Fall Break

Well, I had hoped this post would be full of awesomeness and fun, but it was not meant to be.  

My poor boy Justice is really sick with a respiratory infection, and that sidelined us at the beginning of the week.  By the time he was feeling well enough to venture out of the house, a cold front moved through, dropping the temperature 20 degrees and bringing with it a whole bunch of rain.  I was disappointed that we really weren't able to follow through with our plans, but Justice seemed to be thankful for the rest so it turned out to be all right.  He is tired, and rightfully so.  I know he is young and should have endless amounts of energy, but his brain gets tired every once in a while and he just needs a break.  

The other thing that made everything all right was a new video game.  The boys really enjoy the Skylander's video game series, and Skylander's Swap Force just happened to get released a few days before break.  Justice had enough money to buy it plus a bunch of the game pieces that go with it.  So he and Jack have been snuggled under the covers most of the week playing.  I usually limit time with video games, but if you're sick and it's raining I don't see the point of being a Big Meanie.  

And since we are all rained in, Justice decided to work on some Scout things.  He had two merit badges that were only partially completed that he was able to finish.  One required some internet research on human rights, and the other involved a safety inspection of our electrical system at the house.

He is researching human rights news articles, but I really just took this picture because of the way he is sitting.  How in the heck does he do that for long periods of time?  I have no idea, but this is the way he sits at the computer!  If I sat like that for more than ten minutes I'd fall straight to the ground when I got up.  Oh to be young and limber like that.

Since we were sidelined in the house, Justice asked if we could make candied apples.  He tossed it out there like it wasn't a big deal.  I guess I'm just supposed to know how to do EVERYTHING, but I had to admit to him that I'd never made candied apples before.  Nope, not ever.  We typically make caramel apples in the fall, but never candied.  I found a recipe, dug out my candy thermometer and we went to work.  Well, he went to work.  I walked him through it.  He made the candy syrup but was too scared to dip the apples because he was afraid he'd get that boiling syrup all over himself.  Valid concern.  I kicked Jack out of the kitchen for that part for obvious reasons.

 I have only had a candied apple once in my life.  If given the choice, and in the fall the choice is always available, I always choose caramel.  But last year during football, one of the teams we visited was selling them for a fundraiser.  I bought one and holy cow it was GOOD.  That was my first one.  Justice remembered how good they were and that's why he requested them this year.  

They turned out great, they were really tasty.  

We also baked pumpkin cookies.  There's a story behind these awful cookies, of course.  I make them for sentimental reasons.  My Mom used to bake them every single year, without fail.  They were the "treat" I would take for the school Halloween party.  WHATTTTTT?  Yes, ugh.  What kid in the world wants to take a pumpkin flavored cookie chock full of raisins and pecans to a Halloween party at school?  None, that's how many!  Ohhh Mom, good grief, hahahaha!  Don't get me wrong, these are a really good cookie.  I just don't think they are kids Halloween party worthy.  Anyhow, I make them every year.  I leave out the nuts and the raisins, and I don't put the awful Mello-creme pumpkin on the top like she did for flair, and I definitely don't pack them for Justice to take to school.  She would approve of the changes, I'm sure.  But I do look back on it now and wish I had one of her icky iced pumpkin cookies.

OK, so I wrote the above paragraph before I actually sat down to bake the cookies.  I've been drafting this post throughout the week so I don't forget anything, and went ahead and typed the bit about the cookies.  And then, I actually baked them.  And a realization about the cookies smacked me right in the head.  So we all know that things were different wayyyy back when I was in elementary school, right? Let's think 1970's.  No internet, no cooking shows on TV.  So where did women get recipes from?  Cookbooks, magazines, friends and family.

I already mentioned several times how sentimental I am about old family recipes and my Mom's cookbooks.  I whipped open the 1963 edition of my Mom's trusted Betty Crocker Cooky Book and had an "A-ha Moment" of epic proportions.

This cookbook was like the bible of all cookie making back in those days.  Women relied on print editions of cookbooks to bake and cook and when a new one hit the shelves it was a really big deal.  No internet, no Pinterest.  And this is what I realized for the first time ever today when I was baking these cookies.

The cookbook has a special section for holiday specific cookies.  And there, in the Halloween section is only ONE recipe.  And it's the recipe for Pumpkin Cookies.  And I suddenly realized the reason why I was taking the dreaded cookies to school every year, and why those were the ones she baked every Halloween without fail.  That's what Betty Crocker suggested.  She was young, just learning to bake and cook, and now it all makes perfect sense to me.  It might sound a little bit crazy or lame to everyone else, but it really all came together for me today.

I just can't believe I never noticed it before.

And I do love an old cookbook.  I'm sure there are better recipes for pumpkin cookies out there somewhere, but I have always been really drawn to old recipes.  They are simple.  The ingredients are simple, they are basic, and they are good.  Even the pumpkin cookies are good, once you leave the raisins and nuts out.  Ha.

We also made a different kind of pumpkin cookies.  Sugar cut-outs that just look like pumpkins.  I don't like to make sugar cookies.  I suck at it.  I am not a very good decorator, and I don't enjoy it.  It's too tedious and to be completely honest, I don't have a lot of time on my hands to artfully decorate a bunch of cookies.  But I do love the almondy-buttery flavor of a good and thick shortbread cookie.

This is the best I can do.  I don't particularly care for royal icing so I always use buttercream.

My man Jack LOVED them.  He plowed through them.

He also started to fool around with the food coloring when I wasn't looking.  He didn't realize it wasn't going to wash right off.  It's

E V E R Y W H E R E.

I also have to say how thankful I am for Justice.  He sews with me, he cooks with me, he helps me plan the menu's, makes grocery lists, and really spends loads of time with me.  I enjoy the time we spend together so much.  Joe tells me to enjoy it, it may end one day soon.  So I just relish every minute.  Every candied apple, every cupcake, every random sewing project until the proverbial truth comes out about the pumpkin cookie he never really liked.  

Justice and I also went shopping for new church clothes.  Justice finally woke up one day and his pants were two inches too short.  I left Bo and Jack with Shandi and I took him to the mall.  We had a really great day, he really likes to shop for clothes.  He is also pretty picky about his church clothes.  He likes to wear suits.  So we got him three new suits and a few sweaters.  The suits are a tiny bit big but not so big they look bad.  He is right in the middle of a growth spurt, so hopefully he will fill them out soon.  I know for a fact he gets his love of nice dress clothes from The Coach.  The Coach is a sharp dresser when it comes to dress clothes.  Justice comes by it honestly.  He was so cute on the way to the store, we had a really "deep" conversation about him not wanting to wear zipper ties anymore.  

Justice:  "I want real ties now.  I'm almost 12.  I need to learn to tie a man's tie.  No more kid ties for me after I turn 12."  

So cute.  No problem, sweet boy.  

We also went to lunch, just the two of us.  That doesn't happen too often, but when we do go out, it's always Mexican.  Nobody in the house likes Mexican food except for the two of us.  And we could eat it every single day without getting sick of it.  So naturally we gravitate right towards it if given the opportunity.

Ha.  His table manner's haven't improved much.

There was lots of snuggling going on this week.  Bo loves Justice to pieces.  His eyes follow him all over the room.  He smiles whenever he is near, and reaches for him to hold him.  He sits on his lap for as long as Justice will sit still, and then expects to be toted around with him.  Justice treats him like he's the most important thing in his world when they are together.  He sings to him, he talks to him constantly, and plays with him.  They are going to be very close.  Justice is a great caretaker.  And no, it does not bother Jack that Justice pays so much attention to him.  Jack is happy to share the spotlight, because, right from Jack's mouth, "Justice finally has somebody else to bug".

We let the boys sleep on the pull out couch for a few nights this week.  What's the deal with that?  I don't know why they enjoy that so much, but whatever.  

No, we didn't leave the baby there with them all night.  Just until he fell asleep, then we moved him into his crib.  He just likes to be with his brothers.

Bo learned to give kisses this week. Yak!!!!  Lucky Justice. 

Wait for it, wait for it, here it comes!!!!

And there it is!  Slobbery open-mouth baby kisses!  

And guess what else we did?  We alllll got flu shots.  Justice bugged me to death about getting his flu shot.  Yes, he insists on it every single year without fail.  He is terrified of getting the real-deal flu, and makes sure he gets that shot every single year.  He was really stressed out at the beginning of the week because he was sick and was afraid he wouldn't be able to get his shot during break.  He is unfortunately one of those kids that gets sick after he gets the shot, so we always like to do it when he is out of school.  We ventured on over to the pharmacy and he went first.
 Jack was a champ today.  He didn't cry or even make a sound when he got his shot.  I was really proud of him.

A little blurry, because I had a wiggly ball of baby boy on my lap.

Jack's favorite bit on Disney Jr. is "Tasty Time with ZeFronk".  He really loves it for some random and unknown reason.  Anyhow, he had this grand idea that he was going to make "ZeFronksicles", and I went ahead and let them.  They are just juice in an ice cube tray with toothpicks stuck in it.  You know, for mini-popsicles.  I also promised Jack I would blog about it, so here it is.

On Friday we had a trip to the zoo planned.  The weather was supposed to be nice and Justice was finally over the crud.  But unfortunately and sadly, both boys woke up sick, AGAIN.   Jack woke up in the middle of the night crying with a sore throat and fever, and Justice woke up with a fever and a ridiculously bad cough.  Justice and I are really disappointed about not being able to go, but Jack really doesn't enjoy the zoo a whole bunch so he really couldn't care less.  They spent the day all snuggled up on the couch watching movies instead.  And since Bo loves to spend so much time with Justice, I actually got some sewing done.  I finished 8 more bibs and decided to try my hand at making a crib sheet.  I wanted Bo to have a warmer sheet for winter, and couldn't find one locally.  I could have ordered one, but with the cold snap dropping down on us so quickly, I didn't want to wait.  So I bought some fleece and decided to make one out of that.  Surprisingly enough, it was really easy.  I will try flannel next I think... or maybe not.  The fleece is pretty cozy.  And easy to work with.  No raw edges so that eliminates the "double fold and iron" to make the channel for the elastic.  I didn't even pin it.  I just folded as I went and sewed it right up.

And that's about it... Although we wanted to do more and were hoping for more of an action packed break, sometimes a restful week is important and needed.

Today is Sunday, and Justice is feeling rested and ready to go back to school, and thankfully he is feeling "ok".  He isn't 100% yet unfortunately.

This also marks the beginning of the countdown to the holiday season!  Halloween is right around the corner, then Thanksgiving, and then Santa comes!