Good Eats

During our trip to Costco on Wednesday, one of the samplers was pumpkin pie. Jeffrey and Brooklynn loved it. I knew that Mark and I are good after a sliver. I knew that the kids would never eat the rest, so despite their begging, I had to pass on the purchase. I did, however, promise to make them some pumpkin treats.

Past Thanksgivings we've made pumpkin chocolate chip bread (delicious) and pumpkin cheesecake (delectable). This year we are continuing to expand our pumpkin horizons and made pumpkin pancakes. YUMMY!! Friday morning I made them again without the ginger in the pancake batter or nutmeg in the cream. Much more kid friendly.

Yesterday we made pumpkin swirl bread and a sour cream coffee cake (but with pumpkin instead of sour cream, a handful of craisins, and a handful and a half of mini chocolate chips). They were both successes, perfect with a glass of milk- even Mark liked them.

We still haven't finished our can of pumpkin. Next on my list- pumpkin roll.

Send me your favorite pumpkin recipe!

Thanksgiving

With Mark working and 2 sick girls on Thanksgiving, I was glad we had a simple feast to prepare: crock pot chicken (shhhhhhhhh, aka "turkey". Don't tell the kids.), mashed red potatos, stuffing, vegetables, Costco rolls, and a chocolate pudding pie. Jeffrey was at home in the kitchen as I barked out orders. Brooklynn helped peeling carrots and cutting celery. Both Jeffrey and Brooklynn agreed that this was the best Thanksgiving food ever.



We spent the day like we did when I was growing up playing games:battleship, chess, and Jenga. We ended the evening watching Home Alone. The best part was hearing Jeffrey laughing hystarically and Brooklynn telling me how smart kids are to think of all 'those things'.

/div>

The 3 F's

Mark was scheduled to work Thanksgiving Day, so I had decided that we would go to the Golden Corral for dinner. No fuss. No mess. Perfect.

On Tuesday Jeffrey informed me that Thanksgiving is all about the 3 Fs: family, friends, and fun. His eyes were teary as he told me our family and friends are back in CA and all that's left for his Thanksgiving is the FOOD. I try not to dissapoint, and we quickly made a menu for Thanksgiving at home.

Brooklynn's latest

............pet. We made a trip to our local nature center and found out it's a centipede, a carnivore. Unlike the miliped, which is a scavenger. Who knew. The lady working was full of all sorts of insect trivia for Brooklynn.



A black capped chicadee posed at the birdfeeder for us to view.

Cake Decorating 101

"So good I feel like dancin'! "

Reading Time

Malia loves to have the kids read to her. Here they are sitting in a corner of the toy room, showing off the stack of books they have all read together.

Happy 6 months Malia!

Okay, I cheated. The pic is from flickr.com

The Tale of the Tube Fairy

After Jeffrey lost 4 teeth in just a few weeks, Brooklynn was feeling left out. Jeffrey was quite excited about his many visits from the tooth fairy, and Brooklynn was a bit jealous.

Then something absolutely crazy happened. One day she was playing in her room and I was sitting on her bed holding Malia. She held out a little black tube in her hand, "Mom, is this my tube from Dr. Romeo?" (She had tubes put in 5/07.)

"Yes it is. Look at that!" I was staring at this tiny thing that has been sitting in ear wax since last February.

"Well, do you think there is such thing as a tube fairy? I think there is. I am going to put it on my shelf and he'll come and get it in the middle of the night." She had the most excited sparkle in her eyes because something exciting had finally happened to her.

So of course, the Tube Fairy visited our house in the middle of the night. And, of course, he left a dollar for Brooklynn! She came to wake me up at 5:30 in the morning with the fantastic news!

All was well until the afternoon when through her tears she told me that now that the Tube Fairy had come and taken her tube, she couldn't show it off to her neighborhood friends. Being the problem solver she is, she dictated a note for me to write:

"Dear Tube Fairy,
Thank you for coming to my house and for the money. I was not ready to part with my tube. Please bring it back and my dad will give you a candy bar.
Thank you, Brooklynn"

Luckily, the Tube Fairy could locate the tube and it was returned the next night.

The next level

A few years ago, I discovered that I could request books from my local library and they would be waiting for me at the check out counter. What a time saver! I could take the kids to the library and they could choose a few books and I could pick up books I had already chosen. No more dragging the kids through rows and rows of books, begging them to use a library voice. We were all happy!

The next level...requesting books and picking them up from the library's DRIVE THRU window!!! What bliss. Now I don't have to fight with the stroller and keep track of the kiddos. Just me, the computer, and the drive thru!! Here is one of our local libraries. Complete with drive thru check out, flat screen tvs in the glass walled conference rooms, and a cafe.

Today's Riddle

What can six men create that 8 children can destroy in a matter of minutes?

Opening Exercises

Yesterday was our family's turn to conduct opening exercises for our co-op. Jeffrey lead us in a song, prayer and the pledge of allegiance. Then Jeffrey and Brooklynn recited a poem they have been working on:

The Squirrel

Whisky Frisky,

Hippity hop,

Up he goes

To the tree top!



Whirly, twirly,

Round and round,

Down he scampers

To the ground.



Furly, curly,

What a tail!

Tall as a feather,

Broad as a sail.



Where's his supper?

In the shell.

Snap, cracky,

Out it fell.


I have to admit it was pretty cute- especially since Jeffrey is missing his two front teeth!

Our First...

Yesterday it was sooo cold (in the 30's) that we had our first snow! The earth is still warm, so we caught it in our hair and on our coats to get a good look at it. The rest of it melted as it got close to the ground. We can't wait for more!

Some Body

For the past several weeks we have been focusing on learning about the human body. I had a great book

referred to me by a friend. It includes all of the organs and body parts for the kids to color and paste onto their own body outline. It has been a lot of fun! Jeffrey wants to start on another one.

Autumn

Dinner Last Night

I made Chicken Soup with Black Beans and Corn last night for dinner. Delicious!! I switched it up a little bit and used 2 cans of chicken broth and 2 cans of Costco canned chicken. A definite repeat!

Breakfast-Bill Cosby Style

Dad is great!
He feeds us chocolate cake.
Mom is fab!
She cleans up after Dad.

Malia's milestones

Malia has been quietly doing her thing. This week: rolling over and sitting up by herself!

Soccer

The soccer season has come to a close. Jeffrey really enjoyed playing and looks forward to next season. Brooklynn had fun getting to know the girls on her team. Originally, she had no desire to play. That was until she found a pink soccerball and a pink water bottle. Amazing what little pink can do.

They recieved trophies at a pizza party at the local pizzaria. Yum, yum.

Sorry no kids are in the picture, they revolted after I made them put their Halloween outfits on a week after the fact. Making them put on their soccer shirts to hold their trophies- out of the question.

Falling Leaves

Autumn here is breathtakingly gorgeous. The kids have been hard at work to preserve the colors.

Jeffrey and Brooklynn made leaf presses at Home Depot last Saturday. We've spent the week looking for different shaped and colored leaves. We've made a few crafts with them. We'll post pictures when they're done.

Halloween

For Halloween I got the kids dressed and then we went to pick Mark up from work. Since it wasn't dark yet, we went to Wendy's for dinner. Thank goodness they were packed because the sun didn't go down until we finished eating. Mark asked around at work for the perfect neighborhood to take the kids trick-or-treating: sidewalks, street lights, and houses close together. His co-workers told him of the perfect spot and the kids had their sacks full by the time their legs were tired.

Do Halloween pictures count if I have the kids pose a week late for their snapshot?

Jeffrey's News

I was sucking on a tootsie roll pop and my tooth fell out.