Things you won't see...

.... Because we still don't have a camera.

-- all the wonderful leaves around here. I know y'all have your own pictures, but I sooo have been wanting to walk off into the woods with a camera. It's been so perfectly fallish here.

-- Sam and Spence helping Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dale pick up all the walnuts from their yard yesterday. They were soooo cute in little old hats and gloves Grandma found for them -- sitting in the wheelbarrow on top of all the leaves. It was perfect lighting, too. But the wind was bad for pictures so I guess I'll have to be content.

-- Spencer's four eye teeth FINALLY all cut through (you know, the sharp vampire-looking corner teeth?) He's been cutting them one at a time since August, poor buddy! Actually, he might not let me get a picture of those anyway, but I'd be trying, of course.

-- Sammie's cute halloween costume... She's a "Barbie fairy butterfly princess." or something like that? She wore it to preschool today and looks adorable. It's really just another new princess dress that she is in love with. Maybe next year we'll have moved on to cowgirl or bride or something?

-- Spencer's cute pumpkin suit. Actually, he may continue wearing it, because it's just a darling little jack-o-lantern jacket with a stem hood. So cute.

-- Those stinkin' cute kitchen valances. I still just ADORE them every time I go into our kitchen. Someday they'll have their own blog feature, but not yet.

--My haircut... been chin length since the end of August, right after our last camera "walked away." The haircut is actually growing out now, to the "awkward" almost-shoulder-length stage. But it was cute. I don't think a single picture was taken while it was in the cute phase though. Oh well. It can be cut again, right?

-- The spick-and-span cleaner-than-ever condition of ALL our bathrooms at this moment. It's a most rewarding feeling to walk in and just KNOW the bathroom is so clean. But yeah, maybe I wouldn't be posting pictures of that. Guess that's just a news item for you.

-- Me in San Fran next weekend. Okay, maybe we'll get a camera by then because I just can't STAND the thought of not getting some picts of the Bay and the trolley cars and the Redwoods, etc. oh, and Brian, of course. :)

Good night, all.

vegetables are nasty

This one is for Randilicious.

I ate collard greens tonight.

For the first time. Ever.

They came from a can labelled "Southern Style Collard Greens -- with onions, garlic, and savory broth."

They were nasty. Disgusting. Despicable.

I felt like a kid at school again, reliving that one day in fifth grade when the principle made me eat every last green bean and I gagged because they were saltless, overcooked, gushy, cold green beans.

Okay, so the collard greens weren't cold or saltless, but they were green. And gross. And I ate a full 3/4 cup of them to set a good example for my children. Of course, after tasting the first bite, I did not even put ANY collard greens on either of their plates. They don't even KNOW how they should be thanking me. The leftovers (from a can the size of Libbys pumpkin pie filling) are still on the stove and will be until morning at which time they will find their way to the disposal because, who wants food that sat out all night, right?

Vegetables ARE nasty, Rand. At least collard greens.

Things I thought in the night

Yes, I tossed and turned last night, and couldn't sleep for a few hours. That gets frustrating because now I need a nap today and will probably have trouble sleeping again tonight. Oh well. It's because I have a cold, so I plan to take it easy today. Anyway, here are some of the random thoughts that "kept me awake?" or maybe I just thought them because I was already not sleeping?

-- Why, in a brand new house with granite countertops, did we end up with the most BASIC heat and cooling system? Why isn't there a single "auto-timing" button? And why can't they design systems that can be controlled room by room? Keep dreaming.

-- Why do I think someone is playing the piano every time the train goes by at 3 a.m.? Or, is that someone playing?? (get up to check, one more time.)

-- And why does that train sound soooo loud when I know it's nearly 2 miles away!?? Isn't it? Or maybe there's one that's a lot closer that I just don't know about.

-- I wonder if we have any sudafed, and if it would just keep me awake longer? and how do you spell pseudophed anyway?

-- I wonder if it's still too early to call people in London?

-- Were our library books due today? Or was that email notice for tomorrow?

-- If I could have any snack right now, what would I want? Maybe some smoked gouda cheese on garlic toast or something I couldn't actually produce from my own fridge even if I wanted to.

-- If it's this cold and windy tomorrow, I'm going to have to insist that Samantha wear her cute pullover turtleneck sweater to preschool. She won't like that, I'm sure. Why did she get so picky about clothes? And why does she always want to wear dresses now? And why does she ruin every pair of tights after one or two wearings?

-- That's where all our extra money goes -- to buy Samantha new tights. And Spencer's diapers, of course. Will he ever stop pooing first thing in the morning?

-- If I had to move away from here, where else would I want to live? Where would Brian want to live? What kind of work would he really, really, like to do? Should I wake him up and ask him? I'm not sleeping, no reason why he should be, huh?

-- I wonder if Wade will come for Thanksgiving. That would be so fun to have him around, even if he's off gaming with friends a lot.

-- Is it raining out there, or is that just the wind? or the train?

-- I need to do laundry. Again!? Already?! I need to remember to wash that huge pile of wash clothes in my bathroom, I keep forgetting those, and we're almost completely out.

-- That is so crazy that Marissa has hard evidence that the new toilet paper rolls are SHORTER than the old ones. Did I comment on her blog? I need to. Better have a look again tomorrow.

-- Also need to get working on my writing projects. Maybe I should just get up now and write? Ug. It's too cold. Maybe I should try to stop thinking and sleep.

Yeah. Pretty much random nothingness, as you would suspect.

In other news, we went to my cousin's wedding in Rexburg last week. It was gorgeous. I was especially excited to see his older sister, who's my age, who lives in Minnesota. Haven't seen her in six or seven years. Also, it's just always nice to see the fam.

Still no camera. Bye for today.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

It's fall, the leaves are changing, the pumpkins are orange and plentiful. I'd post pictures of all those things, but still no camera. Hence, the lack of bloggering lately. Sorry! It's true, I shouldn't have to have pictures to write on my blog. But they sure make things more interesting. Without pictures, what can I tell you today?

Well, you probably won't be as excited as I am, but I'll announce that my kitchen valances arrived this week, and I hung them up last night! They are.... PERFECT! I LOVE them. I haven't experienced this much domestic satisfaction in... how long? maybe ever? Ah, but at this point, wouldn't a picture of those darling little curtains just give you a reason to share my excitement?! I know! I NEED a camera.

Another something to tell... I cut Spencer's hair this week with the clippers. It was getting really long on top, and while I loved the 'baby' look it gave him, it started to be very unmanageable. So, he got a real boy hair cut. And he looks so much older to me. He still does all his cute little one-year-old baby boy things, but because he's so tall, it kinda looks like he's a bigger kid, doing those 'baby' things. Oh well, I do like the hair cut -- even though he screamed and hated the buzzer. The end result is good. (again, just think how much you'd enjoy a cute little picture of the boy and his cut. sigh)

I took the kids to a pumpkin patch play date with some of the other kids from church this week. It was so much fun picking out our own pumpkins. A couple in our ward offered a big garden plot to anyone who wanted to grow fresh produce this year. The last of the crop is a HUGE row of hundreds of pumpkins, and we were allowed to take as many as we wanted. Fun! Now we have a porch full of orange pumpkins, and I'm thinking of all the pumpkiny goodness of seasons past.

If you're a long time follower here, you'll remember me writing about the good ol' days of PUMPKINFEST (always capitalized). When I lived in Boston, back my single days, one of my awesome roommates, Randi, was positively obsessed with this time of year. (positively, as in, obsessed in a very good way.) PUMPKINFEST was really Randi's thing... a huge party where everyone invited was supposed to bring something "pumpkin" to share.

I confess, I am new to the love of pumpkin, and I owe this love to PUMPKINFEST. Where else would you find all different ways of experiencing that delicious vegetable in so many delectable ways? We had pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls (those goodies with cream cheese filling, oh yes!), roasted pumpkin, spiced pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup, and of course, pumpkin pie. Wow! What a versatile vegetable. Let's hear it for the pumpkin! And for Randilicious, for introducing me so kindly.

I've often thought it would be fun to throw my own PUMPKINFEST. Maybe I'd even make it a lowercase pumpkinfest, so as not to disrespect the REAL PUMPKINFEST. But really, it wouldn't be the same as, would it? I know it wouldn't. So, instead, I honor PUMPKINFEST by writing about it and telling people about it every year.

This year, I'm posting my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. I fell in love with it in London one Thanksgiving when a friend served it for our little American feast. Fresh pumpkin and honey. Good combo.

Enjoy!

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

(doesn't come with a crust recipe, so just use your own favorite crust)

1 medium sugar pumpkin

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(I sometimes use 2-3 teaspoons of "pumpkin pie spice" instead of cinnamon and ginger, works just great)

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup honey, warmed slightly

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. (I prefer it mashed, for a chunkier texture. Puree makes it more like canned pumpkin.)

In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Mix egg mixture in with pumpkin. (Don’t overbeat, or you’ll lose the texture. I'd say to beat by hand, rather than with a mixer, for a dense, rich texture.) Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Best served with real whipping cream on top, mixed up with a bit of honey.

General Conference Prayer

The kids and I spent General Conference weekend for our church at my parents' house -- a really nice, relaxing time for us. We ate too much, slept too little, and thoroughly enjoyed all the conference sessions via radio. My parents usually just listen, rather than watch, since their TV isn't equipped to get the broadcasts. Well, Sunday afternoon, Samantha decided she really, really wanted to SEE General Conference -- not just listen. She kept telling me, "I really want to see the prophet speak."

What's a mom to do, but dress her up and take her to the Stake Center so she could "see the prophet speak?!" It was a rainy, cold day, and when we got to the church building, there was only one other car in the lot. Also, there was only one other person in the chapel -- a 16-yr-old young man who was probably just there to make sure the broadcast was streaming properly in case anyone came to watch.

Well, Samantha and I settled in a couple of rows from the back. I had brought along some crayons and paper and a few things, in case she lost interest. But she was glued for the first half hour. She LOVED the singing, and seemed quite interested in the speakers as well. Then her attention waned and she colored, took a few "bathroom breaks," played in the foyer, etc. I called her in during the last 15 minutes, so she could see President Monson give his closing remarks. Again, she was glued, and especially loved the closing hymn.

That night, as I was tucking her into bed, Sammie said the sweetest prayer. She thanked Heavenly Father for a good day, asked for Daddy to be safe, asked that we could drive home safely the next day, please bless Spencer to sleep good, bless our swing set and fence to be safe, and that Mommy can cheer up and be happy even when Daddy is gone.

It was so cute, and so very thorough. As she closed, I kissed her goodnight and thanked her for saying such a nice prayer for all our family. She got a really big smile and said, "Mom! That was almost a General Conference prayer!"

Too precious! She really is growing up, isn't she?

Report on the day

Wow! How exciting to see so many people commenting on my little to-do list. Since you all seemed so interested, I thought I'd give a report at the end of the day, and see how I did...

DONE...

-- Two loads of laundry, but they're not folded, and the second one is actually still in the dryer at 11 p.m.

-- One suitcase unpacked. Spencer's is still packed, but mainly because it has a bunch of summer clothes in it, and I'd rather not put them back in his drawers.

-- One batch of fruit leather -- it's in the oven still, will be done when I go to bed in a few mins, I hope. (Jeni, it's like homemade fruit roll-ups... just fruit puree and honey, kinda tasty and somewhat healthy too.)

-- Pants and shirts for Spencer. None for Sammie today, though I did look. All the cute stuff I saw today was for my boy. Sam was a bit disappointed, but I think that kind of disappointment is probably good for her from time to time.

-- Curtains ordered for the dining room, plus I bought curtains and a rod for the piano room as well. Can't wait to have our house all curtained and homey!

-- Ordered those books on Amazon, as I was hoping. Funny how writing something down sometimes makes it happen, just like that.

-- Called Ruth in London. She's doing well, though we only chatted for 5 mins. We were both running out the door, so couldn't talk long. But was good to touch base, been missing her.

-- Worked on my writing "project." It's no secret really, just trying to write about Brian's and my dating days. I didn't get a full page of real story written, but I organized some good raw material -- emails, journal stuff. If I ever get brave, maybe I'll post a page or two of my writing on here. It's a good enough story, if I can just tell it properly... three rounds of dating over three years. hmmm.

-- Ate at Applebees. Yep, they really do have 99cents day for kids on Wednesdays. My friend and I took our kiddos along for an evening treat. Good food, though eating out with kids isn't really as "fun" as... not?

-- Took a nap. My late hours demanded it. I'm trying for earlier tonight. hmm.

-- Wrote two cards and mailed them, along with two bills.

NOT DONE...

-- Didn't make it to the humanitarian day project. I keep wanting to go to our monthly meeting, but it just doesn't happen with kids. Maybe next month.

-- Laundry room is still quite a mess, but better than it was yesterday. Work in progress, right?

-- Didn't lay out our bedroom wall arrangement. I'll try that again tomorrow. After I mow the lawn and clean up the mess of a house that I didn't touch today!

To do tomorrow

I'm tired of not having a new "something" on my blog. The swing set post was exciting for about five minutes. Well, it's not that we haven't had excitement around here. It's more that I'm just in a blogging slump. And I'm camera-less. And I have a itchy-throat cold and sinus pressure thing, with an eye that is sealed shut every morning. (no complaining here, right?)

So, I thought maybe y'all would like to see my "to do" list, as a switcheroo from the swing set post.

Tomorrow...
-- Do laundry, at least three loads, to clean out all the bags from our trip to my parents' last week.
-- Empty suitcases and sort out stuff from trip, at least enough to get our laundry room back in order.
-- Write a couple of thank you cards (and no, I'm not saying to whom. If it's for you, you'll know when you get it, right?)
-- Call Ruth in London
-- Lay out wall arrangement for our bedroom wall (that's been on my list every day for a couple of months now. sigh)
-- Go to church humanitarian day activity thing.
-- Go to Applebees (what? I mean, c'mon, sometimes I need a little break, and they have a 99 cent kids menu on Wednesdays. It's a worthy to-do item, no??)
-- Write one page for my "project" (those in-the-know on this one know this has also been on the wait-list forever)
-- Do something with all that plum puree I made today. Maybe fruit leather? Or jam? (I would have done something with it tonight, but I'm not so sure about making fruit leather in our gas oven. May explode or something; Brian advises against it.)
-- Make a decision on curtains for the dining room/kitchen. Turns out I'm curtain picky. I have searched long and hard for the perfect little valances for our kitchen. Think I may have finally found them, if I have the guts to order them.
-- While I'm ordering, I should order those two books from Amazon I've been eying for the past couple of months. (Can you believe that's really how you spell "eying?" It just looks funny, doesn't it? But spellchecker assures me it's correct.)
-- Get Samantha some new jeans. How is it that she is already growing out of the two pair I just bought her?
-- While I'm at it, Spencer could use some more new pants, too. And socks.

Okay, so maybe I should go to BED tonight, so I can start doing at least a FEW of the items from my list tomorrow by the time tomorrow is over? Yeah, I better add "take a nap" to the list, as I'm getting tired just thinking of all that needs to be done. Or maybe it's because it's so late. Again.

later!