Trick or Treat on Turner Street

Happy Halloween! This year, we crashed the annual Turner employees Halloween party. We didn't get wristbands (they started a new system this year), but since we both have employee ID badges, we thought we could probably get away with roaming around the Turner campus with our kid in costume. :) Luckily, we were correct and Frankie had a blast. Also, it was nice to be in a place where most people 'got' Frankie's costume, although he did get the random, "Oh, he's Popeye." No, he's not. Popeye looks like this:


Flapjack looks like this:


Checkin' out the bounty:


The many faces of adventure!


Finally, a good view of the costume.


Looks like it's going to be 80% Creepy in Atlanta tonight!


They had these amazing machines that made bats and ghosts made out of bubbles that would float up and away into the air. This was clearly Frankie's favorite part of the evening, as Juston held him up to try and grab the bubbles.


You can see the bats in this picture:


It devolved into this, where we had a near accident when Frankie leaped from Daddy's arms trying to get at a ghost. Luckily no one was hurt and Frankie came right back for more.


Having fun with the plastic playthings:


Lastly, my favorite picture of our family.


Happy Haunting tonight!

The tiny tie

Last week, we made Frankie wear a tie. I picked it up about a year ago for 99 cents and there hasn't been a good opportunity yet for it (or really the proper shirt with which to pair it.)


But perhaps of more interest than the tie is that hair. It's not a mullet anymore, but it's long enough for a ponytail. We're still resisting a haircut because the shaggy look suits him so well.

I forgot one

This is really only for grandmas and the like since everyone else gets it already and wants to move on since you've pretty much seen this picture before.



No other news. I'm irritable and I have to go to work in the morning, so I should probably go to sleep.

Flapjack

Here are the best photos I have of Frankie "Flapjack." He didn't really want to cooperate at the Ward Halloween Par-tay; there were too many distractions. Since I was kind of in charge of the party (primary puts it on every year,) I didn't have many chances to take photos. Luckily we'll have more opportunities later in the week for costumed fun.

I'm not the greatest sewer, but I managed to put together this shirt out of a ladies' shirt from Goodwill. It's not going to hold up to repeated beatings, but it works for Halloween. (Frankie was jumping off of the coffee table, as usual.)



Because he was so distracted at the party, he actually wore the hat without ripping it off. I was nervous since all previous attempts ended in much protesting. He was cute!



And on another note, I've blogged my heart out. Come on people, validate me!

PugFest 2008

This past Saturday was PugFest, an annual fundraiser for the Southeast Pug Rescue (www.rescuepug.com). Bridget was a 'mummy,' which worked pretty well until she shook the bandages off; people still figured it out and thought it was pretty funny. We were only there for about an hour, as we had a very packed day, but it was a good time as always!

We put in a donation so Frankie could kiss a pug. Wait, we paid a dollar for this? I mean, doesn't he kiss a dog all the time for free?

Frankie meets a pumpkin pug.  Of course, he thought every fawn pug was Bridget and called them all by her name. 

The Bridg. 

Pumpkin Patch

So on the way home from PugFest, we passed this really corporate pumpkin patch. It was super cheesy, with an over-priced rabbit petting zoo, some inflatable bounce houses, and of course, very expensive pumpkins (I got a huge one at Trader Joe's the day before for under $5. Wednesday night is carving time!) We decided to stop and snap some pictures! What else does one do in the face of rows and rows of Halloween goodness?

Amongst the gourds.

Frolicking.
Big jumps off of haystacks!
More big jumps! And more....he did this for at least 15 minutes.
Having a MONSTER time!
Probably inappropriate, but Frankie loooooooves pumpkins.

Photo Shoot

Nice lighting and a few minutes to kill = Juston has the camera out and snaps some photos! These were taken the first weekend in October.

I'm tired. Here's a preview of what's to come...



+ Halloween stuff and Pugfest.

Because I said I'd do it....

...here's the recipe for Halloween Sugar Cookies. This is seriously the best recipe I've found for sugar cookies, hands down.

Halloween Sugar Cookies:

2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. milk
2 eggs
7 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. b.s.
4 tsp. b.p.
2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees
(it just depends on the oven — experiment)
Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick on floured surface.
Bake for 5-6 minutes (on greased cookie sheet) until very pale
(do not overcook — this also takes some experimenting).

Here is the buttercream frosting recipe:

3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat with electric mixer for approx. 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Sleep deprivation, up too late blogging

There's no overriding theme here - these pictures were in my 'October' photo folder and hadn't made it online yet, so here they are.

Jutson looked at this picture before I re-sized it and said, "Wow, he has tonsils!" We broke open the fun-size Peanut Butter M&M's last week because we couldn't wait. I know better than to buy candy that I like to give away at Halloween, so blame that one on me. We're now doing M&Ms as a potty-training bribe, though, so we can only eat them when Frankie isn't looking since he needs to associate them with 'award.'



He's such a happy kid.



As you know, I did go to New York City two weekends ago. I took a lot of pictures, but as there's really nothing to blog about from my pictures, I selected this one as proof that I was there. This was on the Staten Island Ferry; my friend Brooke and I took the ferry to see a public art installation of waterfalls on the river? bay? The large body of water surrounding Manhattan. I did have a great time without having a toddler around, although I did miss my boys while I was there. I did a little shopping, but everything was crowded that I didn't do nearly as much as I'd planned. Besides, most stores have migrated this way (the hip-hop H&M, etc.), so I decided to spend my time walking around and just taking everything in. I went to Brooklyn to visit my friend Sarah from grad school, I visited the Museum of Modern Art, I ate lots of yummy food, and I went dancing! (I know, it's been a long time since I've done that.) Thanks, Brooke, for being a great host and hanging out with me until after 2 AM two nights in a row. :)



See how happy I look?

Next up: Pugfest, Pumpkin Patch, AND the ward Halloween Carnival this weekend. Photo ops abound.

Juston wants this for Christmas.

Juston's blogging contribution.

Juston wanted me to post this on the blog since he doesn't have a blogger account to do it himself.



He then told me to 'beat that.' If you can, I would take that as a challenge.

Le weekend.

Friday night we made a mess and we made brownies. Frankie loves to help bake, as you can see (you can also see that we still need to put up the backsplash in the kitchen):



We had ourselves a big Saturday yesterday; not only was the weather finally fall-ish, but I ran a 5k while sick (not so impressive - I was really slow) and then we went to our neighborhood festival. It was small, but we have really great neighbors and had fun catching up with them. The party involved pony rides, but unfortunately we got no photos of Frankie petting horses (he was too afraid to sit on one, although he did grow to like them as the festival wore on.)

We then went to lunch at one of my fav Mexican places, where Frankie's drink was bigger than his head:



After refreshing naps, we gussied Frankie up for a going away party with some friends. (We'll miss you, Moffits!)

Frankie makes brushing teeth look good. (And Grandma, the coats fits perfectly.)




While at the party, Frankie and Abram decided to entertain us with their piano skillz (which are nil.)



Check the speed!



Very happy boys.



Sunday involved church and lots of pajama-wearing and consumption of the brownies from Friday night while complaining about politics to the Mormon missionaries.

It's been a good weekend, really laid-back and actually relaxing. And one of these days I'll get stuff off of my camera from my trip last weekend. What can I say, I'm lazy.

I'm now a minimalist. I'll have to see how I feel about this.

Another tag, floating around the blogosphere....

This is a new tag that I haven't seen yet - 7's & 8's. I will probably do only one so as to not bore you all. I have a load of new pictures and videos, but I'm too tired to upload them to my computer right now, so you'll have to wait, but check back soon. This one is courtesy of Sun.


7 things I plan to do before I die...
1. Watch Gone With the Wind, Birth of a Nation, and North by Northwest. It may sound strange, but I get some weird looks when I tell people I haven't seen them and I work in film and teaching. Whoops.
2. Go back to school - if I can suck it up for another 6 years (PhWhat?)
3. Visit Japan
4. Learn to drive a stick shift
5. Run a 10k (that's for you, Wendy, you half-marathoner, you)
6. Learn to sew
7. Read lots more books and watch lots more movies

7 things I can do...
1. Write really long papers (I'm very long-winded)
2. Research trivial factoids
3. complicated step aerobics moves (I've got skillz)
4. write basic HTML booyah :p
5. sing
6. remember really insignificant facts and events (my memory is AMAZING when it comes to unimportant stuff)
7. be fairly entertaining while lecturing or teaching a class (I think)

7 things I cannot do...
1. Sew. Except for reconstructing t-shirts (shout outs to Sarah F.)
2. cut a straight line with a saw. Remodeling taught me this.
3. remember where I put my keys. Ever.
4. sit through a presidential debate. It's so painful I have to turn off the TV.
5. keep a cool head when I'm running late for something important.
6. eat fish. Seriously? Ew. The smell alone makes me ill.
7. Enjoy watching sports on TV. Sorry hon, you're on your own for that one.

7 Things that attract me to my spouse
1. we're totally bookends - I can't believe I found someone that compliments me so well.
2. we have loads of fun together.
3. his mad skillz in many areas - I mean, the guy remodeled a whole house! plus he's great at his day job, too :) (check the vids on CartoonNetwork.com for proof!)
4. he's cute!
5. he's loyal and committed
6. his willingness to let me be my own person (aka I dragged him to Atlanta so I could follow my dream)
7. his compassion for others

7 Things I say most often
1. Let's go!
2. Bridget! (In a scolding sort of way)
3. Get down from there!
4. Be careful!
5. Love you! (these are all turning into exclamations)
6. I'm so tired
7. I need to go to bed earlier....

7 Favorite foods...
1. cheese mmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm
2. dr. pepper (I'm leaving this one. throw in some cherry, too. heaven!)
3. Trader Joe's salsa
4. french fries
5. pink lady apples
6. pineapple
7. watermelon


We'll start the 8's and see how far I get before naptime ends....

8 favorite tv shows:
1. Tom Goes to the Mayor (RIP)
2. Dexter
3. Uhhhhhh anything on HGTV? I can't believe I admitted that in public.
4. Big Love
5. America's Next Top Model, until this season. Tyra's getting a bit out of control.
6. Heroes, but again, this season is just getting too big for its britches and it's kind of frustrating me.
7. Colbert Report
8. InfoMania on current.com (hooray for Sarah Haskins!)

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. Brake Pad
2. Cantina La Casita
3. No Mas! Cantina
4. Front Page News
5. Malaya
6. the Publix deli (best sub sandwiches, hands down!)
7. George's burgers & beer (best burger in tha' ATL)
8. can I say chick-fil-a without getting beat up?


8 Things That Happened yesterday:
1. went to the doctor for my 'well woman' exam (hate the term 'well woman')
2. watched 2/3 of Finding Nemo, not by choice, while playing with trains
3. wrote a lecture on irony, satire, and parody in film
4. signed up for the Beltline 5k this Saturday (you should too! It's FREE!)
6. watched 2/3 of Cry Baby, a John Waters film, on YouTube in 10 minute spurts
7. went to the gym and read my book while exercising (The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Loving it.)
8. put away two loads of laundry and mopped the kitchen floor, you know, domestic stuff

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Getting enough iron (FE) in my system to not be so tired!
2. Bridget learning not to poop on the floor
3. Frankie - potty trained!
4. Christmas - we're going to Utah, and it'll be fun to watch Frankie ride on the tractor and play with the horses on the farm.
5. having a fence 'round my backyard so I can send aforementioned dog outside to poop without my own involvement in the ordeal.
6. the ward Halloween party; I'm not 100% in charge again this year so I'll be able to enjoy it more, plus Frankie's at a totally fun age for that kind of stuff.
7. making 'thee amazing Halloween sugar cookies' (I'll post the recipe again as I've had requests - it makes like 60 cookies per batch!)
8. fall weather, because it's too stinkin' hot here today!

Looks like I made it all the way through with nary a child's peep! (I've got two under my stewardship today.) I tag Annie, Wendy, Vanessa...ummmm....who else reads my blog...Aimee, Amy R., and whoever else. You can do 7's, 8's or both! We'll leave it at that. Pictures soon, as well as more videos of even more death-defying jumps by Frankieman.

Tell Me!

I need recommendations on stuff to do in NYC. You know, places to eat, shop, art, etc. This will be my 4th trip there and I want to try some new things.

Thanks in advance!

On Cars....

It's official, cars hate me. First there was the gas crisis....see the Mad Max post below. Fist fights, cops directing traffic at gas stations, dry pump after dry pump...it was crazy. Juston snapped a picture of waiting in line to get gas a couple of weeks ago:



Luckily, there's more gas these days as I was able to fill up the truck today. But you may ask, 'Mary, why are you driving the truck? What happened to your car?' Well, my friends, my car gave me quite the birthday present. I was on my way to pick up Juston so we could go out to eat when one of the tires decided to shred itself up on the downtown connector. Luckily I was almost to Juston's work when it happened, so he was able to get to me pretty quickly and put on the spare.

Frankie was none too happy about being strapped in his car seat - he wanted a piece of the action.



Side of the road.



Happy 29th! (My car *still* smells like burnt rubber.)



I now get the privilege of buying a new tire. I'll actually have to go do it one of these days.

I wasn't really in the mood to eat after finding myself stranded on the road, but Juston took me out anyway and then we did what most adults want to do on their birthdays - we went to Toys R Us so that Frankie could play in all of the miniature vehicles. He had a blast. We're secretly preparing him for his trip to Utah at Christmas when he'll get a chance to ride in real versions of all of these cars.





And just so you know, it's okay to eat your organic baby. Oh, and I locked the keys in the truck today. The fun continues!