Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween! We had our trick or treat on Sunday. I still have no idea why West Allis does this and think it's so silly. I think I shared that exact same thing last year. Anyway we had a fantastic day of weather; it was around 65 and sunny. Perfect to be walking around the neighborhood. So I guess I'm a little glad we had it on Sunday because today it's absolutely freezing out and it actually snowed here this morning.

Here's our little Winnie the Pooh and Kitty cat.

Maya was a little shy this year for some reason. She wasn't quite sure about going up to the houses to get the candy. But here she is waiting patiently.

Some houses didn't have anyone giving out the candy. They just had bowls of candy out and you were to just take one.

 Here's another house that said to just take one or beware. If you look closely I think I see Maya has two things.Yikes! Hopefully this neighbor doesn't come looking for us.

 We went around the neighborhood for about an hour and then we went back to our house to hand out candy for the last hour. A good compromise and I think Maya liked that just as much. Overall it was another successful trick or treat day not on Halloween. So silly.

Cabinets

Like I mentioned Cora is a climber and is getting into everything! Yesterday I found her cleaning out the cabinets. She's just learning that she can open cabinets and it's so fun to get everything out. We didn't ever use safety locks with Maya but I'm beginning think we may need to with Cora.

Here she is grunting and pointing (telling) me to go away...she wanted me to leave her alone and let her continue to go about her business. Even though she isn't exactly talking yet she certainly knows what she wants and knows how to communicate to get it!

Last week we had a few days off from school so we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Cora got into the kitchen island there too, of course only after cleaning it all out and throwing everything on the floor first. I'll be honest this is not my most favorite stage. It sure creates a lot of work for this mama.

14 months

Cora is ALL over the place and already 14 months! She is not walking yet but is getting close. She is a climber! Cora loves this little blue chair for some reason. She pushes it all around and then she loves climbing up on it and sitting in it. She thinks she's pretty big stuff!

Pumpkin Farm

Maya's 4K class had a field trip to a pumpkin farm earlier this week. She had a blast! Here she is with Sam and Megan two sweet friends in her class. Look at all the "huge" pumpkins!

Megan, Maya, and Emily on a hayride

It was a damp Fall day but Maya had a fun field trip.
She even got to pick out a pumpkin to take home with her!

Recipe InSeitz - Neiman-Marcus Cookies

I had a MOPS craft night last night at a place called Bloom with some ladies. I am so not a craft person but I put my game face on and the end product was a screen printed trick or treat bag that says "boo!" on it. I don't even know what screen printed means, I was just doing what the craft lady told me to do. We used old t-shirts, some special scissors with a fancy edge, and did a little bit of sewing. Phew! We'll see if Maya wants to use it for trick or treating or not. She'll probably want to stick with the generic plastic orange pumpkin. Perhaps Cora will be excited to use the fancy screen printed "boo!" bag?

Anyway we each brought a snack to share last night and I brought cookies. I think I got this recipe way back in high school from a friend. It was at the bottom of my recipe box and I haven't made these cookies in years. It was fun to try out an oldie but a goodie!  

Neiman-Marcus Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Then mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and mix well. Then stir in the chocolate chips. Roll into balls or use your cookie scoop and don't press the dough down. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. If you want crunchy cookies bake a bit longer.

Recipe InSeitz - Danette's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two weekends ago I went on a retreat with the leadership team of our MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group. It was the first night I had been away from both girls and didn't have to feed Cora before bed. Yay! She did great and daddy did just fine on his own too. I think I need to go away more often because Maya slept through the night but hasn't since then. Hmm...

Anyway we had a great retreat on Pearl Lake. One of the mentors hosted us at her beautiful lake house and it was the perfect setting for our 24 hour retreat. We had tons of great food and treats and one of the treats one of the mentors brought were these cookies. So yummy!

Danette's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup crushed corn flakes
1/2 cup coconut
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream sugars and butter together. Add oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order above. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Makes 4-5 dozen cookies.

Here's most of our MOPS leadership team for the year. 

Such great women and leaders and very dear friends!