Trick-or-Treating: Round One

Ethan and Madeline got to go trick-or-treating a day early this year. Todd's office invited the employee's kids to come for an hour this morning and trick-or-treat around the office!
This year, Ethan is Percy the Green Engine:

Here is a better close-up shot of Percy. I had to take a picture of just the costume because I made it and I admit I'm likin' how it turned out:

And Miss Madeline was a Pixy Princess. She may or may not be the same thing tomorrow . . . I made her pixy skirt too, but it's been around since last year:

We sure had fun. There weren't a lot of people, but there was a lot of treats.

Now that they've got this figured out, they are even more excited for tomorrow than before. Hmmm, we are going to have way too much candy!

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

The snow yesterday inspired me to do some baking. The gingerbread made my house smell so wonderful and it tasted every bit as good as it smelled. I have officially decided that baking is one of the best things about cold weather!

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread
From the Gourmet Cookbook

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
1 stick (8 TBLS) unsalted butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup molasses
2/3 cup hot water

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish.

Sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at med-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in molasses. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture, then add water and mix until batter is smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour batter in baking pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted in middle comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes and serve warm.

Cute Pictures and Random Thoughts

Madeline is now 21 months old. Can you say almost 2? Woah! She's practicing to be 2 too! Some of her favorites words are: no way, me, mine, my, and NOW! But she's got me wrapped around her finger and all I can do is laugh. She definitely has a sweet side too:

And she LOVES her brother . . . I am grateful every day that they are friends!

And as a non related side note: the SNOW outside is making me undeniably and supremely happy! As we ran through the blizzard today from the library to our car, Ethan kept saying, "I hate the snow Mom, I really hate it. It's too cold and it's hitting my face."

I couldn't help but laugh, and then I sang some Christmas songs!

U2 Concert

On Friday, Todd and I went with Todd’s parents to Vegas to the U2 concert. What can I say? It was awesome. I loved the music, and the stage and set up were amazing. We had the best time, got to bed that night at 2am, and then got up the next morning to drive home. I’m still a little tired, but it was well worth it. We've been waiting a long time to go to a U2 concert. Last time they toured we had tickets, but then found out we were expecting Ethan the week of the concert. We sold those ones and have been waiting for this tour ever since. It was worth the wait!

You can see the giant claw looking stage behind us - complete with huge speakers, lights, and a 360 degree screen

Sticks

Playing with sticks in the backyard is always lots of fun:

Especially if you wave them back and forth while singing, "doo doo doo doo doo".

Glad I Got Tricked

From the time I was very young, I was smitten with guys that could sing. All through high school and into college having the guy I married sing was number 1 on my list of perks. In college, ward choir was always a good place to meets guys that could sing. And that’s where I really met Todd. It was perfect! Attractive, fun, smart, AND could sing . . . how could it be possible?! Turns out it wasn’t. My husband does not sing. He was just being supportive of his roommate who was ward choir director. So there you have it; I didn’t get my singer. Todd tricked me. But you know what? I am way so glad he did!

This story is brought to you by Emmy Mom, who has a linky on her blog. Give it a click and enjoy lots of "how they first met" stories.

And speaking of Emmy Mom, she gave me this award:

I received this award for being a loyal commenter on her blog. And who wouldn't want to be. Emmy's blog is awesome. Thanks Em!

Swimming

We pay no attention to the cold weather outside. When we want to swim, we swim!
All the water animals decided to join us as well.

And we had a lot of fun doing diving competitions too!

Madeline also impressed us with her runway diva look:

Floss

I realized a few days ago that I floss my teeth differently every night. I’m not sure why, maybe because I’ve never found one way that seems best. Sometimes I start in the middle on the top and sometimes on the left. Sometimes I start on the bottom. It makes me wonder how often I’ve flossed the same teeth twice because I’m just not paying any attention. How do you floss?

Hooray!

Look! My nephew was born yesterday! Isn't he the cutest thing in the whole world? Oh my, I'm so in love! The only sad thing is that I won't see him in person for months and months . . .

Pumpkins

Last night, we had Family Home Evening at Grandpa and Nana's house. First item of business: go with grandpa out to his pumpkin patch and pick our pumpkins!
Ethan picked two, "The tiniest littlest one and the biggest hugest one!"

We ended up with five and you know what, I've decided I really like pumpkins!

Madeline does too. She carried hers around the house the whole day saying, "My pa-kin, yay!"

Dimple Dale

For a fun activity on my mom's birthday, we all went on a walk on the trail at Dimple Dale Park:
After walking for awhile, we came across a bar in the middle of the path and it just begged for attention. Sooooo, we did some hanging:

And then we did some more hanging:

And a little bit of flipping over the bar occurred as well:

After a little peer pressure came more flipping:

Yeah, haven't done that for about 15 years!

Dimple Dale is a nice place to walk so you live close, you should head that way and enjoy the fall air!

Peach Cupcakes

For my mom's birthday yesterday, I made these:

Peach cupcakes with a peach buttercream frosting

I thought they turned out lovely, and were quite tastey too. I am starting to like box cake mixes less and less. They just don't compare.

Pictures of the birthday festivities soon to come . . .

To the birthday girl . . .

Happy Birthday Mom!!

You've always been one of my very best friends and I am so grateful we live by each other now!!

How come there are no pictures of us together? I am fixing that today when we come over!!!

I love you!!!

Snack Time at our House

Snack time at our house usually starts like this:

Sitting on the snack blanket and eating a "mix" which for some reason requires the use of spoons.

But Madeline never can last sitting on the blanket for long . . .

And soon snack time looks like this:
But when food is involved, little hands are always willing to help clean up:

Shhhh, just don't tell their mom that they're eating off the floor!

My Summer Project

I finally finished my summer project - a baby quilt for my nephew who will be making his debut in 9 days:
I love being called Aunt Rachel:

I'm really happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to see a picture of the little fellow snuggled up in it.

October Recipe

Coconut and Beef Curry with Noodles

Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 TBLS vegetable oil
1 pound beef sirloin, cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced lengthwise
1 TBLS Thai red curry paste
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 TBLS fresh lemon juice
8 oz. angel-hair pasta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 TBLS oil over med-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper; add half to the skillet. Cook, without stirring, until browned on one side, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate (meat will cook more later), and repeat with remaining beef. Set beef aside, reserving skillet.
2. Add onion, bell peppers, and ¼ cup water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Add curry paste; cook, scrapping bottom of skillet, 1 minute.
3. Return beef to skillet, with any accumulated juices, and add coconut milk. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in basil and lemon juice, and season curry with salt and pepper.
4. Add pasta to boiling water, and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Drain. Serve with beef curry over pasta.

No Way!

Today, I am totally loving Madeline's morning hair:
And she's been making me laugh since yesterday when she decided that her new favorite thing to say is, "No way!" The way she says it is so funny and cute I can't help but laugh. "Madeline, let's get your bib on" "no way". "Madeline, do you want to play?" "No way". "Maddie, are you cute?" "No way". Ahhh, I love it now, but give her a few months and she'll be two.

Birds

I don’t really like birds. I do like to look at them. I do like to take pictures of them, but other than that, I just don’t really like them. Here’s why:

The number one reason is that I have a fear of birds pooping on me. Seriously. Get me in a place where birds are swooping overhead or on a path where dozens of birds are in the overhead trees and I’ll flip. I know it’s odd, but for some reason the thought of bird poop on my head is most horrific. And I’ve seen it happen before to people so I’m not totally up in the night on this one.

Number two, I remember perfectly being in second grade and watching a bird show in our classroom. One of the birds went crazy and landed on the girls head across from me. It was standing on her head and cawing and flapping its wings like crazy and I’m pretty sure it scarred me for life.

Last but not least, I’ve been woken up too many times by the noisiness of birds. Certain birds have a beautiful song and I do love hearing that, but the cawing sound is quite bothersome at 4:30 in the morning.

So there you have it. Sad because I think birds are my mom’s favorite animal. Anyway, here’s a picture of my favorite kind of birds:

October is Welcome!

I’m so glad it’s finally October. This is going to be a wonderful month and here is why:

1. My sister is going to have her baby
2. We have five birthdays in our extended family this month: can you say PARTY?!
3. Conference
4. My husband and I get to go to the U2 concert in Vegas
5. There is a chill in the air
6. I’m suddenly in the mood to make pumpkin pie
7. And gingerbread
8. I love fall leaves
9. I'm having fun planning Halloween costumes with my kids
and last but not least . . .
10. This is the first month this year I don’t have two house payments! Hooray!