A Taste of Fall

Easy Apple Crisp

Ingredients: 4-5 baking apples (I used Golden Delicious, but any good-tasting baking apple will work.)

1 box of "Jiffy" yellow cake mix

1/2 stick of butter

Cinnamon, I don't measure I toss enough to coat the apples

Sugar, I don't measure this either, I toss enough to coat the apples

With my handy-dandy apple-peeler-corer-slicer from Pampered Chef, I do magic to the 4 apples. Otherwise, slicing by hand will work the same but you may have to change the "easy" part of the name of this dish.

After the apples are in the Pampered Chef Baking Stone Dish (again this is optional, you may use any other dish but may want to grease it.), I coat them with Cinnamon and Sugar.

Then dump in the yellow cake mix and toss the apples to coat evenly.

Finally, add cut up peices of butter evenly throughout the dish....sometimes you can be generous with the butter for a yummy taste!

Stick it in the oven at 350 degrees and cook for 20 min. or until bubbly.

Eat while it's warm and enjoy a little taste of fall!

(We enjoy it with ice-cream, whipped cream, or milk.)

A Hiking We Will Go!

Jester Park: Round 2

We liked Jester Park so much, we came back for more. This time, C-man guided our hike into the woods and showed us habitats of different animals and insects. We saw a cool spider that C-man called a "crab spider," upside-down mushrooms, and lots of acorns! After our hike, we played on the playground and gave the dogs a break.

Say "leaves!"

Proud leader

Catching a Daddy-Long-Leg

Dog-gone tired!

Annual Fishing Trip

3rd Year up in Minnesota....and Paul had the record catch: Northern at 5lb 7oz! Right up until Thursday, when my Dad caught a Northern at 6lb 4 oz. But, you can't pass up this great big Bass that Paul caught though.........

Sounds like the guys had a nice time up north. Paul was designated cook for the week. Conveniently, Paul's birthday landed right on the week of the trip......what another great Birthday trip! The men treated him well by not making him clean any fish that day! They also celebrated with "grill-your-own-steak" that night. I think Paul might be fished-out, but we are looking forward to some fish in our future! We will also be looking forward to a fish-fry hosted by Dad, phew just 1lb and 1oz. away from hosting the fish-fry!

National Naughty Day

No one told me that last Wednesday, the 23rd of September was National Naughty Day. It wasn't on my calendar, no memos, no e-mails, and no one "face-booked"* me. I talked with some co-workers and in fact, their toddler/pre-schoolers were also naughty. I'm not sure if there are national requirements in the naughtiness, but this is what our three year-old's antics were:

• refused to sit in the wagon on the way to taking C to school, screamed in my face in front of the kids and parents because of this. (After some negotiation, got her to sit)
• refused to sit still at Library hour, took her out for a talk and she screamed in my face.
• refused to hold my hand, walking in the parking lot and screamed at me.
• refused to get in her car-seat on her own and with much talking and her resistance, finally got her in her car-seat.
• went to Target to buy some time before going out to lunch with my friends, refused to stay in the shopping cart.
• walked beside the cart and then decided to push the limits by running in front of me and running away from me. I had to run after her, pick her up and take her out of the store; leaving my cart and items behind.
• made a big, big mess in her room; instead of taking a nap (this one I'm used to).
• refused to sit in the wagon to pick up C from school.
• refused to hold my hand crossing the street
• Took her seat belt off while we were driving.

Please note: she was the sweetest during lunch with my friends and when we went to Perkins for dinner.

I sure hope she doesn't celebrate the holiday next year, because I'm not sure what her antics will be. Has she been talking to someone in preschool and taking notes? Will the antics only get worse with her age? AND, is this holiday celebrated once a year, or will it come back to haunt me later? I guess I'll find out and maybe this time I'll get a notice.

*face-booked; may not be a verb at this time but probably will be a new word in Webster Dictionary soon.

Empathy

Pack Meeting: (September)

Learning: empathy for those with disabilities.

Hearing impairment
Visual impairment.

While the boys were learning, we gathered for an informal den mtg. We officially have a den leader appointed by his wife and ........


it's not Paul......had you going for awhile didn't I?
Miss-O met some girls. She may seem timid and shy, but she wasn't shy last night. "Hey Mom, what's her name?" "Hey Mom, what's the other girl's name?" (twins). Then she socialized and made herself comfortable, just like her brother.

Duck, Duck, Duck, GOOSE!

We went to the pond near by and walked the trail. We fed the ducks bread and one "MEAN" goose was a bit greedy. He followed us around and harassed us with his HISSING! We finished feeding the birds and then walked the rest of the trail. We watched the ducks and geese land in the pond, met a golden-doodle named Gracie, and played "Going on a bear hunt." Not to mention, we filled our hands with signs of fall; leaves & acorns (peanuts according to O). What a beautiful first day of fall. Hope it stays with us as long as it can.

Scout's Honor!

Do your best!

Giving the scout sign; help others and obey the pack law.
Scout salute!

C-man started Tiger scouts this year. He had his first den meeting yesterday and there are 12 boys and maybe two more to join! The Pack leaders are excited for the big turn-out. They may even split our den up since it's so big. So far, C-man enjoys it and we're excited he'll get so much out of it. The pack meeting is tomorrow, so looking forward to meeting the big group.

[don't you just love the pictures, he's so serious!]

Guess What Mommy?

I'm still 3!

It's been a full week now and everyday, Miss-O has managed to exclaim with pure joy, "I'm still 3!" Sometimes I can hear her tell her dollies when she's alone in her room playing, sometimes she tells the dogs, and at least daily she tells us. "Yes Honey, you'll be 3 for a whole year!"

Insect Safari!

Jester Park Field Trip 09'

C-man and his insect-catching buddies.....we caught grasshoppers, moths, daddy-long-legs, & a baby fly.
C-man (maybe a future naturalist) smelling the dirt and looking for evidence of insects using the decomposed wood. He loves the word decomposed! Did you know the trees decompose and then it turns back into soil? I learned that last year in the K field-trip!

God Loves You!

First day of RE was yesterday, here goes the conversation after picking C-Man up:

Me: How was RE?

C: BOOORING!

a little later while in the car......

C: Mom, how many gods are there?

Me: Just one GOD.

C: Whoa! he watches ALL of us?

Me: He's mighty and powerful.

C: How big is God?

Me: Well, let me put it this way, "He's got the whole world in his hands."

C: WHOA! He's that big?!?! When was God born?

Me: (after some deliberation......) That's a good question, I'm not sure if he was ever born, I just know that he is and that he created the earth and all that....

C: Oh my goodness!

Me: I'll read it to you from the bible tonight.

C: Yes, I want to read all I can about God!

Me: (BIG PROUD SMILE)

C: Does God sleep?

Me: nope, he's always awake and will always be there for you.

C: Do angels sleep? When I go to heaven, will I sleep?

Me: those are good questions, I suppose you can do what you want to do in heaven and maybe angels sleep or maybe they don't so they can watch over us all the time.

C-man: Is our heart big enough to love God?

Me: oh yes, and our heart is big enough to love Jesus and everyone else that we love...

C-man: Oh my! Is Jesus God?

Me: yes, God wanted to be human-like so he made Jesus and he died on the cross to save our sins.

C-man: So, God is our #1 super-hero and then Jesus is another super-hero....

Me: yes.

the conversation ended when we opened the door to the house.....SO, RE might be BOOORING, but I know that it provoked some thinking on his part and I was happy to have that conversation......hopefully his questions won't be much harder, or I'm going to have to research OR, we're going to have to set up an appointment with Father Gregg.

Triple the age, Triple the fun!

Happy #3 Miss-O!

It's a Princess Birthday......Miss-O liked her Princess cake.
This kids decorated photo frames.......Miss Jackie got into the action.

What? Miss Marin, what are you doing wearing the opponent's colors?

Oh, I guess we'll love you anyways......you look so cute!

These boots are made for walkin'......

Say Cheese kids!

BOASTING AND BRAGGING BOYS.......

HELP!
I haven't pulled out my old big and heavy pediatric book to see if my 6 year old child is appropriate in the boasting and bragging, not to mention TALL tales he's been telling.

For example, he told his neighbor girl's friend that he's the smartest of all first graders. He knows everything and it's in his head. He stretches the stories and the truth.

Oh, mothers out there who have had 6 year old boys....do they do this? is it appropriate? Where is the book, what to expect out of your grade-schoolers....? It would probably be too thick to even produce wouldn't it? I know it's a bit nerdy of me and nurse-like..but I do like to pull the ol' Ped's book out and do different social/cognitive assessments on my kids to see if they are up to par.

So, I'll do my homework and praying and if you have any advice, I'd sure like some..........I've told him it's not appropriate to not tell the truth and to be careful of bragging about how smart he is, because maybe his friends won't like to hear that. BUT am I missing anything? Anything to say to really drive the point home?????

So, blogging may come to a minimum as the school year is underway, as well as a new fall semester in teaching nursing students.
I find myself becoming obsessive-compulsive and checking the calendar, school calendar, work schedules, extra-curricular activities and making sure everything is in order.......then re-checking!
I'm not sure if I'm ready to correct papers in the wee-hours of the night, but I'm a nerd and somehow do take joy in it.
As for the kids; Miss-O will be going to Mommy-n-me preschool with Grandma and Marin.....so it's now called Grandma-n-Marin-n-me preschool. I'll get to join her in November. We just signed C-man up for Tiger scouts, so we're officially den parents!
So, I'll try my best to update you in our lives, but it might be in brief picture and comments.

p.s. the next blog should be interesting.....we have a newly groomed dog! Did we schedule the appointment? NO......but we have a future pet groomer or hairstylist in the house. She's about 28 pounds and fearless with scissors. Poor Indy has chunks taken out of his head, back and hind-quarters. The funniest part is he is so submissive, he just layed there while she snipped away. Where were her parents, you ask? We and C-man were eating dinner and THOUGHT she was cutting some cardboard in the living-room after she excused herself from the table. Well, we were having an intense conversation when we noticed it was quiet and that's when Paul says, "I hope she's not doing what I think she could be doing...." too late, she was doing it! At least she didn't try to cut her hair again, she's going to be a flower girl for Paul's cousin's wedding, and we already had one wedding with her and her snipped hair, we don't need another....................

I think I just blogged the next blog but forgot the picture.....hmmm.......

Zoo for me & Zoo for you.....

We had an awesome weekend last week.

Friday night after C-man was finished with school, we hopped into the car and drove to Omaha, NE.

We met Uncle John & Aunt Sarah at Hiro's. Yum, Sushi! Thanks John and Sarah for picking out the eats.

C-man wants to thank you again for the bow & arrows!

Saturday, we headed to the Omaha Zoo and discovered the animals.

OUR FAVORITES INCLUDE:

Paul-Swamp

C-man-Swamp & Aquarium

Miss-O-Fishies

Mine-Swamp, Gorillas, & Aquarium

oo-oo-aah-aah........our monkeys!
It's a small world! We bumped into my cousin Michelle and her family (Mike & little Angelo) & my Uncle David! So I truly scored in seeing family for the weekend!
Michelle, thanks for the restaurant referral.....we'll have to try it next time we're in the city!

checkin' out the seals with Grandpa.

The girls and their daddies......Marin took off Paul's hat and Miss-O was putting it back on....they work as a team!

We were excited to see Uncle John and Aunt Sarah. It was fun hanging out with them and seeing their house.....thanks guys, you've done some wonderful work on the house.!