Life as a SAHM- A Fall Weekend

This weekend we spent lots of time together as a family, doing all the Fall things. We went to a fall festival with friends, carved our pumpkin, roasted and ate pumpkin seeds, and watched Hocus Pocus, my favorite Halloween movie! Miss A sat still for about twenty minutes tops, which was surprising, as the only thing she will sit and watch from start to finish is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. My heart was happy and full this weekend.

 

 We took pictures on our front porch before we left to the festival. Reason #3538 why my heart was happy- Miss A LOVED her costume and I LOVED it too! I was squealing over how cute she looked. As soon as I put it on she walked around the house looking for Dada to show it off. I thought for sure she was going to take her hat off in .0 seconds but she kept it on the whole time!

 

It was chilly out so I put on her thick white stockings and a long sleeve T underneath her costume. Luckily her strawberry suit is pretty thick and warm!

 

Walking around the festival with Dada. There was so much to see- ponies (which she liked until they stuck their tongue out at her), bounce houses, games, food, and all the other kids in costume.

 

Must-have family photo op. Miss A was not in the mood for more pictures, clearly. Sorry little girl, Mama can never have enough pictures!

 

We met up with our friends and tried to take some pictures of the girls together. I love this one because it shows how hard it is to get two babies to look at the camera and sit still at the same time. Impossible! :)

 We tried to play some games but Miss A was not interested. I don't know what set her off but she was really unhappy indoors. Maybe it was the noise or all the people in strange costumes?

She was much happier outside on the playground. Until we went to see the ponies.

She was okay petting them, but the minute this guy stuck out his tongue or looked at her, she screamed! Haha.

On Sunday we carved and decorated our pumpkins. She was very involved; sticking her hands inside to grab the "guts" and playing with the seeds (I had to keep a close eye on her for that).

I think they turned out pretty good! If you're wondering why three of the spiders legs are red, we ran out of the black ink and I figured red would work- for blood, of course!

I think she liked them. 

How was your weekend? Did you do anything Fall related? I'm so excited for Halloween now, I wish it was today!

Candy Corn M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few weeks ago I picked up a bag of candy corn M&M's from Aldi. Oh, how I love that store. You never know what you're going to find there, which is a part of the appeal for me. I snipped open the bag when I got home, with my back turned to Miss A, (because she wants whatever I'm eating these days) and gulped up a handful without even thinking. They are so good! If you haven't bought a bag yet, you really should, after all, you're going to need them for these cookies. 

These cookies. Gah! What can I say? I can tell you that they only lasted a one day in my house once my in laws arrived last week. Poor hubby only got to eat one cookie. One! I may have snuck a few for myself while everyone was distracted by Miss A. They are just so addicting, much like the m&m's themselves. I love when a chocolate chip cookie recipe uses brown sugar, because then they end up so sweet and chewy. I also have to tell you that they are the best right out of the oven. But what cookie isn't? It doesn't matter how you eat them, as long as you do eat them, and enjoy them. Yes, yes, you will. 

When you read through the recipe, you'll see that there are two ways to make these cookies. Small and large. I don't know about you, but I like large, fat, chunky cookies. Which means I usually add a teeny tiny bit more than one cup of chocolate chips. That's just not enough for me.  

How fun would it be to make these cookies for your kids on Halloween? Or for a Halloween party? Too bad you can't pass these out to trick-or-treaters. I sure like them better than a regular ol' candy bar. Whoever you make them for, they're sure to love them. Enjoy!

Source: cookie dough adapted from How Sweet It Is

Servings: 18 large or 36 small cookies

2 cups & 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, at room temperature 

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup candy corn m&m's

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and sugars until they are combined and silky smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Gradually add the flour and mix until a dough forms. I like to do this in increments, allowing the dough to come together each time before adding more flour. Once the dough has come together add the m&m's and chocolate chips. Fold in with a wooden spoon. If dough is very sticky, add a tablespoon or more of flour until you are able to handle it.

Divide the dough how you choose (1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tablespoon portions for 36 smaller cookies. I chose to make 18 large cookies.) Shape each portion into a ball,  then pull a part, into two equal pieces (Jessica has a great picture of how this looks on her blog). Turn each half so that the rough side of the half (what used to be the inside of the ball) faces upwards. Squish both halves together and place the dough rough-side up on the baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches in between each if you're doing large cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes if making large cookies or 8-12 minutes if making small cookies. My cookies were done after 12 minutes. Do not over bake, the centers will be soft and puffy, and the edges should be golden. Let cool on the baking sheet and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling after 2 minutes.