"Deck the Halls..."

This is another Rocket Scientist catch-up post

The day after Thanksgiving.

We can officially start decorating for Christmas.
Yeah. I'm excited too.
Or in the throes of a pancreas rattling cough.
That's ok, the kids are still happy to put up ornaments.
Or wear them.
Last year most of the ornaments ended up on the same two branches at the bottom of the tree.
They got spread out a little better this year.
Grandma came out to give us a hand.
I don't think I stopped coughing long enough to get off the couch.
Decorating is thirsty work.
Cute Girl figures out what stockings are for.
And they're both really happy about it.

Now we have somewhere to put all my presents.

Handsome Face

In the middle of November the young women had an activity to learn how to make pie crust. The Rocket Scientist was going to teach them to make the crust but there wasn't going to be enough time to bake the pie too so we baked a pumpkin pie the day before. Handsome Face was really excited about the pie. He helped mommy mix up the filling and stood guard over it while it baked.

This is a pretty standard pose around here. I don't think we've had an alien infestation yet but you can rest assured that if we do, Handsome Face will take care of it with his astro-blaster in short order.

Thanksgiving

This is the Rocket Scientist cleaning off the camera and catching up the blog while the wife rests.

We hung around at home and had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving. It was so low-key that one of the highlights was getting a crazy good deal on the turkey (29 cents a pound!) My brother-in-law brought his girlfriend down from Utah for the occasion. We made a bunch of gyoza on the Wednesday night before that was super good. We fried up one batch and still wanted more so we fried a second batch out of the extras we'd stuck in the freezer. That still leaves us with enough to have for dinner tonight.

I have an unfortunate tradition of injuring myself during Thanksgiving; it is usually incurred playing football but last year it was a freak accident where a flake of metal from my belt buckle got shoved through my thumbnail. This generally leaves me incapacitated and incapable of providing any real assistance cooking, cleaning, or taking care of children. Pretty much the only thing I can do in my disabled state is play video games and watch football; it's an excruciating ordeal but I usually recover despite the dirty looks the wife gives me. This year, as the wife was 8 3/4 months pregnant, and we were all alone hosting and cooking the dinner, I was forbidden to hurt myself and so declined the traditional turkey bowl. I stayed healthy. but failed in the job of taking pictures because this is all we got of the meal.

I did still manage to get some pictures of the pies.

Including my apple pie in which, as per tradition, I carved an un-boring steam vent.

I didn't bother taking a picture of the wife doing dishes as that would just be boring. Much more interesting is what the rest of us were doing:

Talking on the phone...

...and watching funny youTube videos.

She's Here!

And getting more love than she can handle.

Pizza Pie

We made pizza for dinner last night and I recently discovered that the kids will actually eat their pizza if they get to make their own. Cute Girl's always liked pizza but Handsome Face doesn't eat dinner at all so it's nice to get him to eat something. Even if they do refuse the vegetables.

Lots of Random Stuff

I finally got my new camera after losing the old one. Hence the pictures on my blog. And we got a new surplus laptop from work so the Rocket Scientist and I have been busy updating software and such so we can actually use the new camera. We went outside and took some pictures of the kids just for fun.

Early Saturday Morning Love'ns

While Grandma was here, Handsome Face wasn't feeling too well. He fell asleep one day on the couch and we noticed that some clothing wasn't quite right. He looks for the tag to put in the back when getting dressed and this pair just happened to have a tag in the back and the front.

Cute Girl got watermelon seeds in Primary last spring. Here she displays the fruit of her labors (or her parents').

We made fun Autumn trees a few weeks ago. The colored leaves on my fridge are the only ones in the neighborhood since it's still 86 degrees outside. The trees don't lose their leaves here until Christmas.

Our Visitor

Our Grandma Crapo came to visit last week. We had so much fun! The kids loved having someone around to give them extra attention. She even took them on bike rides to the playground several times which is something I'm just too tired and busy to do very often.

We didn't do much because we are really boring hosts. It didn't help that the Rocket Scientist and Cute Girl had work and school every day. But there were a few fun things in there.

On Tuesday we went shopping and out to lunch. Cute Girl was not happy to miss the lunch. But on Wednesday we picked her up from school and headed to an old Catholic mission. It was really cool (and free!). The art inside the chapel was very interesting. I think the kids even enjoyed it - at least they behaved very well. And Grandma bought them an Indian fry bread for a treat. What kid wouldn't like that?

That evening we headed to the ward trunk-or-treat. Grandma was amazed at how many kids were there. It was REALLY big.

On Thursday we just hung out at home but we did make Cafe Rio salads for dinner. I got the recipes from Kristin's blog. All of the salad lovers affirmed that it was well worth all the work. We still have creamy tomatillo dressing in the fridge. The Rocket Scientist and I have been eating it with chips every night. Yum!

And then Friday was the most boring day of all. Handsome Face had been sick all week (high temps off and on and an achey tummy) and I caught it Thursday night. Lucky for me my fever only lasted over night instead of all week. But it meant that Friday morning, both Handsome Face and I fell asleep on the couches and took LONG naps while Grandma and Dad read/played on the computer. How exciting are we?!

Friday we had a babysitter and all the grown-ups went to a dinner theater. It's so fun! We had good pizza and watched a great Halloween show. I love taking people there. So, hint hint, come visit me!

Sadly, Grandma had to go on Saturday morning. I guess Grandpa needed someone to come play with him too but Handsome Face didn't buy it. He cried after Grandma left.

Someone's getting older!

The Rocket Scientist had a birthday last month! It was simple but fun. He and Cute Girl always ask for cheesecake for their birthdays. It was really good. And then he opened his one, lone present. A new iPod Nano! He was very surprised and I don't think I've seen him without it since. He was absolutely chomping at the bit to set it up.
After we opened presents we got a babysitter and headed out for dinner. We ate at Sakura, a Japanese sushi bar and teppan grill. It was yummy food and so fun to be out for his birthday.

Our Trick-or-Treaters

About a month ago we asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween. Cute Girl sweetly answered, "I want to be a hummingbird so I don't have to make more work for you on the sewing machine." (She was a hummingbird two years ago - yay for reusing costumes!) Handsome Face answered, "A honey bunny." We have no idea where the 'honey' came from but he positively answered "honey bunny" for a month straight whenever asked about costumes.

I put the Rocket Scientist in charge of costumes but because of miscommunication I ended up whipping up the bunny at the last minute. He did figure out how to make a bunny costume but simple directions found on the internet are SOOOO not useful. So many times, this year and in the past, we've found directions for cute costumes that require SIMPLE things like gray sweatsuits or green long sleeve t-shirts or solid colored beanies. But guess what? You can't BUY simple things like that. This year we searched for a plain gray hoodie and could not find one. Of course, I thought too late about ordering one online. Oh well. Handsome Face got a costume in the end.We trick-or-treated Saturday night with just over a dozen other families from church (mostly) and the neighborhood. It was so nice not to have to go on Sunday especially because we went out last night just to drive and look at the lights and the neighborhood was CRAZY!One family from the ward couldn't go out because Dad was working and there are too many babies for Mom to handle so we took the big girl Grace with us. She was the cutest, most excited girl to be going trick-or-treating. The kids had a blast having Grace tag along.After an hour and a half of driving around the neighborhood with our friends, the Porters, and visiting all our church buddies' homes, the kids got two treats, a shower, and then BED! Yay for bed on Halloween!

Our Great Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins yesterday. The kids had a lot of fun. Handsome Face wouldn't put his hands in but talked about how fun it was to carve pumpkins while I did all the work. He chose a candy pumpkin. Cute Girl drew a very elaborate picture of a scary monster. It had four of every face part. We simplified if for the carving and it was kind of crazy looking. The Rocket Scientist is the master carver and always comes up with something fun. I, on the other hand, hate carving pumpkins and only tolerate it because I have to.

I thought my candy pumpkin turned out rather well.

Fall Break

We would have liked to go away for break but the Rocket Scientist still had work and we took too many vacations over the summer. I tried to make it fun for Cute Girl though.
On Tuesday the kids went to play/be baby-sat at my friends' house. Then all the moms went out for breakfast to celebrate some birthdays. Thanks to Nancy for volunteering her girls to baby-sit AND picking up the bill. She's so great and I'm sure we don't deserve it. We had Mimi's Cafe and it was delicious and so nice to be out for awhile. Handsome Face and Cute Girl loved all the Halloween crafts and playing with the Porter kids. When the Rocket Scientist got home he whipped up a yummy soup from all the produce that was about to go bad. The kids wouldn't touch it of course. So I got Handsome Face on my lap and started spoon feeding him from my own bowl. I did the same for Cute Girl with her own soup. And low and behold, they liked it! Those little stinkers! I hate how kids decide something is gross when they've never had it before. We finished out the evening by watching Snow White and eating popcorn. The Rocket Scientist was just in the mood for a movie and since it was fall break, we indulged a late(r) night.
On Wednesday we made orange pancakes with chocolate chip jack-o-lantern faces. Then I let the kids indulge their creative side. Handsome Face chose finger painting and Cute Girl picked out a fall tree craft. Then we had a picnic in the park with all our neighborhood friends.
Thursday we went to the library and had lunch at Dairy Queen since Cute Girl misses out on all of our lunches now that she's in school.
Friday we went car shopping and got very tired. But we had stromboli for dinner! Oh, how we love stromboli!
And Saturday we took a picnic to the canyon. We spent most of our time exploring the creek. It was so quiet and peaceful - not at all crowded. Handsome Face is desperate to go back! Then we came home, Handsome Face and I took LONG naps, and Cute Girl and the Rocket Scientist watched the BYU game. What a lovely day it was.

I have the best husband in the world

I have often reflected on what makes different marriage couplings work. I think that my husband is the absolute best one out there (as I hope all wives do, respectively), but I don't know that there is one absolute perfect match for everyone. There is, however, definitely some pairings that work better than others. I don't know that there are many people who could deal with my husband's particular brand of goofy-self-assured-I'm-too-smart-for-my-own-britches personality. But that's just all the better for me.
Now that didn't have much to do with anything. It's only mildly related to the next part.
Monday night we went to the Rocket Scientist's softball game. We've been once before and I swore we were never going again because it went way past bedtime. Handsome Face is ok but Cute Girl does NOT do well with sleep deprivation and I due to seminary, I get to deal with the late-night repercussions on my own. But Monday afternoon it was made clear that while we didn't have to go, the Rocket Scientist really wanted us to be with him. Since it was fall break, I decided that a late night might not be so bad so we all went. Once we were there I felt bad though because the kids just wanted to play on the playground instead of watching their dad. We only saw the last 15 minutes or so of the game. Handsome Face did enjoy yelling "HI DAD" at the top of his lungs though.
When we got home Cute Girl was AWFUL! She screamed and tantrumed all through their shower and everything else. Handsome Face just got ready for bed and then looked at books while he waited for his hysterical sister. When they were finally in bed I collapsed in the family room. I really needed to clean the kitchen as every surface was covered but I just couldn't. I was too tired. Then, while thinking out loud to myself, I lamented the fact that there were no clean bowls for breakfast. So now I had to clean the kitchen. But instead the Rocket Scientist cleaned off all the counters and loaded and ran the dishwasher while I sat there and watched. I felt bad the entire time but he ignored all my protests and did it anyway. He's the best.

I haven't posted for a long time. For a couple of weeks, life was just crazy and horrid and who wants to hear about that? And part of that horridness was losing the camera and so we haven't had any pictures, which is what everyone really likes anyway, and so I didn't post because of that.
We still don't have pictures but a new camera is on its way so hopefully there will be more soon.
Today was the first day of fall break. We went to lunch at a friends' ranch. The kids had fun playing outside and I had fun talking about raw milk and local honey.
We're about to go to the Rocket Scientists' softball game for our FHE activity. During the opening song of our Family Home Evening Handsome Face did all of the actions to "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" while holding a trick-or-treat pumpkin over his face. Very, very funny.
So now I've posted.

Knock Knock

CG: Knock knock

HF: Who's there?

CG: Macaroni

HF: Oh! Come in, Macaroni!

Just Curious...

Can you tell which posts are mine and which come from the Rocket Scientist? I always wonder if anyone knows when he's sneaking on here.

A Note From the Management

Effective immediately, there will be no more roaring allowed at the dinner table. We try to keep an open mind about such things and serve all types of creatures but the complaints from the other guests and cooking staff have become overwhelming. We regret to inform that monsters and dinosaurs will no longer be welcome.

You can see an awesome video of my little Handsome Face over at the Rocket Scientist's blog. I was really impressed when I came home and saw the video. I didn't think he'd be able to get any sound to come out but he did!

Click here.

Of Course!

HF: A fly just went in my ear!

RS: Why would it do that?

HF: It likes to eat my ear boogers.

My kids won't eat what I cook

We are having a bit of a food battle in our house right now. I finally got tired of my children being hungry and refusing everything I offer.

The problem has many faces. Vegetables, for instance. I find it very difficult to fit veggies into breakfast and lunch and we never have enough at dinner to actually meet our daily requirements. Cute Girl doesn't really like any but will eat fresh veggies with dip. She also realizes that at dinner she should take a few bites of whatever we have just because she's supposed to. Handsome Face does not like a single vegetable and he will not eat them. Every now and then he'll randomly eat something - like the salad at dinner two nights ago or six helpings of my dad's green beans in May - but he'll never repeat it. I started making green beans just like my dad in the hopes that something green would cross his lips but it didn't work.

Snacks are also a problem. I'm tired a lot anymore and it's very annoying to have my children balk at every snack suggestion I give them. It usually means they eat too many carbs and dairy because I'm just too cranky to fight them any longer. Raw veggies require too much effort to prepare and Cute Girl requires dip so I don't offer it very often. And they often turn up their noses to fruit even when we have two or three options.

And Handsome Face has to be the most aggravating child on earth. You know the old adage, "They'll eat when they're hungry enough"? Yea, that doesn't apply to this child. If he doesn't like it, he won't eat it. Not even to get something he does like. He can go all day without eating but will make my life miserable because he pesters me about food so much. And it's really frustrating because a lot of the time he refuses foods that I KNOW he likes just because he doesn't want it right now and he wants something else more.

We try and eat really healthy. We grind our own wheat and bake our bread. Most of our food is made by us, from scratch, with whole foods. Corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils are almost nonexistent here. We buy very little processed, packaged foods opting instead to make it ourselves. So the feeling that we're doing all of this and our nutrition is still lacking is very annoying and frustrating.

In an attempt to fix the problem, we've come up with two things to work on. My idea was to work at making breakfast more nutritious. If I can make something (usually an egg dish) that has veggies in it three times a week, I will already have increased Handsome Face's weekly vegetable intake by 300%. That's encouraging! We're also trying to fit in more fruits.

The Rocket Scientist came up with the snack plate idea for Handsome Face. When I make Cute Girl's lunch in the morning, I go ahead and make up a plate of all of his snacks for the day (see picture below). Whenever he's hungry, I refer him to the fridge where his plate is waiting. On this day, he had a string cheese, goldfish and pretzels (the only snack foods we buy so that Cute Girl can have something for the snack recess at school and of course he wants some too), applesauce, grapes, and banana slices. We've done this for two days now and I LOVE it!!!! The first day there was no complaints whatsoever. Today he cried because he was hungry and he didn't want apple slices (which he loves by the way) and that's all that was left. But I got to ignore his 45 minute crying tantrum with a guilt-free conscience because he had food ready and waiting. And because I already had the plan set I didn't get too cranky about it.

Now I should write some great conclusion but I'm tired, I've got to go to Young Womens, and I just don't have one. But does anyone have great ways to get their kids to eat vegetables? My one attempt at veggie-laced breakfast burritos was a disaster. No one ate any of it. So I need lots of ways to get my kids to eat vegetables!

(We're going to try these nuggets from Cheeky Kitchen that my lovely sis-in-law Sheri posted about.)

Clue #1 That It's Time to Call the Exterminator...

...the kids start playing a new game.

In case you don't speak "up-side-down excited kid," that was, "We're dead cockroaches!"

The Countdown to Christmas Begins

I started my Christmas gift planning today! It's kind of early but I've set a goal to be done by Halloween. And everything absolutely MUST be done by Thanksgiving or no one will be getting any presents.
I decided last year that I wanted to try and make more of our holiday gifts this Christmas. I love buying just the right thing for people but I hate just picking something off a list that doesn't really mean anything to me or the receiver. But neither do I want to make a bunch of stuff that would be completely useless to the recipient. It really needs to fit and be lovely. Last year the Rocket Scientist made a pulpit for Cute Girl. It was absolutely perfect! It fit right in with her play needs and personality and she loved it! Just tonight she used it as she gave us her FHE lesson.
So today I started crafting and I have three small items done. Yay! I'd love to post pictures and tell all about them but then I'd be spoiling the surprise for some people and I can't do that.

Have you started thinking about Christmas? Do you have any great homemade goodness up your sleeve?

Sunday Afternoon

Handsome Face was sick all weekend so we stayed home from church together. Cute Girl liked riding in Daddy's car to church so she was happy.

This afternoon we were all on the couch looking at books. Handsome Face really likes reciting the parts he remembers.

Scenes from yesterday

Last night at dinner Handsome Face said, "Look, Mom! I'm making a smile at you!"So Cute Girl made a funny face. Before dinner Handsome Face was pushing a cranky Cute Girl in his Tonka truck. Funny enough, she was cranky because he wouldn't share his Tonka truck.

But she's not too cranky to smile for the camera.
Handsome Face spends a lot of time in this corner of the family room. He's piling books and pillows with his truck. He calls this and other related games "making a truck job."