Week In Review

It has been a fairly eventful week here, despite not being able to go anywhere from Tuesday until today, Friday. Emily has been sick. She's had a fever ranging anywhere from 100-104 all week and so we've been doing a lot of resting, reading, coloring and, the kids' favorite, watching movies. She has finally turned around a bit today, although I'm still keeping up with the Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever at-bay. I'm hopeful that we'll make it out for some trick-or-treating tonight!

Christian has been a very good boy and I know he's been enjoying the extra video time--although with the help of Peter, my mom, and my sister, either I've been able to take him outside or they have. Yesterday, he got to go to the park with Auntie Erin and Grandma. There was a big Bob Cat out and so he had loads of fun sitting in it and playing "truck". (Pictures were taken, but were not available at the time of posting...I'll have to put them up when I can copy them from Erin.)

Christian has also become interested in trying to use the potty!! Mostly, this consists of sitting for 2 seconds, me pretending to wipe him, he getting to flush the potty, and then we wash hands and clap. I'm just thrilled that at 17 months he's already showing an interest and is starting to understand what we do "in there."

Last night, we also carved our pumpkins! Here are some pictures from the festivities. I'll take some pictures tonight of the finished products when they're all lit up.


Finally, in celebration that Emily was feeling a little bit better, we ventured out to Target this morning! (Well, we also needed some milk, o.j. and some Halloween candy for tonight!) I let the kids dress up in their costumes and they thought that was pretty great. (I wanted to make sure I got some pictures of Emily while she was feeling good just in case she takes a turn and feels crummy again tonight.) Here are a couple of the cute pictures I got before we left.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!!

Two Ideas

Idea #1:

Still looking for something to do with all of those apples from this fall?? My sister-in-law, Sara, posted this Apple Bundt recipe on her blog. I decided to try it and it is so yummy! Thanks, Sara!

Ingredients
4 medium apples; cored, peeled, and cut into bite-size pieces
5 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange(I omitted this)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour 12 cup bundt pan. Mix apple pieces, 5 tablesoons sugar and ground cinnamon in medium bowl. Combine 2 1/2 cups sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, orange juice, orange peel and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt in egg mixture. Spoon 1 1/2 cups batter in prepared bundt pan top with half apple mixture. Cover with 1 1/2 cup batter top with remaining apples then batter.

Bake cake until top is brown and tester insert near center comes out with moist crumbs attatched; about 1 hr 30 min. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Run knife around sides to loosen pan. Turn cake out on top of rack. Cool at least 45 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar serve slightly warm or at room temp.


Idea #2:

Do you have a family member who is difficult to "shop" for at Christmastime? My friend, Rosie, asked me to email her pictures of something I have hanging in my hallway because she has such a family member.

As you can see, it is a four-generation type of a picture: myself, my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma, all at about the same age. The second, obviously, is Cubby's line. The one of me was part of a wedding gift. The one of Cubby was one I had made for his birthday. I couldn't get it exactly like the first because Hobby Lobby, where I had it made, doesn't have an engraving machine like the one where mine was made. Hence, they send out their engravings in plaque form. It still turned out great though. (You can click on the image for a close up view on the engravings and such.)

I just figured that since one person thought it was a neat idea, maybe someone else would like it and want to put something similar together for a special loved one!

BOOed

Amber, from The McIllece Spot, BOOed us today!



Here are the rules: Pick some people to BOO and let them know that they have been BOO-ed. Have them link back to your blog to pick up their treat (picture) so they can BOO their friends. Put the picture on your sidebar so everyone knows that you have been BOO-ed.

Have a BOO-tiful Halloween!

Super Saturday

Wow, today was quite a day! I'll just jump right in...



First off was my second 5k! Amber and I did the "Monster Dash" out at Chalco Hills. The name of the venue alone should've tipped us off as to how the course would be. Ah, we were so naive! Thankfully, it was a BEAUTIFUL morning and that just about made up for the last 1/2 mile of an already hilly course. Yes, the last 1/2 mile was one great big hill. SOOOOOO tough, but, we made it (even though we each finished a couple of minutes slower than we have previously)! Amber's husband, Tony, and her kids came out to cheer us on and Tony took a video of our finishes. I was a lot less nervous about this one and despite finishing with a slower time, I felt much more comfortable with the run. Good stuff! 'Can't wait for spring!



Next: our afternoon and evening. Christian had woken up with a slight fever this morning and has been very clingy and crabby the last couple of days. Alas, he's finally getting more teeth! (The last teeth he got were 6 months ago.) Well, when I say he's been clingy, I mean he's been a human leech. Tough times for my sweet boy! He finally began to snap out of it while we were at the park this afternoon and then, thankfully, he just kept getting better as the evening progressed. We went to our ward's "Fall Festival". The kids got to wear their costumes and had a fantastic time running around outside all evening! Now, they're both asleep in their beds and I'm thinking that after a day like today, that sounds like the right idea!

We Know Their Secret Identities!

What happens when two sweet little girls come into contact with finger paints???



They morph into "The Incredible Hulk" and, according to Emily, "Spiderman!" (a blue one, at least!)



I have the best job in the world, don't I??? It was a fun afternoon to say the least.

No! Wait, Emily! Stop!

Yes, this was the phrase that we heard most on our first fishing expedition! Emily was very anxious to reel in her own deadliest catch and was not quite used to being careful with a hook at the end of her pole! Not-to-worry, however, as no one was injured. (Cubby, however, nearly had a heart attack each time she cast though!--It was him who kept saying the above phrase.)



It was a chilly Friday morning and the fish were keeping warm down deep--we did not catch any fish in the 20 minutes of fishing that we did. Both kids had a good time though running around at Walnut Creek and at the playground, our fail-safe for fun and entertainment.



Emily and Christian have been keeping Grandma and Grandpa Lindseth plenty busy and their visit has been a fun one!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Peter!

Yesterday (Sunday) was Peter's 25th birthday! After dinner Emily could barely stand waiting any longer and went and got his present that she'd picked out--a blue fishing pole! Cubby does not like to fish and Peter mentioned to her that he does. Well, she recently became the proud owner of a Princess fishing pole (is there anything that Disney Princess doesn't make???) and Peter can now take her fishing! Peter hasn't been feeling great lately, but he was able to stomach some ice cream cake and we hope that he'll be better by this weekend so that he and Grandpa can take her fishing--oh boy!

Daddy-Daughter Camp-Out!

They're all ready, folks! Cubby and Emily are going on a camp-out...in our backyard! We felt it was a good place for a trial-run. We'll see how the night goes!

The Secret of Happiness

The secret of happiness (well, one of them, at least) must be having an apple orchard. This is a picture of Brother Flynn (for any reader who is not a Latter-day Saint, "Brother" and "Sister" is like saying "Mr." or "Mrs." as a polite title). I wish I would've been able to capture the "twinkle" in his eye--he's one of the happiest people I know--and it's not the happy-go-lucky, make-you-gag happy. He's just figured life out. It has to be the orchard, right??



He and his wife have lived at their home for 25 years and there is just something magical about it all. Their home is situated in a neighborhood of sorts but because it was built before the neighborhood, it has an orchard, barn, silo and such on the property. They have chickens too, but it's not a "farm" with cows or anything though.

In anycase, every year they invite our ward out to come and pick apples and make cider. As I've said before, it's magical. Emily was simply fascinated by everything there and after she picked apples, she and her friend, Holly, ran around and played little made up games all evening, as we were making the cider. At one point, they even laid down on the ground and were looking up at the stars. There IS something magical about the place--it turns soon-to-be 4 yr olds into self-entertaining sweethearts! AWESOME. We loved the evening and hope to make it back out there again when Cubby's parents are visiting...providing there are apples left to pick :-).

Snow White

Even Prince Charming couldn't wake up this little Snow White!

Emily plays with her friend, Anna, on Monday afternoons. She's pretty-much transitioned to napping only every other day now, so it's been fun for her to have a friend to play with in the afternoon. However, they play so hard, that for the past two Mondays, she's totally crashed by 3:30 or 4:00! It works out though because she has soccer practice after dinner on Mondays--plenty of time to get that burst of new energy burned through!

Fall Is In The Air!

We just love this time of year! Here is a slideshow from our trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch this weekend and one of our favorite fall recipes! Happy Fall!

Autumn Pork Chops

4 pork chops
4 T. butter, divided
2 red apples, cored and halved
3 T. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. cinnamon

Arrange pork chops in a 9x13" baking pan; spread one tablespoon butter over each pork chop. Lay one apple half cut-side down on each pork chop; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 mins or until pork chops are no longer pink. Makes 4 servings.

There's No Place Like Home. Right, Mom???

My mom and grandma had planned on going on a trip to Sweden this past week. However, a situation arose at the last minute and they had to reschedule for June. Needless to say, Mom was sooooo disappointed. But, after a weekend of mourning, she decided to make the best of it and spend a week doing fun things around here! (My mom and grandma have now put the "best" in making the best of a bad situation!)

On Tuesday afternoon, Mom came over to play and transplanted some lilly-of-the-valley from her garden to mine. The kids had a lot of fun digging in the incredibly tough Nebraska "soil" (more like rock). They each liked the great-big shovel, of course.

Then, on Wedesday, we all went to the Children's Museum! We have not been there since Christian was about 7 months old and Emily asks to go about once-a-week. (They charge for adults and also, anyone over 24 months is considered an "adult". It's extortion, but I figured for once or twice a year, just to deal with it. We can't get there often enough to justify buying a pass.) It wasn't crowded and so we pretty much had the run of the place. We had some lunch and then the kiddos crashed all afternoon! So great!

Today, my mom came over while Emily was at school and played with Christian so that I could have some free time! I ran my little heart out at the YMCA, I got some stuff for a Christmas project for the kids at Hobby Lobby, and, what day alone would be complete without a trip to Target? Christian and Grandma had a very busy morning as well--playing trains and playing with the vaccuum and trying out Emily's rollerskates outside!

So, I know Mom was very sad about having to reschedule her trip, but, I'm glad she's been able to have a good time working on projects, shopping, and playing with us! There's no place like home!