New Hats

I've started wearing a couple of new hats, that of a work-at-home-mom and the other of a blog contributor.  I know.  That last one seems almost laughable considering how frequently I've updated my own blog lately.  My first contributing post albeit short but sweet went live yesterday.  I was asked to shoot some photos initially and this just sort of happened.  You can check it out at www.burbsfoodie.com 

Kind of like work.  I wasn't looking for a job.  One just happened to find me.  The arrangement is right for a busy mom with littles that still need a whole lot of little kid sort of attention.  I work  from home in the afternoon while Maxwell naps and/or at night once both boys are in bed.  

So October passed in a blur of foodie photo shoots, a weekend at the cabin to help chop wood for winter, a trip to the neighbor's family farm, trick-or-treating and a myriad of other adventures big and small that keep us Flynns hopping.

You'd never guess from some of these photos that this is October at Horseshoe:

Yep.  Our kids were IN the lake.  Swimming.  In October.  It was crazy.  Those kids are crazy.

And the Landelin Farm.  Oh my.  I shot well over a thousand pictures that day.  Seriously.  We took Gator rides, played hay stack tag, made friends with horses and kittens, picked pumpkins big & small and got a first-hand view of what a real, honest-to-goodness, all-American farm looks like.  Agriculture.  It was incredible. Awesome.  This, friends, is how food gets on our tables.  It's pretty amazing to think about.

Halloween brought with it the appearance of Bat Max and Super Chan.  (Don't tell Channing I called him Chan.  He much prefers Channing and is very vocal about it.)  It was chilly.  The boys had a whole lot of fun though.  And candy.  Way.  Too.  Much.  Candy.  Of course.  That's what Halloween is all about.

Right around the corner is Channing's birthday.  We're going with a Scientific Celebration this year.  He's inviting a few friends from the neighborhood and a few more from his class at school.  We've traditionally invited parents and siblings too.  It's hard to break away from that.  This year felt like time to do it, especially since the kids will be doing hands-on experiments at the party.

And that, in a nut-shell, is October.

Boo!

Six weeks...six crazy, fun-filled weeks have passed since last I posted to this blog.  I'm to the point where a end-of-year recap will be necessary to fill in some of the bits and pieces of life that didn't make the blog in a timely manner.  See, I have this thing where if I don't post within a couple days of something happening, it gets skipped over.  

Today though, I made a point of getting the boys into their costumes, pretending to trick-or-treat at our very own house, just so I could snap a few pictures to show and to share.  

They're sweet.  They are good to each other more than not.  See?  Proof.  I'm saving this for when they're a little older and at each other's throats.

Max was less than thrilled about picture time.  In PJs yet, I bribed him with an apple to sit in the green chair for a couple of shots.  Really, I just wanted a picture for my Instagram feed, but then they were so cute and those toes just begged to be first tickled and then photographed so the big camera came out.  It had dust on it!  [GASP!!!]

He liked the apple.  Just a little.

Channing was all about pretending to scour the neighborhood for candy, carefully walking Maxwell down the sidewalk a bit before turning him around to approach our house from the proper angle.  It was great practice for tonight, right down to eating the KitKats I offered them.  

Last year, Channing couldn't decide whether he wanted to be a shark or a dragon.  The costumes were so cute and reasonably priced, I got them both.  Better to be prepared than face a complete meltdown, right?  This year, without hesitation, it was the dragon.  And, he announced one day that Max would be his knight in shining armor.  

That little hoody, I whippped up this morning during nap time.  The shield is just basted to the sweatshirt.  I used my handy dandy Silhouette Cameo and some fabric I had in my stash to make the oversized patch.  After tonight, I'll clip the threads and the sweatshirt will go back in the drawer as a warm layer to be worn for the rest of the winter.  

Tonight might be short lived.  It's cold.  It's damp.  Channing's had a fever off and on for the last day or so.  We're skipping the neighborhood Halloween pot luck in an effort to keep our germs to ourselves.  Nonetheless, there will be costumes and candy.  

Halloween wishes to you and yours!!

Quite A Spook-tacle

Admit it.  You've heard it in the distance.  A low, grumbling that leaves you wondering, 'Did I just hear something?' as you quickly convince yourself noises like that don't exist or rather what makes a noise like that doesn't exist.


Let me tell you something.  You're wrong.  Here's proof.

Blue, one-eyed monsters really do exist.  They rumble.  They wrawr.  It's like the roar of an everyday common monster but ten times scarier.  They cause quite a stir among the guys hanging siding on the house going up next door, amid MN Landscape Arboretum Halloween Party goers and general passers by who are lucky enough to catch a glimpse.

They even ride bikes.

Amazing.  Completely amazing.

Happy Halloween to you and yours.  RAWR! 

Me Made A Spooky

Oh yes, and ate quite a lot of it too.  Channing was in tears the other day after leaving Michael's without his much desired haunted gingerbread house.  To the tune of $20 bucks, I loudly said no.  He was crushed.  Seriously.


When we passed a similar kit on a recent trip to Target, I made a beeline for the shelf and snatched up the last one, hoping that the slightly crushed box would not reveal a pile of crumbs.  $10 bucks.  Now that was do-able.

Channing told me again this morning.  Me make a spooky with Daddy.  Not you.  You take pictures.  True.  That's exactly how it went down.  I pulled the box of goodies out of the car after our evening visit with the neighbors, grabbed the camera and let the guys at it.

Michael did the assembly.  I read the directions as I shot the pictures.  Channing ate the candy, licked the icing off his fingers and did a little decorating here and there.  I about died with delight when he globbed all kinds of frosting between the peaks of the roof and poured nearly all the sprinkles on top.  

This guy was very protective of HIS candy decorations.  I repeat:  HIS!

Love how you can see the sprinkles cascading off the roof in this one.  Priceless!

In the end, our haunted house looks nothing like the one on the box.  I'll bet the food stylist who created it didn't have nearly as much fun either.  Ours came out one ooey, gooey, sticky spooky mess.  Does it matter that it isn't perfect?

Channing sums it up perfectly here:

Who cares?