I feel like I'm already tired of Halloween, and it hasn't even happened yet.
We've dressed up for class parties and parades and trunk-or-treat.
Gary's parents brought this dress back for Avery from Germany. I love it.
I {kind of} forced her to wear it to the boys' costume parade at school. She was not happy with me.
I tried to convince her it was a German princess dress, but she didn't buy it.
She preferred the sequiney Costco mermaid number.
It came with pearls. Fancy!
We carved pumpkins on Thursday before soccer practice. I think this is Colin's favorite day of the year. He really likes to dig into the pumpkins and get as gooey as humanly possible.
If you look closely enough you can see pumpkin on his forehead. There is no explanation.
And after carving I made my best batch ever of pumpkin seeds.
A tablespoon or so of melted butter (or "butter" - see above), a couple of teaspoons of worcestershire sauce, half a teaspoon of garlic salt, half a teaspoon of table salt. Mix it all together, pour over the seeds, and bake at 275 degrees for an hour or until crunchy. Yum.
We have the ginormous bags of Costco candy ready to go for tomorrow. This year I bought the good stuff: chocolate. I already instructed Gary on the candy giveaway order: Whoppers go first, then M&M's and Almond Joy and Crunch bars, and then Reese's cups and Kit Kats.
And...as an absolute last resort...the Snickers bars.
I'm a worrier. Rather...I'm a recovering worrier. OK, fine. I'm WORKING ON being a recovering worrier.
I never worried until I had kids. Before kids I was happy and worry/anxiety-free.
But as soon as I became a mom, I began to worry. I worried about my kids. I worried about my husband. I worried that something would happen to me and I wouldn't be around to take care of my kids and my husband.
I know I'm not supposed to worry. I know what God says about worry. I'm better than I used to be....my anxieties aren't as great as they once were. But it's hard, and I still struggle sometimes.
What does help...is having faith. I have faith that what God tells us all is true.
But I need reminders. I keep this book of index cards in my purse. I write verses on the cards that I read whenever I feel like I'm stressed or anxious or worrying.
{My favorite: Philippians 4:6-7.}
And I'm still not 100% worry-free. But I'm working on it. And I have faith.
Usually we head upstairs before 8pm for showers and toothbrushing and books and prayers and cuddling. I really like them to be asleep (or well on their way) by 8:30. Because by that time...I'm d-o-n-e.
But sometimes you have to make an exception to the rule.
The Giants are in the World Series and the whole Bay Area has Giants fever. Especially Colin. It's fun to see him get into the games and cheer the team on. {Gary thought he should be a Giants player with a black fake beard for Halloween. Fear the beard!} :)
They won Game 1 tonight and the last thing Colin asked me before bed is if they are playing again tomorrow.
{The game is great...but I'm pretty sure that staying up past bedtime is most of the fun.}
For the last couple of weeks I kept telling myself that if I could just make it through this weekend, I'd be fine.
It seems like it's been an especially busy month.
Avery had her very first field trip this week. It was definitely pumpkin patch weather.
We also celebrated Riley's birthday...again. {This was the birthday that wouldn't end.}
We took a few friends to a trampoline place.
Diving into that foam pit looked like so much fun.
We took the kids to pizza after the trampoline place. All of the kids except one got a whoopie cushion. I think the people sitting next to us were ready to kill us. :)
Gary's family came over Saturday and this was our best attempt at a picture of all the grandkids.
We also had a visitor from the preschool this weekend.
The kids love her... Lucy and I aren't so sure. {This time Avery didn't call her by her other name, though. Sad.}
Tonight... the craziness is over.
It's cold outside, but we have a fire going and are relaxing with an episode of Dexter (and the new Country Living).
We dressed up for our Halloween party last weekend.
We threw the party with three great couples and we dressed up as a group.
I love people who aren't afraid to have fun and not take themselves too seriously. I love our friends.
Remember I said my costume involved knee socks and a spray tan? I failed to mention that my husband's costume involved a mohawk. A REAL MOHAWK.
Do you recognize us? A lot of people at the party didn't. Apparently not everyone is as big of a Gleek as we are. Gary is Puck...I'm Rachel...then there's Tina, Mercedes, Sue, Mr. Schuster, The Beiste, and Santana. {I hope there are some Glee lovers reading this that know who we were.}
And...um...we did a dance number. At the party. I sooo love a good dance number. {But - thankfully - there is no video footage.}
When Riley saw Gary's mohawk he said Gary looked like "someone that should have a tattoo".
He actually went to work on Monday with the mohawk. {under his hat} And now...my mohawked husband has a shaved-like-an-army-recruit haircut.
We had a blast. I told my friends, you know you had a good weekend when your husband goes to work on Monday with a mohawk.
:)
I woke up with a cold. I had a feeling it was coming. I think it's my body's way of telling me to slow down. So I slowed down today and was almost totally unproductive.
Sadly, I didn't lose my appetite with this cold. {I always like it when that happens. There should be *some* perk of having a cold, right?} So I started the day by diving into the jar of apple butter my parents brought us last week.
I loooooove apple butter. {Why is it called apple butter? It's more like apple...sauce?}
And look who decided to finally wake up from her warm, comfy bed and mosey downstairs as SOON as I sat down with my toast:
After breakfast I sat on the couch with Avery for a long time. Then I did a minimum amount of laundry and we went to the bank and the grocery store. We picked up the boys... did homework, went to piano lessons, and soccer... and now I'm back on the couch.
But during the 90 minutes that I was feeling semi-decent today, I made an awesome dinner: Crockpot Swedish Meatballs, a la Ikea. Delish.
I know, the picture isn't that great, but trust me. I got the recipe here, but tweaked it just a little.
Ikea Swedish Meatballs in the Crockpot -1 bag of pre-cooked frozen meatballs (I used turkey) -1 can cream of celery soup -1 can french onion soup -8 oz. sour cream -1 tsp. garlic powder -pepper to taste
Just put the frozen meatballs in the crockpot, then mix all the other ingredients until blended & pour over the meatballs. Stir, then cook in the crockpot on high for 4 hours, or low for 6. I served it over wide wheat noodles (similar to egg noodles).
Miraculously, the whole gang loved it.
Now the kitchen is still a mess from dinner and I'm back on the couch. Here's to hoping I'll have my mojo back tomorrow.
I remember October 17, 2001 so clearly: Riley was born at 1:24 in the morning. We stayed awake all night long holding him and looking at him... I changed his first diaper... fed him... swaddled him... and totally fell in love.
Now he's tall (up to my armpits) and incredibly smart and funny and creative (he wants to be a writer when he grows up) and loving.
All he wanted for his birthday was Lego's, {Harry Potter Lego's - checked off the birthday list} but was also thrilled with the microscope and chemistry set my parents gave him.
Riley...you have our heart. We love you and are so thankful that God chose us as your parents. Happy birthday...you're a superstar. xo
Actually, I should clarify: if this was July, it would be awesome. This heat in October makes me cranky.
I'm ready for sweaters and coffee at 2pm and boots and fires in the fireplace.
We are dressing up for a Halloween party this weekend. We've been getting our costumes ready. Mine involves knee socks and a spray tan. Any guesses? {It's not Snooki, although I thought about it!}
This toothless guy and I will be on a pumpkin patch field trip all day tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 90's. Isn't there some sort of rule that the temperature can only be in the 70's at the pumpkin patch?
Colin took this picture:
I got my flu shot... {can you tell?} ...did you get yours?
Finally... Did you see this skit on SNL last Saturday? I thought it was hilarious. :)
Last week was so busy. We had a ton of stuff going on and Gary has been working long hours. It was a rough week.
On Thursday we had been gone all afternoon and got home around 7:30. The following morning the school was holding a cupcake competition that both of the boys wanted to enter.
{deep sigh}
So at 7:45 we decorated cupcakes.
With tooooooons of candy.
Riley's cupcakes were werewolves...
and Colin's were ... candy monsters?
They came up with the designs and did all of the work themselves.
And the next night at the school's Fall Social...
Colin was the big winner for the 1st grade. He is so proud of that ribbon.
Riley didn't win for his grade level, and he was a little sad. He consoled himself with a ridiculous amount of candy and cookies that night.
If you're like me... I had you at 'enchilada' and 'casserole'.
My family is crazy for Mexican food and could eat it every day. (Except for mini breaks for sushi and Thai food for me.) (And chicken nuggets for the kids.) (And bbq for Gary.)
This enchilada casserole is easy and 'crazy soccer schedule' friendly. And the kids eat it without complaint.
Winner.
I doubt Thomas Keller will put this on the menu at The French Laundry anytime soon, but whatever.
Enchilada Casserole 1 lb. ground turkey (or beef, if that's more your thing) 1/2 onion, chopped fine (the finer the better, in my kids' opinion) 2 cloves garlic, minced 6 oz. can tomato paste 15 oz. can tomato sauce 1 tsp. cumin 2 tsp. chili powder flour tortillas 2 cups shredded cheese
Brown the meat with the onions and garlic and drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, paste, cumin, chili powder and salt to taste. Mix well and let it thicken a bit. Spray a casserole pan with Pam and spoon some of the turkey mixture on the bottom. Then layer pieces of the tortillas, turkey, and cheese. Repeat. End with cheese on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until the cheese is melted.
{Oh...and I added some black beans this time...just because.}
You could also definitely use canned enchilada sauce and it would be delish.
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