Happy Halloween!

Well, I finally made it back yesterday evening. The trip was fun, I have a ton of pics, but that's all for another time because IT'S HALLOWEEN! Hooray!

We started the day wearing our cute Halloween shirts that Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie gave the boys. Too cute! (I tried to get a better picture, but they were too wiggly. I think they were happy to be home!)

This afternoon Spencer and I carved the pumpkins. Spencer wasn't too keen on getting the seeds out of his. (He put his hand in exactly once and wouldn't again!)

He also thought I was "hurting" the pumpkins. This is what he saw:

This was the reality. (We all know that I lurrvve pumpkins and would never hurt them!)

I'm not as good at carving as Ginger, but I do okay. I love using the drill for holes - very fun. Spencer's is the star pumpkin and I did the other two - Lance was supposed to do another one, but got home late. (So now I have a gutted, uncarved pumpkin. What's a girl to do?)

After our traditional Halloween meal of Crescent Dogs, French fries, and applesauce (not the most nutritious meal, but I know I'll get at least a little non-sugar food into the kids with it!), it was time for the costumes! Spencer has been working out and was a very muscular Spiderman. Josh was the biggest (and cutest!) bumblebee ever. (The 'ghostly' pictures thanks to my dying and soon-to-be replaced camera. There were lots of other great pictures that just weren't in focus. Dang camera!)

We're ending the evening with another Madsen Halloween tradition: watching Shaun Of The Dead. Funniest. Zombie. Movie. Ever. No really, it's hilarious, and Lance and I love it.

We're watching the movie as I type. Laughing, lounging on our comfy couch, and eating all the good candy out of Spencer's Halloween haul. It's been a great day.

Westward Ho!

I have spent the day shopping, cleaning, packing, and preparing two little boys for our flight out to Utah tomorrow. I'm spent.

I've learned that it makes things easier to discuss, in detail, what will be happening when we travel. Even though we flew just last June, I have spent the day reviewing with Spencer the following:

• Getting up really early to go to the airport. (He freaks out if we get up before dawn.) ((Although this doesn't seem to bother him in the summer. Or on weekends.))
• Checking in our luggage and car seats. (He gets really concerned about his beloved car seat!)
• Going through security. (It's tough to have your blankie and stuffed rat go through the x-ray machine without you. Even tougher to stay by mom with so much going on! That 'special door' is so tempting to run back and forth through!)
• Behavior on the plane. (Yes, you MUST wear your seat belt all the time. No, you may not talk to everyone around you non-stop. Yes, you may eat your snacks. No, you may not "pretend to fight" with Joshie.)
• Potty breaks. (This is a new one, because this is the first time he's been potty trained while flying. Of particular interest will be getting him to NOT want to go on the airplane potty every 10 minutes.)

So here we go, Westward Ho! I'll see you in a week.

p.s. Pray and hope and pray some more that there will be a spare seat for Josh!

Roadblocks to the Temple

We had ward temple day yesterday. (For those who aren't familiar with temples, click here.) It was extra cool because the ward provided babysitting, which meant Lance and I could actually go together instead of take turns. (I can't remember the last time we did that!)

But first we had to actually get there. The closest temple to us is in Chicago, which means quite a drive there and back. We decided to leave three hours early, to give time for traffic or any unforeseen events. We should have left earlier.

Just outside of Lafayette we got stuck in traffic due to an accident. The accident must've happened just right before we got there, because we were pretty close. We sat on the freeway for a good 45 minutes. Which led to a lot of boredom. And pictures.

Here's a picture of the accident. We couldn't really see what was going on, but it didn't seem bad enough to close the freeway for 45 minutes!

Spencer was kind of a stinker. He kept saying "Let's go! Drive, Daddy!" Then he pointed at me and said "You're killing me!"

Josh decided to have a light snack.

Lance sat in the drivers seat and started losing his patience.

A self-portrait. Lovely, no?

We finally stared moving again. We usually take the 294 around the city to avoid traffic, but decided to risk taking the 94 in order to make up for lost time. We hit some construction traffic mid-way, but that was expected. Things were going really well until we hit Skokie. We were literally three exits away from where we needed to get off and we hit bumper to bumper traffic. It was maddening. And slow. Grrrrr...

But we finally made it. The ward took pictures of each child and their family in front of the temple. (Unfortunately, I didn't get a digital copy.) But I only had time to take these few pics:

Aren't the mums really pretty?

We were actually able to take the kids into the baptistery waiting room and the temple president and matron came and spoke to us for a few minutes. It was really neat. Then we had lunch at a ward building in Arlington Heights.

After lunch we left the kids with some WONDERFUL ward members who had put together a bunch of fun kid activities, and we headed back to the temple. We had all decided to take an alternate route because the way we had taken there was torn up from construction.

Mistake.

We had to wait for two trains to pass. It doesn't sound that bad now, but then I just couldn't believe all of traffic obstacles we had hit that day!

Oh well. Long story short: hard to get to the temple, but totally worth it.

Additional story: we went to IKEA afterwards. (Of course.) I luuurrrrvvve IKEA. It is my Mecca. I finally found a bookcase that I liked at a great price - only $150! (No really, it was that cheap but really sturdy and looked good! The perfect bookcase!)
But the boxes for it were far too big for our car. (Well, with the kids in the back. The boxes totally would have fit if we could have lowered the back seats.) Dang.

I looked into it, and ordering it online is out of the question. For some unknown reason IKEA doesn't use normal couriers for their orders. It would cost $299 just for delivery!!! Not in this lifetime!

So I'm thinking of heading up there again some time next month. Anyone want to come?

Primary Proverbs

I've decided to name my weekly quotes from primary "Primary Proverbs". I didn't catch as many quotes this week, mainly because I was too busy trying to get a certain little boy to behave. (There's always one in each class, right?) But I enjoyed this little exchange:

We're in class, reciting the 13th Article of Faith. I have key words highlighted on the sign I made.

Me: Okay, I want you to pay extra special attention to the highlighted words. Let's stand up whenever we say one of those words. Alright?

*Billy: Ooookkkkaaaaayyyy!

We start reciting. The entire class, except Billy, stands up and sits down at the right times. Billy makes it a point to sit down and stand up and the wrong times. But he is saying the right words.

Me: Good job you guys!

Billy: Hahaha! Did you see me? I sat down instead of standing up!

Me: I saw. But you sat down at the highlighted words.

Billy: Yep.

Me: So you were paying attention to the words while you said the Article of Faith.

Billy: Yep.

Me: So you learned! Good job!

Billy: Oh dang it!

Me (in my head): Bwahahahahaha! Gotcha!

*Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent!

Green Tomato Cake

My tomatoes are till bearing like crazy. That's what happens when you have a very late frost! But I have the sneaking suspicion that there will be a frost while I am gone next week and that will be the end of my tomatoes. So I'm trying to use all of the tomatoes I can right now, ripe or not.

I have found several green tomato recipes I want to try: fried (the classic, of course), green tomato ketchup, and green tomato and ham soup. But the one I wanted to try tonight? Green tomato cake.

Hey, cake made with green tomatoes - that's gotta be healthy! The 2 1/2 cups green tomatoes totally cancels out the 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of oil, right? Riiiggghhhttt... So here we go.

I thought it would be something like zucchini bread. Until I read that you chop the tomatoes, not grate them.

But I decided to test the recipe out anyway. The batter looked a bit weird. The tomatoes look like bell peppers to me!

Not exactly appetizing.

But then I put some coconut on top, and that made it look a lot better.

It looked really good coming out of the oven!

It even looked pretty good sliced and served.

But then came the real test: would my family like it?

Spencer seemed to like it. But he only ate that one bite.

Lance took more than one bite. But not many.

Hmm. So it was my turn to test it out. Know what? I liked it! It was like a yummy spice cake. The tomatoes didn't taste like tomatoes - they tasted like sour apples. Granted, it's not the best cake I have ever had, but it certainly wasn't gross. I've decided this is kinda like zucchini bread, in that you only make it if you have lots of zucchini that you need to get rid of.

So if you have lots of green tomatoes, here's the recipe:

Green Tomato Cake
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup pecan or walnuts (I used almonds)
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in pecans, raisins and tomatoes.
Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. .
Serves 12.

Watch out! I've got a spatula and I'm not afraid to use it!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Blustery Day

Today has been a really blustery day. Spencer has been watching the clouds like a hawk - he's quite concerned with how fast they are moving! (They're really low, which makes them look bigger, faster, and perhaps more menacing to an almost four year old.)

But this little bout of nephophobia didn't stop him from coming outside to fly our homemade kites. (Our afternoon play date fell prey to one of the many bugs going around, so I had to think of something on the fly (haha!) to entertain him.) I know, what kind of household with children are we that we don't have a real kite around? Oh well, it was actually more fun to cut out the kites, decorate them with stickers, and "fly" them ourselves.

In other news...

I found my 2007 pumpkin today at Hobby Lobby:

It's totally different from all of my other pumpkins, which is probably why I like it so much! I looked through a lot of pumpkins, but this one called out to me as soon as I saw it: "Maren! Buy me! Take me home with you and love me! I love you! I'm so cute and fluffy and I have rhinestones. Rhinestones, Maren! Oh, and I'm 50% off!" That pumpkin speaks my language.

I also bought this one, because it's cute and because it was only $1.

Now that I look more closely at it, I think it looks more like an apple masquerading as a pumpkin. But Halloween is all about costumes and trying to be something you're not, right? Who am I to tell fake produce what they can or can't pretend to be?

Baby Proofing

I'm heading out to Utah this Tuesday with the boys. In order to help my parents get ready for the imminent destruction that is Josh, I sent them the following letter. I thought many of you could probably relate to it!

Dear Dad & Susie,

Here's a list of things you might want to have around the house for our trip. It's mainly Joshie-related because he seems to get into the most trouble and be the most demanding. (A mobile baby getting into trouble and being demanding? Unheard of!)

• Playpen for Josh to sleep in
  
• Electrical outlet covers (he LOVES electrical outlets)
• Cabinet locks for at least under the sink in the kitchen (He has an unhealthy fascination with garbage cans and cleaning supplies.)
  
• Stair gates for the top of the stairs (I highly doubt he will figure out how to climb stairs while we're there, so we won't need one downstairs.)
• One gallon of whole milk
  
• Macaroni and Cheese: both boys LUV it and will demand it at least 684 times while we are there
  
• Snacks (Here are a few favorites: Cinnamon Teddy Grahams, apples, string cheese, grapes, etc.)

Also, here are a few tips that people without mobile babies might not think of. (Hey, we even forgot a lot of these after having Spencer. Every day it's like "oh yeah, I guess a baby would like that!)

• You might want to put all garbage cans up somewhere, unless you like garbage strewn all over the house. Ours are on top of counters and tables and dressers. Hey, I'll try to keep track of him, but I'm only human!
  
• We'll need to keep all the bathroom doors closed all the time. Josh loves the potties (which is not safe or sanitary!) and even more he loves to unroll toilet paper.
• Any books at ground level are fair game as far as he's concerned. He shows no mercy.
• Magazines fare an even worse fate than books. He especially enjoys the delicate taste of TIME, but ironically doesn't seem to enjoy munching on Cooking Light.
  
• Plants on the floor will soon become dirt piles on the floor. If we can't move them up, drape a towel around to hide the dirt. Hopefully that will buy us some time.
• Josh loves remote controls, so keep those up high. If he gets one he will promptly re-program the TV to only speak Japanese, have Malaysian subtitles, and go into sleep mode every 15 minutes. A password that only he knows will be able to fix this. But that's only if you can find where he hides the remote after he is done "playing" with it.
• Any buttons that are on his level will be pressed. Our computer is turned off and on several times a day when we aren't looking; it shows it's gratitude with the "blue screen of death".
• Tablecloths will be pulled off, so don't keep anything on top of the table!
• Don't bother washing the bottom three feet of any windows or other glass!
• Actually, anything three feet and under seems to be fair game. So I'd treat anything breakable or precious as if you were expecting a flood - move it to higher ground! * On the plus side, any food left on the floor will be 'picked up' and 'disposed of', free of charge, by Josh. Or any bugs, fuzz, lint, pebbles, etc. for that matter!

Aren't you glad I'm bringing Maher-shalal-hash-baz and his brother with me?

Love,

Maren

Because I Don't Say It Enough

HOLY SHNIKES!!!!!!

Not five minutes after I posted about entering the mini-marathon, the Fed Ex man dropped these off on my doorstep:


I won I won I won! I won a pair of walking shoes from Ryka. (Christy tipped me off to their Fall giveaway, so definite kudos and THANKS to her!)

They're not exactly the color I would choose, but hey - free shoes. And probably the most expensive shoes currently in my closet.

I am definitely taking this as a sign that I am going ROCK THAT MARATHON!!! (Oh, I mean, walk.)

Hooray!

Bring It On!

So I bit the bullet and did it - I signed up to walk the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. That's right, come May 3rd I will be walking 13.3 miles with 35,000 of my new closest friends.

Why?

Why not?

Okay, so someone on the Corkboard (an email list group for women in Lafayette) mentioned doing it and invited others. And I thought, "Hey, I bet if I trained enough I could do that. It would be really cool and I would feel really good about myself. Plus, all the walking I'd do for training and stuff would help me be healthy and a bit more in shape. It'd be something big to commemorate my 30th year of life. Oh wait, I turn 30 in December, so it'd really be my 31st year of life. Right? Wait..."

It went on like that for a while until I decided it didn't really matter what year of my life it will be. This is a new challenge, and I say "Bring it on"!

I also say "That's a LONG way to walk! I gotta get off my duff and start movin'!"

So I've started walking walking three times a week. I usually go three miles each time. I'll slowly work my way up, and then do a few practice "runs" before the big day.

I've payed my $50 and announced it to the world; there's no backing out now!

My Kitchen is Falling Apart

So over the past few weeks my kitchen has started falling apart. It all started with my medium saucepan. It sprang a mysterious leak. I simply cannot figure out how or where, but whenever I cook with it, it leaks.

Then my cookbook started falling apart. Not just any cookbook - my cookbook. The one I put all of my favorite and tested recipes into. I either write them in by hand or clip them out of magazines (pictures are a plus!). My mom used to do this, and I love having hers. It's like a cooking journal. So I do it, too. Plus, I have one place where all of my best and most favorite recipes are.


By the way, I also have a holiday cookbook. But it's doing fine. For now.


Then I dropped the glass lid to my family size skillet. CRAAAAASSSHHH! Glass shattered everywhere. Luckily I was actually wearing shoes that morning. Even luckier, Josh was in his highchair and Spencer was in the other room. (And wonder of wonders, he stayed put when I asked him to.)

Finally, a week later I dropped the glass lid to my big pot and regular frying pan. KABLOOOOEY! Shattered glass yet again. And again Josh was in his highchair and Spencer in the other room.

So now I have no lids larger than eight inches wide. Less than desirable.

I have taken this all as a sign from the kitchen gods that I need a new set of cookware. Okay, false kitchen deity! I will appease you and buy new cookware! Stop destroying my stuff piece by piece!

I'm not complaining too much, since the stuff I had before was nice, but not great. It lasted the first seven years of my marriage. Now I need to get something that will last at least the next 20 years. I just need to find the time to test out the new cookware I want and find a good deal on it.

I'm heading out to UT next week, so I won't really have time to shop until November. And if I'm waiting that long, I might as well wait for the holiday sales. So I won't be getting anything until the end of November, at the earliest. There's going to be a lot of lidless cooking in our home for the next month. Mmmm... lidless cooking...

Oh, and I just thought of another kitchen implement that is falling apart: my camera! It's been acting like a moody teenager the last few months, is getting worse, and I can hardly stand it anymore! (It lies and says pictures are in focus when they're not. It's stubborn and sometimes won't let me use the flash even when I tell it to. It's lens is dirty and refuses to be cleaned. It didn't used to be like that - I certainly raised it to behave better!) Sure, I don't really need it to cook. But I really do like taking pictures of some of my better masterpieces, in case you haven't noticed.

It's going to be an expensive holiday shopping season. Hey, just doin' my part to help the economy, right?

Pumpkin Crack... I Mean Cookies

So my 'secret' obsession with pumpkins is not so secret anymore. But did you know that not only do I love to look at pumpkins, I also love to eat them. Yummers. I've been forgetting to blog about my pumpkin-laden meals, but that changes today with these little golden nuggets of crack, a.k.a. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I always make these during the fall, and they never last long because Lance and I love them so much. (Which is why I only make them during the fall - too dangerous and too much temptation to make them often!) They're so moist and yummy and pumpkiny... if that's not a word, it is now.

I've been working on this recipe for several years, and I think I've finally got it where I want it. So even if I won't share my secret donut recipe (sorry, every good chef has to have one secret family recipe!), I will share all of my pumpkin recipes. Starting with this one:

1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
15 oz. canned pumpkin (one small can)
2 tsps vanilla
1 c shortening
4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
12 oz chocolate chips
handful of butterscotch chips

1. Cream well the sugars, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and shortening.
2. Add 2 cups of flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix in.
3. Add the remaining 2 cups flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well.
4. Mix in the chips.
5. Drop by spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
6. Cool slightly on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.
*Try not to eat them directly out of the oven, no matter how tempting. You'll burn your tongue on a chocolate chip and then not be able to really enjoy all the others you will inevitably still eat!

Why the handful of butterscotch chips? Because that's all I had once so I threw them in. They're really tasty in moderation, but too overpowering (at least for my taste) if you put too many in!

Third Annual Donut Party!

Last night was our third annual donut party. It was so much fun! The donuts were extra tasty, the weather was perfect (so we could spend some time outside), and the house was filled to capacity with good friends. Who could ask for more? (Well, maybe some better pictures, but I was more about living in the moment rather than worrying about blog fodder. Perhaps next year I'll pass the camera around and see what happens!)

Here are the eight pumpkins that came out of our garden. I spray painted a few gold and silver. Awesome, huh? (I luuurve pumpkins!)

Here's the boys waiting for our guests to arrive. Spencer... I mean, Spiderman... was super-excited all week for the party. He could hardly contain himself! Hopefully we'll get a few better pictures this month of the bee.

We had party favors for the kiddos this year. Fun pinwheels and finger puppets! (I loved the way my 'Halloween bouquet' looked!)

Dig that foxy lady in the apron!

A few random shots from the party. At one point we had at least six babies in the 'baby pit' in the middle of the living room!

People finishing up their answers for the scary movie/tv show game.

Tyler going to town during the candy bar game.

Josh and Michelle. Josh had a great time! He got lots of attention and probably quite a few bites of donut. He also must have babbled all evening, because he lost his voice today! It's pretty funny to hear him babbling away with a hoarse voice.
Lance was awesome and helped cook the donuts so that I could be inside and visit.

Here's our annual Madsen Halloween photo. Oh, the magic of Photoshop! It had a place of honor above our piano. When I showed it to Spencer for the first time he said "Look! Joshie is a cow!" Kids crack me up.