Happy Birthday, Pumpkin Pie!

S turned 5 today! She is such a little lady. But we still miss the little girl. We have been so blessed to have her. She is a joy and amazing. She is loving and kind. She is funny and so full of joy. It is so cool to see her get things. She is eager to learn. Five years ago she came into this world. She was S, no longer Maynard, the name we called the child I carried. She was ours. But above all she is His. God has blessed us with her. We treasure her and we long for her to know and love Him. And she does. She loves to talk about God. She loves to sing to him, talk to him. The other day, she drew a picture of her and God. It was so cool. She gets it. We are eager to see that relationship blossom. We are eager to see what He has in store for her.

Her birthday was filled with a lot of fun and laughter. It was also a mix of birthday related stuff and Halloween. For her birthday I made a breakfast pan-cake. She got presents from us. (We are planning a combined birthday party for her and M for later in this year.)

Later we went to Wild Air with a family we know. What a great time for S....and M. Before that we tossed in some trick-or-treating at a local grocery store. We ended the day with a little trick-or-treating to a few homes on our block. And, we were blessed with a wonderful neighbor who made a chocolate chip cookie cake in the shape of a number 5. It was decorated and everything! How awesome! What a treat for us!

It was a full and fun day. Now M is talking about her birthday coming up!

MOA

We spent the weekend in MN at the Mall of America. The girls had a blast at the Nickelodeon Universe, the indoor amusement park.

S was brave and did not hesitate to try a couple roller coaster rides. One was a regular roller coaster. Another was one of those rides that takes you straight up and then drops you! S said her bottom kept coming up! Thank goodness for safety restraints!

M wanted to go on all the rides as well and did not take lightly to being told she could not because she was small. Thankfully there were similar versions of some of those big rides just for the little ones. Those appeased her for a little bit. She giggled the whole time on the Wonder Pets themed ride, which took riders straight up and dropped them several times.

Our families were also with us so we took the opportunity to have a small birthday party for the girls in the hotel we stayed at. It was a pool and pizza party of sorts.

Again, M showed us a new skill: she thinks she can swim! C says she started kicking her legs and moving her arms once she got into the water. She even wanted him to let go. Eventually she was in a swim ring, which helped her greatly. The next morning we hit the pool again and she spent the whole time in the swim ring, moving around on her own (we were within arms reach). S, on the hand, was a little skittish about being in the water. Probably did not help that she was cold and that the pool was kind of small and there was a lot of splashing, which bothered her. In any case, this is a clear sign that the girls need lessons!

Again, it was a good time and the girls are talking about going again. S also wants to go to the aquarium also in the MOA. We didn't go this time because we had visited it over the summer.

Pumpkins!

When I got back from an awesome church event tonight, I was greeted by two wonderfully carved pumpkins!

They are amazing! C and the girls did a great job! C said S put her hands in to get the guts out, but mostly because he told her it was part of the carving process.

She created the design of the pumpkin with the shocked expression. (Side note, a while ago, she drew a picture of what she wanted her pumpkin to look like. It's pretty close.)

He said she helped to carve out some of the areas and he did some of the detail and clean up work.

M did not want anything to do with scooping out the guts but did help to sort out the seeds, which are soaking right now to be toasted tomorrow! Yum!

M also did not do much of the carving, instead opting to give the pumpkin with a silly expression a few good pokes for character. :)

I was nearly in tears at how beautiful they are. C put votive candles inside them so they were glowing in the dark kitchen when I walked in. Awesome job!!

Family Update October 09

I didn't check when I last did a family update. But to date, we've celebrated a wedding anniversary and a birthday (mine). S's is coming up and M will follow in a month.
Everyone is doing well. We've dealt with some illnesses. I think the girls may have even had a touch of H1N1. Who knows because I still can't tell the two apart. They are the same to me.
Summer flew by. C brought in the summer stuff over the weekend while the weather was decent.
We haven't done a lot as far as homeschooling goes. Nothing structured that is. S does some workbook pages here and there but I have not pulled out last years curriculum. Maybe in January. :) I might just focus on reading with S because she is showing signs.
I might also start some basic things with M, although she continues to amaze us with what she knows! And she is super at Memory! WOW! She and S will be doing a preschool program at a local high school. S has done it before and she loves it! M is very excited. I just hope she will be a good listener. She continues to try is in that area. Well, not so much in the listening department because I am sure she hears us over and over again. But she doesn't always DO!
We've been apple picking and to a pumpkin farm. The girls and daddy are going to attempt carving the pumpkins tonight.
The leaves have fallen off one tree on our property. Soon the one in back will be bare. The air is crisp. I love fall!

Stellar meal!

We just finished breakfast for dinner. I LOVE breakfast. I could eat it at any time. I especially love it a dinner-time. I think because it is so comforting. After a long day with the kids (don't laugh! you try it sometime), it is nice to make something comforting and warm and just so delish!
Plus it is super simple to make in a pinch! Pancakes, eggs and bacon....so easy and what could be better?
Breakfast also evokes images of crisp, cold mornings, comfy pj's, tousled bed head, sleep eyes and the smiles that come with pancakes off the griddle or buttery toast and eggs.
The ultimate comfort food!
Now S says we need to try a dinner meal at breakfast. Hmmmmm.....not as appealing but I am game. Now what to make?

Jon and Kate saga

I don't watch Jon and Kate but I have been drawn into their whole situation. It's so horribly, horribly, tragically sad.
Even more sad is that, despite the divorce proceedings underway, the show was still being taped and aired!
Seriously, leave the family be! No, the family needs to grow up; the parents need to act like adults and think about saving their marriage and their children.
So I was happy to read that someone is finally stepping up and doing something to stop the show. Jon, the husband, has put a cease and desist on taping and no trespassing for the TLC crew.
It's about time someone put an end to it all! Why would they even want to consider continuing? Oh, right, for the money and because they are accustomed to that lifestyle. But seriously they should have pulled the plug a whole lot sooner.....for their marriage and for the kids!

I made applesauce!

I finally did it! I finally made applesauce!
We picked apples a couple weeks ago... yummy Macs and Corts. I had made plans to make apple pie, applesauce and other goodies but hadn't had time (in part due to to preparing for the garage sale) until now.
My friend sent this super simple crock pot recipe. Perfect for me! Peel, core and slice the apples, throw them in the crock pot with brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and there you go!
I was amazed too because an hour into the cooking I saw the apples still in slice form and figured I might have to put the batch through a blender or something. But in the end, it was applesauce! Amazing! (I get giddy over simple things in life. :) )
So now we have two of four bags of apples left. I plan to use some tomorrow to make a pork tenderloin with apples and an apple pie crumble, which is another recipe submitted by a friend. Sounds like a perfect meal for a fall day. Yum-o!!