.

missing mississippi

our trip to mississippi was definitely one to remember. seeing oscar, introducing sammy, talking and visiting until the wee hours...what a blast we had! not to mention the corn maze, the pig races, the hay ride, the pumpkin patch, the pecan walk...so much fun! it was hard to arrive home sunday night and be "just the two of us" again.

sammy and i are both looking forward to this christmas when we'll get to see the southern gang again. maybe next time sammy will be able to join in the running around, not just watching and smiling and squealing with delight as his cousin speeds by.

we miss you guys. thanks for having us, and we can't wait to return the favor!

road trippin'

and we're off today to visit this cuteness (well, this cuteness about 10 months later). i can't wait to see how oscar has changed since we last saw him. and so excited to introduce sammy to the fam down in mississippi. sam in his carseat for two days is a little scary though. wish us luck. i think we'll need it!

8 months old

it's almost been a full week since sammy turned 8 months old, and i've finally gotten around to taking his photo. he may not look all that different in pictures, but he's definitely growing (and the box of clothes that he's grown out of is also growing). he's been trying lots of new foods and putting his teeth to good use, and is now getting around quite easily by crawling. he likes to stand whenever he gets the chance, and is on the move before i can get a clean diaper or a pair of socks on him. he's definitely keeping me on my toes.

as much as i hate to leave behind his little baby phase, i'm definitely enjoying "big kid sammy" and all that he can do, and games he can play, and things that he laughs about, and i'm looking forward to what's next on this boy's agenda.

wednesday morning, train stop

in general, i would say that i very much dislike getting up while it's still dark. but when there's a sky like this waiting with me at the train stop, it's not so bad.

here come the holidays

a few of the samples that i sent out to the nature center folks last night. i haven't heard back yet. *fingers crossed* i hope i get the thumbs up on at least one of my layouts.

happy friday!

it's another grey day here, but there's no way it's going to get me down today. there are just too many nice things today to let the rain make my smiles soggy:

• it's friday, which means mike will be home this afternoon. yay!
• we get to go to columbus tonight for football and visiting tomorrow.
• yesterday i was able to find both a new pair of black flats and a pair of convertible mittens to replace those that are showing signs of extreme wear (i.e. filled with holes). if you know me and my tiny feet, you'll understand how happy i am to find shoes in a store that are the right size (and are from the grown-up section! woot!)
• today mom and dad (or grandma and grandpa h) are celebrating their 38th anniversary! congrats you two! we're so glad you survived four kids to make it this far!
• tomorrow sammy celebrates his 8-month-iversary
• a week from today we (i, sammy, and g&g h) will be on our way down to mississippi to visit my favorite sister and her family! we're so excited, we can hardly stand it!

confessions of a soup-lover

hello, my name is robyn, and i am a soup-aholic.

i have soup for dinner at least three nights a week. i just love, love, love soup. sometimes i do store-bought, but i really prefer to mix up my own when i have the time, or can't justify stopping at panera (they have super-yummy vegetarian options almost daily and you can get them in a bread bowl - pinky fingers up!)

anywho...yesterday i decided i was in the mood for black bean soup (we just bought a bulk carton of black beans and yummy produce at the farmers' market - woot!), so i mixed up what i thought was a pretty good estimation of what you can get at panera (which is where i first had black bean soup, and it was awesome and life-changing). this is approximately what i did (give or take. i'm lousy at measuring and keeping track, as previously stated):

super-easy, quick-n-yummy, black bean soup

• 2 cans black beans
• one large tomato, diced
• one medium green bell pepper, diced
• one medium onion (yellow or red - i had yellow on hand), diced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp cumin (or more. i think i used more. i love me some cumin)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• dash of black pepper
• several blops (that's a technical term) of green tobasco
• some cilantro (because i can never use an entire dealy of cilantro, i've resigned myself to using this paste-stuff that they have in our produce section. it's not as good as fresh, but better than nothing), to taste
• one veggie boullion (sp?) cube + about 2 cups water (you could probably use one can veggie broth and some water, but i was cutting corners)

the how to:

saute the onion and pepper with a little olive oil cooking spray until they're soft. add the tomato. stir. talk to the boy. tell him to stop grabbing your legs. start fixing husband's dinner. add the black beans and stir. add your seasonings and stir. put the boy in the jumpster. tell him it won't be long until dinner. give him some cheerios. hope the husband comes soon to rescue the boy who is feeling dejected. add the water and boullion cube. stir. let simmer. finish making husband's dinner. heat up the boy's dinner. using your blender (i have one of those wand dealies that i used), blend up all or part of the soup so it thickens up as desired (i like mine a bit chunky still.) call the boys to dinner. serve the boy his dinner. let the husband get his own dinner. serve yourself. enjoy.

note: this makes about three good-size servings, or two dinners for me :)

image via here. i wished mine was so photogenic, but it's not. it's probably just as tasty though.

friday pieday

this past week has been so fall-like (grey, chilly, rainy) that i decided i really needed to make an apple pie. not that i really wanted to eat an apple pie (though i do enjoy pie, that's for certain), it was more that i just wanted to bake, and we had a very large bag of grannysmith apples in the fridge, and i also wanted to take the opportunity to use these (which were still in their packaging). so i did. and i hear it was good.

anywho, i feel better now.

mmm...therapy pie.

sleepy boy + jumpster =

what sammy did while the electricity was out this morning.
luckily, the power came back shortly after i took this, so i was able to put in some laundry and do a few other things while he was napping.

cheerio downpour

this past saturday we were ushered into a new stage of life with sammy -- the self-feeding, finger-food stage.

in my mind this meant a lovely goodbye to the days of a frantic, starving, little boy clutching at and mouthing certain body parts (most of which i prefer not to have looking damp in public) while i am trying to shop for socks, cook a meal, or attend a meeting with a client (yes, i have been crazy enough to take him to meetings.) huzzah! sammy could be pacified with a small handful of cheerios! i couldn't think of anything cherrier or oh-ier!

of course, now we have the related consequence of cheerio consumption...the random-cheerio-rain-effect. i guess it's sort of like lake-effect snow. the cheerios blow across the boy, which results in a downpour of cheerios that blanket the surrounding area. or something. at least they're also moist and disgusting. now there's an upside. and can anyone explain to me how a whole cheerio got into his diaper? while he was still wearing his onesie?!?

oh the joys of parenthood...