Pumpkins, Apples, and Fashion

Here are some snaps from recent outings with friends to pumpkin patch/apple orchard. I am thankful for good friends to spend time with. Such fun! I just spent 4 hours making applesauce, and my brain is feeling a bit mushy. I thought I was going to have a mellow Saturday, but I ended up doing a lot. Except my hair and makeup. Didn't really get to that. Good thing I didn't go anywhere and no one came over. Is it bedtime yet? I guess it can't be, since all 4 children are still awake. Go to sleep, little veggies!

Thanks for your trick or treating comments. I think we'll just stay home and have a family game night, or watch a movie. I'm sure they'll get enough candy at our two parties, and I'm proud of them for making a good decision.

About the fashion -- these aren't very good photos, but I thought I should show a few outfits I'm trying to put together despite my clothes not fitting well. I've actually had to buy quite a few things. I'm not sure how long I'll be at this weight (despite exercising 5 days a week for three weeks, and 3-4 days a week the three before that I haven't lost a pound) so I'm just resigned to making it work. I'll lose it eventually, but it won't be in 2010. C'est la vie!

It's always HOT when we we go to this patch, even in October. It was fun to have the B family come hang out one afternoon. They are just up the freeway from us and we know them from Michigan.

I thought this photo of Jillian and Miss Mollie was just too cute to pass up.

This photo has no basis in reality. Not sure why these two worst enemies decided to cuddle up.

Now we have six people in our family! Look how happy Kate is about that.

Dressing for church makes me grumpy. So I'm boring in gray and black.

Purple and red is a new combination for me. Trying to figure out how to minimize the bust. Not working so well.

Just look at Kara and not my thick midsection, okay? This pic is blurry and bad. But I do like this tank top-type shirt. It has some really cool beading on the front. I'm finding it hard to accessorize though, because babies spit up on things and pull and just make it hard to be cute. Sigh.

I guess that's it for now! I hope Sunday is a day of rest.

One Year Later

This weekend we went back for more apples and recreated this photo. Can't wait until Kate can walk. Won't that be a cute photo!

2009

2010

To Trick Or Not to Trick

So, I'm curious what others are doing about the whole Halloween on Sunday thing. Are you letting your kids trick or treat? Our kids think they are not going to trick or treat on Sunday. We didn't even have a discussion about it. They just said something like, "It's too bad Halloween is on a Sunday. We won't be able to trick or treat." I guess we've taught them the keep the Sabbath Day holy commandment pretty well. But honestly, I don't care too much if they trick or treat a bit on Sunday. I'm pretty indifferent, actually. There is a pretty big party on Friday at our church where they'll get some candy, and then Kyle's work is having a party on Saturday. So we could say that's enough. Or not.

If you don't mind, let me know what your family is doing about this situation and your reasoning behind it. I'd love to know!

Randomness

Tonight we had stir fry. I added some fresh broccoli to a frozen mix from Trader Joe's. I got the fresh broccoli from my own garden. This astounds me. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because the broccoli seeds I planted WAY BACK IN MAY were so, so tiny. Now the plants are quite big. I've also never grown broccoli before. Also, Kyle has threatened to rip out the broccoli so many times. Every time I ask him to just wait and let it grow a bit more. And it did. And we ate it. It had a very strong broccoli flavor. Jillian said "No wonder kids hate broccoli. This tastes so much like broccoli." Ha ha. See what store broccoli has done to our taste buds? Now I've typed the word broccoli so much that it looks funny.

It's soup season! Even though it hasn't been very cold here yet, I've already managed to make some of my favorite soups: black bean chili (meatless and so good), zucchini, tortellini, and tomorrow I'm doing baked potato soup with cranberry orange muffins. I can't wait for dinner. I'm going to find some new soup recipes this fall and winter, though, because I get a bit tired of the eight I rotate through. Any suggestions? We mostly eat vegetarian soups.

Sometimes when my kids say things I think about how I never could have said those things when I was a kid. Things like "Mom, someone just sent you a text." And "Can I go to google.com" or "Will you buy this Karate Kid DVD?" (the answer was yes) and the like. It's crazy how much technology there is. Much more than there was 30 odd years ago when I was a kid. Kinda makes me feel old. Until I get a text. Then I feel young.

Another thing that makes me feel old is that I am getting shocked and offended by things on a much more regular basis. And my knees sometimes crackle.

Can I do just one memo? Please?

To the man driving in front of me today: I'm not sure why you kept putting on your breaks every 30 yards or so while I was driving behind you. It seemed like you wanted to check out people in other cars to see if you knew them or something. After the 3rd time, it got annoying. And dangerous. I was glad when you turned.

Dang. That wasn't even very good. Let me try again.

To my son: If your pee comes out too quickly and you accidentally spray the back of the toilet seat (which should have been put up before you started) and then your pee goes on the floor, don't just leave it for someone to find BY SITTING DOWN AND FEELING WET. Clean up your own dang pee mess. Thank you. And please don't use my bathroom except in emergencies.

One more.

To the food demonstrators at Costco: Thank you for providing us with so many delicious snacks as we meandered through your store yesterday. You almost got me to buy the grape juice. It was close. The fruit smoothies, yogurt, cheese quesadillas, veggie chips, macaroni and cheese, ribs, and juice were all quite satisfying. So much that my 3 year-old didn't touch her dinner.

There. A new post. And I didn't even mention anything about my . . . Ha! Not going to do it.

Is someone trying to tell me something??

I've been trying to exercise since Kate was about 2 weeks old. I know I let myself go a bit too much during this pregnancy, so I'm ready to do the hard work required to get back in shape. But now I'm wondering if I should just slow down and live it up for a while. Forces beyond my control seem to be sending me this message. Here's the evidence:

1. About three weeks ago, right when I was trying to up my exercising from 3 times a week to 4 or 5, I got sick with a cold. I kept working out. Then the cold turned into a sinus infection. I kept working out.

2. Right about the time the sinus infection was going away, I kind of tweaked a muscle. I kept working out. Then it hurt quite a bit. I kept working out.

3. Today I was running after/during a rain shower. Just as I was picking up the pace to end my run (about 3.75 miles in), I slipped on some wet pine needles or some other detritus and did a total slide in the muck on the side of the road. My left knee took the brunt of the fall, but my ego was bruised most. I got right back up and stumbled home.

So, are these events just random happenings, or am I not getting the message? What do you think?

A Little Late -- Back to School

Yeah, so the kids went back to school on September 9th. Late, I know. And now they already have a 4-day weekend. Oregon schools are so awesome! : ) Bean and Pea have great teachers and are really enjoying things. Pea wants more homework. I'm trying to get Bean to be more responsible about her papers and things. I can see that this will be a challenge as long as the kids are in school. Asparagus started preschool and loves it. She wishes she could go every day. While she's in school (two mornings a week), Sprout and I run errands. Sprout mostly sleeps or stares at things. She's pretty easy to have around. I love the "alone" time. I'm secretly (not so secret any more) counting down until the day that Sprout is in first grade. Only 6 more years. Then I can go back to school too! I've already picked out my Master's program.

Here's the centerpiece from our back to school dinner. Apples and school supplies!

We made custom placemats for every member of the family. Do you like my awesome D'Nealian handwriting?

The Bean started 5th grade this year. Next year she'll be off to middle school. Augh!

The Pea is a handsome 2nd grader. He's had wonderful behavior at school so far.
Thank goodness!

Asparagus got the outside shot because the rain stopped. What a cutie.

We blessed Sprout (Kate Michelle) a week ago. Here she is with her Dad. He gave her a wonderful blessing. My Dad came to help too. It was a great weekend.

Oh yes, I'm alive too. And looking a bit haggard. Kate is 8 weeks old now and shows signs of sleeping longer at night. I can't wait. I'm exercising more and trying to be patient about my weight. I am definitely getting some muscle back. That's good.