The Night We All Became Fire Breathing Dragons

I love mystery dinner night...I dearly do. Sometimes, however, it yields interesting results. I found a recipe on the Pioneer Woman Cooks for Corn Chowder with Green Chiles, and since we have weekly soup night, I thought it would be a fun one to try. The recipe contained an ingredient I had never used before...chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The dear Pioneer Woman described them as "smokey" in flavor so I didn't think twice about adding them in. Well, chipotle peppers are "smokey" if by "smokey" you mean smoke coming out of your ears or the smoke that follows fire breathing! Grant, of course, didn't try it - which was probably good because it would have put him off soup in particular and dinner in general for the rest of his life. Grace put the spoon in her mouth and pulled it right back out. Chad managed about 3 or 4 spoonfuls before he devoted himself exclusively to his bread. Merritt ate around 5 spoonfuls, which was amazing, but he also chugged three glasses of chocolate milk to do it. I was the only one who finished the bowl, and that was because A) I always feel the need to eat what I cook - especially when it is a disaster (am I punishing myself?), and B) this pregnancy has brought about a high tolerance for spicy food...go figure. The funny thing is that the soup would have been delicious without the "smokey" chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (even Chad agrees on this point). I think I'll give this soup a rest - let it fade into our memory for a bit - and then pull it out again and make it sans smoke.

Have your Ghost and Eat it Too

October is such a fun month for Family Home Evening Treats. Case in point...


These are "Boo Cups." Aren't they darling? They consist of crushed Oreos, chocolate pudding, more crushed Oreos, and then a whipped cream ghost with mini-chocolate chips for eyes. I just whipped up some cream, added powdered sugar and vanilla, then scooped the whole she-bang into a ziplock baggie, snipped a large-ish hole in one corner, and piped out my ghostie. Chad and the kids were impressed by the look, but they said they tasted even better. Sweet.

Yum! Ghosts are delicious!!

Welcome October!

We had our "welcome to October" family party on Friday. It began with decorating!

We then pulled out our box of Halloween costumes to see what would fit. (Fingers crossed!)

Hallelujah! Merritt still wants to be Megatron, Grace still wants to be a princess, and Grant liked the pirate costume...and everything fits! (Minus having to roll up Grant's pant legs.) We are set!

Next came the pumpkin harvest. We went out to the garden and each of the children picked the pumpkin they liked best.
They are all smiles...soon the pumpkins will be too!

Then I made "cheater" donuts (it's just refrigerated biscut dough rolled out a bit and cut with my handy-dandy donut cutter, then fried and glazed - easy and cheap...next year I will try the real thing) and white cheddar popcorn...


And finally we all gathered downstairs for a "spooky" movie, which gave us all a good excuse to munch goodies and cuddle.
Welcome October, you wonderful month, you!

Old School Detection and Cake

The Sunday before our ultrasound, Chad and I had some friends over for dessert. Brother and Sister Green are fantastic people; he's a farmer and the kind of guy who'd do anything for you, she's the sweetest lady you'd ever be lucky enough to meet. They have five grown children and Brother Green has guessed the gender of his grandchildren correctly since he started using what he calls his "test." He gets all excited every chance he has to test out this method and asked if he could do it on me. I was game so I made a cake and we had a wonderful chat and then...the test.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of this most wonderful smelling cake, but I can direct you to one and the recipe. Simply go here, you won't be sorry you did. I made mine into a bundt cake, rather than four little cakes, and so cooked it for 55 minutes. It was received with raves and Brother and Sister Green needed very little coaxing to take some home for FHE treats the next day. One of the ingredients, cardamom, is a bit expensive, but I thought it was really fun to try it out and now I have it on hand for other things.

Now, to the test. Brother Green had me lay on my back and then he pulled out a thick needle on a long string. This was dangled over my stomach where it bounced and wiggled for a bit (enough to make me think that maybe I was incubating an alien or kittens or something) and then started to swing back and forth in a line. "It's a boy!" declared Brother Green with a smile. "I'm six for six, so you'll have to call me and let me know what the ultrasound shows." Then he packed up his tester and left.

After we walked out of the ultrasound and back to the waiting room to sit and wait for the doctor to see us, Chad whipped out his phone and texted Brother Green to let him know he was now seven for seven. He was delighted and I was left wondering...how in the heck does that all work anyhow?

What Is It?

The ultra sound tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. We'd discussed the matter and decided that, since we'd never done it before, we'd find out this time around instead of waiting til the end. How strange it is to tell people we are having a boy and yet have no baby to show. I definitely prefer the big reveal after the effort of labor, but knowing we're having a boy beforehand will have it's benefits eventually I'm sure...at least it cuts down on the number of names we need to consider.

Grant's reaction to our news was, "Whatevs." I mean, how excited is a three year old supposed to get about a baby he can't see yet? He'll be excited at the end because he does love babies. Merritt shouted, "YES! Boys rule in our family!" And Grace? Poor Gracie burst into tears. I was devastated by her sorrow. She threw herself into my arms and declared, "I'm boring of boys! I wanted two girls!!" I explained that we would be the two girls in our family and she answered, "Then I want THREE girls!" As she cried, I cried because I couldn't help think of how wonderful my own sisters are and how she would not have the same experiences of friendship and support that I have known in my life. (Chad and I both feel that this baby I'm carrying now will be our last...mostly because if I were to get pregnant again, I'd probably end up in the hospital since my health has been progressively worse each pregnancy.) Grace asked me why I was crying and I told her that I was just sorry she was so sad. Then she exclaimed, "But I love you!" and we hugged again and things got better afterward. Today she still wishes the baby was a girl, but the disappointment is not quite so keen. In my mind, this whole scenario is another vote in favor of waiting til the end to find out a baby's gender. I don't think she'd have cared nearly so much that the baby wasn't a girl if we'd been able to put a warm and wonderful bundle into her arms. Oh well! Maybe the ensuing four months will be helpful in this scenario by allowing time for Grace's emotional adjustment. Regardless of the drama, however, we're very pleased to be adding another boy to our family.

Happenings

The dinosaurs had a meeting in Merritt and Grant's room...
they had secret affairs to discuss. All I heard was "Rar, grrrr, roar, snarl, snuff, growl!"

Grace started dance class this week...
I've never seen a little girl so excited to be a ballerina. She's learning tap as well - the shoes are adorable!

And A Birthday.

We decided at some point to cram September with birthdays. We hadn't even finished Chad's birthday "cake" before I was making more cake for Grant. Yeah, and that cake was hilarious. The frosting seemed the perfect consistency until I spread it on; then it dripped and the 3-layer cake tipped, and the whole thing looked ridiculous. Good thing Grant is only 3 and way more interested in blowing out the candles!Grant was very excited about the whole cake and candle thing, he kept bouncing up and down on the couch in anticipation. With great gusto he blew out each candle one at a time. The last one was proving a bit tricky though. I think he felt like he needed some leverage because...
he put his hand right down on top of the cake and blew that candle out! The poor chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting was already lopside and mashed on one side where I tried to prop it up and now it had a fine hand print. I'm good with that though, cuz it was hilarious!

We had a fine time opening presents. Grant was very excited about every single one (he even carefully examined the clothes) and Merritt and Grace were very excited to assist him in opening them...they were very *ahem* "helpful". Don't mind my big pregnant self in this picture!

He got blocks (oh the towers we have made and wrecked!) and chocolate from Heather. I asked him, "What is this?" referring to the M&M's and Grant answered "This is yummy!" The Dinosaur Train set was a big hit, as was the tiger airplane, the dump truck with MORE M&M's, and finally, the Toy Story Rex.

The thing squawks ridiculously when you squeeze it, which made Grant laugh hysterically.
Which, of course, makes all the noise worth it! Happy Birthday Grant! We love you like crazy!