happy halloween

Our kids were very much looking forward to today.  We've noticed that Cam wakes extra early when he is excited about something.  This morning he came down at 6:15 and said, "Do you know what time my eyes awakened?  4:51!  But I just stayed in there until now" Thank goodness he didn't get up then!!  Yikes!

This Halloween we decided to skip the carnivals and just trick-or-treat.  We had such a great time. The kids were SOOOO into it.  Cam wasn't scared a bit even when we went to a house that even I thought was a tad freaky.  Kendall needed one of us to accompany her to most of the doors but she was equally as excited to add to the heaviness of her bucket. :)

My little princess and pirate:

Sorting through their loot:

first hike

Today was a big day for Zoe.  It was her first time hiking with us.  I have a feeling it will be the first of many as Cam was in HEAVEN the entire time!  We started out with a picnic lunch.  I think Chris looks like such a thug in this pic with his goatee :)

The weather was perfect and it was sooo beautiful!

After returning home the kids watched Madagascar 3.  We then decided to use a gift card Chris received from his birthday and headed to Red Robin.  In this pic I'm holding one of their new and amazingly yummy appetizers, soft pretzel bites. :)

baby olivia

Yesterday after school the kids and I drove out to OC to see my friend Ana, her kids, and new baby Olivia.  My kids were VERY excited about going and Cam was very intrigued by Olivia, asking all sorts of questions throughout our visit.  

Each time we get together we seem to get more talking time due to the kids being older and able to entertain themselves better.  I just love, love Ana.  She's the type of friend that I go away from always feeling like we had such good conversations (she is GREAT at asking questions, which is pretty big to me).

After hanging out at their place for a while, we ended with dinner at McDonald's and frozen yogurt (well, candy from the yogurt place anyway) for the drive home.  Fun day. :)

more pumpkin stuff

I have been wanting to try a savory pumpkin dish and tonight was the night.  I used a recipe from Chris' uncle for pumpkin enchiladas and it turned out very tasty.  I made a couple of tweaks, per his recommendation.  They are very healthy and Cam gave them several, "These are awesome!!" :)  Up next will be a savory dish with a creamy slant, rather than tomato base.

Speaking of pumpkins, I took the kids to a local pumpkin patch today (Greenspot Farms).  I love this place as it is small, rustic, and almost always not crowded (nothing wrong with big commercial ones, but I love the quaintness of this place).  We had such a fun time and it was well worth skipping the nap. :)

Here are the kids in their "Honey House" (that is a mannequin next to them).

We just got back from a mini vacation with the kids.  That's what we've started calling our trips up to my in-laws.  We always have such a fun time and it's actually relaxing, which we never thought could go hand in hand on a trip with kids. :)  Some of the happenings:

*Going to the kids' favorite pumpkin patch

*Lots of baking for Cameron and grandma (pumpkin cookies, homemade rolls, etc.)

*Attending the soccer game of some friends' son.  Cameron made a cute sign to cheer him on.  Afterward we all hung out at McDonald's while the kids played

*Enjoying having Chris' grandma stay for the weekend.  She loves to have the kids come in each morning to wake her up. :)

*Enjoying three Hallmark movies with Chris' mom as well as reading all the magazines she had stocked for my arrival

*Celebrating Chris' birthday

It was such a fun weekend and the kids did NOT want to go home.  We left Sunday morning. We like to get home close to bedtime since we are all tired and there is nothing fun about staring at the clock and thinking we have an entire afternoon of kid entertaining. :)  One of our stops usually includes the mall in Valencia for lunch and playtime

Right before bed I had to snap this cute shot of Kendall snuggling with daddy while they watched baseball.  She was actually quite into it and asked lots of questions

Thank you grandma and grandpa for a great weekend!!

*On Sunday afternoon Cameron spent 4 1/2 hours straight working on building one of his Legos sets.  Holy cow!!  Put him in front of a pile of Legos and tell him to go at it?  He'll last 5 minutes.  Put him in front of detailed instructions to follow? He'll last 4 1/2 hours. :)

*Reason #435,365 why my daughter is too cute for words:

Yesterday:
Me:  Can you drink some more water?
Kendall:  I don't want to.
Me:  But water is so good for you!  Remember how we talked about beans having a party in your tummy?  Well, water has parties too because it's so healthy!
Kendall:  Oh!!  So it's like a swimming pool for the food!! :)

*I felt SUPER old today when I read that Stacey Dash, an actress from one of my all time favorite movies, Clueless, is 46!!!

(she's in the middle)

* Reason #435,366 why my daughter is too cute for words:  She looks soooo adorable in her new bob haircut. :)

pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!!!

There have been so many recipes I've read about which include pumpkin.  I'm anxious to try a pumpkin enchilada recipe Chris' uncle sent me.  I know I'll love them because the past couple of days I've REALLY fallen in love with using pumpkin in savory foods.  First off, last night I made cottage cheese pancakes and cut the butter down and added pumpkin instead.  With a little jelly on them (they do need some sort of topping) the kids gobbled them up!!

Secondly, today for lunch I had my second meal of basically a stir fry with pureed pumpkin acting as the sauce.  Today's bowl included spaghetti squash, potato wedges, onions, pumpkin, and parmesan cheese.

I figured this would become a regular for me in the next few weeks, so I went ahead and froze some pumpkin in ice cube trays so they would be easy to pop out and into my bowls. :)  

I can't believe I've never tried this stuff in things other than breads and desserts! :)