Halloween!

We went to a Fall Festival last night at the West End Assembly of God, which is right down the street from us. It was a pretty significant production and A LOT of fun. I think this could join apple-picking at Carter Mountain Orchard as an October staple. Special thanks goes to Pete and Vallie Woods for lending us super-cute costumes for the night.

Our costume-resistant boy finally relented and discovered that it can be quite fun to be a tiger (or a Tigger) for a day.


Owen went as a Hershey kiss (sweet, round and yummy -- just like him!) -- not a princess, as one or two people thought.


Brennan was more participatory than usual and actually played many of the games, which earned him his choice of candy from a tub. He was especially good at dropping the clothespin in the bucket, tossing the bean bag, and throwing the football (I wish scouts from UR had been there). He wasn't especially good at limiting himself to one or two pieces at a time.

We gathered at 6:30 for a big treasure hunt, where candy was hidden in straw across a patch of ground cordoned off by hay bales. Brennan waited with anticipation, but when the rush was on he stayed rooted to the hay bale he was sitting on. He came away with a foot-long piece of straw, which probably made him the big winner in his mind. More lucrative was the trip to the Henrico police department table, flanked by a cruiser and unmarked Dodge Charger with blue lights blinking and flashing. One of the officers beckoned Brennan forward and then dropped a fist full of candy into his pumpkin bucket. Just like that the night's bounty increased by about 50%!

And a good thing too, because this boy likes his chocolate bars. A Snickers bar has served as both a late-night snack and an after breakfast dessert since we returned home.

On that pace it's a good thing we have another Fall Festival tonight at Staples Mill Road Baptist Church!

Half a Year

Has it really been six months already? Hard to remember what life was like before Owen entered our world. He is probably the most happy baby on the planet--sleeps like a champ, rarely fusses. We are definitely blessed! He has gotten much more comfortable in his exersaucer and doorway jumper. Solids are still a challenge with him, but I'm hopeful that a little more practice will get him eager to move on to some yummy items! He loves to smile and laugh at his brother. It's fun to listen him discover the many different and fun noises that he makes, complete with random happy shrieks. Happy half-birthday to our little man!

Last Meal

If I had to choose a last meal, I think it would be this chicken pot pie. Seriously, try this. You won't regret it! The best part is that it makes two pies, so you can freeze one for later or give the other one away.

Old Fashioned Deep Dish Chicken/Beef Pot Pie

Filling

½ cup butter

2 pckg 10oz each frozen mixed veggies

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups chix or beef broth

2 chix or beef bouillon cubes

4 cups cooked chix or beef cut into 1 inch cubes

½ cup flour

2 cups frozen hash browns

1 tsp thyme leaves

¼ tsp garlic powder

Pastry

1 pckg 15oz refrigerated pie crust

1 egg beaten

2 tsp dried parsley

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat, stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for two minutes; gradually add milk, chicken broth and bouillon cubes (breaking up as you stir). Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Stir in chicken, set aside.

Cook mixed veggies according to package directions, drain.

Cook hash browns in boiling water for 6 minutes or until tender, drain. Add veggies, hash browns, thyme and garlic powder to chix/beef mixture.

Divide evenly between two 9 inch deep-dish pie pans. Place pie crust on top of each pie. Fold excess pastry over the top of each pie and press with a fork against edge of pan. Brush crust with egg; sprinkle with parsley leaves. Make sure to slice slits in tip of pastry to let steam escape.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until filling starts to bubble and pastry is golden brown.

Same

Same outfit, same Bumbo. Off the charts cuteness!

Brennan at 4 months

Owen at 5 months

Long Time

Wow, it's been a long time since our blog has been updated! Sometimes, life gets a little hectic and crazy and blogging takes a backseat! And it's sad to say that I'm currently using the excuse of updating the blog to postpone cleaning my house. Oh, well.

I attempted this morning to get some photos of the boys in their "Big Brother/Little Brother" shirts. It mostly worked. Brennan has entered the defiant phase which makes it very difficult to get him to cooperate with anything, including posing for photos (which he used to like). Ah, the joys of an almost three-year-old!

Brennan has also been busting loose with TONS of words lately. We've lost count of how many words he's saying these days. Some of his favorites are "dada home" and "stop sign." He's also recently said his name for the first time and he loves to repeat words that we say. Last night's funny repetition was "dirty butt"--I was changing a messy diaper at the time! He's also started calling for objects when we ask him to look for something. For example, we were at a friend's house and he was outside playing. He came back outside and didn't have his shoes on. We immediately went outside to try to find his shoes (especially since it was starting to get dark), and I asked him to help me look for them. He started wandering around the yard calling "Shoes! Shoes!" All the while, his shoes were by the front door (and yes, I did put shoes on him before he went outside, but he somehow came back in and took them off without me seeing him). He does this with a number of objects--his cup, his toy stop sign from his train set, the moon. We can't wait to hear what he's going to say next!

Twins Love

Playoffs begin today. May this be the year. We're showing our love in this house today! Don't let us down, Twins!

Hot Stuff

Brennan recently developed a fascination with Daddy's sunglasses. He loves to wear them and finds it especially fun to push them up on his head. It appeared time for him to have his own sunglasses.

Welcome October

After a long, hot summer, fall has finally arrived. I couldn't be happier about; I'm definitely ready for a reprieve from the heat and the humidity. October ushered in the temperatures I've been craving, as well as letting us indulge in some fun fall activities, a couple new and one yearly tradition.

Friday night, we visited Tom Leonard's Farmer's Market where they were hosting a Friday night movie in the pumpkin patch. Friday's feature was "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", so we thought it would be fun to introduce Brennan to this classic. Bundled up in our jackets (except for Brennan, who is a bit reluctant to shed the cloak of summer), sipping on hot chocolate and cider, and munching on popcorn, we settled in to our hay bale seats and geared up for the movie. It was a great family activity, hopefully one that will be repeated in future Octobers.

Saturday morning, we indulged in our yearly tradition of apple picking. Off to Carter Mountain Orchard we went to get our fill of all things apple. Brennan was more interested in it this year, and it was fun to introduce Owen to this tradition, even though he spent most of his time in the stroller or in the sling. Twenty pounds of apples later, we said good-bye to the orchard for another year with visions of pies and purees for Owen dancing in our heads.

To cap off our Saturday, we ventured out to the Republican Roundup, hosted by our congressman, Eric Cantor. There was free food (always love free food) and activities for the kids, plus the requisite speech from Mr. Cantor himself. We enjoyed running into some friends of our from playgroup and getting some good time with them, which easily transitioned to a quick ice cream run afterward for a fun dessert outing.

A ride on the little fire truck was all we could convince him to try!