I'm pro candy.

So, I am pro candy. We eat it a lot at our house and for sure everyday in the month of October priming our teeth and bellies for the BIG DAY which happens to be TODAY.

candy = joy.

It's just that simple. Treats make you smile.

We smile often here at the Cobble home.

Now for all of you mamas reading this right now...now, you wait just one second.

We eat good, healthy things around here too.

My candy love--YIN
My healthy eating---YANG

There's balance, people.

And just to prove it to you, I am going to share with you our Cobble Halloween Tradition that we have done every year since Kenny and I have been married...

We make Pumpkin Stew!

Yep, we brew up our own concoction of goodness and cook it in a pumpkin. Being as tonight is Kenny's last regular season football game, we decided enjoy our pumpkin stew a day early.

Here's the process...


Gut and clean out your pumpkin.


Saute chopped onions in olive oil and then add in a pound of ground turkey.

These are my main seasonings for this recipe. I just sprinkle here and there as the "Halloween spirit" moves me. I also add in the old B & W stand bys too.

Mix in 1 can each of garbanzo, black, and great northern white beans. (drained)

Then add in one can of white corn and a small can of green chilles. (drained)

Next add a large can of petite diced tomatoes to the mix. (undrained)

Now dump this mixture into the pumpkin and add a 1/2 cup of water.

Slide it in the oven on a baking sheet for 1 1/2 hours on 350 degrees.

Top with Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy this HEALTHY meal as your mouth goes into candy detox!!

Lots of colors...lots of healthy goodness in this stew.
My kids are candy feens...
BUT they clean their Pumpkin Stew plates!

Then we pig out on all the candy corn, Skittles, Snickers, Butterfingers, and Kit Kats that one can possibly stuff in their mouth.

Candy....dang, I love this holiday.

.mac :-)

I got the fever.

Okay, so...BOYS. We've been down this road before. I have disussed it. I have worked it out in my mind. It's dundy. Finito. A-okay.

But seriously. Are you kidding me? I mean, for real. The above is the best it gets for Fall Festival uniforms: camos, a Halloween shirt, and sneakers.

COME ON.

I mean don't get me wrong. They are presh in their little photo. Right real cute even. Completely in their Eli (I love parties and talking and playing with friends and being around others and oh, where's that friend going, and hey I will smile for the camera) and Casey (Get that crap out of my face who do you think you are looking at me why do I have to be around all these people I have no clue who they are can we just get this junk over with so I can get home to my blanket and house) "costumes" that is FOR SURE.

I love them more than my luggage. More than my real diamond earrings. Yes, even more than the best of the best of the best yard sale/thrift store finds. They got number one spot when it comes to lovin'...right behind their BIG DADDY. Well, I guess that would mean they have the #2 spot, huh? Oh well, you know what I mean here.

And don't go giving me the whole, "Oh, you have it made with less to have to wash and buy. Girls have a million and one accessories that are required of an outfit such as tights, cute matching shoes, and hair bows...etc. etc."

To quote a couple of very appropriate lines here from one of my favorite flicks:

Dean (Kirk Russell): Well, sugar lips, it never bothered you before.
Annie who really is Joanna (Goldie Hawn): Well, it bothers me NOW!


Cause IF I had a little girl. IF...such a shady word. Let's check that first statement...IF I had a husband who was willing to take a stab at trying for a little girl, I would be sending her to Fall Festivals in things like this...





Meet Lily O'Bryan. Let's just call her one of my stand in daughters if you will. Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen? She just turned three and she has the personality that will melt your heart. She is a cuddle bug, a sweetie pie, a beautiful spirit just prancing about in this world.

I take the time now to honor and thank her mother which is one of my sweet friends and one of my husband's bosses for allowing me to "pretty-tend" with Lily.

Lily's mom gives me free reign.
She seriously has said to me on mulitple occasions: "I need an outfit for Lily or I need a baby blanket for a baby girl gift. Just do whatever you want and make it cute."

OHHHH, she is a Godsend, I tell you.

When these words float ever so sweetly off of her order email in her best Times New Roman size 12 font with no punctuation...I get all giddy inside. I feel like I am playing paperdolls in REAL LIFE!! I loved paper dolls when I was little. That and that fun colored pencil fashion rubbing case. You know where you could interchange the bottoms and the tops to the "model/Barbie" slide pieces to create your own outfit. Then you took tracing paper and colored pencils to create the new look.

Does anyone out there remember this toy?

Anyway, I love it. Free reign. Little girl designs. Man, it's a sweet life.

I don't care that when they hit puberty those sweet little girls will turn into evil witches that dream of stabbing their mom in the back with a butter knife.

A butter knife wouldn't hurt that bad probably.

Because lucky me will have boys that eat a loaf of bread, box of cereal, and pack of chicken all while muttering the 3 words they were going to say to me that day which I would imagine would be something to the tune of, "No. MOM. STOP!" at the same time.

Love my boys. Love'em, I say. My dream was to only have boys. I knew I was only going to have boys. BUT, for the mere dreaminess of style and fashion, I feel a chill coming on...

I just got the fever.













Ruffles.
Cute buttons.
Pleats.
Apples for a fall harvest...
Candy corn and jack o'lanterns for trick-or-treating...

UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Nope. Halloween screen tees and camos.

Thank you, Lily. And thanks to my other Lily for letting me turn the tabs down on your sweet little shoulders and on the sides of your mid thighs and change out your bottom and top slide pieces so that I can trace over you with my colored pencils.

Sick. Sick with the fever for a girl. Anyone got the cure?

.mac :-)

Unpredictable

Unpredictable. I like this word. I like the song even better.

The boys and I were eating breakfast this morning and in the middle of talking about the trees changing colors as we gazed outside our kitchen window while gnawing on mom's best and ever frequent breakfasts: the Nutri-grain bar, it began a mini ice storm for exactly 20ish seconds. I mean the sky was clear but overcast, and then all of a sudden, mini ice crystals were all we could see. They looked like the 1/100th of the size of these guys.

I hurried to take a picture, but the above was all that was left.

That was unpredictable.

It's just there are times when this word isn't really the happiest of guests to see at your front door.

Hmmmmmm. Let's rattle off a list, shall we?

1. Your toddler telling you he's got GO potty...you know GO...at the back of Wal-mart when the only bathroom that isn't being cleaned at the moment is the one located at the front.
2. Zits that greet you from an overnight stay on your face.
3. Where your cat's hairball is located as you climb of bed in the morning.
4. The words you hear your 21 month old spout off to his big brother.
5. The check engine light in my car.
6. The length of time your children will nap
7. Our downstairs T.V. remote
8. The grocery bill
9. Gas prices
10. My children's behavior in the public library


Yes, predictability would be nice sometimes, wouldn't it? I think so. I mean there is safety when things are predictable. The course is charted. The pace is set. Things are in place so to speak.

But then again, unpredictability doesn't have to be all bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, my ten spots up there oftentimes ain't bringin' me no love, but unpredictability can bring some joy...

1. A sweet, unexpected soap opera kiss goodbye from your husband
2. Extra fries in the bottom of the McDonald's bag when you thought they were all gone
3. Cobble boys sleeping in until 8:30 AM.
4. A new hairdresser that truly understands the meaning of "no roots."
5. Surprise gifts in the mail
6. A new design that comes out perfectly the first try
7. Finding cash money in your pocket that you didn't know was there.
8. Seeing someone you never thought would reconcile with another finally take that step
9. Cheap wine that actually tastes good
10. Best friends showing up on your doorstep unplanned

Yep, I can handle those unknowns with ease. Bring'em on.

And in my little world, unpredictability is often with the crowd I run with.


Eli: I like trees. I like the ones that stay green all the time and look sticky.
Me: Those are called evergreen trees, E-man. They don't lose their leaves when the seasons change.
Eli: I love green, mom.
Me: I know you do, son.
Eli: What are those trees that are losing their leaves called?
Me: Broad leaf trees.
Eli: The are fluffy and floaty.
Me: Yeah, they kinda are, aren't they?
Eli: I like trees.
Casey: UNUHBOGEENO-UHNU...bootball game, daddy?
Me: No, daddy's football game is on Friday not today, Case.
Eli: I like those trees, mom. I do. I like green best.
Casey: Bite-bites, mommy. Bite-bites?
Me: We are almost home, bud. We will get bite-bites when we get home.

See what I mean. Unpredictable.



After lunch, Eli began working on this on his own. Now, don't get me wrong, I added the words and the trunks to the trees after he brought them to show me and we talked about what he drew, but the kiddo was processing the concept of Evergreen and Broad leaf...at 3 1/2!!!


Then, on our way home from afternoon activities, it was this:

Eli: Mom. There they are.
Me: Who?
Eli: My best friends.
Casey: Bootball game? Daddy?
Eli: See'em?
Me: What are you talking about, Eli?
Eli: Look in the field. They are best friends and they are my best friends too. They like each other and that is why they stay close.
This was the image he was talking about...



Eli: See mom? Evergreen and Broad leaf. They are not the same, but they are friends.
Me: Holy cow, Eli. You are awesome! (Snap, I take the pictures.)
Casey: YAY!! (Clapping loudly) He was probably thinking about daddy and the "bootball game."

Random learning...that's what unpredictability will get you.

So, I like it. This unpredictable-ness. Cause it's a constant in your life no matter what you do to try to stop it. So I say, might as well just roll with it and find joy in the unknown when you can.

Like the unpredictability Kenny finds in my attire when he comes home from work...

I'll hope for the unpredictability that he will give a fancy soap opera kiss to this face...


Flying by the seat of my pants in more ways than one...

:-) .mac

Finding ways not to go to sleep tonight, Eli informed me that he thought he was nocturnal. Yes, he thought he was "like the owls." Oh boy!

I rolled with it and sent that owl hooting off to bed!

The Fortunate Tin

This mailbox was lucky,
The fortunate tin,
Not just any mailbox gets pink balloons,
Yep, 705 N. High was the one chosen to wait eagerly for Mollye's life to begin.

The 25th of July,
It was a slightly overcast day,
I was decked out in my uni,
"Aunt Meghan" the shirt did, in fact, say.

I was anxious,
I was giddy,
I was nervous too.
For it was Mollye's birthday...
I was soon to see those eyes of blue.


My brother's daughter. WOW. What did I just say?
For it seems like only yesterday,
We were outside riding bikes,
You know, fussing over who got the next turn to play.

Adam's little girl...
I was beside myself to see,
Would she have his fingers? His toes?
An aunt I was REALLY going to be!

Filled with excitement, I designed this and handmade that...




She just had to have the cutest diaper bag there was!

You would do it too,
Just looking at Miss Mollye in her mama...
I was smitten. There, I said it. Yes, I had the Mollye buzz!

Now her mama,
Well, she melts my heart too.
Adam's wife; Mollye's mama; my new sister.
It's like all of my dreams come true!

My first quilt EVER...
For Mollye Addison it had to be.
My heart leapt with every stitch,
A Dancing Heart I would give MAC #3.





Her quilt inspired by this book I found several years ago,
This message was my growing up reality,
Oh, I loved my mom so.
For she was the first Mollye.
Mollye Ann Casey to be exact.
Her first born and only daughter, Meghan Alicia, that's me,
Left not 1, but now 2 with the initials that spelled MAC.

And then, like magic, she was here.
An angel sent to earth to stay.
My heart turned upside down,
MAC #3, you, without a doubt,took my breath away.

With each tiny grunt and each finger curl,
We all watched star gazed by her baby grace,
Talking about her future,

Taking turns to kiss her face.

Mollye's mom and dad,
Well, they were just as pleased as punch,
Happy to be home,
BOTH READY for some naps and home cooked LUNCH!

Tiny Mollye was home,
Her life at 705 N. High to begin,
Pink balloons a wavin',
Check out my proud little brother's grin.


I couldn't resist.
Mama and Daddy were away,
Aunt Meghan had Mollye strike a pose,
Pretty good for 3 days old, I must say!

The Cobble boys came to meet their new cousin,
They trampled her nursery and ate every snack,
Kissing her cheek and rubbing her head...
Then off to find something else to get them off track!


Using Eli's stuffed animal for a pattern, I did it again.
I just couldn't resist bloomers and a dress,
Made with "our" initials and MAC #1's buttons,
I loved every minute of it; I must confess.


As for her Uncle Kenny...
From this picture, I think you can tell,
Each are in love,
"It's okay, Mollye...looking into his blue eyes...I was the first MAC that "fell."

Would you just look at this girl?
Man, she's getting SO big!
Just 10 weeks old...
Good thing her daddy owns a rig.

2 1/2 months...
Long legged Mollye is out and about,
Ready for some pumpkin patch action,
When, in fact, did those long legs sprout?

Well, it's Halloween time,
And you know, I had to, you see,
Mollye has to be the cutest punkin'
So k.Mac when on a lil' designing spree...




Miss Mollye, Miss Mollye,
Aunt Meg loves you so,
A beautiful 3 month old MAC...
705 N. High mailbox wasn't the only one lucky, you know.

Hooray for pink balloons!

:-) .mac