Happy Halloween

With the storm making its way up the east coast, and planning on hitting us hard right around the 31st I was unsure if we would be able to have trick or treating plans for Halloween this year.  So I made sure to be able to take the kids out on Saturday for Trick or Treating on the Square (downtown Harrisonburg).  It was a lot of fun and the kids seemed to have a great time getting candy and being dressed up.

 Our house was a zoo or maybe a safari with a giraffe and a cheetah.  However, they were the cutest little wild animals that I have ever seen!

 Below is a lesson in camouflage.  Can you see Grace?

 Grace loved her costume so much that on Sunday she decided she needed to wear it while helping Matt install new faucets in the bathrooms.

While trick or treating on Saturday we passed by a parking lot where there were three young ladies dressed in what could be prom dresses.  Grace just stood there and stared, pointed at them and said "princess!"  So Amy and Grace went to talk to the princesses.  It turns out that they were doing a photo shoot of some kind.  And while Grace was in awe of the beautiful princesses, they were commenting on how adorable the little girl in the giraffe costume was.

It has been a good Halloween so far.  I do hope that we can get out and dress up once again for Wednesday.  We shall see if Sandy lets us.

Stories on Grace

*  While Matt was in CA on a work trip, Amy helped me put the kids to bed one night.  She was in Grace's room getting Grace to say her bedtime prayer.  She told Grace to repeat after her (I was in the hallway listening since Glen had just fallen asleep).
Amy:  "Now I lay me..."
Grace:  "Now I'm Amy...."
(Giggles from Amy and I)
Amy:  "No Grace, say Now I lay me..."
Grace:  "Now I'm Amy..."
I have never laughed so hard during a prayer time.  And that is still how she says that prayer.

*  Mom was bringing the kids home one day after I subbed at a local school.  Grace went back into the car while mom was getting Glen out.  She sat herself in the driver seat and got very comfy.  She had her hands on the steering wheel and turned to mom, held out one hand, and said in a very exasperated tone "Mamaw, keys!"
I asked her what she was going to do and she told me "I drive."  Then I asked her what she was going to do, she promptly told me "shopping!"
Where does she come up with this stuff?

*  Grace does not say more.  She said mare.  For instance "I want mare cheese"  No matter how hard we try to get her to do it, she does not say that o sound.

*  Alton Brown, and his show Good Eats, are her favorite.  She will ask for it as soon as she wakes up.  If eating while watching it she will try to stir her food when he stirs his recipe.  She talks about ounces, pounds, and other measurements that I had no idea existed till I was at least in sixth grade.  She can also identify more fruits and vegetables then I had ever known of at her age.  But to have a favorite TV character at the age of 2, you would think big bird or Elmo...Not a TV chef.  Maybe she will be making us dinner by the age of 5 :)

Pot Roast

So I have always envisioned the perfect housewife to be someone who keeps a perfectly clean house, the children are always well behaved, and she always puts together the most perfect meals (picture June Cleaver). 

I do not have a clean house, my children are not always well behaved, and I had not figured out the main housewife dish...the pot roast.  I had made a few before, and Matt ate them, but it was not as I thought it should be or as I wanted it to taste.

Then I started subbing at the local schools.  I came up with some crockpot freezer meals.  Wake up in the morning before I have to leave for school.  Dump out a ziplock bag that I had prepared earlier.  Set it for 8-10 hours, and it is nice, hot, and done by the time I come home.

I found a pot roast recipe like this and decided to try it.  I made it on Sunday so that we would have some hot dinner to come home to after we went to the pumpkin patch as a family (more pictures to come).  Let's just say that Matt has informed me that bad things will happen if I ever try to make pot roast any other way than this one!

POT ROAST


3 pounds of rump roast or bottom round beef (cut into smaller sections, not tiny, just enough to fit into the bag, you can cut them up more after they are cooked)
2 cans mushrooms, leave them whole.
2 cups of beef broth (add day of)…or two cups of water and two bouillon cubes
1 green pepper diced
1 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Assemble all ingredients(except broth) into freezer bags.  Place in freezer.   Day of cooking, place in slow cooker and add broth. 
Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4. 
Remove meat and shred with forks.  Use juice to cook noodles.  Return left over juice from noodles to shredded meat.  Mix onion, mushroom and pepper solids with meat.  Serve over noodles.

That night as we were getting ready for bed, I leaned over to Matt and said "I can not tell you how wonderful it is to have you home" (he had been gone for a week to CA). 

He lovingly leaned over to me and whispered in my ear "I am finding it hard to find words to express how wonderful that pot roast was this evening."

Just thought I would share :)

Tea Party, Legos, And Other

This past weekend we went to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale.  Lots of good food.  Lots of fun crafts.  And lots of people to love on my kids.  Jenn had a great time cuddling with Glen.

 Grace however, preferred to cuddle with a lawn ornament bunny.

 This week also brought about the joy of Legos.  This was the first time that I saw them playing happily with each other with Legos.  I am sure that it will not be the last time either.

 Maybe I will just have them stick with Duplos.  They are a lot easier on the feet then actual Legos...

 On Tuesday morning Grace decided that she needed to have a tea party with her three stuffed dogs.  So we sat at her play table with cookies and grapes and had a wonderful tea party.  She has some strange ideas, but if they keep her happy...

This Week In Pictures

This week was filled with trips to the farmer's market (where we got to watch the fish), playing in the leaves, and celebrating the joy of Glen standing on his own (just to name a few events).

From July to October

I have been trying to eat healthy, and also I have been training for a half marathon that Matt and I will be running in November.  I have noticed by the numbers on the scale that I have been losing weight.  But it was not till I saw these pictures that I really noticed it.  The one on the left is of Carol, Amy and I before running a 5K in July.  The one on the left is of Carol, Amy and I before running a 5K this past weekend.  I am wearing the exact same outfit in both of them.  I am just amazed at how baggy that shirt looks on me in the second picture compared to the first.

I have a long way to go, but this just shows me that I have gone a long way already.