HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween!  Hope you've had a FUN Halloween weekend!  With Halloween falling on a Sunday we're doing things a little differently this year.  We did our "trunk or treating" Thursday and Saturday. Tonight we'll celebrate with "mummy meatloaf" and "ghostie potatoes", cookie decorating, and playing games.

 A Frontiersman . . .

 A nerd . . .

 

A hot wheels driver . . .

 And Minnie who was finally well enough to trick-or-treat yesterday - hurray!

  

Until next time . . .

A recipe for "Chili" weather . . .

If you're looking for a yummy dinner to warm your tummies, you might want to try this one.  Our friends,the Stephens, have the tradition of eating chili together every Halloween before trick-or-treating -- isn't that a good idea?  

I stayed home with "poor little Sarah" (her term -- she's fighting a nasty cold) while Daddy took the other kiddos to our ward "Trunk or Treat" tonight.  I sent him with my "Sweet Chili" - a recipe from my mom -AND it won FIRST PRIZE!  I was pretty shocked.  I am not a great cook, but "I am a great collector of recipes" (I'm plagiarizing my friend Summer).  Sorry I didn't take a photo of it before I sent it out the door. Oh, and an added bonus of this particular recipe -- it doesn't cause gas (just thought you might want to know).

SWEET CHILI

1-16 oz can of B & M baked beans 

1-14 oz can of red kidney beans

1-14 oz can of butter beans

1/2 lb bacon strips cut in half

1 1/2 lb ground beef

small onion chopped

4 T. ketchup

4 T. molasses

4 T. barbecue sauce

2 tsp white vinegar (very important)

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 T. brown sugar

Cook the bacon until almost done.  Drain off most of the grease.  Cook the hamburger and onion in the same pan.  Drain the kidney and butter beans.  Mix everything together in a crock pot.  Cook on low as long as you want, or cook on high until bubbly and then turn to low until ready to serve.  It does taste best when cooked for a long time -- at least 3 - 4  hours (although I only had time for about 1 hour of cooking on high before I sent it off today).  

Breaktime in San Diego

We took the kids to San Diego over their Fall Break last week.  I love San Diego!  It has become one of our favorite vacation spots -- just a 6 hour drive and we can enjoy cooler weather, the beach, and a whole array of Amusement parks and attractions.  E did such a good job giving minute by minute details on her blog that I thought I would just share a little of our trip from a mom's perspective.

I love BR's determination.  As we pulled into the Sea World parking lot on our first day in San Diego, BR threw up!  I had been concerned that he was feeling a little warm that morning, but he insisted he felt fine.  What to do?  I sent D and the other 3 kids into the park, and had BR rest for a little while.  After a 45 minute nap he exclaimed, "Why won't you let me walk?"  We decided to go for it.  After a quick visit to the "Sea World Doctor" (first aid EMT who confirmed 100.5 temp) gave him a dose of Tylenol, BR was ready to go!  Just the two of us hung out for the first hour while I watched to see how he was doing -- then we met up with the rest of the family.  But I have to say I really enjoyed hanging out with my little man -- and am amazed that he had the strength to go all day long (he even climbed up this VERY long rope net to get into the play area) -- and was happy about it!

I love B's courage.  He is not a lover of crazy rides, but he REALLY wanted to try the new Sea World ride "Atlantis."  He made up his mind that he was going to do it, and headed to that crazy ride with D and E.  He told them "whatever I say, don't let me back down" . . . and he conquered that ride even though it had crazy twists, turns and steep drops.  He was scared and didn't enjoy the ride AT ALL!  But, he did it!  He has courage in so many other ways -- even more important ways -- like doing what is right even when it's not the easiest or most popular choice.

I love S's enthusiasm.  This was the first time that S was able to actually ride "big people" rides.  She couldn't get enough of them!  That came as a bit of a surprise to me.  I thought she might shy away from them because they're loud and fast and make your tummy feel funny.  Instead she just ate it up.  Her favorite rides were the spinning tea cup type rides, rocking ships, and roller coasters (I love this pic of her in the front seat of the roller coaster looking down hill and SMILING! 

I love E's excitement.  She wanted to try all the scariest rides, but she also took time to walk along the beach looking for sea shells with me.  When we were in Oceanside last (almost 2 1/2 years ago before Nana and D left for the mission field -- was that a countdown?) our land lady Mrs. Dillon took us down the beach to the BEST shell spot.  We went in search of it again this time and FOUND IT.  The tide was too high to find too many whole shells, but we found this great expanse of crushed shells.  They were so fun to walk on and feel slipping under our feet as the tide pulled them back out with the waves.  I loved walking along the shore with my E at sunset!

I love that my D is such a fun Dad.  He is interested in and enjoys so many different things, and he shares that with the kids.  He had so much fun showing the kids the anemones and mussels in the tide pools and "saving" them from the big waves.  The kids can also always count on him to tackle any ride -- no matter how scary (or wet) it may be.  I love that he can lull the kids to sleep by playing his guitar in the hotel.  I love that he stays calm under pressure and settles my craziness by being even tempered.

 So long for now . . . we won't stay away too long!

A little o' this, A little o' that . . .

Well, I suppose I should update this blog. Now that E has her own blog I don't get as many reminders to update :)  E and BR just started Fall Sports.  BR is enjoying Coaches Pitch Baseball and E is having fun with volleyball.  This is the first time either of them have played these particular sports, and they are doing such a great job and having a lot of FUN!

BR was so excited because he HIT the ball TWICE!  It was a sweet experience because I gave him the exact same advice my Dad had given me years ago when he taught me how to bat.  That night as we were snuggling BR said, "Did you like it when I hit the ball?  I did exactly what you told me and I hit it!!"  He was so proud of himself!

BR is always so friendly with the opposing team!

This pic says it all!

And here's E at her first volleyball game.  She was excited, but a little nervous because she does not enjoy serving.  But guess what?  She hit the ball over the net TWICE on her serves -- YEAH!  She also had a couple of awesome returns!  I always stunk at volleyball, so it's really fun to see her enjoying this sport.

Oh yeah, she's got it!

Look at that focus!  Her favorite spot is on the front row.