happy halloween

hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable halloween!

the dirt cup was a success at school today. emma tasted a little, and wouldn't let go of the spoon or empty pudding cup.












































tyler was a ninja this year. check out his moves with his numchucks...




















































emma didn't go trick-or-treating, but she did hang out on the porch for a bit while i handed out candy. i made a no-sew tutu for her to run around in. it's actually a test run for the tutus i need to make for my pre-ballet girls' recital. i think i need to use the whole 2 yards for each tutu,. i also cut the strips too thin for her so it's not as poofy and too transparent. i may try experimenting with a darker pink for the netting, and a darker purple for the tulle.

cup o' worms treats

for the halloween party at school, tyler wanted me to make these cup o' worms treats. they were easy to prepare and turned out great, so i thought i'd share the process...

for the mud i used 2 boxes of royal brand chocolate pudding, although the instructions gives you a recipe for home-made chocolate pudding (which is faster?). the 2 boxes only filled 16 cups (about 1/3 c. each), and i have to fill 22. i think i should've made 3 boxes...guess it's a trip to the store tomorrow.














for the dirt effect, instead of using cocoa powder, i used chatfield's unsweetened carob powder mixed with some confectioner's sugar. the instructions said the chocolate sprinkles were optional, but of course we added those in! how can you resist? especially chocolate sprinkles imported from indonesia. i really like these chocolate sprinkles, because it tastes sweeter than the chocolate sprinkles made here in the states. i don't know if it's the cocoa butter in the ingredients or what, but it tastes so good!





































after i put the pudding, carob powder and sprinkles in the cup (in that order), i added the sour gummy bugs. the instructions actually call for gummy worms (hence the "worms" in the name of the treat), but i couldn't find any at marc's and i wasn't going to go to a different place just to p/u gummy worms. i'm only using 2 bags of sweetarts' gummy bugs, which should fill all 22 cups with 4 bugs each.


















and voila! the finished product...a nice assortment of snails (not really a bug), lady bugs, spiders (which aren't actually bugs), and mini worms (which aren't bugs either...ugh!). we (tyler and i) thought the assortment of creatures adds a nice touch to the dirt cup.














to add to the "halloween" effect, we covered each cup (actually, it was just tyler) with foil that had either a foam bat or foam ghost stuck on the center of the foil. then for safe measure, i had tyler tie on some black string around each foil to make sure it's secure

we *heart* bread

yesterday i made some french bread from scratch (no bread machine help). it was my second attempt actually. both times the bread turned out fantastic, and i used this recipe which only called for 4 ingredients. so simple...yet quite time consuming. fortunately, the recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, or i suppose if you prefer baguettes it will probably make 3 skinnier loaves. the first time around, we went through the 2 loaves in 1 week, and i suspect it will be the case with these loaves. french bread is so darn good, especially paired with olive oil, or some cheese and a nice glass of red wine. yum!

end of the season

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Originally uploaded by corrie.purdum@sbcglobal.net

this past saturday was the last game of the soccer season for tyler. they were supposed to have a double header, but i miss-read the times and thought it was 9:30 and 10:30 instead of 8:30 and 9:30. it was kind of crappy and cold, so i guess it was a blessing that he missed the first game...especially since emma was along for the game too. this photo is courtesy of aunt corrie. check out more of saturday's soccer photos here.

big wheel, big fun

despite, the dreary weather today, we managed to have some fun outside. there was a slight mist of rain as we wheeled emma around the block in her big wheel. she LOVES being on that bike, especially when tyler is riding in his bike too. i think it makes her feel like a big kid. then we set up the playhouse in the backyard and had some fun in there. here's some video coverage from today of tyler and emma having some fun. thank you to keegan, ms. jenny and mr. patrick for generously giving us the big wheel and playhouse!

blech and pumpkins

the wee one is rather congested today. she seemed fine this morning, but by the afternoon her nose was running so bad that i kept chasing her around with a snot rag. i'm glad she at least got a morning nap in, because her afternoon nap only lasted 30 minutes, ending in some distressed crying. i think she was so stuffed up that sleeping was just not comfortable. i put the humidifier on at bedtime, and she's doing okay. she's been crying or groaning about every 1.5 hours, but only for a couple of minutes. i think i caught whatever she has, because i'm feeling some lovely phelgm each time i cough. blech.

i put the pumpkins out tonight.

the great pumpkin experiment

every year when we put out our carved pumpkins on the porch, at least one, if not all, of the pumpkins end up being mauled and mutilated by squirrels. as if they need to eat any more...the majority of the ones around our house are rather fat little buggers. this year, i did some surfing on the net and discovered the use of cayenne pepper as away to prevent squirrels from attacking your prized jack-o-lanterns. so tonight, tyler and i decided to try out this method, and hopefully it will work. first, we took non-toxic elmer's glue and applied a thin layer on the pumpkin (we used fingers, but i think a brush may have been more efficient). the internet source said to apply glue/pepper mixture to whole pumpkin, but since "our" squirrels usually attack the cut or top portions first we decided to just do those areas. i think the glue is supposed to keep the pepper on the pumpkin (think glitter and glue except spicy not sparkly). next, we sprinkled the cayenne pepper around the areas with glue and then set them to dry. even though we didn't do it this way, mixing the glue and pepper together prior to application is probably the most effective way to put on your "squirrel repellent" to ensure an even coating around your whole pumpkin. i don't know about applying this mixture to the inside of the that cayenne pepper sprinkled on the pumpkin is supposed to keep the squirrels at bay. so this evening, tyler and i decided to try it and we're hoping it works. first, we applied non-toxic elmer's glue around the top and cut areas of the pumpkin, spreading it out pumpkin in case the glue is flammable, but maybe just sprinkling some of the pepper would work too. i'll have to try that. for those interested in the results of this experiment, i'll post a status report sometime next week (if i remember).

pumpkin carving extravaganza!

we had our 3rd annual pumpkin carving party on sat. this year, we had to do the pumpkin carving in 2 shifts, but it worked out great. we also had lots more little ones in attendance compared to the last years - 6 kiddies ages 2 and under! it's always fun to see what everyone comes up with every year. here are some photos from the event. thanks everyone for coming! p:you can see more on our flickr site or on corrie's.

sunny days...

the weather has been AWESOME this past week...and it's the middle of october. unfortunately, good things must come to an end (rain and cooler weather are coming this week). check out emma walking outside with NO COAT!

































then, this past friday was the fall dance at tyler's school-no dates required. tyler didn't really dance much...just ran around with a bunch of his friends (hard to keep an eye on him!). emma enjoyed dancing around too, though she often came close to being plowed down by a bunch of kids who were running around high on adrenaline and sugar. i managed to get this photo while tyler was in a rare moment of stillness.

MY kid could paint that....

crayon on paper by emma. could she be the next marla?

"the phenomenon of the plastic smile"

i came across this article about the "seattle freeze," and i've experienced some of what the article talks about too (it was most noticeable while i was in college). in general, people in seattle are polite and friendly but only at the superficial level (dear pacific northwest friends please don't take offense...it's not you i'm talking about). i admit, i have also been guilty of committing the seattle freeze while i lived there, simply because it was easier on my part to not make the effort to follow through. letting myself be consumed with my own daily routine was just less of an inconvenience (continually working on changing that though).

anyway, one personal story that comes to mind was during my employment at uptown espresso when my tips got stolen during a night shift (all shifts at uptown except in the AM are worked alone). there was this homeless guy that managed to distract my attention (counting on my "seattle" politeness to provide some, probably) by asking for a glass of water. while my back was turned, he grabbed all my tips (about $20 worth) and prepared to make a getaway. fortunately, aaron was there and shouted at the man,"you better put that money back...is that all of it?...why did you take her money?" it was quite a big commotion, but did the 6 REGULARS (that know me, are friendly with me, converse w/ me) in the shop jump up to see what was the matter? no. one person looked up, but quickly went back to working on his laptop after realizing what was going on. i wasn't angry that a homeless guy tried to steal my tips. i actually felt bad for him, because he had to resort to theft in order to provide for himself. i was more angry at the regulars, the people who i've had a weekly relationship with, because they ignored the whole situation. after the incident, no one came up to ask what had happened and instead went about as if nothing ever happened. these were people that i thought i could count on if something ever happened to me at the shop, but boy did they have me fooled. that is prime seattle behavior, right there. people care, but only if it doesn't inconvenience them. but don't get me wrong, we love seattle and we love our AWESOME friends and family there, but it's just a general seattle-tude thing.

friday off

tyler had no school on friday, so aaron went into work late and we spent the day just bumming around the house (much needed!). we did take a nice late afternoon walk before dinner, just to get out of the hosue a bit, and ran into scott and kristin (aaah...the beauty of living in lakewood). they got a new dog...one of those really pretty puffy white dogs. anyway, it was quite an enjoyable day, and i'm so thankful that aaron was able to stay home with us until after dinner. here's some photos and footage from our day...

though you will be missed, we know that you're now in a better place where there's no more pain. we'll miss you, janie.

gifts!

thank you jeff, maia, sophia and stella for the super cute legwarmers and xylophone!

kids in action

too much fun...

saturday night at our house was spent making some homemade potato chips. i hand-sliced so many potatoes that my wrist started aching (a mandolin would have been perfect for the job), and slow cooking about 2.5 lbs (maybe 3) of thick-cut potatoes took over 2 hours. insane but well worth the effort-talk about an expensive bag of potato chips.















aside from making potato chips all night, aaron and tyler were practicing their wrestling moves on each other...well, mostly just aaron practicing his wrestling moves on tyler. he also managed to get a FLATTERING photo of tyler and me (most likely to be used as blackmail in the future...but doesn't really matter when it's now posted online for all the world to see).

mangia!

the table sunday night was set, with spaghetti and homemade meatballs and tyler-made garlic bread. there were 2 extra place settings on the table for friends who were over for dinner. "are you ready, because the food is ready," i warn tyler. "hold on, everyone has to be sitting down," he says standing from his staging area. everyone is seated except for alan who was outside retrieving something from the car and on his way back in. "come on ty, come out...the food will get cold." "NO, not yet. EVERYONE has to be seated," he insists. everyone is NOW seated (including 2 hungry babies). "you ready?" we call out. "ugh! i can't get this on! not yet...can somebody help me?" he calls out in frustration. finally, after some assistance from aaron, he comes out with a hand full of menus and a black "italian"-esque mustache taped zealously on his face. laughter ensues as tyler the italian waiter, trying with all his might to keep a straight face, hands out the menus. can you picture it? then all that was left of our sunday italian dinner were two pieces of bread and a fake mustache. no, we didn't eat the mustache.