Bean has her own mini sewing supplies kit, now. She doesn't know it, but Santa is bringing her her own sewing machine this Christmas!

Eddie usually makes a terrific hot cocoa during the winter using whole milk, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon and dried ancho chilies. I love it but he couldn't be more "meh" about it. Something about growing up drinking it makes it not the same novelty it is for me as a grown-up.

Still, I wanted to have a Mexican Hot Cocoa mix on hand/on demand in the pantry, so thanks to Food & Wine (as usual) I'm now ready to go!

Note: This is a cocoa mix to be added to hot MILK and not water.

Note#2:  I did the amounts below 9x and had enough mix to fill a large mason jar with headroom. I also wrote the milk-to-mix ratio on the lid for easy reference.


Mexican Hot Cocoa Mix - Serves 2

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk (12 oz)
whipped cream

Whisk all dry ingredients in a bowl to blend together well. 

Heat hot milk in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling.

Place 3 tbsp. mix in each mug.

Pour 3/4 cup hot milk over the mix and stir until dissolved.

Top with whipped cream!

Bean made this which we saw at parent-teacher conferences last week. Can't wait to bring it home and frame it for the gallery in the basement.

Lulu did her cutest art work in 1st grade, as well...

Bean drew this on the dry erase board Grandma Louise brings with her while waiting for her swimming lesson to begin. I came to see the girls swim on their last swim lesson last night, and was rewarded with impressive and improved swimming skills from both of them as well as downright adorable giraffe art from Bean!

Bean decided to wear Eddie's "old man" sweater, as it's been affectionately dubbed, this morning while she played with her Lego's. Everyone loves this fabulous second-hand find. It's super soft wool cardigan with a zipper closure.

Shout out to Grandma Mary! Lego's are great mind-expander gifts for the upcoming holidays!!!

I intentionally take pictures of the girls when this happens, so I have proof and a visual reminder that they do love each other.  You wouldn't really know it when they are awake, at least on Lulu's part! It only seems it's displayed when they are sound asleep and both require to be snuggled up to another sleeping body to sleep.

I just know that Bean thinks she's actually sleeping next to me, even though it's Lulu...

My mom treated us to an amazing tour of Lone Fir Cemetery, a pioneer cemetery smack-dab in the 

middle of lower east Portland. "Fun fact" (an expression Lulu often says, now) I used to live across the street from this same cemetery in 1991-1993 and never ventured inside for a look around...

But I digress.

Metro gives tours now, of the cemetery, with local actors sharing the "untimely demise" of certain cemetery inhabitants complete in period costume, right before Halloween. It was a delight to go inside this huge piece of history (which now has fences and gates as it's experienced vandalism in recent years, though people are still buried inside the grounds in present day...) and experience from that perspective. 

There are over 71 different species of trees alone inside the grounds! Below, I snapped a quick picture before our tour started as photographs were not allowed once the tour began. In love with this gorgeous weeping willow tree, front and center!

Luckily we got tickets as this event is prone to sell out each year. Actually, the line for buying tour tickets extended down one side of the street and around the cemetery as opposed to our line of pre-purchased ticket holders.

Jump to Halloween night! Eddie had planned to stay home this year to hand out Halloween candy. He pulled this Halloween costume out which was actually a gag gift from friend Paul in Las Vegas when they hung out this past May. (Bruce, Paul and Eddie all got matching shirts, caps and pipes to wear and use during the weekend when they went out to various places during their visit. The shirt is remarkably realistically!)

Bean, was of course, a love cat!

Lulu went as Stampy Cat. I wore a beautiful feather mask that had leopard spotted feathers on it!

Eddie put the eye lights back up in the dormer. He also lit every single candle we had in the house including dinner party table candles which I had not intended to be used for Halloween atmosphere in the living room while he handed out candy.