Halloween Cookies!

It is FINALLY the holiday season. The leaves are falling off all of the trees, and are mostly bare already, the temperatures are getting quite chilly and the air smells like wood cracking away in fireplaces. We have a gas fireplace :( at our house so have to make a little extra effort to get the fall feeling inside. This year Chloe understands what is going on around her and I have gotten much more creative with our activities. We decided Halloween cookies would be a good idea to get in the spirit.

Chloe helped every step of the way. She helped fill the air with music...... She really likes making noise so this an awesome way for her to participate. You can see this was great fun!

She also helped measure the flour, butter and sugar, and got the very important job of dumping them in the mixing bowl. She is such a good helper!
Perhaps she had a little too much fun with the flour. I am not quite sure how she got so much on her face, but I guess that is what happens when you give a toddler free access to her own bowl of flour and metal spoons.
I should have taken a picture of the floor. Just imagine a white blanket of flour all around her covering the floor and also all of the pots and pans we keep just below this working surface.... Thank goodness for our Dyson!
We moved from play time with flour to play time with sprinkles. She really liked doing the sprinkles. But after decorating a few cookies with delicate sprinkles she realized it is much more fun to dump them on by the fistful!
And then she found an even more fun thing to do with the sprinkles-- EAT them!

"Who me? I didn't eat any sprinkles."

"Okay maybe just a few...."

The cookies turned out pretty darn good too! We made these cookies 2 more times after this because it is so much fun. But to be honest the clean up takes just as long as the entire cookie making process- which is a bit of a deterrent. Maybe I will just try easy sugar cookies next. Chloe can still put on sprinkles and I won't have to mess with the cookie press......but I do love my buttery spritz cookies. Yum! What toddler activity doesn't come with a bunch of clean up anyway right?!

Fall Weather

We have been enjoying this fall weather the last couple of weeks. We are trying to get outside as much as possible because we know that it will be over way too soon. Fall lasts about 3 weeks up here in Alaska before winter takes over and the snow arrives. As of today it has actually snowed once (Andrew saw it downtown but I can not confirm). Nothing has stuck, and that is what counts.

Here are the highlights of our weekend outing. We walked a few miles on the coastal trail while Chloe napped in her cozy warm stroller.
I got a chance to push it too. Here we are at Westchester Lagoon. It was so clear and gorgeous that day. We could see all of the mountains!
Happy Chloe, awake from her nap and loving the outdoors!
She sees an airplane. It is a toss up which is more exciting.... dogs or airplanes :)

There was an exercise park (from the 70's) at the end of our walk, so we turned it into a playground for Chloe. She loved balancing on the beams and walking up the sit up inclines.Look what I can do!!
Super fun!
We also looked for leaves, and collected every single one in this grassy area!
What a fun day!!
Here's hoping we have a few more sunny clear weekends before the snow. Don't cross your fingers though....all reports are for snow today.

On a side note we are starting the weaning process. I would love to keep breastfeeding, but I have a few long trips coming up for work and will be gone for extended periods (2 nights one week and 3 the next). Not good for poor Andrew who, although Chloe loves him during the day, doesn't have the goods she is looking for at night. Last week I weaned to only milk at night and it was rough. The last few night we have been limiting milk to just before bedtime and only once more during the night.... Oh my gosh it is exhausting because Chloe is not happy about the changes, but it is slowly but surely getting better. Last night Andrew went in for all the midnight wakings- no midnight milk for Chloe. He held her rocked her and calmed her back to sleep both times. What a great dad! I know it wasn't easy because I heard the crying and constant "Milk Milk MILK MILK MILK MILK" from Chloe. It is so hard not to give her what she wants! We are hanging in there though and she is surviving just fine. I venture to say she is actually doing great!