Happy Halloween!

How To Choose A Pumpkin

Or so they tell me. I'll add my comments in italics. Here's how you do it.



You will need to look for any pumpkin that is:



~Visually appealing, evenly a deep orange. The shape is just whatever appeals to you. If it grew on its side and has a flat spot, you can either make that the make or use it as part of your design. Does it smile at you? And say "LOVE me!" in it's best Italian accent? Does it respond to hugs? Can you hear it's heart beat?



~ Free from cuts, soft spots, bruises. The flesh should feel hard, and not give easily. Infections can invade easily and cause rot. So a pumpkin can get an infection? I never knew.

~Make sure the stem is attached. This jolly fella had a fantastic stem. I hated to carve him.



Store it carefully, especially if you pick it from the vine yourself. Cure a fresh-picked pumpkin by keeping it in a dry place. Don't handle or disturb it. Curing toughens the rind, making it less prone to rot. Pumpkins will keep for months in a cool (50 F to 65 F dry, low humidity environment; such as a cool, dry basement.

Tip: If you like roasted or baked pumpkin seeds, you can save the seeds from any pumpkin!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We remembered. Did you?



Wash the seeds once scooped out of the pumpkin and spread them out in a pan to let them dry overnight. I put tinfoil in the bottom of the pan.



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons olive oil (can use melted butter)
1 pinch salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Toss seeds in a bowl with the olive oil and salt.
3. Spread seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet (I lined with tinfoil.) and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.



Yum! You have no idea how addicting these little buggers are. Luckily, they're good for you.

Our Naughty Faces

When asked what kind of face Kekoa wanted to carve into his pumpkin, he replied, "A naughty face." Of course. What is a naughty face, you might ask? Evidently it involves frowning and the furrowing of brows. Not sure we effectively accomplished his goal as Mommy likes "friendly" faces better, but we did finally get our pumpkins carved last night. Gavyn's response, while enthusiastic, was not near as exuberant as last year's, but we had fun nonetheless. And we even had some special guests to help us out - Auntie Anita and Auntie Jennifer. Here we are checking out the glow from the sidewalk:

Right On

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says courtesy of Darcie



You are a gleeful, exuberant person.



What would be your first clue? Think I come by it naturally?

You enjoy a good party, and you even enjoy a good brawl. So, THAT's why "confrontation" is my middle name.

This Halloween, there is no question what you should be... a pirate!



Ahem... well, since you insist. I've been practicing for awhile now.

The candy you should give out: peanut butter cups



I'm on it. Mainly because I've already eaten all the Kit Kat bars in the bag.

You're turn - The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz.

Anticipatin'

Not making the same mistake twice. Kekoa wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween. Earlier in the year, I found a Spiderman costume for cheap in the Wal-Mart clearance bin. Problem solved. He was anxious to wear it right away, and so I let him play with it around the house. And before you know it, the newness wore off. He's been seeing pictures of black cats everywhere and informed me he wants to be a "black cat" for Halloween. Fine. We bought him this black cat mask to go with his black sweats and black shirt. I let him try it on for size (Gavyn had to try it, too, of course.) when we first got home, but ever since it's been put away until Halloween. And lo and behold? He still wants to be a black cat for Halloween. Lesson learned. Now if I can figure out a way to make Gavyn buy into his pirate costume. Maybe if he can be a "skeleton" pirate? We'll see.

My Steals

This weekend the boys were with their grandparents and Aunt Heidi and Uncle Shawn and Aunt Koral and Cousin Lincoln which gave Craig and I a narrow window (in between the times we were working) to make a rare shopping trip alone. I had been wanting to take him to pick up his birthday gift in blue and so we agreed to take a whirlwind Saturday morning trip to our favorite mall. I'm redoing our master bathroom to look similar to this. While visiting the Pottery Barn store, I found the vases and candlestick holders shown in the picture above (the second picture features my projected paint color change for the room) on clearance for bargain basement prices! That large vase? Was $11.99!!! For REALS, people. Regularly $49. They were GIVING it away. Well. Maybe not giving it away, but you get the idea. Do you ever get the feeling I like the color orange? Or blue?

My Handsome Boys

I love these pictures the photographer took at a recent wedding because they have a couple of my favorite people in them.



Aren't they handsome? You don't have to answer that.

This Week's Daily Reading Guide

Sunday: *Psalm 118, Lamentations 1-2, *Ephesians 3-5

Monday: *Psalm 119:1-48, Lamentations 3-4, *Ephesians 6

Tuesday: *Psalm 119:49-80, Lamentations 5, *Phillipians 1

Wednesday: *Psalm 119:81-96, Ezekiel 1-3, *Phillipians 2-3

Thursday: *Psalm 119:97-128, Ezekiel 4-5, *Phillipians 4

Friday: *Psalm 119:129-144, Ezekiel 6-7, *Colossians 1

Saturday: *Psalm 119:145-176, Ezekiel 8-9, *Colossians 2-4

*SPECIAL NOTE: I didn't look closely at this reading guide schedule before I started and now see there are parts of the Bible you read more than once. For those of you who are following along with me, I'll keep posting them as listed, but make notations of the parts we have already read in case you would prefer to eliminate them from your reading schedule.

Get a Load of This

The boys have been gone a total of eight hours and I'm missing them already. They've gone to spend a long weekend with Grandpa and Grandma and plan on seeing Aunt Heidi, too, for the first time in over a year. Wish we were along for the ride, but for now I'll just try to be content with the way our life is these days. Both Craig and I will be working all weekend long. Days and evenings. And just so you know... Abby Girl, I miss you, too! Sounds like you're having a great time with your cousins. Thanks for sharing this picture with me, Uncle Ron and Auntie Berta.

More Like Apple Rock

Went to use my apple butter this morning and it's hard as a rock. Like chip a tooth hard. So much for being Ms. Susie Homemaker. I wondered last night if I had let it cook too long, but it tasted fine, so I just went with it. I don't know if I have it in me to try it again. I don't like fixing something I have to keep my eyeball on to make sure it's done just right. House smells good, though, so maybe I should just use it for scent. And I seriously would if only it weren't for those pesky fruit flies. Any idears on what went wrong?

Apple Buttah

So I made me my mom's crockpot apple butter in the last couple of days, and I can't wait to try it out on toast this morning. I get pretty excited anytime I do anything with my own two hands, so don't be surprised if I rave on and on about how good it is over the next couple of days. Have you ever peeled three quarts of teeny tiny apples? Probably, so you know what I'm complaining about. I'm just sayin'. I can see why people buy OTHER people's homemade apple butter. I'm partial to my mother's because she doesn't make me pay. Thanks, Mom!

Sweet Sixteen

So it's been sixteen years I've known you now. How did that happen?



Happy 44th Birthday to my Sweet Baboo! And don't go pulling a Linus and telling me "I'm NOT your Sweet Baboo!" I know better.

So I'm going to take Deleise's lead and list the (one million and) 44 reasons I adore you. They go something like this:

1) Your future plans include the boys learning to serve breakfast in bed.
2) You are concerned for the health and well-being of your family.
3) You do not consider cannibalism be "normal" behaviour.
4) You are the master of your domain.
5) Against your better judgement, you humor your family with an annual trek to the fair.
6) You turn doing quad stretches into an entertaining version of "the sprinkler".
7) To relax me, you rub my head until I go to sleep.
8) You tolerate me warming my feet/ice cubes against your legs at night.
9) You pull some all nighters of overtime to "provide" for your family.
10) You "jump around"/wrestle with the boys at night.
11) Your patience amazes me.
12) You think I'm "cute" when others would find me "annoying".
13) You serenade me by singing along with the Dazy Head Mazy song, Never Forget with your baseball cap on backwards.
14) You're a "cuddler".
15) You say you're sorry.
16) You pray.
17) You are teaching your boys to pray.
18) You're sensitive to what others think about you.
19) You've taught me to say "no" when I need to.
20) You've taught me how to relax and take a break.
21) You bring "calm" to our household.
22) You aren't afraid to cry.
23) You love to laugh.
24) You make me laugh.
25) You do the dishes.
26) You love your boys.
27) You love your God.
28) Because you put God first, your/our house is in order.
29) Family is important to you.
30) You think I'm beautiful.
31) You lay awake at night talking with me.
32) You're willing to be my partner in crime in "photo booth" pictures.
33) This is part of your repertoire.
34) You bring me chocolates (and sometimes flowers).
35) You sing the Banana Boat song to the boys at bedtime.
36) You are a hopeless KISS fan. Not to mention AC/DC. Enjoy your new cd. It may be the only birthday gift you receive this year.
37) You are my biggest fan. Too bad I can't use you as a reference.
38) You encourage me to try things I wouldn't normally pursue.
39) You've got big "guns". Sorry. Couldn't resist.
40) You're a wonderful father to two of the best gifts I've ever received.
41) You're my "McDreamy" and my valentine.
42) You still "date" me.
43) You continue to "honor" me.
44) As far as I'm concerned, you're the Sexiest Man Alive. Hands down.

Our Pumpkins

Last week, we went out to look and see what was left in the garden. We found a pumpkin and a couple of cucumbers:



And just so our pumpkin wouldn't be lonely,



We took him up front to hang out with the others.



Self-admittedly, we're getting quite a collection. I'll openly admit I took a risk with the color on the front door, but thankfully? I am in LOVE. It is perfect. How much do I like it? Enough to attempt painting the door at the side entrance the same color. And that's saying a lot, because it is a PAIN to paint these doors with all these little picturesque windows. Maybe next year? We shall see.



This year, I bought a Cinderella pumpkin. Do you think it will turn into a fancy coach and take me to a royal ball? Oh wait... I've already married my handsome prince. And I think this is the closest to a royal ball I'll get to this year:



This picture taken (courtesy the wedding photographer) a few hours before midnight. And then we all were dressed in rags once more.

Housewarming Party

Our babysitter, the infamous Erica, and her family had a housewarming party yesterday. If you're ever wondering what the perfect housewarming party gift is, well... just ask Craig. He has it all figured out. A plunger. "A plunger?!" His response? Everyone can use a plunger. He tried to coerce Kekoa into taking it to the host and telling him it had only been used once, but Kekoa backed out at the last minute.



To add a little balance to the gift, I baked a plateful of Jana's Molasses Cookies. Oh my yum. I'm glad I gave a plateful away, because I've been eating them by the handfuls... one right after the other. Only five left. Any of you are welcome to come and take them off my hands. But good luck in getting here before they're gone. No promises.

Crockpot Pizza Soup

A good friend of Craig's from high school is in town because his Dad died, so I whipped out a former colleague's crockpot pizza soup recipe and got cooking so he could drop it off for the family to have for dinner tonight. I think it's what we'll have for dinner, too. While I couldn't get a real appetizing picture, rest assured, it smells heavenly. And it tastes just as good as it smells. Yum.



2 (26 oz.) cans tomato soup, undiluted
2 (26 oz.) soup cans of water
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 small can black olives, sliced
1 lb. Italian sausage (browned, drained)
1 small package pepperoni
1 1/2 T. dried basil
2 T. dried oregano
1 T. garlic powder
mozzarella cheese

Combine soup, water and diced tomatoes in large crockpot (won't fit in small one). Saute onions, green pepper and mushrooms over low heat. Stir into crock pot with soup. Add cooked sausage, pepperoni, black olives and spices. Stir to mix. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on each bowlful when serving. Serve with breadsticks or French bread and salad. This recipe freezes well, too.

The Deep Kind

Last night when I got home from work, the boys were still awake and asking for me, so I went in to lay with them until they fell asleep. I smiled as I snuggled my face next to Gavyn's and listened to him whispering to me. Then I moved to Kekoa's bed and whisper talked about his evening with Grandma M. We discussed bears and how bears can eat people. But not the ones in the zoo, because they're in cages. And soothing thoughts like that. Somewhere in the conversation, he ran his fingers through my hair and said the sweetest thing, "Momma, you have pretty hair, Momma," followed by a contented sigh. And just before he turned on his side and put his hands to his cheeks to go to go to sleep, he whispered, "Momma?"

"Yes, Kekoa?"

"I love you, Momma."

As I stroked his face, I buried my nose in his hair and let the tears roll. Not from sadness. No. From overwhelming thankfulness that God had blessed me with these two little boys. And the thanksgiving from my heart reached towards Heaven like it hasn't for a long time as I thanked my Creator over and over for this amazing thing He has done for me. The beauty and magnitude of the gift overwhelms me.

As I laid waiting for Kekoa to fall asleep another face suddenly appeared over me. It was Gavyn coming to join us. He whispered something which I took to mean he wanted to cuddle too, so I placed him on my chest, and we all laid there together. Taking comfort in having and holding each other close in the darkness.

I love those moments when we feel things so deep it makes it hard to breath. So deep our mind can't comprehend it happening, but our heart can. So deep that for a few moments we see the truly important things with such intense clarity that nothing else in the world matters. So deep that the truth of it is overwhelming. The deep kind.

Sprinkler? Or Something Like That

Why I Love My Husband - Reason #1,000,006: He can make a routine day of working out at the gym fun. That is if he's had his morning coffee. Seriously. Who can resist a man that turns doing quad stretches into a tutorial on how not to do "the sprinkler" on the dance floor. It actually ends up looking more like he's a chicken with one leg and one wing. And it doesn't even bother him if he's got a stunned audience. Think elliptical machines. And treadmills. And bikes. And weight machines. Does. Not. Bother. Him. Not in the least.

It's Complicated

Get used to it, Kekoa. Women will be complicating things for you for the rest of your life. That's your Dad talking.

This Week's Daily Reading Guide

Sunday: *Psalm 111, Jeremiah 39-40, *II Corinthians 12-13

Monday: *Psalm 112, Jeremiah 41-42, *Galations 1-3

Tuesday: *Psalm 113, Jeremiah 43-44, *Galations 4

Wednesday: *Psalm 114, Jeremiah 45-46, *Galations 5

Thursday: *Psalm 115, Jeremiah 47-48, *Galations 6

Friday: *Psalm 116, Jeremiah 49-50, *Ephesians 1

Saturday: *Psalm 117, Jeremiah 51-52, *Ephesians 2

*SPECIAL NOTE: I didn't look closely at this reading guide schedule before I started and now see there are parts of the Bible you read more than once. For those of you who are following along with me, I'll keep posting them as listed, but make notations of the parts we have already read in case you would prefer to eliminate them from your reading schedule.

What Courage

We went to visit the new spider and her web down the street from us a couple of days ago. This video was taken shortly after Kekoa had bravely said he was going to touch the spider. Then hesitating, he asked me if the spider would move. Finally, he turned to Gavyn and urged, "Gavyn, you touch it." What courage. Little turkey.



He did finally get brave enough to pet one of it's legs. Mommy just stood far, far away and took pictures.

Note to Self

Read this at least once a day.

Weird.

And if that's all not weird enough, my house is cleaner. Go figure.

Tender Moments

Revisited some tender moments from last fall. Second verse, same as the first. Same Momma. Different boy. Same season. Different year.

So, as some of you have so helpfully helped point out to me, the fall out from this "mom going back to work" thing has been some behavioral issues from both boys. Gavyn's tantrums have become a little more tempestuous - he's a bit unreasonable at times. Especially when he's tired or hungry. Kekoa's been a little more insecure.

But my husband pointed out there has been some good, too. He says I'm happier. Which means he's happier. I've also noticed my time with the boys has been more valuable to me and the quality of our time together has taken a turn for the better. I know it doesn't say much about me to admit I can't be this way when I'm with them all the time. I would be amiss if I didn't admit, however, I have enjoyed our snuggle times, our reading together times, our conversations, our wrestling time, and everything that goes along with being a Mom to two adorable, vibrant toddler boys a little bit more than I have in the recent past.

So for now, this seems to be a good solution for us, and as far as I can tell, we're getting along just fine.

Nesting

So Kekoa made a huge nest out of blankets and stuffed animals at the end of his bed for his nap yesterday. There's this little corner in the boys room in between the crib and the end of Kekoa's bed and they both like to play there. Evidently, this has become Kekoa's new nap spot, as well. To be perfectly honest, he doesn't take that many naps anymore anyway, so this was a bit of a rarity. He was just too cute not to take a picture of.

I can always tell when Kekoa is getting relaxed enough to fall asleep because his hands come up to his cheeks. Sometimes I've even been guilty of placing his hands there to speed the process. He's done this since he was very little. I used to think of it as something endearing - his way of telling me he wanted a hug when he was a baby. Up until just recently, he's only done it as he rolls on to his side to go to sleep. He cups his face in his hands and stares at the wall or out the window until he drifts off into the Land of Nod. But more and more frequently, I've noticed him doing it unconsciously when he's telling me something or when he's thinking about something or when he's feeling a little unsure of himself. Is it something I should be worrying about? Or maybe something he'll outgrow? Should I ignore it? I worry (there's that word again) it's signaling something deeper (an insecurity maybe?) I should be taking care of in some way. And if so, I want to take care of it. Thoughts, anyone?

Baby Fever

Two years ago, I took some of my favorite pictures of Gavyn at seven months. For lack of better material at the moment, I thought I'd do a "flashback" post today. The jacket and hat are the same jacket and hat my Dad wore for his 18-month pictures (yes, he was a runt!). Grandma saved it for me and I had both Kekoa and Gavyn's seven month pictures taken in it. It's also nice to be reminded that he hasn't always thrown tantrums and squawked. How can you resist this smile?



Oh... have I mentioned I'm suffering from a severe case of baby fever lately?

Meltdown in Aisle 11

So I was at Target with my boys on Saturday. Ahem. (Again. Don't say anything. As I mentioned previously, I fell off the wagon awhile back and never got back on.) We head for the checking line with our items and things are moving along swimmingly when my oldest son decides to animatedly strike up a conversation with the 25ish-year-old guy who is our checker. This is fine except that Gavyn decides he wants to chime in, as well. He's very enthusiastic about his "skittleton" (skeleton) sightings throughout the store and feels it's necessary to share. Kekoa doesn't like being interrupted so places his hand over Gavyn's mouth so he can finish what he was saying uninterrupted. The checker has a bit of a bewildered "Is this happening to me?" look on his face. Gavyn flips out. I mean, really, really flips out. He's staring straight at the checker and screeching at the top of his lungs, "I saw a skittleton! I saw a skittleton!" And he won't calm down and he won't stop screeching this phrase. He's staring straight at the checker willing him to acknowledge what he's saying. The checker is avoiding eye contact and scanning items as fast as he can. Finally, he looks at Gavyn and says, "Dude. I get it. You saw a skeleton." This isn't good enough for Gavyn who continues to weep, wail and gnash his teeth because the checker is refusing to acknowledge, in an appropriate manner, that he saw a skeleton. Spectators were mildly amused at first. Their expressions soon changed. Amusement gave way to horror at the psychotic child melting down in aisle 11. Their horror eventually gave way to disgust - "why isn't the mother doing anything about it?" I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. Half my items are scanned. I'm trying to calm Gavyn down and pay at the same time. I do believe it was the longest five minutes of my life. Lesson learned. Avoid shopping trips to Target with tantrum prone two-year-olds who are way past their nap time. Not even if you've treated them to McDonalds first.