Golden Gate

This is as good as it gets for a family picture. I cannot get my children to look at the camera, much less smile!

The Jungle

We went to California to see Kevin's parents for Thanksgiving. It was delightful! We took Ian to the Jungle. Kevin bought some knee pads and crawled all around the place with Ian.

Haircut City

Ian is such a good boy when it comes to getting his hair cut, especially when his mom bribes him with a HUGE bowl of M$M's!

I am such a weanie

Okay, I am such a weanie. I totally am so impatient. The minute I buy gifts for any of my family I have to give it to them. My sister in law buys Christmas presents all year round and just hides them in the closet. Not me! I bought Kevin a new wedding ring a month ago (his old one was a cheapy one and neither of us liked it). When I bought it I thought "Great! We can use this for his birthday and our anniversary (4 years on Nov. 28th)." Nope. The minute he got home, I couldn't stop myself. I ran down to the storage room where I hid it and proposed to my love.
Okay, so now, we have been eyeing this train table for Ian. It was all sold out at our Costco, so I ran to another Costco and bought it. Ian saw it in the back of the car and just got soooo excited he could hardly handle himself. I, of course just melted and realized that we are going to be in Montana for Christmas anyway. So, yes, we gave in and opened it. We did, however, make a big deal of it and say "Merry Christmas" alot while he was opening and playing with it!
(Side note, I had to have Kevin put it together. We bought it on Wednesday morning and all day I kept telling Ian that we would open it and put it together when Daddy got home. Well, dinner was ready when Kevin got home from work. I told Ian, "First, we are going to eat dinner and then we will put together your choo-choo train". You should have seen him! He gave me the sternest look, put his hands on his hips and said, "NO Mommy, Daddy put choo-choo together now!" and then, he waved his hand in the air and stomped off. (I couldn't control myself it was so funny).

The BEST Cookbook and Deceptively

I just purchased this cookbook after a recommendation from my friend Jenny (thanks!). Despite there not being any actual photos of the dishes (a big downside) it is a fantastic book. It is more like a novel. Basically, all of these professional chefs got together and tested, for example, 50 different chocolate chip cookie recipes until they found the best one. Then they tested 100 different ways to make lasagne until they found the best one, etc. Of course, I went for the chocolate chip cookies very first and they were delightful! Really, really good.

Update on the Deceptively Delicious cookbook: Okay, my official opinion after making a handful of the Deceptively Delicious recipes. I like them, but Kevin and I can both definitely tell that the purees have been added. However, Ian cannot! I made the chocolate chip cookies (of course) with a whole can of chickpeas. Ian thought they were great. Now, I can't tell you that if I had a normal chocolate chip cookie right next to the chickpea cookie that I would go for the one with chickpeas. But, I love the fact that Ian can't tell. I.e. This cookbook is great for everyday kids' food, but probably not for a dinner party or if you are really trying to impress your husband!

Raking

WE have a huge tree in our front yard and an even bigger one in the back. After this raking, we quickly hired the little entrepreneur boys down the street to take care of the rest of the raking for the Fall!

Ian's First Christmas Craft

I've never been too "crafty" but yesterday remembered a little craft we used to in grade school. Yes, the ol' cotton balls for Santa's beard. Ian loved it and it has taken center stage on the fridge.

Deceptively Delicious!

Okay, I really, really love this cookbook! I finally bought it yesterday at Costco. Everywhere else I've been it has been sold out. Yesterday I made purees of broccoli, squash, carrot, and sweet potato to store in my freezer. We had chicken quesadillas last night with squash and chickpeas in them! And, we had a bean dip that had a carrot puree! Awesome. I am making her chocolate chip cookies tonight that have a "secret ingredient". My in-laws are coming in to town. We'll see if they can guess it!

I luv Halloween

Ian loves Halloween! We had such a fun time. It took him about 2 houses to get the hang of the whole "trick or treating" thing. Then he was off! He wanted to keep going and going and going. Meg on the other hand, was sick of her little chick outfit after about 32 seconds!