We've got a runner!

Rex has decided that he really likes to run away from me. The last few weeks, when I take him out of the car, he takes off and starts running down the street. He probably thinks it's funny to watch me run, because watching pregnant ladies run is funny. Fortunately, he's smart enough to not run out into the street. (Of course, now that I said that, that's what he'll do next time.) The other day, after I dropped Abby off at school, I walked in our back gate. Rex stopped at the gate, closed it, waved and said, "Bye-Bye" with a big, wicked grin and took off running. That little stinker! I was able to catch up to him before he reached the sidewalk, though, because I am an awesome and very fast runner. (I did a 5k once!) I could probably beat my 1 year old son in a race any time of day.

Oh, and today, when I picked up a few groceries from the store, I made the mistake of not securing him in the basket. I had him carry some of the groceries, but after he gave them to the checker, he bolted and took off for the front door! I had to run and catch him while the lady was scanning my items. He even tasted fresh air that time. He almost made his escape. He should know better than to race me...

Jack-o-Lantern

One tradition we have in our family is to carve Jack-o-Lanterns on the Monday before Halloween. Usually we invite friends and family over and have a contest where the winner gets a creepy Halloween cake. It came up so fast this year that we didn't do that. Instead we just carved our pumpkins as a family. Rex and Craig did one and Abby and I did one. I think ours turned out pretty good. Abby drew the face and I carved. Rex helped clean out the seeds and I think he liked that. Above is the result of all our hard labor.



Rex was pretty excited to be allowed on the table for this. It was some good family fun. Also, I never realized how awesome those little pumpkin carving tools are. All these years I've been too cheap to buy them because I thought, we already have knives and spoons to do it, why do we need those? Um yeah. I pretty much carved my pumpkin in about 5 minutes. I'm sure if I had been using my old archaic tools it would have been more like 5 hours. Amazing stuff we have these days.

Cinderella

I dust off the old sewing machine about once a year around Halloween. I prefer to make my kids' costumes because I hate the majority of costumes they sell at the stores. They're always cheap and they fall apart and I think they look pretty crappy too. Last year, I was a little ambitious with lederhosens. Not really smart for your first project. This year, Abby wanted to be Cinderella. I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't about to go out and buy one of those cheap princess dresses, so I decided to make it myself. I found the actual Disney pattern to get the actual princess dress and you can see the result above. I made everything on that costume except for the gloves. (I made 3 attempts, but each one failed) I'm really proud of this dress and I think it will be one we keep forever. I'll probably give to Abby when she has her own kids.
Here is my princess and my frog. I found the frog costume at a store, because by the time I was done with Abby's dress, I had no more patience left to make a costume for Rex. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the costume and it's also pretty dang cute. I just wish I would have had more time and energy to make cool costumes for Craig and I. Ah, well, there's always next year.

Pro/Con

What's it like to be married to a registered dietitian who also happens to be getting his masters in exercise physiology? I've heard people ask me before if I feel super stressed about making dinner or if I'm really careful about what I eat around him. You would think that our house would be filled with only fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, right?? Well, that's mostly true, just because I cannot have any kind of junk food in the house, especially while I'm pregnant, or I'd eat it all in one sitting. I'm also too lazy to make a trip to the store if I have a craving. But that's besides the point.

The fact of the matter is that Craig eats just like any other person. He gets excited to eat fatty concoctions. In fact, I think his new favorite place to eat is Ramsey Burgers in Banning. And the kitchens he supervises pretty much will make him anything he wants at any time. Anyway, there are pros and cons to this situation.

Pros:
Lots of super healthy recipes
Live-in dietary counseling
Live-in personal trainer

Cons:
Lots of super healthy recipes
Live-in dietary counseling
Live-in personal trainer

Huh. Well, that's interesting. Don't get me wrong. I love the 24 hour access to all these services and more. The good/bad about it is that when I don't feel like working out (which is pretty much every day since I've been pregnant) Craig will push me or convince me to anyway. I'm always glad after I do, because I feel so much better and it helps me control my weight gain a little better. I suppose I have a love/hate situation with the whole thing, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It makes me take care of myself so I can take care of my kids. Not to mention that they'll eat just about anything. Did I mention that Rex loves eggplant and asparagus and Abby loves salad and carrots? I think that would only happen in this house. :)

Beautiful Oak Glen

Last Saturday we took the family to Oak Glen. It is apple-picking season, but we decided against picking our own apples because it cost $10 for a tiny bag. I have a hard time paying that much when I'm doing the labor. If anything, they should be cheaper than at the grocery store, but, I digress. We ended up walking the trails up there. It was so nice to be outside and walking around, especially with how beautiful it was up there. My favorite part of the trip was when a friend we were with was really hungry and started foraging for food. He managed to work his way past the thorns to get some wild blackberries that were growing along the trail. You would have had to be there to truly appreciate the humor.

You would think this would have been a great day, just based on this, but no...it gets better! On our way home Craig starts driving to his parents house instead of home. I suspected something might be going on because Craig insisted that we be home by 1pm for no reason other than he didn't want to spend all day in Oak Glen. He arranged for his parents to watch our kids OVERNIGHT! I don't think I have had a night like that ever since the kids were born. He and his friend (yes, the same one who was foraging) had planned a secret outing for us girls. They took us in the car and wouldn't tell us where we were going. We ended up all the way in Santa Monica and got to hang out on the pier for a while. We rode the ferris wheel and Craig unsuccessfully tried to climb a rope ladder to win a big prize. The plan was to watch the sunset, but unfortunately it was cloudy. But an A+ to Craig for this wonderful surprise. We did get to eat at Bubba Gumps Shrimp something or other and that was good too. You know you'll get good seafood at a place that's right on the ocean.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of Santa Monica. If I would have had the camera, I would have posted the map to the "Homes of the Stars and Crime Scenes" and the giant noodle sculpture. I doubt I would have been able to post them anyway, since we got an awesome new camera that takes super high quality pictures and I haven't learned how to shrink the size yet. But again, I digress. It was an awesome day and a wonderful night not having to get kids to bed or getting woken up in the middle of the night for motherly duties. I think every parent should have a day like that once in a while.

Cool Beans

I've been on a huge bean binge lately. I just can not get enough of them. I discovered how to make my own re-fried beans super yummy. I learned that when you cook the beans to add chicken bouillon! So easy and it makes such a difference in flavor. In fact, Abby and Rex gobble them up every time I make them, so I can't complain about that. Here's what I do. I throw a 1/2lb of beans in the crock pot with a bunch of water. I have been using pinto beans, but black beans are good too. I'll add about half a bulb of minced garlic, some pepper, and about 5 teaspoons of chicken bouillon. I get this done in the late morning and by dinner, the beans are ready. My other secret to great beans is to re-fry them in cast iron. I use a dutch oven, but a skillet could work just as well. I put just a small spoonful of lard in, because I like the fat in it, but you don't really need it. I let the bean water reduce and I mash the beans up. I like my beans nice and runny so it doesn't take very long, but if you like thicker beans it might take a little longer. I've been making these every week. I love dipping tortilla chips into them. I don't think I can ever go back to the canned re-fried beans from the store ever again! I tried once and was a little grossed out by them. Beans really are the magical fruit!

Boys are dominating...

My brother and sister-in-law just had their ultrasound the other day and found out they are having a boy. I could've sworn it was going to be a girl. This is the way it works in our family. All of the siblings kids usually round each other out in the boy/girl category. In the beginning, the boys dominated until Tad decided to have a bunch of girls and it evened out a bit. Now the boys are starting to dominate again, which leads me to believe that mine HAS to be a girl. If it is not, then the universe is not in alignment. That would leave the score Boys: 9 Girls: 5. It's not even and frankly, it's just not right. I need a girl to even the score to Boys: 8 Girls: 6 and then my other sisters-in-law are going to have to get cracking on making some girls. What do YOU think it will be? I have included a poll on the side for your convenience. Make sure you vote for girl, otherwise you are going to be so embarrassed when we find out. :)