halloween day pt. 1

suki started halloween in her robin costume. first, we went out to breakfast at marie catrib's, and then for coffee at rowster. marie gave suki a broccoli flower and an apple. she got a special hot soy milk at rowster with cinnamon on top! the most exciting moment of the morning was when, while we were at rowster, we saw a parade of grade schoolers in costume walk by.

after rowster we stopped by granny and lanny's house for trick or treating. suki received a bag of trail mix, fruit leather, a kaleidoscope, and another apple! notice the fun painted pumpkins on granny's stoop- a scarecrow, the mona lisa with a witch hat, and a ford mustang. 

halloween day pt.2

after nap time, we got our halloween treats ready. adam picked up a few supplies from the local hardware store- garage sale stickers, paint brushes, pipe cleaners, notebooks, and paperclip chains. we then got ourselves ready for a fun outing to the bookstore, with a detour to the post office downtown to pick up a package that contained this sweater for suki. we waited in line for a half hour to be told we needed to be in another line- a line that was at a window which currently was closed. the one lady working the counter had to go in the back to find some one to open the window i should have been waiting at! 

suki and i worked up an appetite waiting in line, so i thought it would be fun to take her out for an unhealthy treat since she will not be eating halloween candy. i brought her to a fun hotdog joint called jonny b'z to try her first french fry, or so i thought. i was a bit taken aback when we walked in the door and she yelled out "jonny b'z!", but i thought she may have known the place since it is next to the coffee shop she frequents. then, we brought the fries to the table and she said "french fries hot. blow on them." i then asked her if she had been to jonny bz before and she said "yeah! abba (adam) goes there". busted, adam! 

after our french fries we finally made it to the bookstore. we made wishes in the koi pond and found a book we discovered at the library. it is called ice. suki also brought home a new guinea pig friend. 

p.s. suki wears a handmade bow, rebe thermal, tracy rose jumper, toto knits monkey sweater, moomin tights, and wee squeak boots.  

halloween day pt.3

adam was finishing up dinner when we got home. then, he had to rush to get his costume together and leave for work. we were sad he was not able to pass out candy, but even more sad we did not get pictures of his great costume before he left the house. he was spirit dreams, a local shop that sells crystals, dream catchers, incense, etc. i let him borrow one of my rrunaway necklaces, and i was happy that i could contribute to his best halloween costume to date. suki and i put on some ghostly sounds and got pumped up for the "treaters". 

our dinner was still in the oven and i had to keep checking on it because i was afraid it would burn but it ended up taking about an hour longer than expected. suki was my look out while i was checking the oven. it was funny the way she stood by the door and called out "mama, treaters!" when people were walking up. we thought our treats were fun but sadly they did not go over very well. we only got one good review from our neighbor girl C she said "oooo.. i love to write in notebooks!" most of the kids looked at suki's little hand with a puzzled look or said something like "that's not candy." i hope they don't come back with a trick for us. the best reaction was from our teenage neighbor girl, who is quite a character. she was dressed as chain and the gang, and suki placed a pipe cleaner in her bag. then, as she was still blocking the entryway, and other kids were waiting behind her to get their treat, she pulled it back out of the bag and said "what is THIS thing! do you have any candy?"

 our real scary moment of night was when koji escaped, and went running down the street. i went running after him saying "stop that dog!" after he was caught i was walking/running home in a panic because i realized i left suki alone in the house with the door unlocked and scary costumed people at the door! after we gave away our last paperclip chain, we ate our dinner of savory bread pudding with blue sheese, roasted parsnips, and caramelized leeks. what a day! happy halloween, friends!

pumpkin time

adam, suki, and i made a quick trip to our local pumpkin patch. we picked up a few pumpkins to decorate with, a pumpkin patch coloring book, and some apple cider. we did not carve pumpkins this year- suki is still a bit young for that activity, and we were lazy about getting around to it in the evenings. at least we have the pumpkin suki painted with her granny to frighten some of the treaters this year.

 suki loved her first taste of apple cider. the look on her face after every sip was priceless. 

we have a small collection of pumpkins for baking, and i am looking forward to making some fun treats with them. do you have a favorite pumpkin treat? adam has been asking for this, and last year we made this bread from the veganette- i might make another loaf this week. yum!

halloween!

the snack table included spiced apple cupcakes with penuche frosting, raw truffles, popcorn, creamy garlic herb sheese, tortilla chips, and cider. the costumes were batman, robin, big boy, buzz lightyear, and a future cowboy. the kiddos had a bast running around in costume, playing toys, eating snacks, and coloring pumpkins. after the party they went out trick or treating (suki called it "treating") at the calvin apartments. this was suki's first trick or treating experience! she had fun even though she wont eat the candy. we are so happy aunt lynn was here to share this special halloween weekend with us. 

superhero best friends!

luxury vegan treats

we are happy to be getting a visit from our aunt lynn tomorrow. we can't wait to show her our place, and for her to see our life here in michigan. today we received a seemingly never ending box of goodies from her. she is too nice!

to continue the day's theme of special treats, suki and i made this raw apple dip for our afternoon snack.

p.s. suki is wearing a tracy rose jumper, cotton sheep socks, stella mccartney shirt, target pants, and goodie barrette.  

we need halloween costume ideas over here

girl and dog

it has been fun to watch suki and koji's relationship grow. they really are great friends, and koji plays along with suki's games pretty well. this morning suki took koji for a ride in her pillow pile airplane car to california. he seemed to enjoy the ride! 

the best animal news at our house is that little juanita (one of our cats) has been coming out of the basement for short periods of time to sit with us on our laps. i have a feeling koji will have a couple cat friends very soon!

bedtime rituals

what does bedtime look like at your house? do you have a favorite evening activity?

suki has been enjoying her quiet activities after dinner, and she is sleeping so well these days. finally!

usually our evening looks something like this:

on bath nights we start there, with a lot of bath toy fun and the emergency towel close by for hair washing. then it is massage, pj, and tooth brushing time. after that we put the kettle on for a cup of hot tea. suki likes this tea or a loose tea we get at global infusions called fairy tale blend. we then read books while she is drinking her tea. after books we nurse and sing two songs. then she jumps in bed to join her sixteen friends, notebook, and nightlight. we must say goodnight to each friend then she says "bon nuit"- it is too cute! 

aarteita!

1. the house in the night

2. mr. x

3. where the wild things are

4. ingrid beaker

5. little auggie blankets

6. yu-be lotion

7. weleda tooth gel

things that help us through the night. 

notes

another solution to saving suki's drawings are to keep notebooks for her. i usually keep one in my bag with some markers for her to occupy herself with when we are in places such as restaurants, doctors offices, the fabric store, etc. the small notebook with dots is one of her favorite objects- she sleeps with it every night. recently she got an avocado stain on her favorite shirt- the softest base layer by flora and henri. i knew she would be very sad to let it go so i came up with a solution to save it with a freezer paper transfer. my friend sarah s. scott taught me this fun craft and it is perfect for situations like these. this print was inspired by suki's love for her notebooks. i think she was pleased with the outcome. her jeans are from the tracy rose box- such a cosy combo with the top.