10-10-10

In honor of 10-10-10, I thought I'd give you 10 random pictures recently taken...

1. Halloween is in full swing around here. We spent the other day making Halloween cards.

2. Here is our mantle all decked-out. (Pretty much the same as last year!)

3. I love this guy...but I prefer his squinty eyes. :) (Is that pc?)

4. I think the girls all agree... he's pretty much the coolest dad, ever!

5. We caught a couple moths mating on our lemon tree! (Hence, I had to explain "mating" to the girls!)

6. We took family pictures yesterday. So, you'll probably see the girls in their new outfits every day for the next month, because I can't peel them off!

7. This girl and her giggle have me wrapped around her finger!

8. I love, love, love how close these two sisters are. PRECIOUS!

9. THIS is the reason I cannot wait for little Sierra to start walking. Her poor pants!

10. I love this dog. And, I love this baby. And, I love cool evenings playing outside after dinner with them and their sisters.

Soccer Saturday!

Another soccer Saturday! And, another use for some soccer printables, (see HERE). When we were in soccer it was oranges and juice -- now the lucky kiddos get a snack, too!

Allison played really hard, and is getting so much better! It's fun to see. She played her best friends' team, again, so we all went to pizza afterward. Fun times!

Bat Craft

I saw this craft, (or at least one similar to it), in Blogland somewhere a while back, and could NOT find it again! Silly me. So, we improvised with what I could remember...

First, I had the girls trace and cut-out black circles.

Next, they glued on googly eyes and drew chalk mouths.

Step 3 was gluing on the "wings", which were just coffee filters cut in half, folded in 4ths, cut a semi-circle, then open again.... (I know that was a poor sentence. It's Friday!)

Once they colored the wings, I had them dab a q-tip in water and then dampen the wings.

Ta-da!

Family Picture Wall

Well... I didn't get it done when Grandma was here as I had hoped, but at least I finally completed one project: family pictures up on the walls! (Of course, we are having new family pictures taken Saturday, so I will soon need to add more, but at least for a few days my walls are "updated")

Once again, I went the fabric route. There are just so many fun colors and patterns of fabric quarters, and this way you can use pictures of various sizes!

With all the different colors in the fabrics, as well as mixing color photographs with black and white, I needed some way to make the grouping cohesive. To unify the look, I went with all white frames, (mostly from Ikea, but 2 I had laying around.) I actually have several old frames lying around that I could have spray painted white in my free time, but alas I have no free time these days! Not much, anyway...

The stickers are from the Dollar Tree. Yes, I said the Dollar Tree! As in, I only paid a dollar for them! Can't beat that! They've had some pretty cool ones, lately. I find they change them often, so if you like these hurry on down!

I'm happy with the new walls! Mostly, I love the subjects who posed for the pictures!

A Rainy Day!

This gorgeous rainbow is actually a picture from last Thursday when it was super hot, but "thunderstormy." It appeared as we were driving home from soccer practice, and it was spectacular; a full arc, and a double rainbow! I would have had a better icture, had we not decided to stop at the park and lay on the grass and stare at it. By the time we got home and got to the camera, it was already fading.

Anyway, this picture might as well have been taken today. It was the most wonderful rainy day; the first chilly rainy day of the season!

I decided to go with hot apple cider instead of coffee, since we still had a little left from our trip to Oak Glen last week. (Without the cafeine, I tool a 90 minute nap this afternoon... ahhh!)

The girls indulged in their first hot chocolate of the season! Hot chocolate and popcorn.. yummy!

No need for the sun with these big gorgeous sunflowers from my friend!

And, I made a last-minute change in the menu and decided to go with a big pot of soup for dinner. Hope you had a glorious fall day, too!

Claremont

Awww... today... the perfect fall day! I shouldn't be blogging, I should be writing a poem about how glorious today was! (Actually, I should be sleeping... but the house is so perfectly quiet!)

Yes, today really was ideal. It was about 68 degrees, overcast, and Allison had her first cooking class in my favorite little Southern California town; Claremont! It was the first place I fell in love with when I moved here 13 years ago, andI haven't found a downtown I like better since!

The Young Chef's Academy is located in an old cannery-turned-artsy building. I would be happy just sitting on the old wood floors doing nothing.

Immediately upon arriving, Allison was greeted by a new "friend," and couldn't stop smiling!

(Her friend couldn't stop talking!)

On the menu? Vegetable Pad Thai and Cold Noodle Salad. When I arrived, I watched my girl eat carrots, red peppers, and cabbage, and say "YUMMY!" Huh? If I made it, I know she would have used a different adjective. I was so impressed, and so excited to see how much she enjoyed it!


After a few bites of the Pad Thai, she decided it wasn't for her. (That really surprised me since she likes my Pad Thai so much!) Ironically, Natalie and Sierra took over and ate the rest. Who would have thought?

While Allison was at class, Natalie, Sierra, and I walked to my all-time favorite bakery, "Some Crust." Chilly fall weather... pumpkin turnovers and bear claws from Some Crust... time alone with my 2 little ones... Priceless! What a delight spending 90 minutes with Natalie. She is such a JOY! We had so much fun, and I was just praising God for my girls. From there, we headed to the toy store. Before I knew it, it was time to head back. Time flew by! I can't wait for next Tuesday!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Oooh, yummy! EVERYONE, including Sierra, loved this recipe! Here's hoping you still have zucchini growing in your garden!

From "Two Peas and their Pod"

Baked Zucchini Fries

3 medium zucchini, sliced into skinny sticks
2 large egg whites, beaten
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (we make our own)
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp dried basil
Pinch of dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside. (We used melted butter!)

In a small bowl, beat egg whites with a fork until frothy.

Put the breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, garlic powder and cheese on a plate-I used a pie tin. Mix well.

Dip the zucchini sticks in the egg whites and then into the bread crumb mixture, make sure all sides get coated well. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet. I did the sticks one by one.

Bake at 425° for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy. I turned over the fries half way through. Serve warm.

WOL 20th Anniversary Celebration

For many weeks we looked forward to this awesome event... our church's 20th anniversary picnic!

There were reptiles to pet...

Bounce houses, water play, giant bubbles, tattoos, and face painting, (where I worked!), all not pictured but experienced...

Trains to ride...
Bow and arrows to shoot...

Picnic dinner with family...

... and friends!

Running around with dozens of other kids...

And best of all, dancing and worshiping to Matt Redman live! We are SOOOO blessed!

Sister Smiles

While the girls were playing in the crib today, I decided to take a few pictures. I took a shot of all 3 of them together, but then took individual shots as you can see. As I was putting this together, I was thinking of what to title this collage -- and I came up with "Sister Smiles." Do you see the JOY that I see? Of all the characteristics my girls possess, I think their smiles are my favorite! They light up my life! Thank you for your precious smiles, my girls. May you never run out of them!

Apples, part 5

Ok, this is my last apple post. I promise! For our last 2 apple activities, we made apple trees and apple playdough. For the trees, we traced their hands and arms for the trunk/ branches. The leaves were green thumbprints, and the apples were glued red dots.


The playdough was so easy, so fun, (and so messy -- but no more than regular playdough!) We had to be extra careful, as it smelled so good both the girls as well as the baby and the dog were tempted to eat it! Unfortunately, it contains glue... so no eating!

Apple playdough recipe:

• 1 cup cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup white glue

I told you it was easy! Hope you have some fun with apples... We'll see what next week holds!