Auntie Anne's, Anyone?

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!  That is all I have to say.

Just kidding! 

Today I made a recipe that I cut out of one of the first Food Network Magazines, way back in Jan/Feb 2009!  I can't believe it took me this long to actually try it out...

I do not go to shopping malls too often.  In Potsdam, there was no such thing, and in Fort Worth, everything was outside (plaza style).  Now, I make quick trips here and there, but a day at the mall with a 13 month old is not my idea of a good time!

One of the most delightful treats of most malls is the delicious, tempting aroma of Auntie Anne's buttery, bad for you pretzels.  Hard for me to avoid, ever!  FNM always does a "copy cat" recipe, and they were able to come up with a pretty exact replica of Auntie Anne's soft pretzels!

Roll and stretch your dough to 30 inches.  Yes, I got out a ruler.

Extremely fun to slap it on the counter and help it retain its stretch!

Imperfect unique pretzel shapes.

On the baking mat mom found for me last Christmas!

SO much more delightful than greasing a pan!

Golden brown, out of the oven, dipped in butter, dripping dry!

HELLO, delicious!

They also had a recipe to copy their sweet mustard sauce.  I had never tried the real version, but it included dijon mustard (which I've been loving on pretty much anything during this pregnancy) so I whipped it up and it is GOOD.  Jonathan and I each had 1 1/2 pretzels...pretty sure we could've eaten all 6 between the two of us but we're holding back!  

Dem Bones Dem Bones Dem Dry Bones!

A little Halloween dinner of roasted acorn squash with some cinnamon!

Ha!  He was a little overtired and cranky...I was trying to get a standing up pic 

and this is on his way back down, graham cracker filled mouth and all.  

Love that he's like a little dancing skeleton!

We went to Trunk'r'Treat at our church.  Daddy made an attempt at the big slide...which I had done with Connor at an event back in August.  Yeah.  He was not loving that!

It was also freezing!  Big difference from last year.

Back at home, bony boy helped hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Mmm, lollipop!

Tickle time!  See those teeth???

Heehee...Con and Otto checking out the costumes.

"Let's see who else is out there!"

Orrrrrrr have some candy. :)

Happy Halloween!  Thanks for my costume Aunt Lola! <3 Connor

Charleston, Charleston, Made in Carolina!

We had the HUGE blessing of being able to take a mini-vacation to Charleston last weekend.  We were told that only the Canadians swim in late October...but we figured we're close enough to Canadian as it is!

Connor still wasn't too keen on the chilly Atlantic...

...but Jonathan was!

I was going to opt out but I just couldn't!  The ocean calls for at least one quick swim!

Wonder if baby got a little chill...

Connor's favorite borrowed toy.  He is blurry because he was flying!

He also may have climbed inside it like a real shopping cart...

and then proceeded to nosedive out resulting in a nice egg on the forehead...whoops.

We brought some groceries with us to cook...limited budget!

I must say, this farmer's market vegetable filled, perfectly grilled chicken,

creamy fettuccine alfredo was more delicious than most restaurants!

Spinning Daddy's wedding ring..."boy" entertainment...

Visiting the market in downtown Charleston.

The "big" bridge!

We got to catch up with my sweet friend Becca who I haven't seen since our wedding...over 3 years ago!!!  We worked at YL camp together and I just love her!  We didn't get to meet her new hubby this time, but she got to meet Con and I hope we'll see each other before another 3 years passes...

We planned to go out for one good seafood dinner, and were directed to a few different tasty places...including one called "The Wreck".  Listen people, the place doesn't even have a sign and it is smashed between some neighborhood streets and a marina and fish market.  It-was-perfect!

The whole table was covered in paper...excellent for this newbie to crayons!

Yum!  Grouper and flounder with tons of Carolina sides.

We cherished our time spent relaxing as a family, walking around and enjoying the sights.  Giant thank you's to the people who made our trip possible! :)

Flickering Jack-O-Lanterns

Connor is starting to warm up (though often momentarily) to people other than mom and dad.

This is our senior pastor, Preacher Mike!

His awesome wife Kathy is hiding back there too. :)

Semi-success with a veggie filled homemade pasta sauce and stars. 

Oh.  And a special cookie after we had a belly full of sauce.

Carving pumpkins!  Blessed to have friends who will come over last minute 

and do such a silly, fun thing with us + three very active little ones!

Ha!  Kylie and Connor...typical.  Hands all over each other.

Master artists.

Stargazing?

Grayson doing a little evening bible reading.  She also serenaded us with 

"Twinkle Twinkle" and "Jesus Loves Me".  Someone get that girl in the choir!

All done and flickering away!

I'm sure you noticed that our pumpkin is reminiscent of a certain 2-toothed boy?

Just for my memory...

Lately, if I make a kissing noise and say to Con, "Can I have a kiss?" he will lean his forehead into my mouth like, "Okay...here Mom..."  Ha!  I love it.  We're working on the kiss-blowing!