Fall foods

Fall is my favorite season. I love the sights, the smells, the aroma of autumn. I got married under a golden hued autumn canopy. I love hiking when the leaves crunch under my feet. I love driving through the hills and seeing the patchwork trees in the distance.



Cooking in the fall takes a new turn. I don't mind baking. Or letting stews and soups simmer in the crock pot, ready to be eaten around our busy soccer schedule. And one thing my kids always ask for is pumpkin pancakes when the days turn shorter and the air gets cooler.



Today, the kids had a day off of school. It's cool, it's rainy - just the type of day that makes you want to curl up and spend the day inside. Off hand, I said to The Big Kid "I wonder how pumpkin french toast would taste". A quick trip to the grocery store and we were ready to cook. They were very scrumptious. A post on Facebook and people wanted the recipe. So here it is.

Pumpkin French Toast

Ingredients *:
1 1/2 packages of cream cheese (we used fat free)
4 ounces of canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon sugar
bread
eggs milk

Directions:

Mix your egg and milk together (as you would for regular french toast). Set aside.

In a bowl, mix cream cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and sugar. Spread on one slice of bread. Top with another slice of bread. Dip in egg mixture. Put it in a frying pan for about a minute - then flip over for another minute (or until thoroughly cooked)

Top with syrup, butter, whipped cream or powdered sugar.

Pumpkin pancakes

Use your favorite pancake recipe (even from a box). I prefer the recipe in my BHG cookbook. Add 4 ounces of canned pumpkin to your mix. And cook as the directions dictate.

Enjoy!


* measurements are estimates- a tad more or less may be required depending on your tastebuds

Zombie Dad

Our local theater is doing a production of Night of the Living Dead. Naturally, the girls wanted to be zombies. Naturally, dad, aka The Big Kid wanted to be in it. His coveted role was Johnny - aka the guy who gets killed in the opening scene. He got the part. The other day was the first rehearsal. The girls did not need to be at theater for a few more weeks, however, I had to bring one kid to soccer and then I had to go to a meeting. bringing all three girls to a meeting usually proves to be disastrous. For some reason, meetings are the one time they are at their worst.

So The Big Kid took Meenie and Moe to rehearsal while I went off in the other direction. When I came home, the girls had news to share "guess what Mom, we saw Daddy get killed by a zombie". "Yeah, twice".

LOL, not every child can claim that their father was eaten by zombies.

It's going to be a great show!

A friend asked me why I wasn't joining the rest of the family in the show. My reply is "someone needs to take all the pictures :)" . Really though, I am not that type of person. I hate begin the center of attention. I hate having people look at me. I an way to introverted. But I will enjoy watching my family. And I';ll be part of the theater "family" just from the sidelines. (side note - my friend also mentioned that The Big Kid and I couldn't be more different in that aspect - he truly fits in anywhere -I've never seen him uncomfortable around other people - where it takes me awhile to reach that comfort zone. The Big Kid laughed at that comment and said the same applies to them as well :P)

Fishy Fishy and too much TV

Fishy Fishy is an old Gymboree receiving blanket we lovingly purchased for Einey 9 years ago. Our girls never really got attached to lovies, until now. Moe has been carting Fishy Fishy around for months now. It goes in the car and accompanied her to theater for weeks on end. Like any old lovie, Fishy Fishy has picked up some little stains along the way.

Husband picked it up today and remarked bow Fishy Fishy needed to be cleaned. I told him how it was stained. Moe piped in with "yeah,we need to buy some OxiClean to get those tough stains out". We both just laughed...

And we thought buying rubber shaped bracelets was bad...

Because silly bandz* were not bad enough, there's these:


Ring Bandz!!!!!!!!!!!! Get them while you can!

::eyerolls::

** Silly bandz, rubber shaped bracelets, Bandit-Os - whatever you call them.

Juju-Bean's Coffee Shop

Having a single serve coffee brewer is great. Having one that works (we went through 2 in just under 2 months before the wonderful people at Keurig sent my my third system, their customer service is awesome!) is even greater. Having your own personal coffee barista is beyond awesome.

Sometime over the summer, a new shop moved into town my kitchen. It's called Juju-Bean's Coffee Shop. And henceforth, I was officially fired, no longer allowed to make my own coffee - I got yelled at and chastised and given the stink eye any time I attempted to make myself a cup. It was also declared that from that point forward, all cups of coffee were subject to a $1 per cup charge.

Making the right choice - Mocha Nut Fudge -YUM!

Getting started

Adding just the right amount of Equal - 4 for me - 5 for Dad

Half and Half

A little stir (sometimes ice at this point if it's hot out)

A little taste test - burning hot

Finishing touch - whipped cream - and sometimes caramel

The girl may be 5, but she seriously knows how to make pretty darn good coffee! Now I'm just wondering what I am going to do when she goes back to school!

*For the record, she is completely supervised while making the coffee and knows not to pick up and move the hot cups. We would never let her do this if we thought she would get hurt by it.

Running Hearts

Pre-race

As parents, one our most important job is to nurture our children and help them grow. We always encourage our children to try new things and encourage them to do their best. In June, 8-year-old Einey came home and said she wanted to run in the school's annual 5K summer road race. We're not runners, but this is something she wanted to do. So we signed her up, found her a race partner and encouraged her.

We took her to practice a few times (sadly she likes to sleep in and July was WICKED brutal heat wise) so we didn't practice as much as we should have.


Today, the race day dawned. It was cool and sunny - a perfect day for the race.

And race her heart out she did.


She didn't come in first. But she didn't come in last.

As the racers started to cross the finish line, I just prayed that she would make it to the end. That it wouldn't be too far for her. That she wouldn't give up.

Crossing the finish line, with a smile still on her face

But she still had a smile on her face when she crossed the finish line. Second to last. Her racing partner let her cross first, so that she wouldn't be last (THANK YOU!!!!)

We are so PROUD of our little girl, for having a goal and sticking with it. For putting her heart into it. For running her heart out.

We strive to show our kids that winning isn't important. That we are proud of them as long as they try their hardest. And have fun doing it. And by the smile on her face throughout the race, we can see that our girls are listening and learning. And having fun! And that's all that counts!!!

Living, Loving, Laughing

Whew, it's August already. One month and the girls go back to school. One year and Husband is finished with school (hopefully)!

We've been enjoying the overly hot summer so far. Hiking. Loving. Laughing. Except when we're busy getting stung by bees. On different occasions. Last week, husband and I BOTH stepped on the same underground nest, three hours apart. He suffered 15 stings. I took between 12-14. Only 10-12 of them were to the same spot on my bottom. Oh the joys! But where was I? Oh, the laughing.

If you follow me on facebook, you know my kids have been keeping me (and everyone else) in stitches. Without further adieu, here is the best of their world:


Moe to a friend: Can we borrow your baby?
Friend: Yes, I thought you'd never ask.
Me: Um, no.

(Moe is a tad baby obsessed)

******************

Moe to Meenie: You just farted.
Meenie: No, it was Roxie.
Moe: No, it was you.
Meenie: I only fart in my sleep.
Moe: That's impossible.

*******************

Moe at 9:30 am handing me a beer - "here mom, want a beer?" Um thanks but not yet...

****************

Meenie: "Daddy, are you going to take a picture of my butt?"
Me: Um, why would Daddy take a picture of your butt?
Meenie: I don;t know, but he's always taking a picture of yours.

Ahhh??????

*****************

Moe: Mom, I just saw a little snake. It was this big (indicating it was over 2 feet long)...

******************

Me: Get a spoon please, your eating Jello.
Moe: But mom, I'm practicing for Oliver.
Me: Because eating applesauce with your hands requires practice ????

Oh the joys of theater....
*******************

Those are some of the best lately. Tomorrow we'll talk coffee and how I've been fired......

******************

I was informed that yesterday was Ask a Nosy Question Day.

Is there anything you've ever wanted to ask but haven't? Anything you want to know? Anything you just feel like asking? Unless your Meenie, then please stop whining and asking the same thing over and over.

Surprise!

This past weekend, Husband surprised me with a surprise 30th birthday party. Or tried to surprise me. I am very happy with all the effort he put into it and spending a wonderful day with some of my best friends. Thanks so much!

That being said, it wasn't a surprise but I played along...

Ingredients for a great surprise party (or any party):

• Invite your best friends
• Have everyone bring their favorite dish
• Beer
• Friends
• Beer
• No gifts required
• Have fun

How not to throw a surprise party:

• Ask/tell party recipient that she/he needs to wash the floors (serious - he should have known there that the gig was up)
  
• Have them prepare their own food while feigning ignorance of why you/they are making mad amounts of food for "later in the week"
• Start cleaning other areas of the house that are normally left alone
• Clean in general because it's not normally "your job"
• Tell significant other to stay out of your email/FB (because a) your planning something or b) your having an affair :P )
• Have me by my "favorite" beer to bring to an made up picnic with coworkers - which totally would not have been enough.
  
• Ignore dog crap in the yard (where people will end up) but requiring floors to be squeaky clean (where people will not be)....
  

And the NUMBER ONE THING NOT TO DO:

Tell the kids

Leading up to the party, I kept hearing about how it was going to be a special day but they couldn't tell me why. And also, I couldn't go in the basement (their rule - no one else's).

Despite me knowing, it was a great party and I enjoyed having a wonderful day with friends!

Farewell Booger....

We've spent alot of time this summer stream wading and as such, we've observed mud puppies, salamanders, newts, frogs, toads, tadpoles, fish and crayfish (along with an assortment of bugs). We even had a tank full of tadpoles to observe and then release. Imagine our surprise when we found out our tadpoles were in fact - tree frogs by catching them climbing out of the tank.

Closer view

It was also a possible explanation why we went from nine tadpoles to 2. Or so we thought....

So we had two lonely tree frogs named booger 1 and booger 2. I casually mentioned to Husband that we needed to let them go outside.

Later that afternoon, I heard alot of shrieking coming from the kitchen. Einey and Moe walked in and caught Toothless (aka Mr. Naughty Turtle Bits) eating booger. As I rushed to try to save him, I noticed it was just too late. Mr. Naughty Turtle Bits had in fact, caught his own dinner. The girls mourned the loss of their tree frogs and learned a lesson about the circle of life.

Good-bye frogs...

What not to say

The following words/phrases are currently banned from our home.

Duh. (which is amusing to see how many words they can come up with which have the word "duh" in them)

She did it.

She started it.

It's no fair.

Can you buy me (fill in the blank)?

Seven

Seven is...

happy

considerate

caring

loving

zany

boisterous

goofy

overcoming fears

trying new things

laughter

Seven is love.

Happy birthday sweet, Meenie!

Summer vacation 2010

One week into summer vacation and I finally got the girls to sit down and compile a list of things hey want to do this summer.

click to see larger

I think we also need to work on penmanship and spelling :)

Looks like we will be busy!

Happy Father's Day

Click to view larger

Happy Father's Day to the best father (and husband) ever.

Thanks for always being there for us.

Where The Wild Things Are

At some point last summer, after we attended our first letterboxing gathering, we knew we wanted to host our own. We enlisted the help of a few friends and started planning. By December, we nailed down a location and set the official wheels in motion. We planned, we carved, we asked for other carvers, and we waited. Finally, the first week of June arrived and we set out to plant. The husband, a friend, Moe, her buddy and I set forth to get things planted. After all, what sort of letterboxing event would it be if there were no boxes to find???? These two little guys were great - they didn't complain (much) and we were able to zip through planting the first series. Then we parted ways and dragged Moe onto the second series. All told - she did about 4 miles with us that day without much complaints. Maybe the key to hiking is NOT taking ALL the kids :P

We wrote up the clues and watched the weather. As of the beginning of the week, it was NOT in our favor. But by the end of the week, it looked like it would be a decent day.

Sunday (the 13th) dawned and we packed up the car and headed off. After minimal setting up, we waited. Before long, the first attendees arrived and the fun began. The kids played, making new friends and visiting with old friends. We had over 120 people attend (!) - from as far away as Maine (now that's dedication). We met new people and saw people that we hadn't seen in awhile. We were finally able to put faces to trail names. There was laughter and fun. We ate, we exchanged and some of us hit the trails. The weather held out - it was mostly cloudy and overcast, but it was comfortable. The day sped by and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go. Overall, the day was a smashing success!

The first question the next day was: when can we do that again?

Next up on the agenda - the Husband is planning a 15 mile hiking session - date to be determined in the near future!

Bye-bye hair

It occurred to me that not only have I been neglecting this here space, but many, many things have happened recently, so I will try to catch up on some of the important highlights.

Unlike in the past, where Moe would routinely chop of her hair, she actually let it grow. And grow. And grow.

And on May 22nd, Moe and Meenie each cut off 12 inches of hair which they donated to Wigs for Kids.

Before

After

I'm so proud of them for their decision and for sticking to it. Because let me tell you, each morning, it was a bear to comb all that hair! Their new shorter do's are much easier to take care of and will much cooler this summer!

My baby...

First day of school

June 4th (yes that long ago), my baby did it, she graduated kindergarten. We had some bumps along the way and going into kindergarten, we knew it was a big possibility that she may have had to repeat it. Mid-year, she was still struggling a bit. Come March, when it was make it or break it time, her name was still in the retention pile. Her teacher , bless her, kept putting her paperwork back to the bottom. And then suddenly, it clicked. She brought it all together and showed that she could do it.

So without further adieu, I introduce to you, the First Grader....

Last Day (bringing us her kindergarten scrapbook)

Her last day was bittersweet. We are so proud of her for all her hard work. But at the same time, we absolutely LOVE the kindergarten teacher. It's so sad to know that we will never have another child in her class again.

So Proud

Einey has turned into a budding artist. She's always loved to draw, and this year has won two awards!

This was from the local Lodge of Elks annual Drug Awareness poster contest. She placed first in our area and 5th in the state.


The other was from the local GS. They had a design a patch contest and she (and her sister who copied her) won.

The patch
The design

So proud of my big girl!

Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem. Please?

This came home with Moe today. Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets note's like this (I got one a few months ago that said "I will not throw blocks in school any more".

Her explanation on WHY she was climbing on the sink? Because she wanted to see if her new big girl tooth was getting bigger yet.

Proof is in the bottom of the cup

I've written about Moe's coffee addiction several times in the past. The other day, I was at an event for our local moms group and came across a picture I hadn't seen in a long, long time that was taken by a friend. It was taken in May 2007 and Moe was 2.5 years. Apparently I wasn't paying attention and Moe helped herself, as she often did.



I was also suddenly overcome with a sense of lost time. When did these little girls (all cropped out of the picture) become such big kids? Two are finishing 1st grade and the other 3 are finishing kindergarten! How time flies!

Spring has Sprung

Picking up where we left off two months ago.....

I haven't meant to neglect this space, but life continues to spin and time marches on. It seems like every year, spring arrives and brings with it the hustle and bustle but fails to bring more hours in a day. Oh sure, we get more daylight, but what we could really use is more actual hours.

Cinderella is done and over. The girls did great on their first production. Einey has moved on and is currently working on Annie Jr., set to be preformed in June. So the movie is viewed often. Verses of "dumb dog" and "life isn't fair" are often heard sung around these parts. Oddly, it's Moe doing the singing.....

I've broken two Keurig's. Well not broken but well - something happened. We purchased K1 February 5th. Three weeks later, it started only brewing 1/2 cups - 3 ounces for large. March 12, we returned it for a new one. Two weeks later, K2 did the same thing. K3 was shipped as a replacement and has now been in operation for 3 days. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed!

Roxie the wonder pup is growing tall. We knew she's be a big pup, but still, it's amazing how much she's grown over the last few months! Potty training is done and over with - there may have been a frantic message to a certain dog trainer that went unanswered - that week was just horrible but proved to be a turning point. She now lets us know when she needs to go out and we are more aware of her cues. When her water dish is empty, she'll go over to the sink and jump up (which we are now trying to discourage, but also amazed that she knows what she wants).

Cheer leading is finished but soccer has begun. I love coaching and was happy to see most of our team back. The older girls have their full team back as well.

School is pushing on for everyone. But summer vacation is coming up fast. We don't have any real plans mainly because the Husband will be continuing school throughout the summer. We think. Concrete plans and planning ahead do not seem to be a forte of his employers and is a huge point of discontent on my behalf. I cannot plan and run every one's schedules if I don't even know what is will be 1 week from now. But enough about that.

We are planning our first letter boxing event and I am nervous as heck. I am so worried that people will not be happy or that their isn't going to be enough to keep people interested. That and I cannot get the Husband to sit down and carve. We are excited though as alot of people are signed up to attend. I just hope they are not disappointed.

Boredom kind of reigns right now - the days are long while the kids are at school. Next year, I definitely plan on finding something more to do. I can only show up at playgroup so many times alone before they gang up and kick me out. Or send me home with more kids.