Shannon’s World

Happy Halloween!

I saw two long sleeve onesies on the baby bella blog that are just perfect for Libby:

(1) It’s really simple.  I’m the princess.  Mommy’s the Queen and Daddy’s around here somewhere (seriously folks, does it get any better than that?)

(2) I make THUNDER THIGHS look good (They need to make that in adult sizes for me, Libby and I could both wear them.  This was espcially fitting because my Dad calls Libby Princess Thunder Thighs)

Tonight in addition to pumpkin carving and Charlie Brown Halloween, we’re trying a new recipe - 7 cans!  I’ll report back tomorrow.

It was a great weekend at the Barron’s…filled with just the right amount of activity (and cupcakes!) for me and the right amount of laziness for Mike. On Saturday we made cupcakes and decorated them and then headed to a Halloween themed Health Fair at Mike’s work. We dressed Libby up in costume and she seemed to enjoy dressing up. Libby impressed everyone (including Mike and I) by waiving hello and goodbye to everyone at the Fair (we work on this every morning at the bus stop, but she’s never done it before on command).

About 20 minutes after we arrived at Mike’s office, we heard Mike’s name announced over the loud speaker while we were having a family photo taken. Since we travel with everything AND the kitchen sink in our diaper bag, I thought for sure we dropped something. Little did we know they were doing the raffle (Mike and I each got a ticket upon entering the fair) and WE WON! We didn’t just win…we won a new 4GB iPod Nano…WITH VIDEO! This thing ROCKS…we were (and still are) so excited. We have a 4th generation 20 G I Pod that we enjoy, but this sweet little nano is just so niiiice and small…tiny, really. The crazy thing is every time we attend an event for Mike’s work we win something!! Last year at the Holiday Casino night we won a $75 gas card. At the Cinco de Mayo party we won the margarita party pack (perfect for moi, right?!) and now this…does it get any better?

Saturday night (still excited about our winnings) we headed to Jeff and Caroline’s with our cupcakes (I got to use my carrier for the second time). Not only was it Libby’s first party, it was her first costume party! There were 7 babies (2 years and under) all in costume - it was fantastic! We had a fun time catching up with friends and meeting new ones. Libby had a great time playing with all of Reese’s toys.

Libby partied so hard that she slept in until 9:30 am on Sunday . . .Mike and I didn’t know what to do with ourselves with so much free time in the morning! This afternoon we took Libby to Pumpkin Fest to get our pumpkins. We had fun looking through all the pumpkins and finding the perfect one for each of us. Our sitter Lauren told us about the apple cider slushies and all three of us tried them and liked them. As if the day could get any better, when we were paying for our pumpkins, I noticed they were selling homemade cinnamon and sugar donuts. They were out of this world…I am not a donut fan, but these were melt in your mouth delicious!

You can’t ask for a better weekend . . .

Last February Posey forwarded me pictures of her niece, Ella.  My heart melted when I saw the love bug hat and outfit.  I ran to Gymboree and bought some items from the love bug line.  Now that fall is here, Libby can finally wear the outfit.  What a cute bunch of love bugs…we’ll see you in Houston, Ella! 

GO RED SOX!

Mike and I had a small taste of what having two kids will be like.  Our friend Gage came over on Friday and spent the night.  We had a Chili cook-off on our street Friday night and Gage fit right in…he sat at a picnic table with some of our little neighbors and played on the swingset after dinner.  Later in the evening, Mike gave Libby a bath and I gave Gage one.  Libby went to bed and Gage went downstairs to watch a movie with Mike.  It was a great night; we hope Gage will join us again soon!  

I swear, not a week goes by that we don’t get a package from my Mom for Libby.  Some examples include, a package of hairbows (with a note promising Libby she’ll have hair someday and will need bows when she does!), a tray for the bumbo and jibbitz for her crocs (Libby has more jibbitz than holes to put them in…Grandma likes jibbitz a little too much).  A few weeks ago, my Mom sent this shirt and it’s perfect.  We had 90 degree weather for a few days and most of Libby’s summer clothes are too small, so this shirt in 9 mo was just perfect.  Thanks, Grandma!

I am blogging about these two posters because I think they’re so cute and I want to remember them…it’s like a reminder to myself! I originally saw the ABCs in Baby Murphy’s nursery and I loved it. Little did I know that it was a Disney ABC (lucky for me Ben Pucci, the purchaser of the ABCs, was at our house today and told me about the poster and where I could get it). I think the ABCs will have to go in Libby’s big girl room because we don’t have any free walls in the nursery. I’ve had the Mickey poster book marked for a while, but remembered it after bookmarking the ABCs. I think it would be so cute in a little boys room - I just love it.

I typically don’t post birthday greetings on my blog but there are a few exceptions.  I received this picture a few weeks ago and thought everyone might get a kick out of seeing Posey and I back in the day.  This photo was taken on June 14, 1996 - days after our high school graduation and the last night we would see each other for a long time.  At the time we didn’t know when we’d see each other again - I was off to IU and Posey’s family was moving to New Mexico and then she was off to Rice.  We ended up seeing each other the next summer when my parents moved to Alaska and they told me we could stop anywhere I wanted on our way to AK…Albuquerque here we come!

I am thrilled about seeing Posey a lot through the next year as we plan her wedding…Houston here we come (not to mention VEGAS…here we come!)!

Thanks for the recipes everyone - keep them coming.  My friend Julie sent me this recipe from Rachael Ray for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. I love everything pumpkin - pie, ice cream (if you ever find yourself in Hawaii around this time, you have to try Lappert’s pumpkin ice cream….SO GOOD!), bread, muffins, (decaf) lattes and on and on. I can’t wait to try these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners\u2019 sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.