Halloween Cupcakes

I should be in be nursing my cold and getting a good night's sleep, but instead I am trying to catch up with some blog posts and finishing up the "snack time" project I volunteered for at Seamus' nursery school.

So we decided to make pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing in honor of Halloween.

Seamus has been my little helper in the kitchen for quite a while. Thomas is just starting out...here's a play by play of the night...

• We read the ingredients and realize we have no buttermilk (argh! the infamous buttermilk ingredient which one never seems to have... if I only had some milk and a lemon but argh! no milk)
• We run to the store for buttermilk and end up with 50 other things, mostly candy for decoration
• The boys are happy as clams as they get to ride in the half carriage/half truck (I'm getting smiles from passersby and I'm proud)
• I try to scoot past the seafood counter to avoid the discussion of whether the lobsters are happy in the tank - no such luck...the boys are out and gawking at the tank...ten minutes later
• We pass through the deli aisle and I see Seamus eating something...turns out he had helped himself to a roll (we went back and bought a few to ensure I captured the one picked at)
• We get to the counter and they are running circles around the Halloween candy display (fortunately nothing comes toppling down)
• Back home...back into the kitchen
• I had them put the paper cups in the tins - success!
• Next I had them sift some flour on the floor - sort of successful, but flour is finding its way out of the bowl
• Next I had them mix some spices into the flour and take turns whisking - not so successful. The boys were splashing flour all over each other, Thomas was grabbing fistfuls of flour and putting it in his mouth (and realizing quickly that flour is not really palatable). Seamus was banging my foot with the whisk while getting flour all over my legs/shoes. Then they decide to chase after each other with whisks in hand, running around the island in the kitchen until they crash into each other and end up crying...

I put them the boys to bed so I can finish icing and decorating. Of course, it wasn't until I had ten bags of candy opened that I realized half of them had been made in a factory "where peanuts, treenuts, eggs, wheat and barley" were processed.  So my creative options were downsized, but I think they were successful (though I have yet to try one).  Something tells me that cream cheese icing and black licorice don't really pair up nicely, but whatever...

Mommmeee!!!

Just a quick post that after months of hearing "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" and encouraging Thomas to say "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" he finally obliged.  (This excludes the indiscriminating mamamamamamamama which he has been saying for months.)

Pumpkins and Hay Mazes

Back in September the boys and I stopped by at Bishop's Orchards in Guilford, CT on the way home from Vovo Helen's house.  Not realizing that they had a seasonal pumpkin patch and hay maze, our quick detour ended up lasting several hours.

First stop - pumpkin patch (one of my favorite photo settings)...Seamus tried to test his strength by picking up (and dropping) several pumpkins.  Thankfully, none of them cracked open which would have forced us to buy more than one. Thomas was happy following right behind his big bro although he wasn't quite able to lift too many.

Next stop - hay throwing.  The boys had a field day in this little precursor to the maze.  They were awed by the big kids jumping off the hay stacks into a big pile of hay.  Seamus and Thomas then relished in chasing each other and throwing hay in each others faces until Mom stepped in and mandated that hay be targeted from the neck down or else they faced eviction from the hay corral.

Final stop (before actually buying produce in the store) - hay maze.  Well this topped everything.  Within seconds Seamus was off.  It was tough keeping up with him while chasing after Thomas who was also squealing with delight. The first occasion where Seamus got ahead of me and "lost" within the maze I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I'm calling his name and he's not answering and I'm running into dead ends. I had visions of Seamus getting snatched by some pedophile through the walls of the maze or getting bullied by some teenager.  Fortunately we ran into each other, literally.  Vowing to not lose sight of him again I raced after him with Thomas in my arms, but to no avail.  He was off again only to squeal with delight when we happened upon each other again.  By the third time he was off I was less frantic, but still continued my search.  About 45 minutes later I had to snatch him up and remove him kicking and screaming so that we could get on our way home.

It was a ton of fun.  

Halloween

Halloween is the best. Not only does it coincide with my favorite season, but I love scary movies, pumpkin carving, dressing up and the like. When I was young, I would create of list of objects or people I wanted to be. We spent several weeks shortening down that list and then finalizing a selection based on what was most feasible to create. We proudly paraded around town in our costumes, and raced around on said night to get as much candy as possible like chipmunks hoarding nuts for the winter. We snubbed our noses at costumes that weren’t homemade and felt bad for those who had to don a plastic store-bought frock that came with the most fragile of masks that somehow always got squashed into several pieces rendering it useless.

I’ve been very impressed by how far Halloween costumes have come since then and no longer look down on store bought costumes (plus the fact that I have little time to carve a pumpkin let alone pull out a needle and thread and start sewing something for my two little lads).

About a month or so ago, the boys and I went into Old Navy where they had this year’s costumes on display. Seamus saw the tiger outfit and decided that was what he wanted to be and began roaring around the store saying, “I’m a tiger…(roar)!…I looked at the monkey outfit and figured that that would be fitting for Thomas as he is into everything at the moment. This year we are again going to my brother Pete’s house to celebrate and see the Park Slope parade. The families in attendance tend to stick to a family-style theme so I decided to be a zoo keeper which is not far from reality. (I’m not sure what Steve has decided to be.)

Unfortunately, that plan was short-lived. Seamus recently decided that he wants to be a bat. I’m not sure why. Figuring he might change his mind again I asked a week or so later…no such luck. He’s still intent on being a bat. I try again with added emphasis on how cool tigers are.

Mom: “Are you going to be a tiger? They’re so fast and scary with big sharp teeth. [Roar!]”

Seamus: “No, I’m going to be a bat!” He says as if pondering the tiger option for a moment.

Mom: “How about the rare bat/tiger?” (Thinking I can improvise and throw a black cape over the costume that no longer has tags.

Seamus: “No, I’m going to be a bat!” He says enthusiastically as if he’s just telling me for the first time.

Think I might give it one more try. If it doesn’t work, we may be pirates and use the costume Aunt Christine gave him (also a favorite character of the moment and theme of his recent 3-year-old birthday party.) If not, I’ll have to find a bat costume and fast.