Cuteness update...

I should be finishing some Christmas projects, but I just wanted to take a minute to write a few things about the latest cuteness of my kids. First of all this is them modeling their new jammie pants I made for them:

Tayla: I'll tell you about our trip to the Dr. today because everyone there was ooo-ing and ahh-ing over how cute she was. I told her to go play with toys while I signed in. 1 minute later...I hear, "mom, it's okay." (That's what she says everytime she gets scared -- naturally b/c that's what we tell her at these moments.) I just love it. Again....at the scale..."honey just step on the stool so we can see how big you are"... "it's okay." (btw 28lbs...big girl)

Well she had a 102.6 temp, but for some reason she was happy as can be. Pointing at the picture of the moose on the wall (yeah, only in Idaho)..."moose, cute...moose, cool." The Practitioner was very good about "examining" our stuffed doggy we brought before "examining" Tayla. She check ears, heart, back, mouth...then Tayla says, "ouchy, nose." (pointing to the doggy) So she kisses the doggy's nose. Afterwards, we went out and Tayla burped...without prompting she says, "cuse me." Then the practitioner lets her pick out a sucker. Tayla immediately lets doggy lick it first. What good patients!

Last night we read "Goodnight Moon" before bed. Then it was, "Goodnight bed, goodnight Rainbow Rob, goodnight Xander, goodnight mom, goodnight light"...and on and on for about 5 minutes.

Xander: For some reason he is convinced that a head of hair is called a wig. So he says, "Mom I like your wig, it's very beautiful. You have a curly wig." I've tried numerous times to correct him on this one and assure him that IT'S NATURAL. But he still insists that it's a wig. hahaha

50 Thanks list

A friend challenged me to make a list of 100 things that I'm thankful for. It's focused to me to think about it this entire month. (That's a big list to come up with.) I decided to only do 50 things. Although I'm feeling more thankful this year than ever before. I have so much more to be thankful for, but I won't bore you to death with a never-ending list.


I am Thankful For...
1. God, the Father
2. Jesus Christ
3. Holy Ghost

(This is what my kids are thankful for. We came up with "the thankful turkey" during a family night this week. From left to right...)


4. School
5. Friends
6. Christmas
7. Music
8. Grandma and Grandpa
9. Dinosaurs (toys)
10. Bed
11. House
12. Family
13. Colors
14. Blanket
15. Food
16. Closet
17. Fingers
18. Clothes

19. Warm NOVEMBER days. Yes it was so warm that we could play water table without freezing our tails off.

20. My body -- all ten fingers and toes, every part healthy and functioning properly.

21. My gym membership -- it makes staying in shape easy

22. 9/5/2009 -- the day I ran a marathon (a terrific experience)

23-33. My husband -- he's amazing in more ways than one

34. Symphony -- it's a great break from being "master of the household" all week, it keeps me in "musical shape," it makes me a better musician, and it's kinda fun too.

35. Patrica George -- my college flute teacher, also for her energetic personality (I wouldn't have such a great flute choir to play in without her leadership.)

36. Flute choir -- I just started it this fall, but it has greatly improved my playing and reminded me how to be a star musician. Oh and it challenges me and is therefore much FUN!

37. How quickly I made good friends when we moved here this summer.

38. Cooking shows

39. Cookbooks...without them I wouldn't have as much success in the kitchen.

40. Kitchen appliances (RIP waffle iron)

41. Our cozy little apartment

42. My crafting supplies

43. Books (not only for my pleasure, but for educating my kids)

44. the Internet (for the same reasons)

45. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse = a shower for mom

46. My bike/bike trailer

47. Life itself!

48. My kids (have I really forgot about them until #48? lol)

49. Holidays -- they give you something to plan for month to month

50. Our car -- (it beats going over the river and through the wood in a sleigh)

"Mom, it's broken" Translation: I'm too big!

After frequent tantrums and much fighting, the bib is being retired!

For me this was more emotional than my son's first day of preschool. He's used this bib 3 meals a day for over 2 years and I just can't part with it or admit that my firstborn is growing up.

But my son (3 years, 3 months) makes a compelling argument. The bib has gotten a microscopic hole in it so now "it's broken". And since it's been a fight to get him to wear it since he started having preschool snack everyday without a bib, I relented.


For your information: I purchased this bib at Walmart and it's the best thing ever. It has a pocket that unsnaps and completely flattens out, making cleaning easier. Especially when they have vomit stuck in there (yes for those of you who don't have kids, it happens from time to time). I can just open the snaps and let water rinse the nastiness away before I have to touch it. It's not like other pocket bibs where food seems to get forever trapped in the deep corners of the pockets. And they last for as long as you need them -- in our case 2.5 years.

But alas, the bib will not live to see another day.

CHOCOLATE CAKE that you can feel good about.

Doesn't that look delicious! Would you believe me if I told you it was a fraction of the calories of a regular chocolate cake mix? Would you be skeptical if I told you it was easier than a cake mix?So to prepare a cake mix (devil's food) you normally add eggs and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. {Not vinegar! As a friend and I found out after mistaking vegetable oil for vinegar when we made our first batch of cupcakes in junior high.}
Anyways...
1/2 cup of oil = 1040 calories and 112 grams of fat!
3 eggs = 225 calories and 15 grams of fat.

So when you make a devil's food cake you are voluntarily adding 1265 calories and 127 grams of fat!!!!

For this cake I substituted all of that for a 15 oz can of pumpkin (140 calories and 1.75 grams of fat). Making each serving 182 calories 3 g fat instead of 290 calories 15 g fat (icing not included).

The chocolate glaze drizzle was made as follows:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
melt everything over the stove on low heat until smooth
Dump it on the cake and smooth the top until it drizzles over the edges.

It's so simple and so gorgeous! Now the real question: "How does it taste?" Well I have to say that it does change the texture of the cake. It makes it a little more dense and brownie-like. But you can't really taste the pumpkin unless you know to look for it. It has a pumpkin aroma while the cake is still warm. Serve it room temp and you've got a dessert that's great and won't make you feel guilty about having a second piece after your guests leave. I want feedback! You try it and decide for yourself. Would you replace your run of the mill cake mix recipe with the healthier pumpkin alternative?

P.S. Talk about food storage. It's easier to store cans of pumpkin than eggs. :-) You're welcome!

Halloween Day/Night

We started out the day right with doughnuts and apple cider. This was lunch -- taco soup with jack-o-lantern cheese up on top. (Thanks to a cookie cutter, knife, and Rachel Ray for the idea.)

Then we did our church's "trunk-or-treat" that afternoon. (People line up their decked out cars in the church parking lot and hand out candy.)


Xander was dressed as a dinosaur, T-Rex to be specific! Lot's of people mistook him for a frog or an alligator -- I don't get it, he's got teeth and a short nose.


Tayla was Minnie Mouse (the pink one from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.) She was very cute and got a lot of attention.


We also went trick-or-treating! We did one street for about 4 blocks. As you can see it was still pretty light out. We're early trick-or-treaters. Those kids were so wound up and so excited. It was incredibly difficult to herd them in the right direction and keep them from running into strangers' houses. They were driving me crazy the first half of the night!


Then they calmed down and got the hang of it. I just LOVE this last picture!

It was a perfect night! Warm weather is VERY unusual in Idaho for Halloween. The kids had a great time and we made great memories this year. Life is good!

Carving Pumpkins

We just carved two small pumpkins this year...


Xander's favorite feature is the "scary teeth." He likes all jack-o-lanterns with "scary teeth."


We didn't have any tea light candles (another thing I forgot about and packed in storage), so Curtis broke out some glow sticks to put in the pumpkins. They worked swell (just for one night), until I caught Xander playing with a broken one that had leaked fluids all over his pumpkin. I hope that stuff isn't radioactive!


I decided to be ambitious and cook up the seeds for eating. I did just regular ones with egg whites and salt. And I also tried Rachel Ray's sweet and spicy pumpkin seed recipe. It was yummy! Go easy on the cayenne if you don't like it too hot.


Another night, we had a good old-fashioned family movie night. Popped a big bowl of popcorn...and snuggled up to share it. The "movie" was Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (it was a 30 minute Halloween special we recorded on our DVR). The kids loved it and we watched it twice in a row that night.

Corn maze!

We took the kids to the local corn maze/pumpkin patch...


They did some face painting. Watch out for the scary Frankenstein monster!


And here's the elegant white tiger. (She loves tigers!)


And you can't forget about picking out our pumpkins.


Moments to remember:
Tayla's encounter with the animals. We fed the horse some corn. Then Tayla ran over to pet the turkey got bit! Feisty turkey! She was pretty sad.
On the way home I gave her a tissue for her sad tears and runny nose. She sat there wiping her face on the way home until all the makeup was pretty much gone.

Hardware Ranch, UT

I'm making an effort to catch up my blog so check back the next few days for new pictures.

We finally got around to visiting Curtis's brother and his family in Logan the first weekend in October. While we were there we went to the Elk reservation at Hardware ranch. They had lots of fun activities for families that weekend. Including pumpkin painting...


Examining bugs in water. This was Xander's favorite activity! We learned that if these critters are in the water, then it is safe clean water.


Target practice with a bow and arrow. Curtis wasn't even paying attention to his aim...


Xander hit the target all by himself. No joke.


We learned about Native American hunters.


She's not totally freaked out, she did pet the thing. I was surprised at how fascinated she was with this man. He held her attention for quite a long time talking about all of his tools and furs.


And of course, we went on a horse-drawn wagon ride. Too bad the elk were all hiding out of view. (This is Tayla on her cousin's lap.)

Other memorable parts of the weekend:

Xander learned that he could do forbidden things if mom wasn't in the room. I'd come see what he was getting into and he'd repeatedly tell me, "Go away, Mom." He had a partner in crime (a big cousin with a drawer full of candy). She'd let him eat all the candy out of her drawer and give him more.

We got Curtis's parents to sing with the "Disney sing it wii." That game amused us for an entire evening.

Preschool -- Dd

Xander is 3 and starting preschool this year. As part of his education and social development, I'm participating in a preschool swap with some of the other ladies in my ward. We take turns having all the kids over and teaching the lesson. There are 6 kids (5 boys and 1 girl) ranging from 2-4 years old. This week was my week and I was responsible for teaching the kids the letter Dd. The following are my lesson plans for the week.

Tuesday

The Letter D

Objectives: Be able to recognize the letter D (capital and lowercase). Be able to make the “D” sound and identify several words that start with D.

As the kids are arriving, I had the letter people DVD playing, "Meet Mr. D"

Opening activity: Children take turns picking objects from my bag and determining if it starts with a D or not. (Ex. Dog, Duck, Doughnuts, Dinosaur, Diamond, Dress, Doll, Dump truck)

Art Project: “D is for…” sponge painting

(This was my sample. After trying it out beforehand, my husband and I decided that my dog was unrecognizable so I made a better sponge for dog.)

Story Time: Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller Detective Dog and the Disappearing Doughnuts by Valerie Garfield

Snack: Delicious Donuts!

Doughnut Dance: play Mr. D song

After Tuesday, I realized that the kids have very short attention spans. Although I thought I had too much planned, we finished before the hour was up and the kids ended up playing with toys until the mom's picked them up. Thursday's lesson plan was much more involved as a result.

Thursday

Circle time: Sing songs; Look Who Came to School Today
(tune: Mary Had A Little Lamb)

Look who came to school today
School today, school today
Look who came to school today,
_____ (child's name) did.

5 Green and speckled frogs, 5 little monkeys swinging in the trees

Opener: Children find the word strip with their name on it. Then they can take it to the table and glue beans on the letters.

(I copied this activity from Xander's other preschool. He does much better at staying on task and finishing projects when mom is not the teacher, so this was his project from the other class.)

Fish: Go fishing for letters (identify whether it’s a capital or lowercase Dd).

Science Experiment: Sink/Float Have the children take turns putting objects into a tub of water. Place the objects on a T-chart in either the “sink column” or the “float column.”

Story time: Read Dinosaurumpus! by Tony Mitton

Craft: lower case d with a dinosaur behind the door. Skills [coloring, cutting, gluing, sticker].

(This idea I stole from "No time for flashcards." The button is in the right column of my blog. She has a great website dedicated to activities for your little one! I highly recommend checking it out!)

Snack: Jell-o jigglers cut into dinosaur shapes.

I was much happier with the second day of preschool. The kids were attentive and excited. We also used up all 60 minutes. I can't wait for the next time I teach because now I know what to expect.

Milestones and things...

I haven't posted about the kids for a while, so here's the low down.

Tayla: The vampire teeth have come through, finally! It's been a crabby couple of weeks as she's been getting these teeth. It seems like she hasn't gotten teeth for a long time, so these surprised her with pain she probably doesn't remember having experienced.

Tayla is starting to put words together. Last night it was an adjective with a noun: "big stick." Then she surprised us with her first sentence last night! "Iawnta book" (I want a book.) She's starting to learn colors and letters.

Preschool has been hardest on her (and she's not the one going, Xander is.) She used to cry everytime we dropped him off. Then she'd wander around the house looking for him..."nanner, nanner, are you?" But the separation has been a good thing. Now she immediately starts jabbering when we drop off Xander; as if she hasn't been able to get a word in with him around.

Xander: Started preschool. He loves it, and I've already noticed a big difference in what he's learned! One morning I was laying in bed, when I heard Xander yelling at Tayla so she'd wake up. The next thing I hear is him singing song after song to Tayla; 5 monkeys swinging in the trees, ABC's, itsy bitsy spider. I could never get him to sing to me before! And here he was singing to his sister. He just melts my heart.
Xander also has a newfound love of corn on the cob! He eats a lot of it too. Good job son!

We've been enjoying these warm September days! We only have been to every playground in town, except for one. We'll probably check it out next week. We picniced in our backyard on a day Curtis had off. It was very pleasant.