October 28, 2007

Fall Fun

On Saturday we went to Wilder Ranch where they had an old-fashioned heritage fall festival. Jason road his bike from our house to the ranch and met us there, so he got in a great mountain bike ride and we had a fun time with the kids. We got to grind apples fresh off the tree to make cider that tasted SO delicious. We watched a blacksmith make some coat hooks in the old metal shop, that was really cool. They had great music (a banjo and a fiddle) and lots of other little harvesty things for the kids to do. I just love stuff like that, all the old-fashioned things, it's just so fun to experience a little bit of how people used to live.

Carson got to crank some dried corn through a little mill that took off all the kernels and then took a cup full of the kernels and put them through another grinder to make corn meal out of it that we fed to the cows. He loved turning the grinders.

We got some fresh ranch-made pumpkin ice cream that was delicious.

And Carson had a go at the stringed donut competition.....that was pretty funny. He had to try to eat the donut without any hands. It took him a while, but he was determined and ended up with a face full of powdered sugar and a donut in his mouth. :-)

October 25, 2007

Even nasty things are amazing!


I really don't like spiders. Jason really doesn't like spiders. But as much as I dislike them, I have to admit they really are amazing. And I don't understand at all how they do it, but the webs they spin are simply really cool! And to think that all that hard work only lasts for one night of meal-catching. I've tried to learn how spiders spin their webs, and I've learned a bit more in the process, but I still don't understand how they do it, and how they get those really long strands you see from a branch down to your house and then up again another long distance (those ones you walk thru, isn't it amazing how strong and sticky they are?!). Wouldn't you love to catch a spider in slow motion jumping from place to place casting out it's web along the way? It would freak me out, but I'd love to see how they do it.
Okay, I really didn't mean to write so much about spiders, but I saw these really cool webs the other morning on our deck on a day that was moist with dew and fog and they just stood out clearly against the green grass below. The pictures don't do justice, but I thought they were neat.
"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all."

Pumpkins

A couple weekends ago, we went to the pumpkin patch we've gone to the last 3 years. It's so beautiful, great views of the ocean, lots of pumpkins and a pretty drive there and back. I think we may have gone a week too early, cuz we already had to throw away Livi's pumpkin, and I'm not too sure Carson's will last another week. Owell, we had fun getting them and carving them.

October 23, 2007

Gingerbread Pumpkin Pancakes

This is one of our favorite recipes. We got it from Trader Joe's on a day that they were sampling these and they are so good! They make a great breakfast, but they are also good if you make extras and put them in the fridge and then pop them in the toaster for a snack. It makes about 22ish thick, hearty pancakes, but you can easily halve the recipe. Enjoy!

Beat together 2/3 cup brown sugar and 4 eggs
Add 1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, melted
Mix together.
Then add 3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

Cook on your griddle and have a great breakfast!

October 20, 2007

Whose Child is This??

Oh boy, I had a horrifying moment today, and I'm still feeling the pangs of not responding the right way....I guess we all have to learn as we go, right? Sometimes I just don't respond in the most mature or proper way to things....it takes me too long to think thru the right way to do things sometimes that I don't do it right when the opportunity presents itself, which always leaves me with an embarrasing/"oh,-I-wish-I-could-do-it-all-over-again" feeling.
So, today we were at a birthday party at the park (Skypark). It was a big party with lots of kids and they had a lots of yummy food and a pinata and a bounce house, it was pretty cool, until my child lost his. (cool, that is). I was standing off to the side talking to one of my neighbors who was at the party, too, and Carson was jumping in the bounce house. I knew he was in there, but I wasn't watching him very closely. He's such a good kid (usually!), so I had no concern for him misbehaving. It was near the end of the party and I was having a nice conversation with my friend when I heard Carson crying and screaming, and sure enough, another mom (who I don't know and who I hope I never run into again!) was carrying Carson away from the bounce house looking for his mom (me!)...I walked briskly over thinking for sure he had gotten hurt or trampled or something in the bounce house (there were lots of kids in there!), but as she quickly handed him over she said "he was hitting and kicking and not listening!!" and off she went......oh boy, was I ever mad and embarrassed and Carson was REALLY mad cuz he didn't like that the lady had to grab him out of the bounce house. So I quickly reached down to get his shoes and quickly said goodbye and thank you to the hostess and off we went to the car for a talk and then home.
I tried to sort it through with him, and basically it sounds like he just decided to hit everyone, and kick one boy, and not listen to the lady who was trying to get him to stop. I should have been over there watching him. I should have gone to the car for a talk and to calm down and then gone back to the party, not for him to enjoy it some more, but to see if everyone was okay and to make him apologize to those he hit and kicked and to apologize to the other mom for disrespecting her and not listening to her and kicking and screaming when she tried to get him out....and to get a better idea of what happened....gosh I feel so embarrassed that I wasn't watching him and that I didn't do those things I should have. I always get annoyed with other parents who aren't watching their kids, especially when they are being mean.
So when we got home we came up with some consequences for him. We made him throw away all the candy he had gathered from the pinata as well as the yo-yo party favor. We had him throw away his sticker chart that he had been working on for a long time (he was so close to earning a prize for all his hard work), and he isn't allowed to have stories before bed tonight and tomorrow night. Those are all things that are pretty dear to him, so I hope it helps him remember that there are consequences to the way he chooses to behave! And next time (not that I'm hoping there will be a next time, but I know there will be other things we'll have to deal with), I'll know better how I should respond. It's so hard sometimes to do the right thing on the spot!
So anyways....I just had to write it all down and get it off my chest. Thanks for reading, I feel a bit better.

October 12, 2007

My Name

This was on my friend Angie's blog and I thought it was fun...Thore, I mean Byranie, did it also, so check out her website.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME:
(first pet & current car)
Alfie Volvo

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Coffee Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
MHug

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Giraffe

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Olivia Boulder

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Hugmi

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
Green The Arnold Palmer

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Vernon Howard

9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
LeeAnn

October 6, 2007

CARSON'S 4TH BIRTHDAY!!

When Carson came upstairs yesterday morning he was so excited and he said, "I love birthdays, they're just the best! I love cake!"
Here he is with his new car transporter....he's been really into playing with his cars lately.



One thing he kept asking for was a robe and some slippers, so Grandma and Bumpa got that for him and he was SO happy. This morning I went down to get Livi so she wouldn't wake Carson up by calling out for me, but when I got down there, Carson's light was on and he was in Livi's room laying on the floor with his robe and slippers on, it was so cute.
I love the look in Carson's eye here, he's stoked about having some cake.
Here's everyone gathering their loot from the pinata that took forever to break.
We had a fun birthday party with Carson's friends on a super cold evening...but it didn't rain! Yay! Thanks everybody for making it such a special day for him....he's so happy to be 4 now.

Jason's 30th Birthday

Jason turned 30 on September 30th!
It ended up that our friends Amy and Derek, who moved to SoCal last winter, were in town for the weekend, and we really wanted to see them, so we had a little get-together at the park across from us with some other friends as well. It was a great time to see them and to celebrate Jason's birthday, too!

Gilroy Gardens

Livi at the Wheel

The boys on the carousel...Jason's horse looks mad!

Brother and Sister