Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well.

So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for Makenzie. She seems so sweet and innocent…until I get called in for a conference.

Kidding! It wasn’t like that. Just a standard meeting with the teacher to go over her development in certain skills. No surprises at all. She’s bright, talkative, and “spunky”. I love that new term the teacher used to describe my sweet girl’s touchy attitude.

That’s how my day started. Now, let’s get to how it ended.

After a full day with the kids and getting things done around the house, I got myself out the door for a run in the afternoon. By the time I hit the road it was shortly after 5 pm and looked like the sky could drop open at any moment.

I didn’t care, though. I wanted the time outdoors. I did one warm-up mile, then proceeded to up the pace for the remaining five. I really want to continue with regular speed work. I find it a fun challenge. Plus, it helped me end my run quicker. A very good thing considering how dark it got so quickly.

I didn’t realize it would be almost pitch black by 6 pm. I finished just in time as it started raining shortly after I got in the car.

After my run, I stopped by the library to pick up a few new reads. Thanks for all of your recommendations! I put a few of them on hold, then found a new James Patterson to grab while there. I also got sucked into the running section. I foresee lots of reading in my future. And I love it.

By the time I got home, I didn’t really feel like cooking up a full dinner. That meant turning to a quick fix meal option.

Campbells canned soup. Plus a pepperjack grilled cheese.

I love making my own soups, either in the crockpot or a quick 20 minute recipe on the stove, but last night just called for the emergency pantry stash. I know most of you can relate. Your secret is safe with me.

Have a great day! See you in the afternoon!

• Do you ever use canned soups or similar products? I hate how “bad” the blogging community makes them seem sometimes. Who gives?!
• Does the earlier dark bother you or do you enjoy it? I actually enjoy it.

This morning started off with something that I haven’t had in way too long.

A bunch of spinach, a frozen banana, a handful of strawberries, and some almond milk blended into perfection.

A green smoothie made the perfect “Part One” for breakfast this morning. I had to fix something quick that I could chug down while packing up a few special treats that would become breakfast “Part Two” not too long afterwards.

Makenzie’s preschool class had a fall party today and I offered to bring the snacks for this little event. I decided to make two of Makenzie’s favorites – one healthier and one just plain ole cute and sugary.

For starter’s, I did a muffin version of Teri’s Pumpkin Gingerbread.

Full-sized for the adults and some minis for the kiddos.

Then, for the purely kid-fun treat, I made Oreo truffles dipped in white chocolate and turned into either ghosts or pumpkins with the help of edible markers. Aren’t they cute?

I think I have finally figured out the perfect dipping technique!

• stick lollipop sticks into truffles
• freeze truffles so stick sets and so they dip easier when cold
• use a teaspoon of oil to make the chocolate smoother for dipping
• have styrofoam ready to stick the pops into to dry upright

It’s likely old news to many of you, but I had to share my dipping success since it took me a bazillion years to figure it out.

Breakfast “Part Two” most certainly consisted of a muffin and a truffle for me. Mmmmm! And I have quite a few muffins left over for snacks. Although not too many Oreo pops. I shouldn’t be surprised. What would you have picked as a kid?  

Well, unless you’re this kid.

She was way more into the muffins than the Oreos.

Don’t be too impressed. I’m sure she will be begging for her Oreo pop come afternoon snack time. She’s her momma’s kid after all. She loves her sweets, but also enjoys healthier options too. Which is exactly why I went the route I did when choosing snacks for the kids at today’s party.

I don’t want to be the mom that forces food on my own kids, so I certainly won’t take that approach with other children! I think kids can eat healthily without making them – but that’s a whole other topic. I like balance for my kids, so I figured why not approach providing a snack for others the same way? Have a healthier (but still yummy) option and a more standard kid-fare option. Perhaps on some level it’s just going with the status quo, but oh well.

It gives me joy to bring smiles to these faces.

And other kids’ faces…but we’ll let their parents slather their faces all over the internet at their will, not mine. Or I just think my kids are the only ones worthy of space in my post. Shhhh. Hehehe.

Well, it’s time for me to head off for an afternoon six miler! Ciao, bellas!

• What do you think about kids and treats?