Happy Halloween from the Perneckys!

This Halloween we're wishing you a very spooky, fun-filled day 

with plenty of tricks & treats,

 

frights & delights,

candy galore,

and plenty of gore!

Don't fill your tummies too much,

with chocolates & such,

and be sure to check under your bed

before you rest your head,

 for you may have a visit from the undead!

Pumpkin patch

Sunday we headed to a pumpkin patch on a very gloomy, chilly morning.  It was the perfect day for a Fall outing.  And for the first time in ages, it was actually chilly in Florida!  It felt so good!

Unfortunately, I thought it was going to be warmer so I didn't bother packing sweatshirts for the kids.  Oops! Guess I didn't win the mom of the year award this time!

We met Matt, Kelly, Leah & Samantha.

Sam is such a cutie pie!

Getting both kids to look at the camera is nearly impossible!

Cam milked a cow

and then we took a hayride

which Reese thought was pretty darn cool!

My kids are such goofballs!

These two gals will be one in a little over two weeks!  Reese was born on the 14th of November & Samantha followed one day later!

Since they go to daycare together, they know each other VERY well!

We always joke that they couldn't look any different from one another.  Reese with her barely-there, very blond hair & Sam with her very thick, long dark hair & dark eyes.  Samantha just started walking last week so we've gotten on Reese to pick up the pace & get her act together.  I mean, she is older than Samantha!

After our long trek through the corn maze Reese was completely pooped out.

 

So she passed out in her sling as we walked.

We had such a great morning at the pumpkin patch!  We'll be carving our pumpkins tomorrow after Grammy flies in from Chicago.  I love Halloween so I'm very excited for this week!  And I'm so happy that we're able to have the windows open to feel the cool, fresh air!  Makes me feel like I'm back up North again.  Happy Fall!

Recent happenings

Since Reese continues to barely sleep at daycare, she is wiped out by the time I pick her up.  Within five minutes of driving, things get super quiet when I ask Cameron, "Are her eyes opened or closed?"  His answer is always, "closed."

So, by the time we get home, she's only been sleeping in the car for about ten minutes.  I feel bad waking her up, so I normally let her sleep for another twenty minutes or so.

 

Cam happily plays his Nintendo game while we wait & sometimes I'm not even sure that he realizes we're sitting in our driveway.  I'll bring groceries in, start unloading the dishwasher or work on one of the many things I have to do in the kitchen before bed.  I put the baby gate up in the garage doorway so the cats don't wander out & watch her through the open hatchback of my car.  Monday evening Cam & I ended up eating our leftover lasagna in the car while she slept!  Talk about killing two birds with one stone.  I get home from work at around six & Reese goes to bed at 7:30, so evenings are all about rushing, shoveling food into our gullets & rushing some more.  It's the American dream, I tells ya.

When I went to pick them up yesterday, Reese's teacher told me that she face planted out of her little ball pit.  Her lip looked so sad & swollen.  I kept thinking about her falling & crying while I was completely unaware at work.

I'm still doing Crockpot Wednesdays & this week I chose a chicken & dumpling recipe but modified it by adding 2 bags of frozen, mixed vegetables & a bunch of spices to kick it up a notch.  I used the Pilsbury Simple biscuits since they're trans fat free.  I have a major thing against hydrogenated oil!!  Click here for the recipe.  I can't yet you how good it is since we still haven't eaten dinner, but I can tell you that it was rated very well.  I've been using this website for Crockpot recipes & it's AWESOME!  There are 300 recipes all with pictures.  I found it on Pinterest which I also love.

This afternoon Cam & I worked on his homework which involved cutting out pictures that start with the letter E.  We chose eyes, ear, elves, eat & egg.

Then my shaggy little guy got a much needed haircut!

Now he'll be so spiffy for his many upcoming events.. we have a birthday party Saturday, we're hitting the pumpkin patch Sunday & then it's time for Halloween!  And... GRAMMY IS COMING!  Yay!  Lots to be excited for!

Pizza & football

This Friday we brought back Perno Pizza Friday & ended up making a sausage, goat cheese & sun-dried tomato pizza on wheat crust.

On Fridays we let Cameron watch TV as he eats dinner, so he couldn't be bothered with looking at the camera.  But at least he smiled, so I'll give him a little credit for that.

I'm pretty sure Mike enjoyed the pizza!

The Bears are playing Monday night football against the Lions, so the kids were geared up & ready to go for school this morning.

Cam had to have his bear, Staley, in the picture too.  

Since Reese is wearing Cam's old jersey, she sort of looks like a boy, so I always make sure I send her with a flower on her head so there's no confusion!

This is how we're able to get out the door on time for work.  We stick Reese in her highchair & she happily eats anything we throw on her tray.  When Cam was a baby, he loved watching his Baby Einstein videos, but Reese pays little attention to them.

And Cam always starts the day with his Nintendo DS or a cartoon of his choice.  Mornings are a major whirlwind around these parts, so we have to do what we have to do!

Here's to hoping the Bears kick some butt tonight!  Bear down!!

Recent happenings

It's been a smooth week around here which has been great & I seem to be getting out of the strange funk I've been in.  Not sure why I've been in a mood since I really have no reason to be.  I've just been noticing that I'm irritable, tired & uninspired lately.  I told Mike that I feel like I'm running on a treadmill... I just keep running & running & there's no end in sight.  Maybe it stemmed from the rut I was in at work.  After going to a conference on Friday with fellow RDs, I seem to be more excited about heading to work in the morning.  In the clinical nutrition world, there's absolutely no reason to become stagnant so brushing up on skills or learning new information is so important to me.

I've been cooking up a storm lately!  I roasted some purple & gold potatoes on Sunday, served along side turkey burgers & a tossed salad.  Since I'm going to be done breastfeeding in about a month, I'm trying to make a conscious effort to eat well so I don't pack on the pounds as I stop.  I'm seriously going to miss that extra allotment of calories!  I'm also joining a gym soon & I plan on working out three days a week.

Picture courtesy of skinnytaste.com

I cooked up some Crockpot Bolognese sauce yesterday which was excellent!  We served it over spaghetti squash instead of noodles which I've never done before.  It was really good & saves about 180 calories per cup.  So yummy.  Click here for the sauce recipe & here for the spaghetti squash recipe.

Cam & I hit the park on our way to pick Reese up from school yesterday.  We played Queen Mommy & King Cameron as we pretended that each tower of the playground was our castle.  We were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves which was awesome.

Reese was so happy to see us!  This is a picture of her that I took from my cell over my shoulder as she laughed at her brother while we sat at a red light.

Since the poor gal barely naps at daycare, I laid her down as soon as we got home & she was asleep in seconds! Had I not picked her up early, she would have never taken a second nap.

With less than two weeks to go, we're gearing up for Halloween!

Although Reese did go trick-or-treating with us last year, this really is her first Halloween.

I was exactly 38 weeks pregnant with my little pumpkin last Halloween. Instead of being a pumpkin again, this year she may be dressing up as a sunflower.  Lauren was sweet enough to pass the costume down from Taylor, but I'm not sure if it'll be too warm for the still toasty Florida weather.  I'm considering just getting her cat ears, putting her in a black outfit & drawing whiskers on her face to keep things cooler & easy.

No, this is not a picture of Cameron, it's some little boy I do not know.  However, this is the costume Cam will be wearing this year.  He's on a huge Mario kick, so he'll be thrilled to wear this bad boy.  He doesn't know the costume shipped to our house today because if he did, he'd want to wear it non-stop.  I'm not crafty enough to make him a costume & I'm far too cheap to spend a lot on something he'll barely wear, so it's cheapies for the little guy!

Anyway, tomorrow is Friday & we're officially bringing back Perno Pizza Friday!!!  We used to make our own pizza every single Friday, but it's been ages & ages since we've last done it.  I typically like to cook up a fancy pizza with goat cheese, figs, arugula, etc, while Mike prefers something classic like sausage.  So we'll have to take turns each week to keep things fair.  Well, hope you're all having a great week!