Family Pizza Night

Whew, I am still more than a little behind with my posts, but I just can't seem to find the "steam" to put together the more intensive posts I need to write.  I am so tired at night that I have been "passing out" as soon as we get the kids to sleep.  This may have something to do with the fact that Brody has been coming into our room a lot at night.  He pretty much wants to move in with us, and twice, he has even brought his pillow with him!  Oh, that little stinker!  So for now, I am posting a lighter "food" post about a new tradition we have started.  Evan is very interested in helping in the kitchen (well, Brody is too, but that isn't always productive), and he started requesting that we have make our own pizza night.  He and Daddy have already done this a couple of times, but Daddy wanted to wait to start the pizzas one night until I got home so I could "show them how it's properly done."

*Side Note - One of my first jobs after graduating from high school and while attending college was to work in a local pizza chain restaurant as a cook.  I was never interested in being a waitress as I am an "introvert" who doesn't like the chaos of remembering orders, carrying lots of drinks, and just dealing with a lot of people in a crazy setting.  The thought just stresses me out!  I was much better suited in the kitchen area as I am clean and meticulous and appreciate "perfection."  I prided myself on making the "perfect" looking pizza (I guess it probably didn't taste any different than one put together more hastily, but you couldn't tell my OCD that!).

I enjoyed showing Evan the proper process for making the pizza, and I really have to admit that our little pizzas were super yummy!

Mommy adds the pizza sauce.  

And Evan spread it out.  It was a team effort. 

And Brody never misses an opportunity for having his picture taken. 

Evan's laughter is so contagious as he entertained us while putting on the toppings. 

We added pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms.  Evan only wanted green peppers on one side.  A new funny thing about him is that he loves mushrooms and will eat them "raw" after they are washed.  I told him he was a weird kid and not to eat ones he finds growing in the yard.  Ha! 

Evan and I showing off our pizza before it goes into the oven. 

The proper pizza method order:  sauce, cheese, toppings, and another layer of cheese. 

Pizza perfection!

Daddy prepares the dough for the second pizza. 

The boys take a little technology break while the pizza bakes.  *Sigh*

A perfectly prepared pepperoni pizza with extra cheese on top.  I had to teach Eddie that with pepperoni pizza, all the cheese goes under the pepperoni, but he wanted "extra" cheese on top. 

The pepperoni pizza is ready! 

Bon Appetit!

A Cop and an Escaped Convict

For Halloween this year, the boys decided to be a cop and a little prisoner.  Yes, Brody was the "bad guy" as he is prone to some bad behavior as a little boy in the middle of the terrible twos.  It just seemed appropriate!  When we went costume shopping, I couldn't locate a costume that was actually his size.  They had a little toddler costume that was for 18 to 24 months that was a one piece with feet.  I figured that would definitely be too small for him, but the next prisoner costume was in the bigger kid size.  We went to Party City to check out the toddler costume.  It was a little snug, but it worked if we cut out the feet.  The arms had little mesh sleeves to look like skin with tattoos covering them.  Brody actually really enjoyed his costume, and he was a big hit in the neighborhood and got lots of compliments.  The costume just really seemed to fit his personality.  Haha!  Halloween night was a bit chaotic as Mommy and Daddy both had to work all day.  By the time Mommy got home, it was already dark, and we had to eat a quick dinner.  Daddy had the kids already dressed in their costumes and took their pictures outside before dark so we headed out for a quick bite to eat at a restaurant across the street from our neighborhood and then started trick-or-treating in our neighborhood on the way back to our house.  Our neighborhood is awesome for trick-or-treating.  We just have a lot of younger families with a lot of kids so almost all of the houses participate.  Many go all out with decorating, and the people at home passing out candy have as much fun as the trick-or-treaters.  Many neighbors get together to have little street parties and pass out candy together.  It is just a lot of fun for the kids and the adults too.  The weather was also very nice on Halloween night although I did feel a couple of raindrops on our walk.

Crazy kids! 

Brody surprisingly liked being handcuffed.  Yes, he did eventually break out of them. 

Had to get some shots with our "Spooky" Target banner from last year. 

The cutest cop and prisoner duo I've ever seen. 

Brody has quite a cheese face these days. 

Silly prisoner...back to the "play" pen you go!

I think stripes really work on him. 

Showing off his Mommy tattoo. 

He's Mommy's prisoner for stealing her heart. 

"May I please have some candy?"

Oh man, that policeman means business with his night stick. 

Yikes!  Look out, Brody! 

Police brutality? 

Whack!

No, we couldn't get Brody to say "trick or treat," but he loved saying "Hi!" and "Bye!" to everyone. 

Fearlessly taking candy from the cloaked skeleton creature. 

Evan attacks a zombie in a tree with his night stick. 

Mommy and her little prisoner

Someone's throwing up pumpkin. Gotta love it.  It was just missing the empty beer bottles all around it.  

Big brother cop fights off the evil ghost. 

Brody enjoyed posing in front of all of the yard decor. 

Big brother was more into fighting.  

Brody didn't discriminate on signs and wanted his picture taken in front of a real estate for sale sign too. 

He was a trick-or-treating expert this year. 

Brody tried to run away in the graveyard, but big brother caught him again. 

Always Evan's favorite house.  The flash from the camera takes a lot away from the effect of this house.  It is very dark on the porch with just a blacklight so the scary creature on the porch and the spiderwebs are pretty spooky.  

Brody was amazed at the skeleton creature. 

These two zombies are always a familiar sight in their "cages." 

Brody wanted to touch the large spider. 

Daddy trick-or-treating with the boys. 

Brody wanted to take a break and sit on a pumpkin. 

More trick-or-treating. 

Evan checking out these mischievous ghosts from Casper. 

Brody loved these big, funny ghosts.

This zombie was trying to catch us. 

But Evan took care of him. 

Brody wanted to pose by these little ghosts. 

And a scare crow. 

We had to walk under this giant spiderweb. 

And one last stop at our next door neighbor's street party before going home to bed. 

The buckets were filled. 

Whatever will we do with all this candy?