7qt: Halloweekend and Other Better Late Than Never Things

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The boys' favorite cartoon had a movie come out this summer, so, in honor of that, they went as Shaun the Sheep and Bitzer the Sheepdog. Bean was very particular about getting all the accessories screen-accurate. Peanut just liked the excuse to "baa" at everyone and everything.

Having tails for a day: also a big hit.

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I wanted to dress up, too, but I wasn't really feeling the full-on costume thing, so I went for something a little more subtle (the only time that word will ever be applied to this outfit). I forgot to take a picture, so until I update the post, here's a handy infographic:

I didn't wear it with the matching accessories, but we have tickets to opening day, so maybe then? (Too much for a matinee?)

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For All Saints we kept it pretty simple, but we did switch out our usual evening prayers to the Litany of the Saints, with a Communion of Saints joining us, thanks to our lovely blocks from Almond Rod Toys (she's going to be closing up shop soon in order to fill her Christmas orders, so if you want anything, head over there soon!)

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Our family All Souls' tradition is to go to the noon Mass that the bishop always says at the Catholic cemetery, and take a prayerful walk around the grounds before dad heads back to the office. We had amazing weather this year, and both of the grown-ups had made it to Confession recently, so plenary indulgences for us! Pretty fantastic!

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We've been scrambling to get our grilling fix in before it gets too cold, so we've had spareribs (This is my go-to recipe, which we tinker with quite a lot. This batch was a franken-sauce of half-bottles from the fridge, with hickory chips on the grill.), burgers (with these buns; easier than running to the store, and surprisingly good even a couple days later), and pork chops (no recipe needed, just make sure they're over an inch thick and don't cook them past 145°). I think we're well-satisfied and ready to start soup-bingeing instead.

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Both boys have been very into letters and numbers recently, with Bean reading his first few words, so I seized the moment and snagged this box at JoAnn, let Bean paint the inside his favorite color ("reddish red"), and poured in a layer of salt for him to trace letters in. Feeling very Montessori for the $3 and not-too-much time we put into it.

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Bean checks out the "'constructions" for the new #pasta #machine.

A photo posted by Emily MacMichael (@emilynd06) on Nov 10, 2015 at 9:43am PST

Had a bit of Amazon birthday cash, so I finally got the pasta machine I've been dreaming of. (When I opened the box, I think I heard angels singing.) The Bean was even more excited than I was for something with "machine" right in the name to be showing up at the door. Our meatless Lent game just got upped exponentially. The best part is that The Bean is just a little practice short of being able to do it all himself.

For more quick takes, visit This Ain't the Lyceum!