Will post-donut
It seems like it's becoming a tradition around here for the boys to grab donuts with their dad on Saturday mornings. Today they invited me to go too, and while we were out we realized today is the start of "Gilbert Days" which means... I really don't know what. I just know that there was a parade, and the boys had a great time for the first half hour, after which Alex asked, "Can we go home now?"
Tonight we went to the 100th birthday celebration for Alan's grandfather, Louis Raine Curtis. Alan's dad decided get the family together to honor and celebrate this great man's life, even though he is no longer with us. Everyone got babysitters and we had a great meal and great conversation about Grandpa. It was really fun to get to know this person through Alan's dad's perspective- he loved him so much, and had pulled out all of the memorabilia he has from him and set it up on tables for us to look at: his shirts, pictures, his diploma from Cornell, yearbooks, watch and much much more. The highlight was the homemade rootbeer, "Lou's Booze," that Dave made in honor of Grandpa. Also? It was so different to enjoy a relaxing evening with Alan's family and no children to distract us! We never have the chance to actually talk- it was really great.
Ever since we moved to
On Saturday morning we went on a family excursion to Shamrock Farms in
Yesterday morning before the sun had risen, Alex climbed into our bed and made himself comfortable right up next to me. We laid there for a while, his eyes closed. After a while, he lifted his head and noticed his dad was on the other side of me. He climbed right over me and cuddled up to Alan. Suddenly he was wide awake and looked at Alan and said, "Let's go play catch, dad!"
I guess this makes it official. I've put it off for a few months, trying to stall the inevitable, but with election day coming up I had to head to the MVD (yep, that's what they call it here in AZ, the Motor Vehicle Dept.) and change my license so I will be able to vote. The good news is that for the first time in my life I was in and out of the DMV in less than 20 minutes! I'm not sure that has ever happened to anyone, ever!
Posing with Alexis, our neighbor, who was our first trick-or-treater!
Nana and the boys.
We are exhausted! What a busy Halloween. We started the day with preschool, where they were having a huge Halloween carnival complete with a petting zoo, pumpkin farm, and train for the children to ride. We were out the door by 8:30am, and Alex was so excited! We pulled in, put on the firefighter costume in the car, and headed to Mrs. Anderson's classroom. Now keep in mind, Alex has been to quite a few costume party's this month, and has enjoyed ALL of them. As we walked into his classroom, he looked at Mrs. Anderson, who was dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and he shut his eyes as tight as he could and stopped moving. He stood there frozen, so I had to pick him up and carry him to the rug where all of the children were sitting happily in their costumes. Alex was totally terrified. He started to cry with these big crocodile tears and kept whispering to me, "Excuse me mommy, please don't leave me here!" It was so sad! I stayed with him, and we made our way outside for the parade. I gave him Rover (his stuffed dog) and eventually he relaxed and started having fun with his preschool buddies. When I went to pick him up a few hours later, I couldn't even get him to say hello to me. Once I coaxed him into the car (using some of the candy he got at the preschool trunk-or-treat), I asked him how his day was going. He said, "Great. I rode on the train with Shane. He drove, and I just enjoyed the ride." What a funny little man. What three-year-old says he "just enjoyed the ride"?!
Last night, after carving pumpkins and some neighborhood trick-or-treating, we headed to Alan's parents church for the party Papa was in charge of. He didn't mess around- this was no typical ward Halloween party. There were 2 bounce houses, a cake-walk, popcorn station, dinner for everyone, made-to-order cotton candy, of course trunk-or-treating and more. Alex got a real kick out of seeing Nana dressed as a cat, but highlight for him was his grape cotton candy. We are officially sugared out, and are spending today recuperating! Hope you all had a great day, too!
Tonight we had our annual Dinner in a Pumpkin! Alex was especially excited and could hardly stand the hour that it took for dinner to cook. Every few minutes he would ask me "Is our dinner in a pumpkin cooked yet??" Unfortunately Alan didn't make it home in time to have it with us. The plan was to carve our pumpkins and eat pumpkin cookies for family night, but the boys were in bed before Alan even made it home. We still had fun- and we will carve the pumpkins tomorrow, just in time for the big night!!
For Alex's 3rd birthday he received a pair of rollerblades. This was mostly to please his father- Alan has this dream of Alex playing hockey someday, and he figures the sooner Alex learns to rollerblade the better. We put the rollerblades on the day he got them- Alex was not a fan. Every month or so he comes across the rollerblades, begs to learn how, and we try again. Today was probably our 6th try, and alas, no progress was made. He does look very cute in his helmet, though!
Jen- this is for you!
2 1/2 c. plus 2 T. flour
1 c. plus 2 T. cocoa
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2 1/4 t. cinnamon
3/4 t. nutmeg
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 1/2 t. vanilla
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c. sugar
5 large eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin tins by filling with standard sized cupcake liners.
Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl. Set aside.
Combine buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla and set aside.
Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition.
Fill each tin with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 22 minutes at 375. Makes 36 cupcakes!
Frost with
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 T. fresh orange juice
1 t. orange zest
1/2 t. vanilla
4 c. confectioners sugar
1/4 t. orange food coloring
*** note- my grocery store didn't have ANY oranges, so I substituted 1 T. of frozen orange juice concentrate and it was fine.
This is the mean ostrich who bit Alex's finger and sent us to the First Aid booth.
The boys at the petting zoo. One creature (Will) wants in,
There was this great exhibit all about farming. We planted seeds,
Alex, milking a cow.
Seriously milking a cow! There was actual milk coming out!!
Will's favorite part of the day.
And yes, we couldn't leave without having deep-fried something!
So I've never been one to sew. Somehow my mother-in-law had the idea that it would be good for me to make a quilt. Not sure why this occurred to her. Not sure how I ended up agreeing to it. My sister-in-law, Sommer, who is very talented at this type of thing, took me shopping for fabric on Monday and today was the BIG sewing day. We made 90 (I think) of these squares, which will eventually be made into a quilt matching the blue bunkbeds we bought for the boys, which I still don't have proper bedding for. The whole process of ironing, cutting, and sewing looks easier than it actually is, and I'm exhausted. When (IF) I ever finish it, I will be so proud of myself!
The pumpkin patch excursion did not yield many great photos, but we had a great time. We went to a place called Mother Nature's Farm. It was a great little family run farm/pumpkin patch that for some strange reason is also the home to various reptile creatures, including the one pictured above. Will could not get enough of this croc. Luckily his mouth was taped shut... I'm sure that he would have let Will know that he did not appreciate the kind of attention Will was giving had it not been taped. We couldn't keep Will away from it. Alex on the other hand stayed a good 3 feet away at all times. We had a great time choosing and decoration pumpkins, playing in the hay maze, bouncing in the bounce house, riding on the hayride and just spending time with Daddy, who isn't around enough for us to get our fill of him.
It's been a long week. I've lost my patience quickly, used unkind words, raised my voice, and "made a bad choice"(as I have been told by my 3 year-old) on more than one occasion. I think over the past three days I have been sent to The Naughty Corner at least five times. I believe in The Naughty Corner, it's a great way to take a break from a situation that is spiraling out of control. When I instituted the practice of sending my child there, it didn't occur to me that I too would be spending my fair share of time there. What I like best about being sent there is listening to Alex, in a patient yet firm tone, tell me "Mommy, you need to go to The Naughty Corner right now. You a) did not make a good choice b) used a bad word c) are being too loud. I'll tell you when you can get out." Today when I tried to talk him out of making me go by quickly apologizing to my brother Nate (who was on the phone and who I had just told to Shut-up! Alex was firm. I had to go. And when my time was up he came and gave me a big hug and said "That's better!"
Today we were at the mall with Caroline (Alan's sister) and her kids. While they were waiting for some shopping to be done by the adults, the kids created a little slide out of a slope next to the stairs! Who needs play equipment? Alex spent a good 10 minutes running up the steps, sliding down, and then up again.
I witnessed the something in the Target parking lot yesterday that I can't seem to forget about. I was walking towards the store with the boys while a very "put-together" looking family (mom, dad, about 4-year-old girl) were exiting the store. The wind was blowing, as it tends to do here, and the father, who was carrying the bags, dropped his receipt on the ground. He didn't even look at it after dropping it. His wife said to him, "Should I get that?" He ignored her, she literally shrugged, and they made their way to their massive SUV. I was so mad!!! What responsible grown-up does that?!? Did someone forget to teach them not to litter? I wanted to chase the receipt as it blew into the middle of the road and hand it back to her, but of course my arms were full of Alex and Will and a diaper bag. We have a CD of a children's band called The Happy Crowd (happycrowd.com, I highly recommend it) and they have numerous songs about what we can and should be doing to take care of our earth (ie: "Pollution Solution, Recycle and Rock, Come swim with the Dolphins"- all great songs.) I really believe that we have to try to teach our kids about ways WE can contribute to the solution of the crisis we are facing with the environmental issues in this world. There aren't many things that Alex can understand right now, but he knows we make a habit of picking up trash that we find on the ground at the park. It seems like a small thing, and it is, but I hope he gets it and will do it on his own as he gets older.
Stepping off soap box now.
Seriously, who named this National Forest?? Please be sure to notice the cactus in the background, as appose to the typical pine tree you would see in a real forest.
The boys, hypnotized by the fire as we wait for tin-foil dinners to cook.
Our first attempt at dutch oven cooking- the peach cobbler was fantastic! We had way too much. We need to bring friends with us next time.
Trying to get the boys to go to sleep in the tent...
The boys made breakfast while I tried (unsuccesfully) to get more sleep!
Alan was supposed to go camping this weekend with the scouts he is in charge of at church. Since it was raining in northern
Will playing in the little water park at the zoo. It was the only part of the day he enjoyed.
We went to the Phoenix Zoo yesterday with 2 of my sister-in-laws and their kids. We thought it would be cooler since it is now October, but alas, this is
