Doesn’t get much more Octobery than an orange-headed baby wearing orange playing with a pumpkin.

I know I posted this picture three days ago but it really is my favorite from September.

I was GOING to write a post about how potty training is going, but the Rule of the Internet* bit me in the ass BEFORE I EVEN WROTE IT so my update is this: GAH.

Wednesdays are my day off from Stroller Strides, but my day on for ALL THE OTHER THINGS. I clean and do laundry and meal plan and grocery shop and go to BJ’s for toothpaste because somehow we each have five unopened deodorants but zero tubes of toothpaste left. To round out my homemaker-y day I usually bake something. Baking (and cooking) is my love language, and even though no one in my family knows what that means they certainly appreciate pie.

But this week I made cupcakes.

Pumpkin cupcakes (based on a recipe I’ve seen on Pinterest and on Nicci’s blog this week and on the Weight Watchers message boards). Pumpkin cupcakes with mini-candy bars in the middle (an idea I will FULLY ADMIT I got from a rerun of 30 Rock last night – Liz makes them for the crew when she’s trying to be a Cool Boss and I jumped up off the couch and shouted “OH MY GOD WHY DIDN’T I KNOW THAT WAS A THING???”)

These might be the easiest cupcakes you ever eat way way too many of.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

1 box yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
12 mini candy bars (I used Milky Ways and Snickers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first three ingredients in a bowl. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers (or just spray the cups well with non-stick cooking spray). Use a measuring cup to fill each liner half way with the batter. Set a mini candy bar on top of batter, fill the cup the rest of the way. Bake for 23-27 minutes, until the tips of the top start to brown. Let them cool a little before you eat them, so you don’t burn your mouth on the melted caramel inside.

I made exactly 12 cupcakes and they puffed up pretty large. You could probably make 18 by filling each cup a little less, but I worked out the Weight Watchers points for 12 and each cupcake ends up being 7 points. Not too bad!

Review from my husband: Oh. These are interesting.

Review from the ladies at my knitting group: OMG THESE ARE THE BEST THING I’VE EATEN IN MONTHS I NEED TO MAKE SOME RIGHT NOW GET IN MY FACE.

Then I made mini pumpkin pies. Because, why the hell not? (Plus I had half a can of pumpkin left because I bought the big kind.)

p.s. Food photography is NOT my forte. I took approximately 500 shots to get these 5 pictures and they are STILL terrible. I need a class or a workshop or someone to just come do it for me so I can spend my time baking more things while they artfully scatter pumpkin seeds and half-folded napkins around a pure white plate.

*The Rule of the Internet: As soon as you write about how your baby sleeps through the night/eats tons of vegetables/never cries on your blog/never bites his sister, your baby will stop sleeping through the night/eating vegetables/start crying all the time/bite everything all the time.

Step 1: Find an inspiration shot from some fancy photographer with actual skills and credentials and convince yourself you can totally recreate it yourself.

Step 2: Collect necessities like matching kid outfits, a back drop, light reflectors, and an assistant to help keep the kids under control.

Step 3: Remember you don’t actually have ANY OF THOSE THINGS.

Step 4: Lay down a dog-hair covered quilt, grab squeaky toy to get the baby’s attention and tell your husband to stop laughing at you because you are CREATING MAGICAL MOMENTS.

Step 5: Arrange the baby on the blanket.Watch her roll away.

Step 6: Arrange the baby on the blanket. Watch her roll away.

Step 7: Arrange the baby on the blanket. Watch her roll away.

Step 8: Decide to start with the toddler. Convince him to lie down for two seconds before he realizes the baby is going to lie down next to him and runs away shouting “NO BABY! NO!”

Step 9: Bride toddler with promise of a cookie (that you don’t actually have), a toy, chips, ice cream, pizza (that you also don’t have) and eventually an ice cube. Yes, an ice cube.

Step 10: Pin the baby down on the blank with one foot while shouting “LOOK HERE! LOOK AT ME! WHEEEEE!!!” and shooting blindly with the camera held above your head.

Step 11: Tell both kids to stop whining so much and look happy! Be sure to use a nice firm loud voice so they understand just HOW HAPPY they’re supposed to be.

Step 12: Give up in a huff. Flounce away with your camera to pout about how uncooperative your children are.

Step 13: Spend two hours staring at the shots in Photoshop, trying to decide exactly which of the 12 different slightly vintage, washed out, lightened filters makes the photos look the fanciest. Then spend another two hours deciding which kid looks best upsidedown and wondering if there’s a name for the specific brand of crazy you seem to have.

Step 14: Enjoy your treasured memories. ENJOY THEM. DO IT NOW.

(Just in case you were ACTUALLY looking for information, the photos were taken with my Nikon D90, my Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G  lens and edited in Photoshop Elements 9 with the Watermelon Blues free action from My Four Hens Photography)

Definitely liked all the photos from this Wordless Wednesday set, but especially this one: