Halloween on Thanksgiving? Yep.

Boy oh boy has it been awhile since I've been around here. The last month got away from me somehow and I'm now forced to write about my Halloween weekend on Thanksgiving day.

I think my absence is because writing can feel exhausting for me. When I get tired or overwhelmed I choose not to write. I've been doing a bit of a transition at work and it has required lot of my brain power. I feel like I have had very few brain cells left to commit to anything much less this space. I think things are bit under control now, so here I am and here we go.

Over Halloween my Mom came into town. Oh my, was it fun to have her here! We shopped, laughed, cooked, talked, rested and took a lot of pictures of this little munchkin (how could we not?).

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch. Actually, we took three trips to the pumpkin patch and the first two trips were duds (as I made an embarrassing mistake of getting us all there when the patch was not actually open). However, when we finally made it it was worth it. We got some cute pictures. And, all of us together picked out three pumpkins - one for me, one for Jesse and a baby one for Jude.

After the trip to get our pumpkins I forced Mom to make strawberry jam with me. Strawberries not in season you say? Well, this little momma purchased some strawberries really cheap in May (before Jude was born) - was it part of my nesting? I don't know. But, I cut them all up and froze them knowing that I wouldn't be able to accomplish this task until I had a couple of months of mommyhood under my belt. So, October was time. Time for a bit of jam making.

Mmm. Mmm. Lots of mashed up strawberry goodness. I didn't follow the directions on the package exactly and that seemed to worry my rule-following mother. I must admit, I tend to be a better cook than a baker simply because my recipe-following behavior is a little free-spirited. It makes Jesse laugh when I predictably pull out of the oven a less than perfect batch of cookies. For some reason, though, I can't seem to reign in the free-spirit in the kitchen.

Look at that massive amount of sugar and pectin. Strawberry jam coming right up!

Batch one. Done.
And, here's the whole lot. Toast and jam for breakfast? Yes, please.

The next day we dressed Jude up as a dragon for Halloween. Mom and I decided he was not just any dragon, but "Puff, the magic dragon" no less.


We sang the song "Puff, the magic dragon lives by the sea . . . " all day long. And, although the costume was a bit hot for Jude he played his part well.

Roar!
He was the cutest dragon I ever did see!