Sleepy Saturday!

Today has been a sleepy Saturday morning. We've been doing our best to keep warm. Last night, we pulled out the extra blankets (thank you , IKEA, they are warm!). In fact, Isabella slept until after 7:30. She told me that she thinks its because she was warmer under the blankets. Before I am accused of not keeping my kids warm enough, I had to threaten her last night to actually sleep UNDER the blanket as she likes to sleep ON TOP of hers. This morning, though, all it took for Ellie to go straight to sleep was a few layers of clothes, a movie, and big, snuggly blanket! Of course, sleeping babies are just too cute, and as she will not be a baby much longer, I feel the need to take pictures! Enjoy! I sure did!
Lydia feels the need to "make" herself smile! Eventually, she grew tired of Ellie laying on her, she moved forward just a little and Ellie layed all the way down on the couch.

Too funny not to post...

Alright, most of the time the funny stuff is about the kids...this is about some random woman I saw on the street today. After Sweatpants Day a few weeks back, I've been semi-good about getting dressed by a reasonable hour. Today I saw a woman who has embraced more than just Sweatpants Day! I was coming home from the market this morning around 11. Saw a woman out with her dog. As I passed her she was deep in conversation gossipping with another woman who apparently did not find this scene odd at all. The woman's dog was a white poodle with the ears and tail dyed NEON PINK! Folks, this is cruelty to animals! The woman herself was dressed in flannel, quilted pajamas (these are not clothes that could go either way...these wear PJs!!!) and big, fuzzy teddy bear slippers! I told Tim he couldn't complain anymore because I'm almost always out of my pjs by 11...and I never go out in them.
About the kids: I heard a really cute giggle coming from Ellie and looked over to see her putting her head down so that Calvin would lick her face ( not her mouth, Mom, don't freak out!) She was giggling and he was most likely enjoying remnant of the fried noodles she'd been sneaking from the table.

Caramel Apples and DIY Donuts

As part of the glories of Fall, we made caramel apples. A friend of mine gave me a recipe that used honey instead of corn syrup...one of those many things that nutritionist say to avoid at all costs but is nearly impossible to completely cut out of your diet! We tried the recipe and it was ok...but smacked strongly of honey-flavor (shouldn't have been surprising) and so was not nearly as appetizing as I had hoped. Maybe I'll try a new recipe one of these cold days! Yep, those are chopsticks. I only had enough sticks for five.
Kids very excited about the camarel apples!

The end result!

And since we're wrecking diets, I decided it would be a good time to try a new donut recipe. (Thank you, Alton Brown!) So we made some DIY donuts. I made the donuts, and then we powdered them and dipped them in chocolate as desired. Some of the donuts I did myself, make a mock Bavarian creme and filling the donuts...there was no way I was going to let the kids get involved in that! They were enjoyed by all, except Lydia who isn't much of a breakfast eater and simply licked the chocolate off hers. A couple of hours later, she came back and finished it.

Elijah enjoying the DIY part.

Bella taking a dip!

Yummy!

These are the creme filled!

Like I said, Lydia was only interested in the chocolate. Ellie here is about to take advantage of Lydia's disinterest. Just so you know, I saved the donut. As the cold weather has really set in, I've got to find a new, low-calorie habit!

The Fort!

So as all kids at some time, our kids have gotten into building forts. We've had to curtail this behavior some due to some swing-jumping, Tarzan-like incidents that ended in much crying and finger-pointing. But I got some cute pictures one night (before all the crying). So, enjoy...(Mom, I really am trying to be better about posting!) Some of the pictures are cut a little funny because apparently Lydia couldn't wear pants in the fort...who knows!

Here is Calvin, not so sure that he's into the whole fort thing. Interior decorating at it's finest. Bella is definitely Tim's child. She has lined up all the stuffed animals in a neat line. In other news, over breakfast a couple of weekends ago, the kids discussed and decided on who they would marry when they got older. We have some Canadian neighbors that they have settled on. Elijah has decided that either one of the younger girls will do for him. And Isabella has decided that the boy, who is 10 now, will be just the right age. She says that he will 23 when she is 20, so that will be good. Life is so simple at 7 and 6!

Pumpkin carving

I was pleasantly surprise a couple of days ago when I went to our supermarket, much like Wal-Mart, and they were selling a pumpkin very similar to the kind we carve in the US. Needless to say I bought that straight away! Tonight was the first night we had free in a while to get to that carving. So here are the pictures from the night, thanks to Tim!