halloween night

In between all the rehearsals and excitement, we were all able to squeeze in some real fun on Halloween. Aiden was out with his friends as some sort of Steampunk guy. I wish I had a better photo of the funny UPS package and delivery man. Aiden would ring the bell and tell the person with the candy that they got a package, and then his friend would pop out of the package. They laughed and laughed as they pulled off this same stunt at every house. Zoe and Keaton were both Stitch and they went around with the neighbors. I dressed as a "yarn stash" and greeted all the cute kids at our door along with our giant  spiders.

carvers

These guys weren't sure about carving the pumpkins. Aiden had access to the real knife, and the produce kid knives sorta worked. ;) Mostly they let the puppy play just out of reach and enjoyed spraying off the pumpkin guts when they were finished.

tricksters

Trick or treating round one with these cuties over at Mosaic... 

(Aiden was working hard at his final tech week for the Rags musical)

pumpkin playground

Check out these cuties that looks extra cute surrounded by pumpkins ;)

cousin buddies

We love visits with the cousin buddies especially in the fall ;)

rhinebeck

Sometimes your expectations are exceeded by something you had really high expectations for... And this trip to the ultimate sheep and wool festival in Rhinebeck, NY fit that description! The Yarn Fan van was created for a road trip up with friends. We were lucky in August to get tickets to the special Indie Untangled Trunk Show also. Where Priyanka and I both won prizes from their knit along contest - the Baller bag that I wanted! I also was given a front of the line pass for knitting up some Farmer's Daughter yarn I'd won earlier in the year. It was so much fun to do some weaving with them and squish all the gorgeous yarn. I was charmed by the leaping llamas as much as I thought I would be. We had a really nice trip where everything fell into place and some moments felt like perfect serendipity. I was happy with my haul which I had space for once I got home ;)

costume preview

Here's a sneak peak of these matchy Stitch guys ;)

tidbit eats

Some puppy popcorn for Zoe made from Yak's milk cheese... along with a good cuddle up movie for Keaton and I while we wait to go pick up Aiden from a 10:30pm practice while J was out of town.

Crustless quiche success - I shared one with my neighbor's family while they struggle to deal with a throat cancer diagnosis... Her kids ate it all and I plan to make them more! (To save this simple recipe: 6 eggs, about 4oz cheddar, 2oz of cream cheese and 6 tbsp melted butter per quiche and you whip the eggs in a food processor - Sprinkle with onion salt...325 degrees for 30 min)

Aiden learned how to make pancakes all on his own!  Watch out Dad and PopPop there's a new pancake flipper in town.

Aiden wanted to go to the lego store and sushi conveyor belt as an early birthday treat (since his show opens the weekend of his birthday and he will be very busy!)

The cinnamon spread at Trader Joe's is really tasty inside a banana bread muffin...

rags preview

Aiden auditioned in September for the Mason School of Theater college performance of a new revival of Rags, a musical about immigrants coming into Ellis Island in 1910. At the Arts by George event, I was able to catch a powerful preview of the Intro and Finale to Rags... It's been practice after school six days a week for nearly four hours each time, and a great experience for Aiden. I absolutely can't wait for the show in a few weeks.

tidbits

We have a big spider that took up residence to look over our front door, along with a snake skeleton in place of a wreath ;)

Keaton and I playing a game of Topple with peanut butter spoons to top off the day...

Aiden and I ventured to many orthodontist appts in the last few months... He finally has what is hopefully a good plan which starts with an expander (same thing I did as a kid).

The All-County chorus was packed house and Mantua had the biggest group of red shirts out of any other elementary school there.

The principal's are hosting a thank you hospitality cart for all the teachers once a month... this time is was a popcorn cart for special deliveries around the school.  We made nearly 150 fresh bags, which took a ridiculously long four hours to pop!

fall knits 2

Started a Dude sweater for J that will likely take me until next winter to complete... I keep thinking it's probably too big for him and it turns out to be just the right size.

The same event with the knit along contest also said that if you knit anything in Farmer's Daughter yarn you get "front of the line" access to the event... I happened to win some Oh Dang, Suri alpaca and silk yarn so I knit up these luxuriously soft mitts and hat in the Moondust cable pattern.