It must be Christmas, the Leg Lamp has returned

One of my all time favorite movies is "The Christmas Story." One of the sub plots in the movie involves the Dad and the arrival of the "major award" he won. It arrives in a beastly sized wooden crate and he excitedly but carefully opens the crate and unpacks the items to see what he has won. The Dad discovers he has won a lamp. But not just any lamp. To him, this lamp is a thing of beauty, a masterful work of art that proudly needs to be displayed in the front window for every passerby to behold. To Mom, she sees nothing more than a ticky-tacky lighted leg with a fringe trimmed shade that would do better sitting on top of a trash pile at the city dump than on her living room table.

I tell you this story to bring you back in time with me to Christmas six years ago. My Mom, being ever the impulsive shopper , decided to pull over and purchase some Christmas gifts from a van turned into a makeshift roadside stand. Most of the year that "stand" sells turtles and hermit crabs with airbrushed decorated shells that are guaranteed to teach your child about The Circle of Life within two weeks. They might even throw in the Ziploc baggies and shoe box for your back yard burial for free if you ask them.

But a month out of every year they sell something else. They sell a Christmas decoration. My Mom saw these decorations and decided all the kids in the family needed one. That Christmas rolls around and my gift is unveiled as I pull it out from a kitchen trash bag. What Bill saw when I opened this gift was a thing of beauty. He saw superior skilled craftsmanship of a perfectly geometrical orb and entrancing multi-color lights dancing in symmetry and precision. He was in awe and immediately plugged it in to find just the right setting to showcase the work of art.

What I saw when I opened the gift was a couple of clear Dixie cups cobbled together with a dollar store string of Christmas lights. While I could appreciate the work that went into making the piece, I couldn't get past the fact that it was still just Dixie cups glued together. I smiled at my Mom and thanked her for the gift and made a mental note to drop it off at the first Goodwill drop off point I passed going home.

But it never made it to Goodwill. Bill overrode me. He made a spot for the piece in the front window the moment we walked through the door. He futzed with the angle, the height, and the light settings. He turned it on and walked out to the street to see how it looked from a passersby eye. I think he was prouder of that light than his first car.

This Dixie cup art has become known amongst all of our friends and family as simply, "The Leg Lamp." Six years later, Bill has once again pulled out The Leg Lamp and put it on display in the front window just as he has every other year. He futzed with the settings, adjusted the angle, and stood out in the street to see how it looked to passersby. But rather than wanting to destroy it in a furious dusting accident (yeah right, who would believe that one from me?), I just smile and go with it knowing the holiday season has officially begun and Christmas will be right around the corner.

The End of an Era

Since Bailey will be one next month, we are getting to the point that we no longer need the exersaucer, walker, jumperoo, bouncer, and all of the other mass amounts of gear that seem to absurdly be necessary for something so small and helpless. The gear went through two girls within a fairly short period of time and was just getting to the point that it was all just taking up space.

So on Sunday, we pulled every piece of baby gear out and gave it all to some friends of ours expecting their first baby. Two Jeep Cherokee carloads later, our friends were well on their way to having everything they needed to prepare for their impending arrival. And we celebrated taking back our rooms and being clear of big bulky equipment that gets used for five minutes at a time.

Well, I celebrated for a minute anyway. Then I had a moment of sadness I wasn't expecting. We've pretty much been in baby mode for 2.5 years now. We are at the cusp of having no more babies, only toddlers that seem to growup by months at a time in just one night of sleep. No more new baby smell, no more swaddling, no more nighttime rockings, no more bottles. Just girls that want to take on the world and be older than their little bodies will allow.

While the door has not been 100% closed on more children in our future, it is unlikely I'll ever carry another. My uterus ruptured with Bailey and to have another carries great risk and danger. We may consider adoption in the future, but that would be much further down the road and is just a remote thought.

I've been very happy with our two girls and content that our family was complete. That was, until the baby gear drove away and it really sunk in there really may never be another. I hated the baby stage--the crying, the sleep deprivation, the colic, the acid reflux, the crying, the late night feedings, the sleep deprivation, the crying, the sleep deprivation, the crying. Did I mention sleep deprivation and crying? Yet as the bassinet and bumbo headed down the road, I suddenly felt sad. I wanted the stuff back. I didn't want to be done with it all.

But we are done with it all. The gear has all gone on to be used and loved by a new family. And our baby era has come to an end.

More Gratuitous Bailey Photos

Bailey at 10.5 Months

Reagan's Magnadoodle Art

Reagan was hard at work on the Magnadoodle tonight. Here are two of her pieces.

This one is Daddy. Can't you see the resemblance? What I'm most impressed with is that she has two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two legs, two arms, a body, a head. You have to kind of squint to imagine them, but the parts are generally in the right place. Overall, I'd say not bad for a two year old.

This is a heart. I think this is a better heart than I can usually draw.

Proud Moments

It is the dichotomy of life. The busier you are and the more life events you want to share, the less time you have to share them. This is where I've found myself for the last while and will probably continue to be until the end of the year. I was already quite busy in my current role, but now that I'm officially an employee and not a consultant, I have the additional burden of taking on my new role as well. That is, until December 31 when my old role goes away and I am down to doing just the new employee gig.

I'm really optimistic that once the new year comes I'll have more time for family, friends, my blog, and myself. I just keep thinking, "just get through the end of the year and life will calm down." I'm finally at a point in life where I realize that won't just happen on it's own. I know I have to make time for the important things and not let other little things fill whatever new found time I may have after the first of the year. I'm saying that more for my benefit than yours. I constantly have to remind myself that I have to consciously make the time and set boundaries in this new role or I will end up just like I have every other year. This year I want to be different; unlike the last ten years where I said the same thing and I made no change.

So all of that to explain why wonderful things are happening with my family, random light or deep thoughts are occurring with me, yet nothing seems to materialize on the blog. Again, just let me get through this year and things will be different, I think. I hope. No, I commit! In the meantime, let me tell you about the girls and some of their latest milestones...

Bailey is now ten months old and continues to be the happiest, cutest joy to everyone she meets. She now waves, signs "milk", throws her hands up in the air when you cheer, and crawls and cruises almost fast enough to keep up with Reagan. She says bye-bye, uh-oh, da-da, and ma-ma. She's just starting to test her boundaries by knowing "no" but continuing to do something while watching you. All with a big a grin on her face and waiting to see how you'll respond.

Now on to Reagan. Can you continually talk about a two-year old without at some point mentioning bodily functions and the control or lack thereof? Well, I'm going there. Reagan is nearly potty trained and for better or worse, has done it pretty much on her own. We just started putting panties on her one day, put a baby potty in the play area, and said if you have to go, go. We don't put her on at any intervals and never ask her if she needs to go. Yet she has probably had three accidents ever. However, she would never poop on the potty. She would just hold it as long as she could or would even ask to have a diaper on so she could go.

So this past weekend Bill was on the computer across the room and got a whiff of something. I saw him scrunch up his nose and start looking around for the cause of the offending smell. About that time Reagan proudly said, "I pooped in the potty!" Bill realized then, "Oh, why yes, yes you did!" as he kind of half gagged.

Proud moments are not always rose scented.

Well That Didn't Go Like I Hoped

Let me just be gracious enough to congratulate Obama and all of the Obama supporters on his victory tonight. I truly hope he lives up to your expectations.

My Vote

I keep politics largely off of my blog and will likely continue to do so after this. But Tuesday, our country makes an important decision, one with serious implications and consequence. I am sharing my views with you not to sway you or tell you you're wrong if your decision has already been made and you don’t agree with me. In fact, I'm happy to hear comments and opinions of the matter, I just ask that we keep it a civil, healthy debate. But I decided I do want my children to know how I felt about these decisions and this election and in so doing, I am sharing them with you…

This Tuesday this country will make a decision and the world will hear our voice. Our voice will indicate whether we embrace the concepts of Socialism and take the largest step toward a Socialist society this country has ever seen. Or it will indicate that we choose our Capitalist society and try to reform what may be broken. As far as I'm concerned, this is the most important election of my time and my vote will be heard. As for me, I chose Capitalism, freedom, individualism.

I think Obama has some good points and says things quite eloquently. He is a wonderful public speaker and I've actually sought out and read or listened to word-for-word, many of his speeches. He has a way of moving people and speaking to people that is a rare gift. I think he may go down as one of the best public speakers in history. But once I begin to dissect his speeches, I find things that I don't agree with. There are some things that downright frighten me. Don't get me wrong, I think his heart is in the right place and he has good intentions and I agree with many of the issues he brings up. I just don't agree to his solutions.

At the heart of Obama's plan is a "spread the wealth" campaign which promises to offer affordable health care, education through college for everyone, require automatic workplace pensions, provide cheaper drugs, and lots of other social and welfare type programs that really do sound like a great idea. Here's the problem, how they are funded:

Obama wants to increase taxes for the "upper" class (this definition seems to be a moving target- was once $250K but the number is going down). The top 2% of the country's income earners already pay 90% of all of the taxes. Is it really fair to continue to impose more tax and on those that have worked hard and been successful and punish them for getting to that position?

He wants to reinstate the estate tax. This means that if your parents pass away, 55% of the money they would have passed on to you will instead go to other people you've never seen nor heard of. When I die, I promise you, I would much rather my money go to my children so I can ensure they are taken care of, rather than to have it go towards contraceptive education or some other program I don’t care about or support. If we take care of our families first, maybe they won't have to rely so heavily on government programs.

He is putting the burden on corporations to foot part of the bill. Many corporations are already feeling a hit during a time of recession (let's not argue whether or not there is one, the economy is definitely not great now). Many people are finding themselves victim of pink slips as companies just can't find profitability. Obama plans to pile on to that strain by requiring companies to fund even more money towards healthcare, more money for leave of absences, and offering pensions where they previously didn't have one. Here's the deal. If I don't like my benefits and what I'm being offered, I can go somewhere else. That is part of a free market. That is part of competition. If companies want to attract and retain the best and brightest, they will offer these benefits. If we force businesses to provide all of these great programs, here’s the ugly side effect, even more pink slips or lower salaries. I’d personally rather have more money and let the decision on where to spend it reside with me.

When it comes to welfare programs, there seems to be no end to the outreach of what the government should provide in Obama's mind. Don't get me wrong, I think there are people in this society that need to be taken care of and given a hand. But there are far too many that put themselves in that category because they have a sense of entitlement or just plain don't want to work. Surely we don't want to continue to perpetuate and even increase a society of people who are lazy and want to be taken care of?

In my opinion, we should continue to allow the private sector and places like churches to provide these welfare programs, not the government. And they should be a limited time during a rough period, not a lifetime sustainment. Programs that teach job skills, interview skills, provide clothing and residence to get established are all well and good. But of you've been given these things and two years later you've still gotten nowhere, one has to start to believe the problem is your lack of will and desire rather than opportunity. Then the programs need to start to be cut for that person. Obama has stated that he would want to model Marian Wright Edelman's prioritization in welfare programs. Funny thing is, even she believes that these programs should be privately funded and has largely dedicated her life to the collection and distribution of private funds for these types of programs.

The fact is, Obama's plan nurtures the lazy and punishes the hard working. That certainly isn't the intention, but a nasty side effect. Just look at our own Pilgrims. They started out in a Socialized society. Everyone pitched in and shared what they earned or grew. Their first Thanksgiving wasn't the pretty picture we paint it to be in the kids school plays each year on Turkey day. They nearly starved to death. In fact, many did. But when they decided to give everyone their own little plot of land to tend to and own and when they told them keep what you grow and trade your excess, they flourished.

If there is any question we would raise a generation of children feeling entitlement (some say we are already there-- just wait), just look at France's problems two years ago. Chirac signed a bill intended to help them be more capitalist and to compete in a global society. The bill gave a one year trial period to anyone under the age of 26 and allowed an employer to fire him/her within that year provided they provide reason. Sounds reasonable, right? That's no different than most right to work states. Well, France's youth didn't think it was so reasonable. That labor law resulted in strikes, riots, cars being upturned and set on fire, businesses being pillaged. All for the sake of stating that the country was removing protections entitled to them that had been in place for generations. Is this really where we want to be headed?

Obama also staunchly supports anti-discrimination laws. I understand the intent. I too want everyone to be treated fairly. However, does anyone not understand that by enforcing anti-discrimination laws you are ironically causing discrimination? An employer should be able to hire the best person for the job regardless of the color of their skin, what their sex is, or who they have sex with. Conversely, they should be able to fire anyone regardless of the color of their skin, what their sex is, or who they have sex with. Anti-discrimination laws lend themselves to preventing companies or schools from choosing the overall best and brightest and prevent them from losing those that are not up to standards. This creates a myriad of problems from decreased productivity and efficiency and increased costs.

I also oppose Obama’s plan for reducing costs for medicine. He wants to force pharmaceutical companies to cap their costs and provide more affordable medicine for everyone. Sure, they could do that easily. The actual cost of the pill is usually pennies, if that. But again, there’s nasty side effects. For starters, that means companies would have far fewer dollars for research. This means fewer new drugs being available and smaller hopes for finding cures to diseases that continue to elude us. We would also force their hand in removing many of the programs they already offer to the poor and third world countries. We would see a huge decline in worldwide vaccinations and increase in disease. This just adds more risk to us as we continue to be a global society and travel to these places.

I could go on and on and talk about gun control, Social Security, the war in Iraq, Foreign Policy, and Homeland Security, but I’ve already written a novel and I think you’ve gotten where I’m going with these things. In the end, my biggest concern is not for me, it is for my children and my children’s children. I don't want to leave my grandchildren holding the bill for my retirement and standard of living because I failed to plan for it. Obama is creating a plan that is not sustainable long term. If you look at many European countries, with each passing generation they amass more debt and tax to continue to sustain their lofty programs. Some countries are already turning more towards Capitalism and away from Socialism because it just doesn’t work in a pluralistic society long term.

Obama wants to eliminate the poor altogether. It’s a good goal to have, as is world peace, but does the end justify the means? Will these means even get us to that end? I don’t think so. I think Obama is too much an idealist and not enough realist. He’s got a good heart and good intentions, but ill directed solutions that will impact generations to come.

John McCain, President
Sarah Palin Vice, President
November 4, 2008

Week in Review

So, here's an update on our past week:

Me
I have been working a whole lot of crazy hours and it's going to get worse before it gets better, but it really will get better. I've decided to hang up my consultant hat and take a permanent position as a Vice President at the client I have been assigned to this past year. This is going to give me a lot more stability personally and financially and help achieve some of the long term goals we have for the family and for myself. I expect to be working fewer hours in the end, but I have to get through this year first. I am not able to relinquish the reins of my current role so I need to fulfill my current role in addition to taking on this new role. This dual role will continue until the end of the year. After that, I hope I really will be getting back to achieving some work-life balance and work on some personal goals for myself (like getting healthy and losing weight).

To keep the family from going to utter chaos, we decided to hire a housekeeper to help us keep things organized and in balance. I hate to use the word housekeeper, I'd rather call her Wonder Woman Wendy, because that's what she is to us. She's basically doing everything from cleaning, laundry, cooking, helping get the girls ready in the morning, errands, you name it. She's only been with us a few short weeks and I can't remember how we ever got by without her. She's such a blessing to the family. Reagan gets so excited when she hears the door open in the morning and "Miss Wendy" comes through the door.

Reagan
Reagan's school has about 15 auxiliary options for two year olds. They offer soccer, tennis, tumbling, karate, ballet, and many other things. While it is convenient that they offer these things during school time and you don't have to shuttle your child all over the place in the evenings, these options can really add to an already pricey monthly bill. So we had decided to let Reagan do tumbling since she's shown a lot of interest in that and let the other things go for now. We learned that every week when it was time for ballet and the girls got dressed in their leotards and tutus to go dance, she pitched a fit because she wanted to go so badly. She's such a girly girl, it makes sense that she would want to dress up and dance.

So being the suckers that we are, we went and bought her a tutu, leotard and little pink leather ballet shoes and signed her up for ballet. She was beyond excited and kept saying, "now I'm going to go to ballet and go dance with...(names of girls in her class)." Reagan didn't disappoint. Her teacher tells us that even at her first lesson she was actually the best student in the class. She was very disciplined and coordinated and did everything very well.

I've also heard that she's really good at soccer when they've let them go to free demos. Sadly, I find myself being a bit sexist and not taking that as seriously as I did the ballet. I don't like soccer. I find it boring, and can't put out of my mind that more injuries occur in soccer than in any other sport. I'm happy to support the perpetuation of her girly side, but for some reason when it comes to soccer I just let it go. Maybe if she was older and said that was something she really wanted to do I could support it more, but as long as we are choosing what she is doing, it won't be soccer.

Bailey
Bailey had a short lived career as a baby model. She did the one modeling gig a few weeks back and then this week had a casting call. When I picked her up from daycare to take her, she had a terrible rash on her cheeks. I was wishing I had time to stop to get some makeup to try to cover it up, but I had to let it go. There must have been 20 other (mostly) adorable babies and they were running them in 10 minute appointments all day long.

The first time Bailey had her gig, they plunked her in an exersaucer to play and be adorable and she performed on cue. She did awesome. This time, I just had to set her on the floor and let her play with a few toys while they took pictures. She would have none of it. She screamed and reached for me and would not cooperate. I told them "Wow! This is so unlike her. She never does this. She was great last time." They basically went, "Yeah, yeah sure lady....NEXT."

So between the screaming and the rash, I'm pretty sure we won't be getting a call back.

Bailey was also supposed to transition to the next infant class this week. Only her previous teachers are having Bailey withdrawal. They are spreading out her transition longer than the usual one week as they keep snatching her up and taking her back to the old class. One of the old teachers even said she had a dream that she kept moving classes as Bailey did so that she remained her teacher all the way through. I think it's sweet that they are so attached to her and we don't mind them holding on to her a while longer. She's happy and well taken care of in either side so it's all good. Although I'm starting to wonder if Bailey might actually walk before Kindergarten because I'm suspicious as to whether that baby's feet ever touch the floor.

Bill
Bill rarely has a work emergency and makes sure he keeps his schedule so that he can take the girls to and from daycare everyday. But over the weekend there was work emergency. I found myself being quite hypocritical when he said he needed to go into the office. I didn't want him to go and said stuff like, "Don't you have people that you manage that can do that for you?" This is coming from the person that had to be forced off the computer and phone and out the door to take the kids trick-or-treating tonight because an issue crept up right at the end of the day. I'm really hoping my next role will be more like Bill's, but I won't hold my breath.

We are really hoping Bill's Dad moves out this summer. It's already been two years in the making and we really, really want the girls to grow up with some family around. But he and his fiance keep putting things off. Bill talked to his dad a few months ago and his dad said, "We're putting the house on the market next week." We were pretty excited about that as it seemed like the wheels had finally been set in motion. His Dad called last night. We were hoping with news that the house had sold. Turns out he still hasn't put it on the market. Figures.


So, that was our week in review. How was your week?

Trick or Treat, the warm up

Tonight was the church "Trunk-or-Treat" only since it was raining, it was all held in the church instead. They had little crafts for the kids and then they all went Trick-or-Treating room to room. Reagan had quite a little haul. Good stuff too. I remember being a kid a trick-or-treating and 70% of it was Smarties, rock hard peanut butter taffy in orange and black wrappers, and chocolate coins. Who eats that stuff? It would sit in the orange plastic pumpkin on top of the fridge for six months before someone would be desperate for a sugar attack or someone would finally pitch it.

Reagan wasn't cranky tonight and she enjoyed wearing her costume, but she was uncharacteristically quiet and shy. Although she got into all of the activities and the trick-or-treating, she said very little. That is very unlike her.

Afterwards we went to IHOP and had dinner/breakfast with the girls still in their costumes. They were the belles of the ball as everyone had to come by and talk to the girls and comment on how cute they looked. Both the girls love that kind of attention and they enjoyed every minute of it.

I should mention, after we put Reagan to bed, she made up for being quiet at the party. Apparently she had a few too many Skittles. She went down at 8:15. At 9:30 she was still talking to her baby dolls and ordering them around from her bed. She also pushed the button for her build-a-bear bunny to laugh over a 100 times. I don't know if you've ever heard the build-a-bear laugh, but it's maniacal and strange, especially at night, in the dark. Tomorrow that bunny just may find itself down a rabbit hole too deep to ever escape from.

So here are the pictures. Reagan went as a witch, Bailey as a black cat. I decided to make their costumes this year. Don't ask me where that streak of brilliance and lack of time management came from. Ten minutes before we had to leave I was still threading tulle through Bailey's tutu. The living room is covered up in black Gothic princess tulle and my fingers have blisters from the glue gun. I won't make that mistake again. I think I may go ahead and put in my order for next year on costumes.com now, just to be safe.

I didn't get the costumes complete, especially Reagan's. But they passed muster. And the night wasn't without wardrobe malfunctions. Reagan's hat was too big and too heavy and kept falling down over her eyes. Maybe I'll actually get their costumes finished before their next costumed shindig on Tuesday.

Reagan's Halloween outfit

Since Reagan wears uniforms to school Mon-Thurs, I can admittedly get a little over the top on the days Reagan has a free day to wear anything.

Here is Reagan this morning in her Halloween outfit, some with her pumpkin she painted herself. Unfortunately, Bailey's outfit has not yet come (that was six weeks ago, there is one Etsy lady that is about to be getting some bad press if I don't see it magically appear in my mailbox soon).

Tonight is "Trunk-or-Treat" at church. Hopefully, I'll get the girls' costumes done by then. I had the brilliant idea to make them this year. Next year I'll be back on costumes.com.

What's for dinner, Pumpkin Puree and Toasted Pumkpkin Seeds

When we went to the pumpkin patch this year, we picked up several pumpkins specifically to cook with.

The smaller pumpkins are actually better to cook with. When they get big they get grainy and not as tasty. The pumpkins we used were specifically called "pie pumpkins"

Before you do anything, you need to get into the pumpkins:

* Take a sharp knife, cut off the top

* Cut the pumpkin in half

* Scoop out the seeds and pumpkin guts and throw those in a bowl to be sorted later. An ice cream scoop seemed to do the best job.

Here's my sister, Tara, and her daughter, Shelby, helping with the pumpkins. This was just before they were allured away by the enticement of painting pumpkins and abandoned me to do the cooking by myself.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

(Yes, this is a very small little dish of pumpkin seeds. It was all that was left by the time I got a chance to take a picture. Those ravenous little beasts (aka "children" on some days) consumed several pounds of pepitas before I could even take a lens cap off)

Directions

* Remove the pumpkin pulp from the seeds

* Rinse the seeds

* Preheat oven to 250

* Spray a cooking sheet with nonstick spray

* Spread out the seeds in a single layer

* Coat the seeds with seasonings of your choice

* Let bake in the oven about 20-30 minutes- until they start to turn light golden brown

* Remove from cooking sheet, taste, and toss with any additional seasonings

Seasonings

You can keep it really simple and just add salt (lots of salt!). I used a popcorn seasoning mix of white cheddar, garlic, and sea salt from Williams Sonoma. It's a bit pricey for the can, but yummy and convenient. You can also check the popcorn aisle for other popcorn seasoning blends. Or, spice it up and use cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, or jalapeno seasoning. Use your imagination.

The results

These were a HUGE hit with the kids! They loved them!

Er, one just more thing...

Without ruining the moment of the yumminess that is pumpkin seeds, let me just give a word of advice. If you have a kid in diapers that attends daycare, give the child the pumpkin seeds on a day when the daycare will get to deal with the diaper the following day and not you. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Pumpkin puree

* Preheat oven to 350

* Cut the cleaned pumpkin halves into thirds or fourths, lay them on a baking sheet.

* Cook for about 45 minutes (until nice and tender)

* Remove the pumpkin from the skin (this is really easy to do- it just falls right off after cooking)

* Throw the roasted pumpkin in the food processor (you'll have to do this in batches) and pulse until pureed.

* It will last in the fridge for several days or you can freeze it for later. I would recommend that you freeze it in ziploc bags in 2 cup quantities since that is about the equivalent of one can of pumpkin puree that many recipes are based off of.

That's all there is too it. I don't recommend seasoning or oiling it because you want this in its pure form to be used in recipes later.

Tips

I let it sit in a bowl and use a paper towel to soak up any water that comes to the surface so that it is a bit of a thicker texture. If you want thinner, you can add a little water to the food processor when pureeing.

I attempted to buy a few more pumpkins labeled "pie pumpkins" from Walmart in addition to the ones we bought from the pumpkin patch. The Walmart ones were so tough, there wasn't a single knife in my collection of Henkles up to the task. I'm not even sure a hack saw would do it. Instead, some simply got painted for Halloween fun and a few got tossed into the back yard to see if we might see some pumpkin vines grow along the fence one day. But I think those suckers are petrified so they'll probably still be whole 20 years from now. They will be used in a game of lawn bowling when our kids have kids.

Uses

What can't you use pumpkin puree for? There is (in a Bubba Gump voice): pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, pumpkin butter, pumpkin dip. Recipes for pumpkin bread and pumpkin dip to follow soon.

For Bailey, I took the pure pumpkin puree, added a little pumpkin pie spice, and she loved it. She had it several times over the week. It's such a healthy and straight from the garden option. I even noshed on several pieces of roasted pumpkin myself. It was kind of a "one for me, one for the food processor" thing as I ate myself silly of just plain old pumpkin. Who knew it could be so tasty?

I'm going to write a book

I've been reading London's successes and frustrations in writing her novel and have been living vicariously through her. But I could only watch for so long. London has inspired me to write a book. I'll stick to what I know, I'll write a collection of short stories about my life. I've got a few interesting stories to tell (or so I think).

In the spirit of openess and collaboration, I'll share with you what I have so far. Ok, here goes...

Inside every ordinary person is an extraordinary tale waiting to be told. Here is mine…

Yeah, that's seriously as far as I've gotten. Maybe writing a book is a little tougher than I thought. Perhaps I should just stick to the mommy blog and posting cute pictures of the kids for a little while longer.

Fun times at the pumpkin patch

Last weekend my sister Tara and her crew were in town. We took everyone to the pumpkin patch for good times. We bought a bunch of pumpkins, and not just for decorating. I have several recipes to post for you as we made toasted pumpkin seeds, homemade pumpkin puree, and really yummy, very addictive chocolate chip pumpkin bread.

But until I get those recipes to you, enjoy the pictures. And yes, Bailey is still sporting the shiner. Boo hoo! And no, I'm not going to apologize for the picture overload. It's a pumpkin patch people! You're supposed to take loads of pictures (right?).