Halloween 2009

It was a GORGEOUS night...no rain! WOOOOO HOOOOO! Beautiful cloudless sky...a perfect night!

Here are our little goblins for all the grandparents out there.

our little zombie princess. She wanted to be scary but still wear a pretty dress!

here's our headless horseman. I wanted her to carry around a little stick pony that we have- she said no.

and here's our scarecrow. She's sitting out on the porch tonight scaring trick or treaters...so far she's mostly scared the parents...its stinkin hilarious!

baking

What better way to spend a rainy dreary fall day!? The smell of cinnamon-y Apple Muffins filled the house...yummmmmmm!

The girls and I baked a batch of the these sweet apple-liscious puffs and are seriously considering make another batch or maybe even a DOUBLE batch!

I want to learn how to make applesauce. I also want to learn how to can and make preserves. Our dream house has two mature apple trees and two lovely garden plots! Super exciting, right?!

Since I really want the house and am trying to think positive....I decided to brush up on my apple recipes. I found alot of apple pie and cake and preserve recipes. And I found alot of recipes that substituted apple sauce. Then about two weeks ago, our Organic bimonthly magazine came with recipes for preserving and canning your own applesauce. (hopefully, that's a sign!)

Having all those things mingling around my noggin for a week or so...I came up with this muffin recipe. Actually its a combination of about three recipes...bits and pieces added together or subtracted until I had perfected it. At least it was perfect in my head...now came time to try it out.

I help with a group of girls from church- and the activity for today was canceled because of the rain. So we had the girls meet at my house instead. One of the projects was baking...so we tried out my muffins. Now I know- you should really try a recipe out before making three dozen of them to send home with the girls...but I didn't have time.

Disaster averted! The recipe was a success!

Here it is:

1 1/2c unsweetened applesauce
1 c white sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 c melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c quick oats

Optional add ins: crushed walnuts, raisins (I always add in 1 cup increments)

Mix together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour and cinnamon. Set aside. Mix remaining ingredients (minus the oats) in mixing bowl. Slowly add in dry mixture until well blended. Fold in any additional add ins - I always add oats to my breads and muffins.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

What would make this recipe even more perfect you ask...some hazelnut spiced butter! heaven!


If nothing else- it really makes your house smell yummy and warm!

fall

I put the kiddos to work...raking the backyard. Now this requires some 'strategerie' (pronounced stra- teej-er-ee...thanks George W Bush!)...because those of you who own a dog- know that little steaming presents can be found hiding beneath the pretty fallen leaves.

I walked through the yard twice with different scouts- just to be sure we found them all. I mean can you imagine how horrifying it would be to pick up a pile of leaves and put your hand in it- or heaven forbid jump in a pile of leaves with Emma nuggets hiding below...I mean seriously...GROSS!

And my kids...like most kids, can't resist playing in the leaves.

Sooo...here's pretty much how it went.

Pucca raked them


Kynna bagged them


and Kwynnie watched them..being raked and bagged by Pucca and Kynna


When we only had one pile left, the girls begged to jump in them. whatever. Frankly, I never saw the appeal...dirty crunchy leaves in your hair and clothes and unless you have a grove of trees supplying your bounty...you never seem to have enough leaves to provide sufficient cushioning for jumping. You always just kind of hit the ground with a thud and think 'huh!? That wasn't as fun as I thought it would be!' And then you have to re-rake all the crumbly leaves. BUT that's just me...if they wanted to jump- then by all means jump!

Kwynnie jumped and landed on a stick. She didn't jump again.

Pucca jumped - then got mad because her nice neat pile of leaves got all messed up.

Kynna picked through the leaves to make sure there were no sticks and poo and then cautiously sat down in the leaves.

I quickly snapped a picture (the annual leaf picture). And then the leaf war began...I sooo knew that was coming!

It lasted less than sixty seconds because Pucca went into hysterics "Look at what your doing to my pile! My lovely leaf pile is a mess!" She calmed down once they were raked and bagged. We then spent the next thirty minutes pulling leaf bits out of the girls' hair. good times.

quality time

Fall break is upon us...the kids are home for nine whole days! And we're staying home this year- had to put the kabosh on the annual fall break-colorado trip. Too much going on right now, but definitely next year!

Saturday was spent sleeping in, watching the game with the girls (John went to the game with some co-workers...it was hard enough watching on tv...I can't imagine having to have witnessed that disaster first hand), baking banana bread and quiet reading time.

I'm so lucky the girls like to watch football...however somewhere during the second quarter my swear words kept spilling out unintentionally. The girls decided to watch a movie downstairs rather than increase their vocab with such common crude words. Probably for the best...by fourth quarter I swear I had developed a case of turrets...it was that bad! Finally, I just turned it off and headed to the kitchen to chug some dish soap in an effort to clean my dirty little mouth.

Now at this point your probably wondering...quality time?...hmmmmm...not quite seeing it!
Well, for lunch on Saturday, we had a mini tailgate. We had veggies, bottled soda and football and pumpkin shaped grilled cheese. We even spread a blanket and picnic-ed in front of the tv.



Today we spent most of the morning at the dentist office...all three had their 6 mo cleanings. But then we came home and started some fun crafty projects.

We tried this

project from
bhg.com

But used candy corn scrapbook paper.


We also tried this

project from
bhg.com

Here's Kynna working on hers



I learned three things during this craft session.
1). my kids have developed my love of scrap book paper. And I don't scrap book...its nuts.
2). I really need to get Pucca a pair of left handed scissors...poor thing had a heck of a time.
and
3). Kwynny really colors outside the lines (you know- thinking outside the box)....and in some cases on a completely different piece of paper



Pumpkins were the theme of the craft today...and she ended making a spider...uh huh!?

happy

I am happy to note my sweet pea is back. It seems she was deprived of friends, school and basic interaction not to mention the fever and cold medicine.

Rain...I love the rain! I also love fall. Last night it was raining leaves in our backyard. It was magical...for about five minutes...then I realized I would have to rake all those darn magical raining leaves. But it still made me happy. And this morning I awoke to the sound of the raining lightly hitting the roof. I love that sound...peaceful and soothing, I enjoyed that for about five minutes until the twins woke up and chaos broke out- tears and a whole lot of upset-edness over a lost earring.

Showings... no we haven't sold our house yet...still waiting. But I've found the good side of showings- a wonderfully clean house at least once a week. Despite the fact I have to make it that way- I still like it. Going to bed with the house clean and tidy - is a wonderful feeling...not to mention the warm fuzzies you get when you awake to a clean house! seriously

happy thursday, people!

defective or deranged?

With the flu sweeping through our family...togetherness was seriously overrated last week. I know the children didn't feel good and they weren't trying to drive me insane, but regardless of their intentions- I was nearing the breaking point.

Here's how one lovely afternoon went.


I was sitting in the living room reading a book. The house was picked up, children fed, laundry done- and now it was nap time aka mom's reading time. I must not have been paying much attention to Pucca and her requests, because I mistakenly told them they could all nap together down in the play room. The play room is directly below the living room- you can hear everything.

It started out with the usual "shhhhh- I'm trying to sleep!" "Quit touching me- go to sleep" type bickering. Then I heard Pucca accuse Kynna of having fake boobs. I know-right!? I'm telling you- she's nuts! Kynna told her to be quiet and go to sleep. Pucca kept insisting she was stretching the truth on the actual size of her bosom-Kynna defiantly denied the crazy person. So Pucca punched her...in the boob.

chaos broke out. Kynna started yelling "I'm telling mom!". Yelling and screaming followed them as they ran up the stairs to tattle.

"She hit me...in the boob" whispering the last part and pointing self consciously to her chest.

"I DID NOT!" came Pucca's rebuttal in a near shrieking tone.

"Yes...you ...did!"

"I did NOT hit you............ I PUNCHED you!"



I really hope fevers and cold medicine were to blame!

possessed

The terrible two's have nothing on the sassy sixes! Last week John and I found ourselves asking "Where did Pucca go?" Our sweet charming darling little girl seems to have gone missing- and some freaky spastic monster has taken over her body. It very well could have been the lack of interaction...she was home all week with the flu. Besides a fever and cough- she felt quite well, but still needed to be quarantined per doctor's orders.

She was bouncing off walls...literally! And the bed. and the couch.. um ya- get the picture!? She was also talking gibberish and then looking at us like WE were the crazy ones for not understanding, Then she would burst into this psychotic giggle. John and I were seriously thinking maybe we should call a priest- our daughter is possessed!

Breaking point came Saturday. Kynna and I went out side to rake up the back yard. Pucca wanted to help.This child needed some activity to burn off stored energy, so I put her in charge of sweeping the patio- it was full of leaves. Her 'little miss clean' persona kicked in and she dove right in. She did a great job- but finished a little too quickly. She still had energy to burn- so I "accidentally" dropped a bag of leaves on the patio...just in time for the wind to catch them and spread them all over. (Now this is a text book example of my childish side. She was frustrating me and has been all week and so I suppose a little bit of me wanted to turn the tables. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to turn the kitchen sprayer on her- as she would come prancing in the kitchen, complaining to be hungry (10 minutes after a meal) or bored or annoyed at her sisters etc. But I'm sticking to the excuse that she needed more work to do to wear her out!:)

John caught me in the act. Shook his head and then smiled....he was feeling the same way.

When Pucca turned around and noticed the leaves- she put one hand on her hip, tipped her head ever so slightly, rolled her eyes and said "I suppose a servants work is never done!" She shrugged and went back to sweeping her leaves.


my oh my

Poor neglected blog

Dear blog,

I haven't been taking care of you, and I apologize. I have a million and one excuses as to why I've been away, but then again I've never been one for excuses.

You'll be happy to note that my children were sick all last week. Which means I've had ALOT of mom time...which equals ALOT of stories. I promise to light a fire under my butt and get with it!

No more excuses. :)
See ya tomorrow!

disappointed

We had grand ambitions of going to see the grandmas in GI town this weekend...but bad weather was expected so we canceled. I thought Pucca and I could make a quick trip up there on Monday (LPS elementary schools had a plan day)- but alas, that wasn't meant to be either. We all came down with colds or flu or whatever the heck is going around. Fevers, aches, coughs, headaches and drippy noses.

Since two of the grandmas are in assisted living facilities- I didn't think we'd better contaminate a bunch of elderly people. God forbid one of them get the flu and die- how could I live with that on my conscience? I tried to explain this to grandma...but she was still noticeably disappointed. So was I...but killing an old person is not good for your karma! We will make an overnighter to GI town during fall break and hopefully appease the sweet matriarchs.

Meanwhile- we're quarantining ourselves the best we can. Kwynny is the healthiest of all of us. By some miscommunication, I ended up giving a friend of Kwynny's a ride home from school yesterday- once she learned Pucca was sick with something more than cold...she let out an "Oh!" and quickly turned her head, took a deep breath and tried not to breathe the rest of the way to her house. It was quite funny!

Starting out GREAT!

watching the man, Mr. SUH

The weekend...not the game last night. Can you believe this lovely fall day!? And they say snow, tomorrow and Sunday....bummer!

John's parents weren't able to watch the game...but kindly asked if we could keep them updated. John kept telling me to call his parents with a score update...it went something like this .

ring ring:
"Hi. Henery got a bad snap and threw it away for a safety. Mizzou 2 and we have zero. "

ring ring:
"Hi. Mizzou scored a touchdown with their gimpy quarterback running it in. we still have zero."

ring ring:
"they scored again. Mizzou now has 12. we still have zero"


At this point, I told John that I wasn't call his parents anymore. I also told his parents that I wasn't calling back unless we scored.

Well, hot digity dang, Mr. Suh! I thank you! Fourth quarter was much better to report!

It was kind of funny, because at that point all the children were in bed sleeping. And John and I kept having to tell each other to shhhh down once it got exciting. After the second interception and Halu jr. making it to the 3- we all but gave up on being quiet. Pucca came in the family room with tired sleepy eyes and asked "What's going on?"

We ignored her until the touch down was made and our lead was secure- then started cheering. She looks at us, then at the tv. "So we won? Finally, now you'll be quiet and I can get some beauty sleep!" she sasses as she drags her blanket back to her royal sleeping quarters.

John and I looked at each other and laughed.

Great football game. Beautiful Friday. So far the weekend's starting out great!

Love Thy Neighbor

One thing I am completely going to miss when we finally do move...are our neighbors! For the most part...I really like them! And there's such a variety too!

We have a widow lady across the street with the most adorable grandchildren, a sweet elderly couple (even though he is a compulsive mower) next door- the children have adopted them as surrogate grandparents, a middle-aged couple to the side of us who absolutely adore our children and keep their landscaping picture perfect, and another family across the street, with whom John can hang out with when the estrogen levels are at deathcom 5. They always find something to tinker with in the garage..or build something...or talk about building something...you know- 'manly stuff'.

We broke the news to the neighbors before the FOR SALE sign went up and they were all bummed we'd be moving- it was sweet! One of them even threatened to make a ruckus during open houses to scare off potential buyers...wasn't that sweet! :)

Its gotten to the point now where I feel like I'm in that movie with Chevy Chase...where he moves into a small country town and nobody likes him, so when he finally gives in and decides to sell the house- and then the whole town becomes really nice and living versions of Norman Rockwell. Its kind of the same!

They have all been doing a lovely job of keeping their lawns mowed and manicured, some have put out fall flowers on their porches, moving street parked cars down the block during open houses and some have become spies...spying on potential buyers during showings and openhouses. Its really quite funny! They have feedback for us everytime...they didn't stay very long or they were there a long time and were smiling when they left or there was a hot blond at your open house- sell your house to her!

Gotta love them! I hope the people who buy our house realize how lucky they are!

diva divine

I KNOW Pucca is a diva. A tiarra wearing princess reigning over the land of the incessantly spoiled...and its partly my fault. She's just so darn cute- so much so that its easy to overlook the annoying attitude she can sass at you. I KNOW we'll have our hands full with her!


That being said...here's a little excerpt from the world according to Pucca.


John had asked Pucca to pick something up that had fell behind the bed. When she looked behind the bed, she saw a cobweb (her word, not mine).

"Dad, what if there's a spider back there?"

"There's no spiders, just pick it up."

"Oh and I suppose those cobwebs just made themselves then!" she counters complete with hands on hips, head shake and slight rolling of the eyes.

It would not have surprised me had she put up her hand, said "Talk to the hand!" and exited the room. (as she has been known to do in the past)

But her sweetness kicked in and she retrieved the item like she was asked...and did so without further attitude. Sugar and spice, I tell ya! Sugar and spice!

uh huh...sure

Today the girls and I headed over to library after school for some much needed literary therapy. The twins had book stuff for school. Pucca is into reading chapter books and wanted to show off her new super awesome reading skills. And I need a book to escape into...this trying to sell your house thing is exhausting!

Anyway... I was helping Kwynn find a non-fictional instructional book for a school assignment, when she saw a book on sewing.

"I'm in Family Consumer Science (Home Ec) this rotation- it should be interesting! I'm going to learn how to do laundry, fold clothes and sew a pillow. I'll probably be able to cook dinner when I'm done with this class!" Kwynn exclaims with an adorable look of excitement.

(I flash her the 'oh honey, I know you way better than that!' look)

Realizing I was most assuredly right, she rolls her eyes, smiles and quickly adds "Well, if I wanted to I could."

Yes dear, I'm sure you could!