Happy Halloween!

We wish everyone a fun and safe Halloween!

almost halloween

This is a picture of Kai's first Halloween two years ago. He was so cute. We had a Halloween party and those were the treats I was giving out. Kai was only six months at the time so he did not get to taste any of the candies, besides he had too much fun crinkling the wrappers.

Last year he was a duck. We took him trick-or-treating with Nic. Nic was a horse! We were going with the old MacDonald's farm theme, except the adults didn't dress up.

This year, Bella is a 'honey bee' and Kai is a skeleton with a painted pumpkin face. I am actually going to dress up too. I made myself a flower petal headband and bought a green wig. It looks absolutely ridiculous, but it's Halloween.
For two years Kai was something cute and cuddly and now he wants to be scary. I guess that's what I get for letting him choose his costume. When asked he said he wanted to be a pumpkin, but when at the store he said he wanted to be a monster. There was the idea to combine his two desires. I hope he likes it. It'll be a sight. Am I a little crazy for letting my two year old dress as a skeleton?

Play time.

Kai had his first play date yesterday with a little boy name Jack. Jack is six months younger than Kai but the two got along. When we first arrived to the park the two boys played independently for fifteen minutes. Then as the park started to fill with more children, the two boys began to play together. Kai sat down on a little car that attracted Jack to him. Lucky for Kai, Jack likes to push. The two then proceeded to the sand pit, which was a big mistake on my part to allow Kai to play in it. He was covered in sand by the time he was done with the pit. We can't wait for the next date.
I got to have an adult conversation with someone other than my family. It was nice and kinda strange. So that's what it feels like to be an adult again. You kinda forget what adult company is like when you're surrounded by babies all the time.
I think we are going to enroll Kai in some Gymboree classes so that he can learn other skills that I can't teach him at home. Plus, he'll make new little friends and his pediatrician also recommended it.

milk does a body good

Kai had his check-up and flu shot yesterday. I did remember to ask his doctor about his dairy intake and he said that it was alright as long as he doesn't go over 24 ounces of milk a day. Great, now to figure out how to get him back to unflavored milk. We made some progress on the vegetable consumption. Calling broccoli florets 'little trees' actually work! He gobbled them up like a giant! He also ate squash puree because we told him it was pumpkin (he's on a pumkin kick because of Halloween). Jimmy made sea bass and red quinoa for us the other night and surprisingly Kai ate everything. Go Dad!
Quinoa is a complete grain with a very high protein content. It is cooked like rice and it has a nice nutty flavor and some crunch like brown rice. I used the leftover quinoa to add to my black bean chorizo soup (recipe to be written; it's one of those put everything in the pot soups).
My menu planning for this week is going two days at a time. Last night we had chicken cacciatore with pasta and tonight I haven't decided yet.

begining of holiday madness

The retail stores have already started stocking their shelves with Christmas decorations. I started to feel stressed and unprepared as I walk by those isles. I realize that I still have two months to prepare, but Halloween isn't even over yet. When did retail stores start selling Christmas stuff before Halloween? I always remember the red and green decorations after the candy feast. I haven't even fully decorated my house with Halloween decor yet. We have the pumpkins (which Kai has already murdered one) and scarecrows, but not the bats and spiders or skeletons...they are still all packed away in a clear tote in my pantry.
A week has gone since my last post and I don't even know what kept me too busy from logging on. I really can't recall. Is there such a thing as post-pregnancy brain? I guess that would be the baby!! Little Bella has a new nick- name 'Cascabella' - she's not spicy but we think it's cute.
I do remember one event this past week. Jimmy was a judge for a local apple pie contest. I believe there were over 80 pies entered. Kai and I only tried two with vanilla ice cream of course. Of the two I liked the caramel apple pecan pie. I didn't care for the sour cream apple pie, it was a good idea- just poorly executed. There were so many people there. The organizers really did a great job of putting together the event. They had silent auctions, children's play room, and a separate room for all the pies. I wanted to sign up for a beautiful Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy backpack diaper bag but I didn't bring any cash. I didn't know there was going to be an auction. Whoever got that diaper bag for $30 was very lucky! Those bags retail for $160. Crazy I know, but it's so beautiful it doesn't even look like a diaper bag. I came home on a mission to find that bag online then had to snap out of it realizing that I really don't need another diaper bag, so on a list to Santa it goes.
I did buy Kai new paints. I don't remember who makes them, (Elmer's I think) but they are awesome. It is like a marker, except it's paint in a paintbrush. We had so much fun painting with them at the apple pie contest that I had to get him his own set.

It's finally feeling like fall!

It's finally cooling off outside and the leaves are changing colors. It's also a time that I get a little sentimental. My husband and I started dating in the fall. The cold weather makes me think of my single days, without kids to separate us. We rarely have time to ourselves where we can sit on the sofa and snuggle. Kai doesn't allow it. He always has to be between us at all times. I miss going out with him to have warm drinks and desserts on our dates. Now, with two kids, it's very hard to go anywhere. So I've stocked up on hot cocoa, teas, and coffee for when we have a moment to enjoy each other's company.


Last night, Jimmy brought home a pumpkin cake that they are selling in one of his outlets and I absolutely loved it. It had the right balance of cake and spiced cream filling, plus it was glazed with caramel. We usually disagree on the cake to filling ratio, but this cake got no arguments from me. It was perfect. I wonder what new cake he'll bring home tonight.

Mo mote peas

My morning was full of cries from Kai saying, "Mommy, mo mote peas.", a request I can't deny except for when we have no more mote, I mean milk. (No matter how hard we try my husband and I can not get Kai to say 'milk'. His version is 'mote'. Mo = more and peas = please. His response to when we are out of something is ,"buy mo, buy mo." ) I usually have a back up gallon, but for some reason he wasn't drinking as much milk when Nic was here. Now, Nic has gone home and Kai has gone back to wanting to drink milk like there's no tomorrow. He also goes through yogurt tubes like water. I can't complain. I know he's getting his daily dairy and protein, but is there such a thing as too much dairy? Is it bad for him? I have to ask his doctor that on his next check up.
So, after planning this weeks menu I went and bought mo milk. Kai is happy to have milk again.

This week I am making:
Monday: Hamburger with ranch fries
Tuesday: Chicken Italian sausage and peppers with polenta
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas
Thursday: Butternut Squash lasagna
Friday: Parmesan salmon with spaghetti squash (my own creation)
Saturday: Chicken marsala with angel hair pasta.

Mmmm...chicken marsala, so simple and yummy I don't know if I can wait until Saturday, maybe I'll make it tomorrow and have the burger for lunch.

We've been on vacation the past couple of days and now we are back at home. Today we took the kids to the zoo and yes these animals are about the only ones that they were interested in. The way they walked passed them all we could have sat down at home and flip through an animal picture book. They prefered the playgrounds over the animals.

Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that my four year old step-son is here. He's a good boy and it has been great fun for Kai. Kai has started speaking more and learning new words from Nic. Poor Nic has a hard time understanding him sometimes and it creates kiddie misunderstandings. Bella has also enjoyed meeting her big bro. Nic keeps saying how cute she is; it's funny. He hasn't learned any other words to describe her yet.

Tomorrow we plan on taking everyone to the farmer's market then maybe tour a local chocolate shop. Hopefully there will be pumpkins at the market for a photo op. We bought them two pumpkins, but since they are still too young to carve their own pumpkins we are going to get them the plastic pumpkin push-ins. I just saw them today at the drug store and thought how perfect. It's like parts for Mr. Potatoe Head, but made for pumpkins. What a great idea...I wonder if a parent came up with that idea. I'll post a picture once the boys decorate their pumpkins.