Finally feeling like myself...

I don't know if it's Brooke sleeping through the night, the change of the season, or the fact that I basically "got a week off" since I went to Chicago for business last week, but I'm feeling more like myself again. Regardless, we've had a super busy weekend, full of all kinds of Halloween festivities.

First, Friday afternoon was my office kid's Halloween party. Last year I was basically in charge of the entire thing by myself, so I didn't get to enjoy it with Luke. This year I told them I'd help before hand, but I was enjoying it. And enjoy we did. Luke's favorite parts were of course the eating (cookies galore!) and trick or treating around the cubicles in the office. Everyone goes all out decorating and it really gets spooky. Luke is still talking about all of the "scary guys" as he says.

Then I started making Brooke's baby food. Can you believe she's 5 months already?!?!? Where has the time gone? I still plan on starting her on bananas, avacado, and brown rice cereal, but butternut and acorn squash were on sale this week so I decided to freeze some of it into cubes too. Just chop the squash in half, la in a baking dish with 1=2" of water and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Then scoop out of all the "meat" and place in a food processor or blender. Then add a little bit of the water that the squash cooked in. Roasting squash as I've read retains the most amount of nutrients and adding the water which it roasted in adds back some of those nutrients.

Then process and spoon into ice cube trays. Cover with seran wrap, freeze, and then pop them out and play in freezer bags. Be sure to label what it in the bag and the date you made it. Butternnut squash looks and auwful ot like carrots and sweet potatoes and acorn squash looks a lot like pears and applesauce. =)

Then toss the skins into the compost pile. Did I mention Todd put a compost pile together for me??? I can't WAIT to start a garden next spring!!!

Then,take the flesh that you scooped out at the beginning, put it in a strainer to seperate out the seeds. Then toss the seed in olive oil and kosher salt. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 min! I also saved a few before cooking to plant next year. =)

Then we had our neighborhood annua Children's Halloween Party in the Park! This is our third time going and thie first one where the weather has actually been decent and we didn't have to come home after 20 minutes because we could no longer feel our toes. =)

Anway, it all starts off with a police escorted "parade" from in front of our house down to the park. Of course the kids get a big kick out of this.

Then they have the custome contest. Luke won 1st place last year for his "duct tape" costume. This year Brooke won in her $2 Walmart bee costume. I'm sure it didn't hurt that she smiled the entire time we stood in line...

There was also a chili cook off forthe adults. I submitted Rachel Ray's Tex Mex Corn Chip Chili. It was okay, but didn't win. There was some tough competition though.

Then there are tons of games for the kids to play. We could not get him away from bean bag game. He NEEDED another set of dracula teeth. =) That's his new thing b the way....everthing is "but mom, I NEED it!"

And Luke's other favorite thing was the hayride. It's nothing big, just a neighbor who takes his "tractor" (aka riding mower) through the "haunted woods" (aka the tiny patch of woods with a couple older neighborhood kids that jump out with masks).

Oh and the other boys in the picture are our new neighbors. They are such well beahved boys and take Luke under their wing just like another brother. We're been really blessed with great neighbors and getting to know them better and better has been great.

Time for bed, hope everyone had as wonderful of a weekend as we did!