Trunk-R-Treat? Trick-R-Treat?

Who doesn't love the trunk-or-treating? It's safer, simpler, and easier than trick-or-treating. I remember when I was 8-9-10 years old and this started getting more popular. As a kid, walking through a gauntlet of heavily decorated car trunks FULL of candy was kind of awesome. The best part for me now is that they are (usually) super family friendly; void of the scary and creepy and gross.

Because we aren't familiar with our own neighbors and we don't want to try and trek through neighborhoods with a toddler and newborn with crazy people everywhere this is our halloween event of choice. So, I've been looking around and googling to see what's going on at some of the local churches and decided I should be nice and share!

Hickory Creek Baptist - Fall Festival - October 29, 5pm

Christian Life Church - Fall Festival - October 30, 12-2:30pm

Cross Pointe Community Church - Trunk or Treat - October 30

Sager Creek Community Church - Fall Festival - October 30, 5:30pm

First Baptist Rogers - Trunk or Treat - October 30, 6-8pm

Cross Church - Blocktober Fest - October 30 and Halloween, 6-10pm *

Grace Point Church - Trunk Or Treat - Halloween, 6-8pm

Please feel free to add any information for any other church or community events in the comments!


* $5 admission per person

It's fall . . . time for some white turkey chili!

     I've tweaked this recipe several times and it's almost perfect. It's been cooler this week so I decided I should welcome in the Harvest season with some tasty crockpot food. First, I pull out all my ingredients because half the time I'll forget something if I don't. My hubby eats it plain. I love it with a glob of shredded colby or pepper jack, a giant spoonful of sour cream, and fritos.

 Refried beans keep it nice and thick. I personally just like the cannellini beans (white kidney) and black beans. I normally use fresh tomato and a small can of chopped green chilies too but oh well. And, the enchilada sauce is new. We'll see how it goes. I'm substituting this for chicken broth.

 And, of course, you have to have meat. I love traditional chili BUT turkey is just as easy but it is leaner and better for you. Yay!

 Yup, that's cocoa. It adds a heavy, robust flavor. I usually mash up one small clove of garlic but I completely forgot. I used plenty of the chili powder and red pepper because I also forgot the jalapeno and pablano peppers (what I'd use normally) and didn't feel like running to walmart to find not-so-great peppers (this is what farmer's markets are for, best produce EVER) . I'd probably still add the powder and pepper anyway. I also use a secret ingredient but unfortunately I ran out.*

 MMM. Fresh bell pepper and chopped tomatillo and a hint of sweet and crunchy! I chop these up, not to fine and not to thick so they still hold their own flavor and crunch but are tender. I actually love bell pepper raw with ranch . . . yum.

Once all the cans are opened and the veggies and fruits are chopped I plop it all in together. No pre-cooking or anything.  It should cook on low for at least 6 hours and I like to put it on high for an hour to make SURE the meat is done. I season to taste. I promise it's better looking cooked. It's smooth, thick, and a warm tan color with specs of bright yellow, red, and green. Yum.

                                    

 *Canadian Whisky

Crohn's and Colitis: MUST SHARE!!

I'm so excited I found this but I just wish I'd found it sooner! This cause is very close to my heart. My mom has Crohn's disease and both my sister and sister-in law have Ulcerative Colitis. This is an awesome cause so please look into it! I'm not sure if we'll go yet because the hubby has to work (BOO!) but if I can I'll be there in a heartbeat and I'll be sure to share here ASAP if our plans can change. Regardless, everyone else should go walk and donate!

Take Steps, Be Heard for Crohn's and Colitis

NWA Children's Museum? PLEASE and THANK YOU!

     I'd heard rumors about something like this floating around. I am SO excited to find an actual feasible bit of information on this possibly coming to fruition. Check it out. Someone is definitely seeing the want/need here in NWA! With the American Art Museum opening in a month and the new Bentonville library flourishing, I think people are really starting to realize the potential this area has to be a metro hub for family-oriented activities and events. The community would benefit so very much from this and I hope to hear more about it soon!

Because I'm awake . . .

Oh my word. It's 5:30 am (ok 5:27 but who doesn't round up?) and of COURSE I am still awake. I have company in my little N for once. She's half asleep on my lap and Ice Age is on. I feel so wide awake. THIS is how I wouldn't mind feeling during the day. Not that I feel exhausted during the day either. I've been managing one long nap and lots of short cat naps or just 10 minute lay-down-breathe-deep-don't-die-time-out times.

I decide to aim for a slightly different route and be a little more personal here. I don't want to make a job out of blogging because that's boring and silly when it's not . . . me? Oh gawsh that's vanity at it's best. I get a pass though because I'm . . . well, I guess not. I'm vain as all heck and so is everyone so suck it (your lollipop that is . . . nom nom nom).

Here's me attempting not to be as snarky as I just was:
((BREATHES))

Nope I think I meant to breathe out. Breathe in good, breathe out bad right? That honestly doesn't make sense. Sounds like looney psycho crap to me . . . but I guess that means it suits me so I'll stick with it.

AnyWAY . . . I'm so out of it and it should be apparent by now. But by golly I am almost caught up on laundry and this blog now looks spectacular compared to it's dreary-blahness-layout before. I did something BESIDES browse pinterest, babycenter, and stumble for once.

I think I'm gonna get N cuddled up with me and try to sleep. TRY.

I'm looking forward to a happy blog tomorrow (err . . . later today). We're going to the pumpkin patch and PAINTING (seeing as how my toddler is much safer throwing paint than throwing knives) pumpkins. It's gonna be fun. We finally settled on going to Farmland Adventures so I'll also be SURE to be critical and nosy and share my effervescent thoughts on the experience here.

GOOD MORNING!

Puke Vomit Throw-Up Hurl Upchuck Barf

Keep hydrated people it's sick season! I so love the fall. So much so that I always manage to forget it's what seems to be the beginning of Flu/Virus/Cold season.

Well, these past few days were fun. I won't share details about the massive loads of laundry afterwards or the pitiful sight a toddler being sick for the first time. Me and mine just got over a stomach virus. Boo! Not fun. DH got it first, then N started in with the pukin' the next day, and a couple days after she came down with it I started up. Thankfully, DH and I were only sick ~24 hours and N was only sickly for ~48. It totally skipped over E (yay breastfeeding!). Hopefully it will only take a few days to recoup but who knows . . . E will be 6 weeks on Saturday and I'm anticipating a growth spurt which probably means little sleep and lots of clusterfeeding.

Meanwhile, N is a happy camper with her new pink sparkly converse (yay ebay!) and my amazing DH completely cleaned up the living room yesterday (the floors were desperate to be seen again).


I have to add ginger root tablets were my saving grace and my hubby can make a mean bowl of plain white rice.



Now, I'm going to go rest while E is napping and N is watching some weird NickJr show (it's Yo Gabba Gabba, but I don't like to admit it).

<3

How is it all ready mid-October?

Insomnia

Sweet sleep
You're way too deep
At least for me
I kind of think
We're no longer in sync

I'm not sure about this relationship
I'm not sure I have the patience
Anymore
To wait for you
Anymore

But you're so sweet, sweet sleep
Give me a ring, leave a message at the beep
Just let me know
When you'll show
And we'll make romance
On clouds of dreamy, glory we'll dance
Take my hand
Sprinkle the sand
In my eyes so I can cry sweet tears of relief
No more grief

Oh sleep
Come back to me
Just a nap
Just a zap
Of energy
Let's create some synergy
I can't wait
Anymore
I can't wait

Sweet sleep
You're way too deep
At least for me
I kind of think
We're no longer in sync

Let's not wait until I die
To spend some time together
I may cry
If I don't see you soon
I feel kind of like a loon
Dreaming as I wake
I'm thinking for the sake
Of sanity
We need to meet
And make amends
Don't retreat
No obstinate demands
Just an open invitation
To make sane a . . .

Splendid, solemn, sadly strange, secretly sweeping, sweet addiction
To staying up late
To finding all the ways
I can relate
To all those other crazies . . .

Sweet sleep
You forsake me
Don't keep
. . . taunting
. . . teasing
. . . tweaking
My existence
Let's reconcile
I'll close my eyes
Take my hand
And as I dream all the while
Heed my cries
And sprinkle some sand . . .


I shared this little blib I wrote on facebook and I may as well share it here too because plenty of moms can relate I'm sure.

pumpkin patches & trick-or-treatin'

OK. Seriously. The weather may be a wee bit chilly lately but is it not absolutely glorious in the afternoon after that insane winter and sweltering summer?! I'm loving it. I so wish we had a yard.

I also have to say the moby is going to be so perfect with E. I got it with N and started using it a lot at the end of spring and summer. It's a bit warm for that so I'm excited to have it for fall and winter.

Anyway, ya'll have to look into all the fun stuff going on this month. The month of October is pretty much a close second to Christmas (err . . . December, everything from November 26 through at least January 2 is "Christmas" though right?).

I'm having a hard time deciding which pumpkin patch we're going to this year. Officially, we're tight on cash or I'd hit all of them up. We went here last year. We had fun but the 7 month old N was not to sure what we were doing, although she was curious about the animals in the petting zoo and hubby loved the corn cannons. We'll have to make our decision this week or next and as soon as we make our trip I'll post about it here. Any recommendations are totally welcome!

Here are a few of the options out there for your pumpkin patch trip:

Farmland Adventures in Springdale

Ozark Corn Maze in Cave Springs

Huck's Corn Maze in Lowell

And I'm sure there is more out there.

The other thing I'm truly looking forward to is taking our girls out to trick or treat. There is going to be a store-to-store trick-or-treat at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade. There will also be door-to-door trick-or-treatings (that's a lot of dashes) in downtown Rogers and downtown Fayetteville. Again, we've made no firm plans. We're going to be dressing up the girls and wingin' it (makes us feel not-so-old . . . more dashes). Hopefully, the toddler will be in a good mood and the newbie will tolerate our crazy.

For more event information definitely go look at NWA Events Online and NWA Motherlode. (Those two links are also available in my local links list to your right if you ever happen to need them!)


P.S. If you're bored or exceptionally superb at memorizing stuff I dare you to go memorize this. hehe

The Moby

Mama (Me) and E walking at the park

Oh, how I love it. It was a Christmas gift. N was due in March. I totally forgot about the thing until a couple weeks after she arrived. I pulled out the ginormous (technical term) roll of fabric . . . and thought "ha! yeah right!" . . . . To my delight the learning curve wasn't so steep. I wore N in that thing absolutely everywhere. She loved it. I loved it. I rarely even pulled the bucket out of the car. Even if she fussed the slightest bit when I pulled her out of the car seat she'd always settle beautifully once she was cuddled close and wrapped tight. We enjoyed it fully until she was a chunky 9 months and then I finally had to put it down because it began to hurt my back when she got a little to demanding with her movement and I was expecting little E. There's something spectacular though about being that cuddly close to your baby and still being able to function. (Trust me here, you can reach around it when you're doin' your bidness even better than with the growing bebe belly. haha!) I was so thrilled that before long I'd get to pull out my ginormous wonder-wrap and cuddle close to my new love. Oh, and it was love again and so much more. Let me tell you, if these were made available to more women they may not mind having their kids spaced close together. (That may be a stretch.) But, for real, after she nurses I can put 1 month old E in here and sit in the floor to play with 19 month old N, load the dishwasher, use the lady's room, and conquer a basket of laundry with BOTH hands. No swing, bouncer, toy, or soother could match this thing (not counting the boob here). I seriously recommend it. Once you get the hang of it, the only reason you know you're wearing it is that sweet warm body snuggled to yours and that little head made constantly available just under your chin for kissing. If it was logical and cheap, I'd get one in every color and compare them to shoes. I should get paid big buckaroos for all the marketing I do for it too. (*holds hand out*) I even get this squishy, bubbly feeling in my soul when I see all the down-to-earth mama's on Discovery or National Geographic wearing their babes. I certainly must admit I believe we were meant to always carry our babies: in our bellies, in our hearts, and in a wrap.





All the babywearers out there that caught that pun in there deserve a cookie. I'd give you one but I don't have any because I ate them all. They were good too. Chocolate chip oatmeal, nom nom nom.