Good Timing

I just saw this picture on my friend's blog from when we went to the pumpkin farm a couple weeks ago and about died laughing! I had completely forgotten about this incident! The kids were just playing and running around in the hay when I saw an older kid pick up a bunch of hay and throw it right in Collin's face. I kind of gasped and the kid ran off, and there wasn't much else to do about it, but then my friend Denyse realized she had been taking pictures of the kids playing and got the {hay in the face incident} right as it happened! She didn't even realize what had happened until the she saw the picture flash back. Too good. Too good.

Zonked

It was 12:30pm, after about 1/2 hour of uninterrupted cooking in the kitchen, that I decided to go put Collin down for his nap. And this is how I found him in the living room. It reminded me that I had heard a "thump" about 15 min. prior, but just thought it was a toy that had hit the ground. Nope, it was my son, and apparently it wasn't enough of a jolt to stir his slumber. This is the first time EVER that he's fallen asleep at home without being in his crib. I felt a tinge of guilt, but was pretty grateful I was able to get the lasagna in the crockpot without the screamer at my feet.

Shelley and Casey's Visit

 Wednesday night, my twin sister and her husband flew in for a visit! They're lucky they made it from the airport to our house alive, considering I was driving in the rain, at midnight, with my 5 year old glasses. I was literally pressed against the wheel, squinting into the glare while trying to assure them I could drive this road with my eyes closed. I guess I wasn't too far off.

The next morning we headed to Palmyra and were able to do a temple session at 11am thanks to Tiff and Denyse who watched Collin for me all day! What a blessing. Palmyra would have been awful with him running around. Instead, we had the whole day to ourselves! After the temple, we did the Joseph Smith Farm tour and walked around the Sacred Grove.

 Then we went to the Hill Cumorah and finished with the E.B. Grandin Building. All the tours were great and we had our tour guides all to ourselves, but the Book of Mormon publishing tour was a doozy. We got a nice, old man who loved to talk. And talk he did! Bless his heart, I don't know how he has a voice after a day of giving tours. We had worked up quite an appetite with all that listening, so we had to stop into Mark's Pizza for dinner. Casey made the executive decision to skip the large, and go straight to the sheet pizza! Good choice Casey.

 The next morning, we drove to the American side of Niagara Falls. BRRR! It was a bit nipply out! From where we parked and had to walk, we were misted with the icy spray of the falls and Collin couldn't even stand to be in his stroller. I had to hold him most of the way. I felt bad when I saw other people's kids bundled up so much their arms were sticking straight out and poor Collin only had on one coat and no hat (he wouldn't let me put the hood on). So while Casey and Shelley did the Maid of the Mist, Collin and I hung out in the visitor's center and he ran in the warmth to his heart's content. I was amused when a Oriental lady stopped to watch him and jabber in Chinese (who knows, maybe that's the language he speaks!) and then pulled out her camera and started talking pictures! She was just ticked pink by him and it gave me the giggles. What on earth is she going to do with those pictures?!

 Well, I just had to show them Wegmans (or Wedge-mans, as Shelley said it). So we stopped in for some sub sandwiches and took them to the dental school to have lunch with Travis, then show them around. When we were done eating, the table was saturated with oil that had leaked through the wrapping. Indicator of a good lunch! When we got home, I sent them off to see a movie, and Collin and I took naps! Thanks to the babysitting swap, we were able to eat Duffs without the screamer and get some Turkey Hill icecream to take home for dessert. (Casey served his mission in Pennsylvania and remembered loving Turkey Hill)

Saturday morning we tackled Kirtland. I had been once before with the YW for youth conference, but it was Trav's first time. The trees were so bright and gorgeous. Not at all captured by this lame picture.

I had brought the video camera and the second I pulled it out, the battery went dead! Humprf! So with the other camera battery flashing, this is the little video I got of our trip. Not too exciting, but at the end you can see the pretty trees in the distance.

 At the LDS visitor's center, we watched a movie about the church history in Kirtland, then took a tour showing us the Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney home, Ashery, and Sawmill.

 We had some time to kill in the Community of Christ visitor's center before the tour, so Collin got to play dress up...

 By now, it was after 3pm and this kid had not taken a nap, so he was less than pleasant while touring the Kirtland Temple. Shelley pulled off the stickers we had to wear while on the tour and put them on Collin's eyes to amuse him. He loved it and it gave us the giggles. 

 While looking at these pictures, I realized I most definitely have a stomach! I hope everyone is happy now! :) I haven't done any of the {pregnancy pictures} I did with Collin, so here is Duff at a little over 6 months!

 We ended with the Issac Morley Farm tour and learned that this is where Emma birthed her twins that died and was subsequently given the Murdock twins to raise.

 On the farm tour, Collin FINALLY fell asleep, so we didn't want to wake him when we got dinner afterward. We thought he'd continue sleeping until we got home, so our solution was to bring the whole carseat into the restaurant! Hey, we'll never see these people again, right? We thought we were pretty creative, but then, not even 10 minutes later the stinker woke up! And he didn't fall back asleep on the car ride home. We were gone over 12 hours and he slept a total of 30 minutes. What gives?

 I'm so glad they didn't have to leave until Sunday afternoon, so they were able to come to church with us! It was fun to introduce them to our friends in the ward, and especially to introduce her as my {twin} and get the surprised looks. We might as well have been telling them that Casey and Travis were twins!

 They also had the misfortune of sitting through my Gospel Doctrine lesson. I thought they would make me really nervous, but what really got me shaking, was when people kept coming in the door until there were no more seats left! Seriously, people were coming in, then having to leave because there was no where to sit. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Again, what gives? I don't think I'll be handing out jolly ranchers again. This calling is going to put me in an early grave.

After church, they had just enough time to eat, before having to go to the airport. Trav has been begging for this dinner since Tiffany made it for us months ago, and he finally got it!  It's a bit involved, but very tasty. And I only set the fire alarm off twice, heating up the oil. Oops. I'll put the recipe at the end of the post if anyone wants to try it. Warning: it makes a ton! I'm glad I borrowed Tiff's wok, because none of my other pans would have been big enough.

Just because this pic had no other logical place to go, I put it at the end. Shelley got a kick out of Collin when she opened the fridge door and he pulled out a gogurt and she let him have it. She said his face lit up and he did a little {happy dance} jig right then and there, then bolted to the living room and backed into his "throne", all ready to eat his favorite thing in the world. She made his day. He loved having Aunt Shelley and Uncle Casey around. It was not fun taking them to the airport. Time really does go by too fast. I'm so glad they were able to make the trip out here. It meant a lot and we loved every second. How wonderful to not only have siblings, but to have a twin! She is a lot of fun and a great sister. Casey's not too bad himself :) Thanks for coming to the Buff you guys!

Kung Pao Spaghetti

Kung Pao Sauce

1 ½ cups chicken stock

2 Tbs cornstarch

¾ cup soy sauce

½ cup dry sherry

3 Tbs red chili paste with garlic

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbs red wine vinegar

2 Tbs asian toasted sesame oil



For the Pasta

1 pound dry spaghetti

½ cup plus two Tbs olive oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chcken breasts, cut into ¾ inch cubes

20 whole Chinese dried red chili peppers

1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

¼ cup minced garlic

3 cups coarsely chopped scallions (3/4 inch pieces)

Egg White-Cornstarch mixture


2 egg whites

2 Tbs cornstarch

½ tsp salt


To Make the Kung Pao Sauce:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the chicken stock and cornstarch until the cornstarch has fully dissolved. Stir in all the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.


To Make the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture:

In a mixing bowl, use a small whisk to stir together the egg whites, cornstarch, and salt until thoroughly blended; take care, however, not to beat them into a froth. Set aside.


Pasta:

Bring large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8-9 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large, nonstick frying pan over high heat, heat the olive oil for about 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces to the egg white-cornstarch mixture and toss to coat them. Taking great care to avoid splattering, add the coated chicken to the pan and cook like a solid pancake until the egg mixture sets; then, using a large spatula, carefully flip the chicken pieces over together and, with a wooden spoon, gently separate the pieces.

Carefully stir the Chinese peppers and roasted peanuts into the pan. As soon as they darken in color, after no more than 1 minute, stir in the garlic and scallions. Once the garlic begins to brown, after no more than 30 seconds, add the Kung Pao Sauce and toss and stir to coat the ingredients.

When the pasta is ready, drain it well and in a large mixing bowl, toss it thoroughly with the sauce.
Delish!

Book Review Time!

Oh I know you're so excited for this, aren't you?! :)

Strangling Your Husband is NOT an Option

So I read this book lounging on the beach this summer and got a lot of strange looks for it. My mom recommended it and it's totally not what it seems. It's actually all about how to be a better wife.

Quick anecdote- Trav got home from a stake priesthood meeting a few weeks ago and I asked him what I always ask him..." Sooo, what did you learn?!" He raised his eyebrows and gave me that {you know} look, then sighed and said, "I learned what I always learn... how to be a better husband". I had to giggle. They really seem to give it to the men... and don't get me wrong, I think it's great- but the girls never have lessons on how to be a better wife. We are taught to be better mothers, visiting teachers, friends, etc. but I can't recall a single lesson on being a better wife. I said this to Trav and he quipped, "Ya, isn't that the reason all those bras were burned in the 50's?" Hmmm, something like that, maybe. But in all honestly, I really think it's great to focus on being a better wife. Some of the author's advice seemed like common sense and some of it seemed to apply more to couples who have been married 25+ years and have kind of {lost it}, but regardless, it was good to be reminded of all the little things (and big things) that will help your marriage be stronger. It's written by an LDS author, so I don't know how easy it would be to find in a local library, but it would be worth the search!

Ender's Game

I read Ender's Game for book club a couple months ago and noticed all the men that made comments about how it was their favorite book. I would definitely call it a {boy} book, but it seemed everyone in book club enjoyed it. I don't think I can say as much- it wasn't really up my alley- but I can see why people like it. It is fantasy and got a little weird for me... (aliens {buggers if you will} and such), but I'm glad I read it because I've always heard so much about it. Won't be reading any sequels though!

How to Win Friends and Influence People

 Here's another embarrassing title....

This is another book that I wanted to read because of how much I've heard about it. I loved it! It's really just all about human behavior and how to get along with people and be agreeable. It's a book I want to buy because you would need to read it every year or so to be reminded of the principles. Such as:

Don't criticize, condemn or complain.

Give honest and sincere appreciation

Become genuinely interested in other people

Smile

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

Make the other person feel important- and do it sincerely

And lots more!

I felt embarrassed to tell people about the book, because I imagined they thought I was schemeing and plotting on how to get people to like me or be popular, but that really wasn't the point. Human behavior in general just really interests me and this really held my attention. I was surprised at how much sense all his principles made, and yet so often, we do the opposite, hoping the get the same result. The points I listed might sound unoriginal, but after reading all his examples and really examining how most people behave, you realize how difficult they can be! Especially the principles he brings up near the end of the book including "The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it" and "Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say 'You're Wrong'."

What's terrible, is that even after being completely convinced of the validity of all his points, I could still see myself not acting that way. It's just really hard! When you boil it all down though, I think the book could be called, How to Be More Christlike. And of course that's something that we will work our whole lives at. But of all the books in this review, I think I would recommend this one the most!

Eat ,Pray, Love
 This book has gotten a lot of publicity, so I picked it up a long time ago at Target, meaning to buy it, then read the back cover and was completely uninterested. Now since the movie has come out, it rekindled my interest... so when I saw it for a $1 at a garage sale, I figured, why not? Ugh. "Why, do" would be a better question. It's divided into 3 parts, and 1/2 way into the first part I wanted to stop. But I kept reading purely out of a desire to just finish it. I hate not finishing a book. It's basically about a woman who is searching for happiness... so she gets a divorce and traveles to Italy, Indonesia, and India to find it. I thought she came across kind of whiny and self involved. I felt like, if she was trying to be inspirational, then I didn't learn much more than the fact that I will need a year of my life and plenty of money to spend in foreign countries to find it. Around the middle of the book, when she was having yet another mental breakdown, I thought it was going to create one of my one! I'll admit, that I did enjoy the end of the book, and it might have tricked me into thinking I liked it as a whole, but when I thought back on all the other chapters, I was able to keep my wits about me and remember that it was really pretty awful! Quite a waste of time and not a book I'd recommend. Find the missionaries if you want to find happiness.

Catching Fire

 This is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. It is also a fantasy book, but I loved the first one! It completely absorbed me and I couldn't put it down. I LOVE books that do that. This one was pretty good, and also a quick read, but while the first one felt more adventurous, this one had more of a sad overtone. Which isn't a good indicator, because that's all I've heard about the third one that came out last month. Oh well, I'll still be reading it!

The Gift of Fear

 I think I already spotlighted this book about a year ago, when I read it the first time, but I read it again last month when I picked it for book club. I could basically go on and on about this book, but I'll just say that I consider it a "must read". Especially if you're a scardy cat like myself. I got the impression that many other "scardy cats" were too afraid to read it because they thought it would only make them more afraid. It's does completely the opposite! It is empowering and informative. It reminds us all to follow our intuition. It is of course, non-fiction, and reads a bit like a text book, but there are lots of stories to keep you interested. Go check it out! :)

Toxic Food Syndrome

This is a really quick book that my mom left for me to read after their visit. It only took me an hour or two to read, but it was really interesting. It basically says that our bodies are very individualized and react to food in individualized ways. Some very normal foods could be considered poisonous to us. You can find out by having a specific blood test done (not your normal blood, allergy test) that tests your blood with a ton of different food extracts to see how the cells react. Once people have found out what foods are "poison" to them, they've seen symptoms such as arthritis, stomach problems, migraines, etc. disappear. I SO want to get this done! In the meantime, however, I did get a good tip from a Nurse Practicioner who said aloe vera juice is very soothing for the bowels and worked for her friend who had ulceratice colitis. I gave it a try and it worked! Hip hip hooray! I couldn't be more grateful. I consider that stuff liquid gold now.



Becker Farms

Yesterday was my kind of Saturday....

We started out with breakfast at the Taylors then on to Becker Farms for the pumpkin festival! First, we had to pet the smelly animals...

 Then hang in the stocks for being bad :)

 We went through a little "haunted" house for the kids then ended up at Becker Mountain, which has a great slide. There was a puddle of mud on the landing that Collin cleaned up nicely with his bum. He wasn't even the first to go down, but he went the fastest and farthest, thus soaking up the muck.

 He learned his second time around and sat up, creating a very slow and bumpy ride down. Literally, he was molasses creeping down... but this time no mud!

 Here's a group shot of all of us that went together. I really am so grateful for these people. Life in the Buff would be unbearable without great friends.

(I promise the Carters really do love each other :) They scooted together for the second shot, but it turned out blurry.)

 Some of the kiddos lined up for the pig races! Can you tell they are excited?

 Our section was supposed to raise their hands and say "Woo-eee" during the song, so Collin kept his hands up most of the time.

 First time in a bounce house... with flipping, jumping, older kids along side him. Grateful for no head injuries.

 The Tyke Track

 Driving the fire truck!

 Just a bunch of animals... (and the farmer:)

 I think Collin's all-time favorite part was the pony ride. You couldn't wipe the grin off his face the whole time. (After he got done licking his jacket.... ??)

 On the hay ride... minus the hay. I looked at this picture and laughed.... nice background of the parking lot! Then I noticed the trees... ok, so that helps. The trees really were gorgeous. The whole drive to the farms was beautiful. Can't beat an east coast fall!

 Did I mention it was a {haunted} hay ride... minus hay? Collin was truly amused by the bloody corpus and stuffed alien bodies along the road.

 It ended with a pumpkin launch/shoot. I was so proud of my timing on this picture! I got it right as it went off... you can even see the pumpkin at the end of the spray. The boys were very impressed and even went {all hands in} on a pact that someday they would own one together and spend their weekends sending orange gourds into the sky. Boys.

There was an adult haunted house that the guys went through first. Here's their after-shot.... shakin' in their boots.

 Next, us ladies ventured in.... literally arm in arm. We had fun screaming and shrieking and then getting surprised by the boys who had snuck in the back to jump out at us. It ends with the "birthing canal" or two massive balloon type things that you have to squeeze through. Best to keep your hands out in front of you up high, rather than low... especially when the guys are waiting inside to scare you. Boys. :) 

Also, not pictured, is when we gorged ourselves on the homemade, deeply fried-and-covered-in-sugar donuts. Sigh. They're reason enough to make the 45min. drive. We also realized that this was the first year that we really felt it was worth it.. kid wise. Collin could finally run around and enjoy everything there was to do and it made for a great family day. Go pumpkin farm!

 Well, we just couldn't go home and spend the evening by ourselves (heaven forbide) after such a fun day, so we invited the gang over that night for dessert. Collin sported his new jammies he got from Grandma Evans in our Halloween package. The cutest darn skeleton I've ever seen. There was also the biggest package of cinnamon bears (ugh, I simple died and went to heaven when I saw them) and a package of yummy tortillas (leave us alone... we're from Arizona where they actually make them GOOD!) Thanks Paula!

 The kids had so much fun playing together. I got a kick out of this scene.... Maddie was poised so gracefully, tapping out a tune on the piano, and Collin was in his chair/throne, clapping for her as she played. Haha. What a pair!



The Relatives Came...

Anyone know that book... the Relatives Came? A classic. And one we mentioned a few times during my family's visit this past weekend. (Warning... combining photos from my, Marice and my mom's cameras, this is a LONG post!)

My parents took my younger siblings, Marcie and David to NYC for couple days, then drove to Harmony, PA to see the Sesquahanna River and then to Palmyra where we met them after Megan's Walk-a-thon. They were eating lunch at our favorite place, Mark's Pizza, when we pulled up. Marcie was so sweet and ran out to meet us. Although it may have been more for Collin than us. He had just woken up and was being extra snuggly.

Playing with Marcie's "bling". He kept saying "Wow" with big eyes.

We headed across the street to start at the Book of Mormon publishing house and got swallowed up with buses of old people on church history tours. I felt bad because all the other times we've had personal tours, but I guess they got the gist of it.

Then on to the Joseph Smith farm. This time we were mostly by ourselves, but the tour guide wasn't much into details or information. When we were in the upper level of the log cabin she said frankly, "Well, this is where the Angel Moroni appeared. Your thoughts?" {Crickets chirping}

Walking from the log cabin to the frame home, you can see the temple, so we stopped for a photo shoot.

Entering the Sacred Grove.... we were laughing and joking, walking up, then decided we should probably act more reverent. :)

Love my parents!

While my parents took full advantage of their time in the grove, I was freezing my tush off, so we went back to car to wait. Collin was having fun turning on the windshield wipers and touching all the buttons... AND showing us some skin.

A quick walk around the temple...

And then on to the Hill Cumorah as the sun set. I was enthralled with all the pretty colors. We've never been to Palmyra in October and it was breathtakingly gorgeous!

It was late when we pulled into Duff's, so Trav took Collin home and sweet Rach came over on zero notice, to put him to bed while we had dinner. We have the best friends!

I tried two new things this night.... vinegar on my french fries (yum) and Loganberry soda (is it soda or just juice?). It was a bit too syrupy on its own, but mixed with DP, it was great. I ate entirely too many wings, then we got pints of Ben and Jerry's at Wegmans afterward and I'm surprised I didn't die of heart attack right then and there. I looked at the nutrition label at there were 80 grams of fat in my pint!!!! And I ate half. I woke up the next morning wanting to throw up.

This guy had a few phot sessions with Marcie. She was just eating him up. And vice versa.

You'd almost think it was HIM who had chicken wings on top on Ben and Jerrys!

They came to church with us the next morning and I was petrified because I had to give the lesson in Gospel Doctrine. I was even more nervous than when I had to give my first lesson. And it's not over yet, because when Shelley and Casey come to visit next week, they'll be here for my next lesson! Sheesh. (PS. the first thing I thought when I looked at this picture was, um, hello flower child? I've seen myself in pictures in this dress before so how is it that it just occured to me that I'm totally rockin' the hippy vibe? I wonder sometimes...)

In our third year of living here, I JUST learned that this building used to be a business supple store before they remodeled it. Makes so much more sense now!

After church we drove straight to Canada to visit Niagra Falls and go on Maid of the Mist.... or as my dad puts it... desecrate the Sabbath. I felt like it was crazy busy... much more so than when we've gone before. Probably best not to go on a weekend.

Collin was having fun with the ponchos.

Right before the boat started going, Collin threw his pacifer overboard, but it landed on a little ledge under us. After it was over, Trav jumped over the railing to retrieve it, then jumped back before I saw him. Good thing too, or else I probably would have screamed or my heart would have failed. I am going to be so outnumbered with 3 crazy boys.

It happened to be fast Sunday and I think everyone started out with good intentions, but only Travis and my parents could truly "break their fast" with Cafe Rio dinner that night.

And then I attempted a Raspberry Torte Cake recipe that I got from a friend out here. Thanks Melissa! It was divine. 

Monday morning we got a quick tour of the dental school with the 1/2 hour that Trav had between class and starting clinic for the day.

Here is his operatory.

Right after that, we went home and they packed up and left for Kirtland before flying home the next morning. It was too short a trip!! Collin and I waved goodbye on the driveway and the second the car disappeared, my eyes filled with tears. Buffalo and Mesa are just too darn far apart! Waaaa, it's not fair. All I had to console myself with, were a half a dozen, half eaten cartons of Ben and Jerrys in the freezer. You'd think I'd have learned. They numbed the pain a bit :) Collin enjoyed it too. Even after it was gone, he'd stick his face in it, hoping to lap up even a drop more. Like mother, like son. Atta boy Collin!

We sure love when the Relatives Come.