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Have you had one of those weeks?

Where your husband is gone the whole week? Where you imagine that at about 8pm every night everyone but you is having sex?

Where you spend two hours every day in traffic?

Where your kids are bouncing off the walls? It made me tired just watching them. The whole time I just wanted to say, "Okay you know what? You're at a 12. I need you at a 7 or 8. It is just a Thursday night."

Where you go to the doctor and hear key phrases you don't want to?

Where you just organized your whole playroom, went to take a shower, and came back to this?

Thank goodness next week is a whole new ballgame.

Colin: The Playground Chronicles

We have the pox...

...of the sticker variety.

Kate

I love: dogs, the ocean, Crocs, doing things "on my owns", Leonardo The Terrible Monster, flannel blankets, jumping, The Office theme song, dancing, brownie batter and tutus.

I dislike: sleeping, blender noises, public restrooms, clothing, Grave Digger toys and drains.

I am loud. I am fast. I am obsessed with my brother. I am strong. I am easily persuaded to be happy. I am unforgettable.

I am two. Hear me roar.

Fresh.

Readers, I'm back and I'm READY TO ROCK! Did you miss me? You know you did. Buckle in--I bring you fresh, bullet-y goodness!

• Christmas family picture season is almost done for me. I got really overwhelmed there. Way more people booked me than I thought would. Yeah, I know--my golden bed also scratches me and my diamond shoes are too tight. It's a rough life.
  
  These boys were my favorite. I learned some gross new jokes.
  
  
• Blake got stung by a bee. Turns out Blake is allergic to bees. Being the medical doctor that I am, I pronounced he had "the flu" and then spent the rest of the day avoiding him like the plague to keep from getting "the flu". As wife points go, I give myself a 2 out of 10 (the 2 because I did take the kids wherever I was avoiding him from)

• Colin's kindergarten teacher had her baby. Not huge news for you, but I came this close to jamming this little girl in my camera bag and carrying her home. Wouldn't you?

• We are still really obsessed with our Halloween costumes here:

• At photo shoots, I really really like to have kids make funny faces.

• I have more, but I don't want to overwhelm you today. Now you may write me a comment about how your life was dull and meaningless without me.

Time-Out.

*Kate in time out after unsuccessfully trying to sneak candy.

I thought I went too long without blogging, and then when I came back to my dashboard it turns out I've only been silent here for four days. I know, you're all going through major withdrawal, aren't you? Clawing at your faces and going "WHEN? WHEN WILL SHE RETURN?"

But guys, you when I thought I was overwhelmed before? That was nothing. I woke up at 4 am this morning freaking out about getting things done. Did I do those things? Hell no, it was 4 am!

So I'm taking a teeny break. In my absence check out this, this and this. Totally random links I love. You're welcome.

*Kate after I gave in on the candy issue. Just this once.

The Weekend In Pictures

The Weekend In Pictures never fails to impress with it's randomness.

From a family shoot this weekend. A whole family of redheads!

How was your spook-tacular weekend?

The Deal With Kate's Costume.

So Internet, you know that I was hard core into Kate's Halloween costume this year. Hello? She was a bee. A bee with a tutu. That I made.

Sadly, she didn't care about that. She wanted to be Batman. Naked Batman. So I have five million pictures of this:

And about oh, one of this:

This was after trick-or-treating in my dark kitchen. Yes, she's eating a sprinkle off the floor. We are nothing if not classy. Notice the red eyes, messy hair and absence of bee wings. You can't even see her shoes!

I have this big plan to get her redressed (word?) and in some sort of field being a fabulous bee. But that is going to have to wait. I have some of her candy to eat.

Was I a little too italics happy on this post? Discuss.

I Eat Politics For Dinner.

In the heat of the political race, I'm come up with a solution for peace (see previous crisis solving)

These cookies.

I say we throw them at each other in the heat of our political debate. That way everyone wins.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla-Cream Filling

Ingredients:

For Cookie Dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg

For Vanilla-Cream Filling:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a food processor, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. While pulsing or on low speed, add the butter, then the egg. Process until the dough is blended together.

(here's where it went a little insane. I thought the cookies looked too dry--kind of like cat litter--yum. So I added about 4 TBsps water. I would say add one TBsp at a time until it looks cookieish. Yes, cookieish)

Drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheets at 2-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, round out the cookies and flatten them a little.

(advice again. I use one of those little ice cream scoops to get these out. Touch them as little as possible--they tend to crumble. I'm not kidding about the moistened fingers thing. Also, I kind of hate the word moistened. Ew.)

Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pans once for even baking, until the cookies are set. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the filling: Put the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and, at low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, until blended. Turn the mixer up to high and beat for 2 or 3 minutes more, until fluffy.

Frost bottom of cookie (I swear the word cookie has lost all meaning) and smoosh together with another cookie, making a cookie-ice-cream-sandwich-type-thing. Which I forgot to take a picture of.

(are you sick of me? I made these for Halloween and added three drops of red food coloring and two drops of yellow to the filling)

Enjoy!

Have a Happy Halloween?

We did.

Our two kids had a full adult entourage following them trick-or-treating. It was awesome. I kept Colin home from school to do baking and lounging with Kate and I all day. Fabulous and fattening.

Here's Colin dressed midday in some of his Batman costume. A Batman hood with Superman underoos--I think that's clearly a conflict of interests.

Happy Halloween everyone!