Whew!

Ok so the final fantastical weekend in October is in full swing and we are savoring each moment as Halloween night approaches. Here is what we did today:

1. Went to Michael's for pumpkin lights
2. Filled up with gas
3. Went to farmers market for produce
4. Went to meet starfish, sharks and other sea creatures
5. Had lunch
6. Napped (including Mack - yes!!!)
7. Made apple spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
8. Roasted pumpkin seeds
9. Played outside
10. Frosted cake
11. Enjoyed silly face lollipops (Halloween gift from Aunt Jen)
11. Ate cake for dinner with a big glass of milk & some strawberries to give it some sort of healthy edge
12. Finally snuggled in for some Halloween TV specials, down time and bed....

And I am exhausted...but loving every single second. I love the chance to build traditions with my boys and just have fun. Maverick declared "Today was fun!". And it so was.

And now the photo essay version....or for expanded coverage check out our Flickr stream...

Starting with the sea creature special this morning...(pay no attention to Radley's contraband paci. He has been struggling this week with a few teeth cutting through, so he is getting a pass for a few days. Maverick is still done...thank goodness)


Sea Snails...


Touching a sea slug...icky!


Starfish:


Checking out the shark:


And to hear Maverick exclaim when I ask him if he wants to help make cake - "Yay!!! More cooking!!!" does my heart good.

It is not as swift and not as clean as if I did it myself, but it is soooo much sweeter doing it together. I spent their nap getting things pre-measured and ready to pour into the bowl and doing a bit of prep to keep things moving and easy for him...and he had so much fun. And his pride in the results of his applesauce spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting are worth any spilled flour or egg gunk dribble that required a few extra seconds of clean up. I declared it delicious as did he. If only I could bottle up that sense of pride for when I really need it in a few years.




Once that was in the oven, he helped me prep the pumpkin seeds too...


We played outside for a bit to burn off some energy:




I think they were pretty worn out....


But we still had things to accomplish in our day....for today's potty training award...a Halloween present from Aunt Jen (not that Radley is potty training yet, but he reaps the rewards from Mack's efforts):






Frosted the cake...


And had cake and a BIG glass of milk and some strawberries for dinner...


And to end this massively long photo essay of our day, the following is what happens when I try to get both my children in one photo looking the same direction...preferably toward me... and in focus...



















And can I just close with saying how much I love, love, love babies in cowboy boots...be still my heart!