Thanksgiving Fun

On Tuesday morning, we took off for Ryan's family's house near Fresno, CA, for Thanksgiving--in a rented RV! It was a great way to travel and cheaper than flying, but still a very, very long drive. We had a great time seeing relatives, meeting new cousins, walking down to the river, picking oranges and just hanging out. Now we are home and getting in Christmas mode. December already--wow!

Aidan sees the RV for the first time Monday evening. VERY exciting!

Aidan is ready to hit the road early Tuesday morning:
Lauren's ready, too:
We stopped for lunch (to go) at Si Casa Flores, our favorite restaurant in Grants Pass, OR: And then they watched a movie...which they did for much of the trip, mainly repeated viewings of Mary Poppins. We also watched some of our home movies:

We arrived Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning, Aidan showed cousins Zack and Jaycob where he slept in the RV (above the driver's seat):
Bubble game on Thanksgiving:


A gaggle of boys roasting marshmallows:

Fashionable girl (with her new kitty from Build-A-Bear):


On Friday, we celebrated our niece Elise's 13th birthday:

More cousins came to visit and we walked through the orchards to the river and back:

Aidan needed a little quiet time in the RV:

Aidan and Lauren loved Grandma and Papa's dog and called her "Favorite Dog":

Tristan, Teo and Tate picked oranges to take home:

We left Saturday morning and powered through the drive (we wanted to spend the night at our friends' in Grants Pass). Aidan needed a nap: Lauren, too:When they woke up, they watched another movie and I caught them holding hands:

Before we left Grants Pass this morning, all the kids wanted to pose in the RV with their stuffed animals:

More Fall Photo Fun!

Hey everyone! Just realized I forgot to post pictures from our second annual trip to the corn maze with our good buddies Felice, Nick, Henry and Max. (You really should buy some of their jewelry on Etsy, by the way--or at the holiday market if you happen to find yourself in Eugene, Oregon, this holiday season.)

Anyway, it was another beautiful day and a great time was had by all. This time we actually found our way out of the corn maze (as opposed to the emergency exit we took last year) by using Nick's super-secret method of making only right turns. Impressive, no?

The Moo Train was just as popular with Aidan this year. He laughed just about the whole time on each trip:

Look at this beautiful girl. How can we ever tell her no? I seriously shake my head daily about how cute she is. She is SO clingy right now, though! "Mama, mama, mama, hold you, hold you, hold you!" (She still says "hold you" instead of "hold me." Again, very cute.)
Poor Ryan pushed a pile of lazy, kettle corn-snarfing kids through the pot-holey corn maze:

In the "corn box" (aka a more-festive sand box), Aidan gives Henry a nice corn shower:

And then dumps some on his own head, too:

Halloween cuties

Didn't get any terrific pictures this year, but here you are...Darth Vader and the little skunk. They had a blast trick-or-treating with our friends Henry and Max. Aidan got a little anxious while we were out trick-or-treating, thinking of all the kids that might be coming by our house and not finding anyone there to give out candy. So, we went home and handed out candy for a while...then he decided to go out again, but this time wore his bat costume from last year (much more comfy than Darth and the big mask). He and I went out on our own the second time and had a lot of fun.

Max as Batman, Aidan as Darth Vader, Henry as a sailor and Lauren as a skunk!

Making their selections at Rich and Tani's house.

Lauren and Max check out our neighbors' row of pumpkins.

It was hard for Lauren to choose which candy she wanted at each house--she is pretty much a fan of everything!

Darth with his light saber.

Nice shot of Daddy and Lauren. She wanted to be carried most of the time...she wasn't too scared but just a bit timid about the whole thing, much more than Aidan was at her age.

And lastly, the drunk pumpkin. We also saw an Obama pumpkin and an apple carved like a pumpkin--very cool!

Hi, I'm Amy and I'll Be Your Instructor Today

Happy Halloween! Photos of the kids coming later. In the meantime, here I am ready to teach my class this morning. I was pretty excited to find this spider headband yesterday (at a garden supply store of all places, when I stopped to buy plant food and lawn winterizer!). The kids "helped" me do the iron-on transfers on an old shirt yesterday afternoon.

Aidan didn't have school Wednesday, Thursday or today this week (for fall conferences). He is usually at school when I leave to teach my class--he was not happy when I had to leave this morning and there was much clinging to my leg. He got to go out to breakfast with daddy, though, which I think resolved the issue.

Few Fall Pictures

Hi there! It's been another busy week with Ryan in San Diego for the Solar Power International conference (he got to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wesley Clark speak).

Aidan and I made Halloween shirts using iron-on transfers; super fun and easy!

Miss Lauren has been taking tantrum throwing to new extremes lately. She is getting several teeth and seems to be struggling with her independence. She yells "right now" at us a lot, even in her sleep in the middle of the night..."Mama, RIGHT NOW!"

Anyway, here is one of her in a sweet mood, with Daddy:

And here is one mid-tantrum (I think this one was about me putting a stop to the snackfast that had been going on all afternoon):

Our friend Madeline came over on Thursday afternoon, and we all raked and swept leaves:

Then we made a huge leaf pile for all the kids to dive into:

Potty-Trained Girlie!

Lauren is officially potty-trained (daytime and naptime but not nighttime). We are so impressed and proud of our big girl. We are going to buy something fun for her room to go in the place where the changing table has been for the last 1 1/2 years. Maybe this, but we'll see if we can come up with any other ideas. Hope everyone is doing well...hard to believe it is October already.

If you like risotto, you must try this recipe

I think maybe I could just eat this every night for the rest of my life and be happy--especially with local leeks, tomatoes and basil all available in abundance at the farmers' market. Enjoy!

Here's a link to the recipe if you'd like a printer-friendly version.

Risotto with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

Yield
6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped leek
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
5 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, finely diced

Preparation
Place vinegar in a small, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 tablespoon (about 4 minutes). Set aside.

Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, and cook 1 minute or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Place about 1 cup risotto evenly into 6 shallow serving bowls, and drizzle each with 1/2 teaspoon balsamic syrup and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil.

2nd Referral Anniversary

In honor of the two-year anniversary of Lauren's referral, here are some pictures of Lauren holding baby Lauren's referral photo, taken this morning. (Click here to see last year's.) To celebrate the occasion, she wore panties to school for this first time! (And no accidents!) Big girl!

Kindergarten Kid

We now have two days of morning kindergarten under our belts! Check out the cuteness from his first official day, which was yesterday. The highlight of the whole thing, for Aidan, is taking the bus home. He gets to take a small bus with a few of the other kindergartners, and it drops him off right in front of our house. What a big kid!