Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade LIVE in New York City yesterday and it was AWESOME!!!!  For all the years that we watched Tom Turkey on the TV, here I am in person with it!

We woke up when it was still dark outside and dragged the kids out of bed (sorry, kids!) and bundled up in our layers.  We'd packed diapers and a Thanksgiving feast's worth of snacks into the backpack the night before.  We drove into the city and parked in a garage on the upper west side - about as far west as we could stay to try to avoid parade pedestrians and traffic.  Then we walked 4 long blocks over to Central Park West where there were already hundreds of people lined up/camped out.  It was hard to know how far to keep going one direction or the other because every minute that passed more people would be staking out a spot.  We got right behind some people in camp chairs who were behind people under sleeping bags and blankets right up at the barrier at the street.  We thought we had it made because it was a big view to the street over all these sitters.  Right before the parade actually started everyone cleaned up their stuff and stood.  It allowed more people to be able to cram in, but it wasn't as clear a view as we originally expected.  We have no idea if that's typical or not.... But we were still close enough with few enough people in front of us that we could see between heads and bodies.  We held the kids up to be able to see (Andrew was mostly on my shoulders, but I had to take little breaks and just hold him in my arms because I'd get sore).

So we aimed to leave the house at 6 and were pulling out of the driveway at 6:10.  We were to the garage by 6:30 and to the parade route by about 6:45.  Then once you get there you just wait... easy enough for adults.... since Andrew gets limited screen time he was thrilled to sit in the stroller (just the smallest umbrella type) and watch movies and eat snacks while we waited.  Ellie got tired of the carrier pretty fast and we mostly just held her, but she stood on the ground by us for little stints.  We sang songs, talked to each other, talked to people around us, apologized for all the spilled snacks..., etc.  It was entertaining to watch some of the sleepers wake up and hear the different groups' conversations.  Most all the people we were by were pretty nice.  It turned out that the sleeping on the ground group were YSA people from West Point - YCL sweatshirts, Hill Cumorah stuff, talking about EFY was what gave them away. : )  When the parade started there were some clowns passing out some really big balloons to kids/people along the barrier - whoever could reach or request one.  It was either the YSAs or another nice lady that asked if our kids wanted balloons and we said they'd love them, then they passed back a big blue one that a girl tied to Andrew's coat.  Ellie was really into it and disappointed not to have one, and the YSAs were able to pass back another for her.  You can tell they're thick/quality balloons with quality helium.  They were still at the ceiling today and the kids have loved playing with them.  So that was fun.  

Since we were so close to the beginning of the route (we were at about 72nd) the parade got to us by probably about 9:05/7.  In all our research we learned that the farther down you go in the route the longer the viewing is - probably because of the performances, etc.  We were really impressed with how efficiently the parade kept moving.  It wasn't until 2/3 or 3/4 through the parade that we ever had groups have to pause in front of us and then it was just a handful of times.  So for us it was an hour and a half parade (done by 10:35/7 or so) and it never felt long - just fun entertainment the whole time.  Yes, it was definitely crowded leaving, but not crazy or stressful.  We were glad we'd walked the little extra - we passed another garage with lots of people waiting for their cars (they're generally all valet garages).  The crowds tapered as we walked back the four long blocks.  Another reason we chose the garage we did was because it would be so fast and easy to just get back on Henry Hudson going north (like the freeway going up the west side). We weren't sure if it'd be bad traffic, but it wasn't bad at all.  No slowing or anything.  We drove back home easy in roughly 20 minutes and were back in the house relaxing upstairs to watch the rest of the parade on TV (because we could....haha) by 11:30.  It was amazing how smoothly it went!!!  It was fun to see on tv what we'd just seen in person.

Most people we told ahead of time that we were going to try it would tell us things like we were brave (with kids) or a little crazy.  One person asked if I wanted her honest opinion then proceeded to tell me that she thought the kids were too young to enjoy it.  So naturally I was super determined to have it go smoothly and have us all have a good time : )  Was it cold? Yes. (but not as cold as I thought it might be)  Was it crowded? Yes, but not in a stressful way.  Was it a long wait? Yes, roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes just waiting in one spot.... It was the hardest on Ellie, but none of us were ever miserable or regretted it : )  Did the kids enjoy it once the parade started? Yes, they loved it! Balloons, bands, great costumes, animals, etc.  And Will passed out the m&ms at strategic moments : )  Would we do it again?  Absolutely!!  Probably not next year, just because.... but if you came to visit of course we would : )  Oh, were the balloons really huge? Yes... but maybe not as massive as I always thought they made it sound like on tv... It was pretty fun to watch them coming down the street then pass right over.

Ok, here's a few more pictures...

I don't know that I ever really had it on a "bucket list" to see it, but once we moved out here we couldn't leave without going at least once!  I'm sure we'll go again.

We had made cranberry sauce, an apple pie, and a pecan pie the night before.  Then after the parade we made the broccoli cauliflower bake and some peas.  We had dinner with several other families in the ward (like 8?!), and that ended up being pretty fun.  Everyone there had kids, except the hosts, but they had a great basement with lots of their grown kids' toys for the kids to play with.  I realized I didn't take hardly any pictures there, but I do have a couple of the kids - none with Will and I.  Andrew thought the sparkling cider was pretty great, and check out Ellie's Thanksgiving sampler : )  And then I think she mostly just ate the roll... haha

Now the only thing left to round out this holiday (because we already rounded out our tummies) is to watch Garfield's Thanksgiving!!!  (sounds like... the dishwasher!!)  (rub skin with butter.... well I don't see what good that will do...)  (deep fat fry! deep fat fry! music to my ears!)  (if you want me to relax take me to hawaii!)  (i would not like that mr. wells) (wednesdays are good, and good for you!)  (my, aren't we nasty today?!)  (do the mashed potato!  do the candied yam!)  I could go on and on.... : )

Trick-Or-Treat!

Ok, so I've been a lousy blogger for quite a while now.  That's ok for a lot of reasons.  I guess it seems like a worthy time to come out of my hibernation to share this that I saw shared on facebook.  I don't know who originally made it, but it was posted by Mommy Poppins Boston.  (If you don't use Mommy Poppins for your area, maybe it's worth looking into for you.  Sometimes it helps me!) (Oh, they put it right on there: howtobeadad.com - which I know nothing about besides they created one hilarious thing.)

Anyway.  Oftentimes when I find something that I think is rather funny and go to show it to Will it's like he takes it as a challenge to not think it's as funny as I do just to give me a hard time.  Maybe that's just when I'm laughing so hard that I can hardly talk and he thinks I must be bonkers or too tired or it's some brand of funny that he doesn't think is as funny.... (like stay at home mom humor?). 

But here I was laughing (out loud) to myself thinking how funny this thing was and I hand over the laptop for him to see it.  I see him purse his lips like he does when he's preparing to see what I think is so funny and the determination in his eyes to not laugh.  I watch him closely, still laughing myself.  And then? He laughs!  So then I'm laughing harder.  Tears streaming down my face.  He reads aloud some of the things that got me and I laugh more again. 

Please tell me this makes you laugh, too.  And if you pursed your own lips taking this as a don't laugh challenge, then maybe you're a party pooper.  ha!  We're passing out jack-o-lantern and bat shaped pretzels and pencils this year.  Maybe that makes us party poopers?  I was surprised how popular the pencils were at our ward's trunk-or-treat last weekend.  And there was one kid who when he found out they were pretzels, he backs away and says, "nevermind." hahaha

And I remember the year we passed out dum dums : ) Cheapy McCheapface.... hahahaha

Happy Halloween!  (which we've been celebrating all month with activities, parties, outings, treats, etc, because apparently Halloween is the new Christmas! : )  (you know what I mean.)  (And our kids are the cutest bat and cat there ever were!)

Teach Me

Today marks one year from the day that Andrew finally started walking.  I remember because it was my brother's birthday (shout out! : ).  We were in Sunday School and though Andrew was quite a fast crawler, he finally decided he was ready to walk to keep up with his little friend, Lydia.  He was two weeks shy of 18 months and starting nursery.

When he was younger he learned to roll over without too much trouble - demonstrating the ability to roll both ways by the time we were at his 4 month appointment.  He learned how to pivot himself, so between turning and rolling he was able to get almost anywhere he wanted and was content.  Eventually he learned to army crawl and got really pretty good.  Good for him, terrible for his clothes - he dust mopped everywhere we went.  It wasn't until he was around a year (or over a year and we had moved?) that he finally started crawling on his hands and knees.  By the time we moved and he was 14 months he could pull up to stand at things, but never attempted steps and wasn't able to just stand up wherever.  By mid-December when he was about 16 months we could get him to try to stand and start to take some steps going back and forth between us.

We were never really concerned that he'd never learn, but we did wonder how long it would take.  The hardest parts were the ruined clothes, the inconvenience at times, and the awkward social factor ("actually, no, our toddler can't walk...").  But of course as I spent pretty much all day every day with him it was always in my face that he lacked the skill, so I thought about it a lot.  We tried to encourage desire and support development.

One day when we were living (temporarily) in Jersey City I had a simple experience that helped to put things in perspective for me.  As we were trying to entertain ourselves in the apartment that was only so big, and with only so many toys and books at our disposal, I watched him crawling around and I tried to encourage some standing or step taking.  I started to think in a little bit of desperation again: when will he ever learn to walk??!  Suddenly I had the words to a children's song that we liked to sing to him sometimes (and still do) come into my mind: "Teach me to walk in the light."  Of course we wanted him to learn to walk, and he would when the time was right, but more importantly, and what I really should be focusing my efforts on was teaching him the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how to live and love it in our family and in his own life.

Since that day in late October or early November 2015 I've tried to keep that experience and thought close to me and in the forefront of my mind.  Helping my kids learn and develop in physical, mental, social, and emotional (etc) ways is absolutely important.  But the most important of all is helping them learn how to have a testimony of their own - through my teaching, love, and especially example.

Now he's been able to walk (run? : )  for a whole year and continues to build on his gross and fine motor capabilities. (He's sitting right here, tongue out in concentration, cutting me piece after piece of construction paper to add to my growing pile ("here Mom!") with his brand new safety scissors that he's so excited about! : )  Even though he's hit that typically early-life physical milestone, I hope I can always remember that teaching him to walk in the light is a life-long effort and worth more than all the other things I can help him learn.

Twohead

Not on purpose we exposed Andrew to counting backward before much counting forward.  As we've made progress with his teeth brushing (hallelujah!) he still needs something akin to a three ring circus to keep us all sane.  After we get whatever amount of brushing seems reasonable before we're all going to die done we count down from 10 - then he knows his torture (and ours) is almost over.  He's heard it enough, I guess, that he started to apply it to other situations.  I had him in the shower with me once and he looks forward to when the water is "down low" out of the tub faucet so he can play in it.  He has to wait until I'm done, though, and just play with his other tub toys while he waits.  He was getting impatient once (5-6 weeks ago?) and after petitioning repeatedly ("water down low", which sounds more like "wa dow low") I hear him take matters into his own hands: "Ten, one, zero!" haha : )  When that didn't work immediately he tried again several times and I realized what he was saying and trying to get me to do - my turn was over and it was going to be time for his water down low! ha  We've  continued to make some progress as I've had the shower to myself for the last couple days and he prefers to "play toys" simultaneously.  As convenient as it is to bathe him at the same time, I'm not complaining!

In the last month or two we've talked a little more about numbers and counting forward.  This is mostly with numbers or counting books, but some other times, too.  As a totally biased and proud parent I can report that Andrew can generally successfully count things to 2.  : )

He often refers to groups of things as being 2.  It seems that "2" refers to 2 or more.  If he is counting with you he is actually getting pretty good and can often stay with you (plenty of room for improvement, though).  We really don't try to push anything,  just count when it's in a counting book or other natural times.  He enjoys it and now will initiate the counting on his own.  You can hear his cute little voice, "One, two, one, two, one, two," etc... ha : ) 

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Somehow as he learned all sorts of body parts we never really talked about the forehead much.  So in the last few months he's learned about the forehead, elbows, etc.  He'll point out elbows at the most random (to us) times.

With all this numbers talk, though, I can see how it's easy to get confused... I've heard him several times in the last few weeks refer to not his forehead,  but his "twohead"....... hahahahaha : )

Captain Moroni: A worthy hero

This morning we went right when the library opened at 10 to sign ourselves up for the summer reading program.  Not because you can't sign up any day of the summer, but because they had a "free gift" for the first 25 to sign up (for adults at least, but I thought I'd read that for kids) and we like freebies and what if it was a free book??!!!!  I'm pretty sure I saw them give a kid a cellophane bag with a bookmark and pencil in it saying it was his "gift" so then I really didn't want one for Andrew because, let's be honest, it would come home and just sit here because he doesn't need a bookmark and I try to keep most writing utensils away from him right now unless he's under highest levels of supervision.

We filled out Andrew's little registration slip, his first raffle ticket, and he colored a picture for the display.  They had lots of different little sports related pictures and I took the liberty of choosing the bike for him.  He liked it, dumped out his box of crayons and actually sat there for at least 5 minutes using a variety of colors to scribble all over it.  I was really impressed.  I'm sure it helped that all the other kids were older than him and so he was just doing what the big kids were doing.  He also told me about the "airplanes" he was adding to the picture, which is one of the specific things he says he's drawing so far (the others being trains or cars, of course).  He also got to eat a cookie after all that.  I did show him his three options and then was happy that he was happy with a vanilla sandwich cookie (seemed least messy).  After he opened it and ate the filling he told me he was all done so I finished it.

We spent some time in one of the other rooms reading some, playing with toys, and him inserting himself into the KidPix play of some kids on the computer.  By the time we left his little picture was already up on the bulletin board.  We went upstairs to sign me up and she gave me a plastic summer reading program bag and told me it was  my free gift.  After we were home I saw that it did actually have a "READ" pen and three mini York Peppermint Patties in it.  Ok, I guess that's a decent "gift" after all - consumable!  Jeff, remember when Mom used to get us big Yorks while we were out running errands and then we'd get to go home and eat them in the back yard??!

We ended up being there longer than I had anticipated - I didn't really know they were having activities.  We were back home just after 11 to get the grocery bags and take a picture of the shopping list.  We do it that way now after I'm pretty sure I lost our old notebook in the store or left it in the cart.  It's really just one more thing to carry.  Anyway, we drive to Aldi and by the time we're there he's asleep!!!  I didn't realize he was that tired already, but we were there, so I woke him up to shop.

We did our shopping there and Walmart and then headed home.  I thought if he had been that tired there was a good chance he'd fall asleep again, but he didn't.  Pros and cons.... Great that I could feed him lunch before his nap, but it makes carrying in all the groceries a little trickier - lots of small trips (to the porch, inside the font door,  then the final leg to the kitchen).  A few bags, a watermelon, two milks, and ice cream to worry about in the heat of the day, but we made it.  Luckily he was cooperative to come inside easier than sometimes...  I worked on getting things put away while he ate his bean soup and applesauce.  (I like that my toddler likes bean soup, by the way : )

The routine is after he's washed I take him straight up to his bed for a nap.  Today, probably because he was overtired, he was upset about something and I realize he's asking for Go Dog Go!  So we get the book, sit on the couch and read it.  During the book he reaches over to grab the Friend magazine.  I try to slip it away while he's enjoying all the dogs and cars because I don't want to stray too far from the routine and it was getting later.  We finish Go Dog Go! and he now is wanting the Friend magazine.  This is our first Friend magazine ever.  It just arrived on Saturday and we pulled it out for the first time yesterday.  He already knows he likes it, though, which is good.  I open it up and he points out several pictures.  We turn the page and we're to the little simple story about  Captain Moroni.  Still trying to keep it short I'm just letting him point out things.  Then I decide I should take the opportunity and it has so few words anyway so I read it to him.  He likes the flag and he likes Captain Moroni.  He sees a mom and a dad and some kids.  He's asking for a flag like Moroni's.  I tell him we can get one after his nap and he's satisfied enough.

I take him upstairs and he's happy to see his bed and pacifier.  Like usual he requests some songs.  Last night he went into his bed in a wild tantrum over wanting The Wheels on the Bus over and over, which Will did a few times and he had already done the little board book of it before putting him in his bed.  This afternoon he's requesting Wheels on the Bus again so I sing each verse he suggests.  Then I switch to some Primary songs.  Somehow Moroni comes up again and we're talking about his flag.  Then he requests a Moroni song...... I can't think of one.... He's distressed so I check the LDS music app searching "Moroni."  That only brings up songs that have a Moroni scripture at the bottom.  He's escalating and I tell him I'll try to find one for after his nap.  I see there's a song about the angel appearing to Joseph Smith and it works to sub Moroni's name, so I try that but by now he's irrational and it's not good enough.  I even try singing "Moroni, Moroni, Moroni" to my own tune and he won't accept it... hahaha.  I turn on his CD with Primary songs, tell him I love him and to have a good nap, and I leave while he's in mid-tantrum over me not being able to provide a Moroni song... all while trying not to giggle.... Don't worry, he calmed down after a few minutes.

I texted Will what was going on and he reminded me of the song on the Seminary CD (but it never actually mentions his name).  I kept thinking of the one from From Cumorah's Hill that has the line, "I stand with Nephi and Moroni."  But I was blanking beyond that.... And in all my searching in the last little while as I've had lunch I can't find a song about Captain Moroni.... He gets such a nice scripture about him - can we please get a song about Captain Moroni????!!!  Alma 48:17 says, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

I guess I could work on one myself, but this is not my area of expertise.... Lindsay??? Brett???? Help a sister out, here!  And help a nephew out... hahaha

But if we're going to have tantrums I guess it makes it a little easier when your sweet not-yet-two year old is so distraught over his desire for something Captain Moroni related... haha  I guess now I know which scripture hero figurine to get him for his birthday!

Who on earth is she talking about???  Here is a link to the same story that I've read Andrew a few times in his brand new Friend magazine about Captain Moroni.  Here is a different link to the same story, but another version from a different issue that has a little bit more detail.  He was a great leader who loved God and stood up for important things like religion, freedom, peace, and families.

Watch out Betty!

One day last week I made strawberry freezer jam (yum!!) with strawberries that Andrew and I had hand picked.  That very same day I made crock pot veggie lasagna that turned out excellent.  It included fresh basil that I trimmed off our own plant!  The next day I made a pound cake to eat more strawberries with.  All so good!

You: How very domestic of you!
Me: I KNOW!!

Adoption is Wonderful : )

Posted by a friend on facebook along with some old family pictures: "[so and so] found proof that I wasn't adopted!"

So tell me..... what's wrong with being adopted?

Absolutely nothing.  We could not love Andrew any more if he were a biological son.  He is definitely meant for our family and will be a fantastic big brother.  Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for all of us and in our case that meant adopting Andrew.

I'm fairly sure that most people, if asked, would say great things about adoption whether they were personally touched by it or not.  Somehow that doesn't stop people from making jokes like this, though.  Maybe you, as an adult?, can discern what's meant to be a playful joke (or not), but what about children, teenagers, or even young adults feeling confused or trying to figure out their own thoughts and feelings.  All children are blessings from heaven - whether they come to you biologically or not.  The implication that an adoption is second-rate can be harmful and is untrue.

This reminds me of the meme that I won't pass on here because it irritates me.  Two babies - one teasing the other about being adopted.  In several years when he can understand more what would my son think when he saw that?

There are enough questions and emotions that can come for an adopted child.  There are enough negative ideas, stereotypes, and comments made to and about those involved with adoption.  Please don't fuel it!

Instead, celebrate the beautiful people and relationships that we are all blessed by because of adoption!  If you aren't touched personally now, I'm sure you know someone who is or will be touched some day.

Adoption is wonderful : )

Book Club Love

For whatever reason our "new" ward doesn't really have relief society meetings, activities, or whatever you want to call them.  When we first moved here I either figured one would maybe come up soon, or it was just a busy time of year.  Really it didn't take long, though, to get a feel for many of the ways things are different here and while I remained hopeful, I became more and more sure that they just don't happen here.  When there finally was a stake RS activity in March I was thrilled.  There's also a regional women's broadcast next week that I'm looking forward to!

We do have, though, a small but decent group of moms with young kids that like to get together sometimes more sometimes less often.  It's nice to be able to do that during the day sometimes - get to know the other moms better, the kids get to know each other better, etc.  Sometimes that's announced in RS, but it's usually just organized among ourselves and nothing official about it.

The one thing that has been consistently announced and happened monthly is a book club meeting.  It sounds like the ward has had one off and on over time, and this time around it was started up again not long before we moved in (maybe?).  As soon as we were out of Jersey City and closer to everyone in the ward I started going.  I must have had a conflict in December, that or they didn't meet, but since January I've made sure to go every month.  This being the only "relief society activity" I can expect and count on, it's pretty important to me to take advantage.  I know you know why: once a month I can have an evening with other women and I get a break.

It's not a large group.  Sometimes as few as four (I don't think it's been down to three), and last night it seemed like a big group at six!  One friend there is seven or eight years older than me, and with her youngest being four, sometimes she's at play group, but not always. (Andrew adores her boys, though!)  Anyway, after her, I don't know how many more years, but we jump up to women around my mom's age and then one or two beyond that.  I like playgroup and relating with people in a similar situation to me, but I LOVE going to book club and spending time with these "older" women.  Sure, I like reading, and it's nice to discuss the books, but I really love going to talk with, listen to, and learn from these women.  And they're nice enough to talk with me too : )  They're definitely all different and each has unique things that I enjoy, but I really look forward to it and am sad if they aren't coming.

In January we talked about books we might read this year.  Then I read the books for February and March.  April's book was long and tedious, though I still liked what I did read (My Dearest Friend: Letters of John and Abigail Adams).  The book that we read for last night was even longer.  It was nearly 1,000 pages and I decided not to read it and instead work on other books (like more of the John and Abigail book).

Will knew that I wasn't reading it.  He also knew that book club was coming up for last night.  He knows how much I love going to be with those women and what it means to me to have a night each month to go.  Last night we cleaned up dinner and had some family time before I left (doesn't start until 7:30) then he happily distracted and calmed Andrew as I was leaving, cheerfully telling him that mom was going to book club.  He told me to have a good time and not to worry that I hadn't read the book.  What a guy : )  I love book club and I love Will!

Viva la cake!

You would have thought it was Thanksgiving week the way I've spent a good chunk of nap time today looking over recipes and Pinterest and making a shopping list.  I also made a small sample size recipe to test something out.  I super love just about all Thanksgiving foods and consider the group of them to be on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Not that I've ever really had a list... : )

But no.  Thanksgiving will have to wait a while until it's getting cold again and we go back to leafless trees.  And really, after living in a place of practically perpetual summer, this girl is already wrinkling her nose at the thought of next year's winter.  ("But this year it was so mild!" they've told me.  And, "Just wait until it really snows more next year," they say.)  Now that we're back to leaves on the trees my soul feels lighter.  Green is good!  At least winter brings Thanksgiving food : )

What a tangent!  Anyway, this week we're taking advantage of our American right to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with our southern neighbors!  I enjoy cultural things from other countries, but I especially love the excuse to eat the food.  Mexican, or American Mexican, is also on my top 10 favorite foods list.  Guacamole, salsa, chips, cheese, etc!  I like to take the opportunity to make a tres leches cake and I plan to make horchata.

How fun it would be to listen to a live mariachi band like we got lucky to hear in Balboa Park last summer or to see some dancers with those pretty dresses that I love... I suppose we could have a pinata, but since I'm also making food for the ward chili dinner/YW camp fundraiser the next night, likely not.  Perhaps we will watch one of those old south of the border specials - The Three Caballeros or Saludos Amigos!  I'm pretty sure I've blogged in years past about how I got Will to watch them with me years ago when we were dating, probably for Cinco de Mayo... what a good sport!  That's how I knew he was the one... ha : )  Actually, it couldn't have been then - must have been earlier.  I remember specifically that he was gone to New Mexico and I had made a tres leches to share with my roommates and begrudgingly shared some with one of Will's former roommates who had come by for some reason.  Cake?  (I had known this guy actually longer than Will and he'd just about used up all his extraneous-goodwill-from-Ashley cards for things like eating my precious tres leches.... he had probably used them up before I'd even met Will.... haha...)

Anyway.  We've been missing taquerias from California, so this will have to do for now.  And you can't go wrong with horchata and tres leches.... and chips and salsa and guacamole and cilantro!!  Unless you're Will.... then you give all your cilantro to meeee! :

"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America.  Do you know why?  Because people like to say 'salsa!'"

Sodiyum!

I admit it... I like salt....

There, I said it.  Ok, I've said it before : )  I had a good friend my freshman year of college who would shake salt onto just about everything she ate.  I didn't grow up with that habit, and thankfully didn't adopt it.  I just really like salty foods.  I think I more often am craving salty things than sweet things, and like the sweet/salty taste of things like kettle corn, too!

I've been sitting here for about an hour doing computer things that needed done - writing back to so and so about this or that, looking up my next library book, etc.  About 20 minutes ago I got a snack (because of the small salad dinner I had because of the large lunch I had with Will at his work today).  What did I grab for a not long before bed snack?  My generic brand triscuts!  My woven wheats : )  I don't often have these around, but they were impulsively purchased last week on a shopping trip on the afternoon that I had planned to nap while Andrew did, but due to him napping only about 15 minutes I did not get my nap. : (  I was very tired, and so was he.  After I tried to get him back down I did what I should have done a lot sooner: strapped him in and taken him for a drive.  Of course when we arrived at the store and I realized he was asleep I was somewhat annoyed (mostly that I didn't do it sooner or have something along to read - please note that at this moment I resisted the temptation to go one parking lot over to get myself a milkshake!), but glad, too, that he was getting more rest.  When I tried to loosen his coat after about 20 minutes in the parking lot (as the sun came in) he woke up.  Ok, fine, I thought, we'll go in and shop.  I was tired (and hormonal) and he was being "such a good boy" (but really), so there I am in Aldi trying not to cry........... This is real, people.  I went on to buy myself the woven wheats and him a 12 pack of pre-packaged cheese-filled mini-sandwich crackers (think ritz-bitz, but also generic brand).  He had never had them before, I don't think, but judging by the packaging was interested right away.  He's had them twice now since then.... and loves them.  So that's how and why I have my woven wheats.

Anyway, as I have been sitting here "working" and snacking I noticed something (that I'm pretty sure I already knew I did).  As I pick up a cracker I inspect both sides to see which side has the salt.  Then I make sure to put the cracker salt-side down on my tongue to fully enjoy the salty flavor with the oily wheat.  Delicious : )

Wants vs. Needs

A few years ago (or so?) there was a blog-based challenge of sorts to tell interesting/quirky things about yourself.  You were probably supposed to say a certain number of things - 10? 100?.  Was it on your blog, Jeanette?  Anyway, I've had in the back of my mind, for a few years now, the question on what sorts of things I'd say about myself.  At one point I had reached 3 weird things about myself, but only remember one really... and it drives Will (somewhat) crazy... hahaha

I have this weird need to scroll back to the top of a page before I leave it.

It can be via keypad, scroll bar, scroll wheel, etc, but I NEED to get back to the top before leaving the page.  Why?  I don't know.  I guess it just feels more complete that way.  It bugs me if not.  So if Will is watching me navigate, he knows it's coming so he can question my sanity, and he reminds me that I really don't have to go all the way back to the top, you know.  But it doesn't take that long and I just feel better!

I think one of the other things was that I need to have my hair pulled taut upward while lying on my pillow to fall asleep (while I'm conscious and can feel it).  To have your hair just swimming all around underneath you is just weird and not comfortable.

If I remember that third thing I'll definitely let you know.... : )

Where are your eyes?

Sometimes Andrew notices that his toy or a picture in a book has eyes and he'll point them out.  You can ask him where his eyes are, but he's not very likely to show you.  He does, however, point to mine (or Will's).  More accurately, he pokes me in the eye.

Sometimes he will also show me my hair, or maybe my nose or ear. These are less common, though. The eyes are much more interesting for now.  For the most part, the one he's most willing to show you of his own is his head.

Since Will and I both wear glasses, Andrew gets told a lot that we don't play with glasses or pull them off someone's face.  He's getting pretty good at reaching under my glasses to poke me in the eye when we're talking about eyes.

Yesterday he was showing me, again, the eyes on a toy.  I asked him where his eyes were.  He reaches toward my face, per usual, and I close my eyes, ready to squint to protect myself from the poke. Then what do I feel, but a little finger go straight up my nose!! Ha! Quite the sensation when unexpected.  We'll keep working on our body parts : )

Cook book

Here's my next million dollar idea: a book (or website, whatever) that gives directions to make a meal with multiple recipes and tells you the order to do things across recipes.  It's hard to put it into words...  I know, I know, I just have to use a little critical thinking and analyze the recipes before I start and think about efficiency, but that doesn't always happen.  Real life always happens though.

I'm making two new-to-me recipes tonight.  Because I want to and that's fun to me.  But they're for feeding to other people, too, so there's a time deadline.  I've tried to think about what I can do ahead of time, as both of them are to be served right away so I want to get the timing right.  I'm still a little unsure when exactly to start and how I'll decide to go back and forth between the two.

Maybe my book would also have tips that tell you that it's ok for something to wait a little bit longer while you attend to this other thing, or if that would surely give disappointing results.

Maybe the answer is don't make new recipes for other people because you don't even know if it will be good! ha!  And that doesn't even include the gluten-free brownie mix.... (at the request of one for the other as a birthday surprise... even though her birthday isn't for a couple weeks, but she's going home next week...)  But (un?)fortunately I can mix a brownie mix in my sleep, so I'm not worried about that!

Toothpaste Chicken

We're really "money's-worth" and "bargain" kind of people.  We try not to be wasteful either.  When someone might classify a food container (peanut butter, for example) as empty and toss it, I would feel remorseful if I hadn't used a scraper spatula to get the last bits out before taking care to recycle it.  Waste not, want not, right???  I was taught well. : )

So someone else likely would have tossed our tube of toothpaste days before we did, but it just kept on a'givin!  You think you've squeezed it enough, but have you re-squeezed from the bottom and sides??  And then re-re-squeezed?  There are more little crevices to pinch and squeeze than you think!  It got to a point where I thought surely it must almost really be all gone every morning and night.  It became a game of toothpaste chicken - who was going to give up first?!  I think most people make a good effort, but this time, for whatever reason, it seemed to stretch out for many days.  Finally on Saturday night I found the new tube of toothpaste waiting for me.  I could say that I won, but we both got clean teeth out of it : )

On a related note, please send all your tried and true methods for successfully brushing a toddler's (what??!) teeth -- short of strapping them to a board.

Happy old year! Happy new year!

2015 was a good year for our family.  Andrew's adoption was finalized and we were all sealed together to be an eternal family in the Oakland temple.  Those two things were by far the best parts of our year.  Though every moment wasn't rosy, there were plenty of other good things that happened that we look back on fondly.

After putting off recruiters for well over a year (because we knew it wasn't the right time, especially after Andrew was born), Will surprised them by applying for a job early 2015.  The next several months brought hours and days of preparation and sacrifice for the whole family.  (I wondered how my friend could be surviving having her husband working full time and in school and gained a greater admiration for her.  Lucky for me this wasn't a semesters or years long commitment.)  It helped that we both knew that it was all for our good.  After many interviews, other proceedings, and just plain waiting (sound like adoption, anyone? : ) Will was offered a job different than he had originally applied for and certainly a different location.  Rural New Mexico vs. New York City.

We made all the necessary preparations to leave California and begin again on the East Coast.  We were really excited to experience new surroundings and it's proved excellent so far.  There have been many adjustments, but we're loving this grand adventure so far.  Never having moved growing up this has been my first real experience moving away from people and places and not really having plans to return to visit.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around that.  BYU was different, I guess, because everyone planned to move on.  I have some dear friends in Tracy that I miss a lot, but thanks to the internet and phones I can keep in touch easily.  Now we're working on getting to know new friends out here.

Adoption/sealing, new job/moving.  Those are the main ways we'd sum up 2015 and it was all totally awesome.

Now, the new year is here!  I always love the talks and lessons in church about goal setting and the new beginnings that everyone thinks about with a new year.  Looking forward to new opportunities and planning to become better is exciting!  It's true that through our Savior's Atonement we can begin again and try to become better at any time - what a blessing!  But I also think it's great that we can collectively reflect and look forward to improvement with a special time of year.  All that along with enjoying the life experiences that come our way makes the new year an exciting time!

Here's to the next happy year!  We haven't lived it yet, so we can't give any spoilers as to how it turns out... But we can say that we celebrated the new year eating treats and making it to midnight.  Except Andrew.  He went to bed as usual, and then woke up at about 12:05 (thanks neighbors? who are really very nice!) so then got to sleep in mom and dad's bed snuggled up with us and made sure we didn't sleep in the next morning.  We hung around home new year's day morning, then in the late afternoon/early evening we went to see some mini "homes" that were decorated as different homes or other buildings from A Christmas Carol.  They were neat, but it was pretty cold.  Those were only about 15 minutes away from a zoo we went to see the holiday lights at after.  Of course it was even colder there, but we had a good time seeing the handful of animals we could and the lights.  We also got to ride on their cute little zoo train with lights and Polar Express music.  Andrew loves trains, so that made it fun, but with the breeze I think we all haf second thoughts once the train was going.  When we couldn't stand the cold any longer (and we really were done otherwise) we left.

Yesterday's fun was satisfying our (nearly) life-long curiosity to see the Harlem Globetrotters!  Will said we were going to see a game.  I said we were going to see a show.  We were both right : )  Not exactly what I had expected, but we had a good time.  Andrew just thought it was great to see so many basketballs!  We got to go to the new arena in Brooklyn to see it, so that was nice.  And how convenient that there was a Shake Shack right across the street!  We're looking forward to the rest of 2016!

Moving to our house

Welp, we bought a house!  We thought we'd buy in Tracy and tried to a few years ago, but as soon as we started trying the prices and competition went way up, so after a good effort of overbidding like 20+ other people on each house for a few months we were exhausted.  We were not willing to bid sight-unseen like many of them, and were often too slow even when we made an effort to see an offer within a couple days.  Our associated experiences were part of what helped us know that we were not to stay in Tracy long-term.  We happened across a small house for rent near the end of our (relatively short) ride on the California real estate roller coaster, so at least we were out of the apartment for the next couple of years.  We weren't sure how long we were supposed to be there, but knew that that was temporary, too.  When we knew it was time to move away from Tracy and come to the East, we were also ready to try buying a house again.

We found the house on a short trip in September before we moved.  Will flew back out to be present for the inspection just about two weeks after that.  He flew out of San Diego where we'd been partying once more with cousins and going to Disneyland.  The very next day Andrew and I drove home together, I fed him and put him to bed, then had a friend come rest on our couch (so Andrew could sleep in his bed) while I drove out to San Francisco to pick Will up at the airport at midnight coming back from the inspection trip.  Whew!

As we started on the offer paperwork, etc, the sellers agreed to close about as fast as we could with all the legal requirements.  That was going to be awesome because we would close just about the time that we would have to move out of our short-term housing covered by relocation.  Before too long, though, they requested that we actually close two weeks later because they didn't expect the house to sell so fast and they wanted to have a place to move into themselves.  We said our side - coming from across the country and not having any family or friends to go to short term and basically they met us in the middle, closing just one week after originally planned.  We had another tender mercy as we were able to extend our short-term housing one week but absolutely had to be out just two days after closing.

We closed on our first house on November 12!  Some new friends in the ward who have a daughter pretty close to Andrew's age kept him happy at their house while we signed paper after paper.  When we were done it was approaching evening time and getting dark.  We had brought a few things in the car to drop off at the house so we made the stop.  Even though we'd done the final walk through that morning, of course it had a different feel then since it was officially ours (and the bank's... : )  So Andrew crawled around some and climbed the stairs, then we were on our way again.  Because we'd have to drive back down to Jersey City and it was getting later (and we had dwindling food choices at the apartment) we decided to just stop somewhere.  And where else would you celebrate buying your first house other than Boston Market??? : )  Probably the most extravagant part was that we actually, for the first time ever, bought Andrew his own kid's meal.  We decided that was a mistake... at that particular place, at least.  (I'd never been to a Boston Market before, btw (ha).)

The next day was Friday and Will was able to stay home from work to work on moving our stuff from the apartment to the house.  I know it seems like it shouldn't have taken that long.  But our car is only so big.  We had clothes, suitcases, toys, books, toiletries, food, diapers and wipes, Andrew's old car seat, booster chair, etc to take over.  We ended up taking two trips on Friday.  The traffic was moderate Friday morning and the first trip didn't take too too long (but still a few hours total at least).  The next trip took a lot longer because it was late afternoon on a Friday, so lots of traffic.  I can't remember what took so long, if anything besides the traffic, but it was late when we were headed back.  Like 8 pm?  Late for Andrew.  So we stopped off at Wendy's on the way to get a highly nutritious dinner.  Andrew didn't care for his chicken nuggets, but was interested in my hamburger.  Noted.  When we got back there was still a bunch of random things that needed loaded into the car.  We needed to be out by noon the next day, but at the time we thought it was 10 am.  On top of that, the Elders were coming with an investigator in the morning to help us move the old fridge to the basement so that our own fridge could go into the spot when the movers came Monday.  They said they could come at 9, so that meant leaving the apartment by about 8.  So we didn't want to leave much loading for Saturday morning.  Will had gotten a bad headache so while he rested on the couch I made a couple trips down to the car.  That entails: down the elevator, through the lobby (borrow the cart and go back to the apt to load it), up the other elevator to the parking garage, then drag the cart to the car, pile things onto the seats.  (We weren't sure how much space we needed to save in the trunk for an appliance dolly the next morning.)

Saturday morning we got up and ready and double checked all the nooks and crannies for stuff we'd forgotten.  We did our final arm loads and took out the garbage.  Once in the car we drove out of the building, then Will had to run back inside and up to the apartment to leave the keys and parking pass inside then lock it on his way out.  Then we were on our way to Home Depot to pick up an appliance dolly, then to the house.  We made it in plenty of time before our help came.  I cover my eyes and only peek a little when something is happening like the Elders' free moving service is helping us move an extremely heavy item across floors and through doorways that we just bought a couple days before.  Luckily with only a couple minor incidents they successfully got it out, around the back, and into the basement.  We did have to remove the basement door with the tools that our very friendly new neighbors let us borrow.  They had to get it at just the perfect angle to get it in.  I was about ready to say forget it, but they did it!  All the while Andrew was restless in his monkey footie pajamas and getting dirty as I let him crawl around the deck.  We didn't have a ton to do the rest of the day - made sure we had some food and a way to eat it the next day (Sunday), let Andrew play around the empty house (that I desperately wished I had my vacuum to use before any stuff came in, oh well...and you can only bug your brand new neighbors so many times on day 1), went on a neighborhood walk and checked out the library, and then went out to dinner again.  This time we went to.... Chili's (I think) to use a gift card we've had.  No kids meal for Andrew this time : )  He's happy to share, though.  And boy does he love drinking the water through the straw! Andrew could still sleep in the pack and play and Will and I slept on the floor that night.

We went to church the next day as usual and spent another day sitting on the floor.  And eating dinner on the floor : )  Monday morning the movers came with our stuff!

Well, I don't know what happened to my latest work - so we're missing the entire chunk that I know you're all dying to know about.  The part that due to a packing snafu (or two or three? : ) I ended up wearing only one sock for the moving fun Friday.  I accidentally ended up in Jersey City with a small amount of socks in the first place.  Then somehow for Friday I only had one sock... I kept forgetting to get another whenever we were at the house.  How could you forget something like that???  Weird, I know.  Finally Saturday when we were done running back and forth I was finally able to coddle both feet at once rather than picking one at a time.  Aren't you glad I retyped a new version of that fascinating detail????  I also ended up without flip flops in Jersey City, but that really only mattered the first few days before it got colder.   I forgot shoes for a family camping trip once as a teenager, but luckily that was a short overnighter in a not very primitive place (by the Clark County fair grounds?).

So here we are now!  We've been making progress on unpacking and organizing things, but Andrew makes sure that we don't go too fast.  Things are functional, but we still have a lot of work to do to get it how we want it (our stuff).  After having our old couches moved across the country we were a little disappointed to discover that they wouldn't fit where we had planned to put them (through doorways and around corners), but we're really not that sad because they were nothing special.  We gave them away to a nice guy who lives "up the street" who came to pick them up with his dad between his busy work and finals schedules.  Now we're back to limited seating options as the couch we bought online several weeks ago has yet to arrive... because of some mess-ups on their end.  Hopefully it will come this week!

 

Once the old couches were out we had room for a Christmas tree!  Also plenty of room to drive our dump truck and all other vehicles.

I said yes!

So, you were probably expecting this next post to be about moving to our new house.  Well, sorry, it's not.  You'll just have to wait a little longer!

Instead I'm making record of a dream I had yesterday morning not too long before I woke up for the morning.  I'd write it down in this one particular journal, but I don't know where it's packed...

Anyway, part of the dream was a ward campout (love those!) with people from Cascade Park ward and Hidden Lake ward.  (Hidden Lake ward doesn't do those though... at least not while we lived there.)  I thought it was awesome!  Then the setting was a little different (so maybe separate dream?), but there was a childhood friend who recently got engaged (in real life), Will, and me sitting at a table (maybe someone else?).  After a weird exchange in which I fed my friend a bite of eggs Will said he needed to pull me aside.  Then we were on this staircase thing (made of stone?) and he said he had wanted to ask me something before I said anything to my friend...  Then he asked me to marry him!!!  We were both so happy and excited!!

I woke up ecstatic and told Will : )

I know and love Will more at this point than I did when he really asked me to marry him 7 and a half years ago, so of course I was super happy! What an excellent dream! :  )

Halloween 2015

H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N!  I can't remember any more of the song than that... But it didn't stop me from singing that much to Andrew over and over again!

I'm not always one to be into dressing up for Halloween.  Largely because I have such a hard time committing to a costume idea.  Also because I'm cheap and don't want to shell out much money for something that potentially could just be worn once.  So I look at ideas and think about how I could do something relatively simply and cheap.  After so many days of this it's suddenly almost Halloween.  When it was just Will and I, we more often than not didn't dress up at all.  Now with Andrew I feel like it's somewhere in the parental contract to dress your kid up.  Really, though, what kind of parent would I be if we didn't??!  Will feels like we're totally off the hook for ourselves now, but I'm not against dressing up if I have a good plan : )  Anyway, this year I was also having to keep in mind our temporary status -  no sewing machine, limited other resources (like a glue gun), etc.  I spent way too much time looking at ideas.  I was fairly determined to not just pick a 100% premade something to buy either.  If I was ok with that it would have been pretty easy.  We went from lion to shark to firefighter and that's where we settled.  While I was still determining this more than a week before Halloween, it became evident that I was going to need to order some things online, so suddenly it felt very last minute because we didn't have much wiggle room.  I was going to buy Andrew a hooded zip up sweatshirt and pants that he could re-wear (that way it didn't feel like just a one time costume wear).  Not readily available in the brick and mortar stores, I finally found a black hooded zip up to order through Target.  I would have thought it would be easier to find one, but I really was lucky to find one among a number of sites.  Even then I settled for one with "ears."  I figured if something went wrong he could go as a bear.  (It's actually really cute!)  I was able to go buy the black pants in the store.  I also ordered a plastic firefighter hat online to be sent to Walmart for pickup.  I could have paid more for a "nicer" one, but remember I was trying to not spend a whole lot.  I could have also gotten a better deal per hat if I wanted lots from Oriental Trading, but I only really wanted one, so Walmart it was.  I also got yellow tape at Target.  I taped on "reflective" lines onto the jacket and pants and we paired it with the hat, that of course he wasn't really interested in wearing.  I thought it turned out pretty cute!  People could tell what he was, he felt like he was just in regular clothes (hat aside), and I felt satisfied that I "put it together."

Our main Halloween festivities started with the ward party/trunk-or-treat on October 30.   Unless you count us shopping at Target (again) that morning!  That's when we got the tape, the candy, and some things for our Halloween dinner.  I applied the tape while he napped that afternoon.  He napped for a looong time, and we really should have left sooner to make our other stops and then get to the church on time for the trunk or treat.  It all worked out....

Still bent on trying to save a buck (a curse??!) I was going to check at a dollar store for a cheap plastic firefighter hat on our way north to the church.  I found that there was one right by Walmart where we needed to stop for the hat anyway.  Well, Dollar Magic was an interesting store.  Tons of inventory, yes - everywhere... We looked around for a couple minutes and that was enough.  With my 20/20 hindsight we wouldn't have taken the time.  Oh well.  I also forgot to be totally honest with myself regarding how long it would take for them to get our site to store order (the hat).... We quickly got a couple Halloween dinner items that I figured would be cheaper there than Target that also wouldn't require refrigeration and could just sit in the car while we were at the church.  I also wasted some time looking for plastic spiders (rings or not) that I hoped to have for our dinner.  Not that important, but I was hoping to find them.  Well, it was October 30, so clearly it's time to be packing up all things Halloween and starting to set out Christmas.  So that was an easy way to waste some time, too.  At the time, though, I saw that customer service was right next to the seasonal section.  We went to the counter and they said we'd have to go out to the garden center.  For my site to store order?  Yes.... So we hurried down there to the wintertime layaway center.  We didn't have to wait too long for our turn, but there seemed to be complication left and right with finding our order.  Now, in general, I get annoyed with people badmouthing Walmart and their patrons.  It's not ok to pick on people unless it's Walmart?  Drives me crazy.  I'm not saying they don't have their weaknesses, like the rest of us... that being said, I may still be hypocritical here... sorry.....  So on this evening as I'm looking at the time and it's taking forever and a day and seeing that not only will we not be able to arrive a little early like they requested, but we'll be late.  The guy working on the order mentioned some issue and said with a grin, "That's Walmart for you!"  Internally I raised my eyebrows.  Then I shouted at him (in my head), "YOU are Walmart!"  He regained some approval when he told me he would ring up my other purchases there (though he wasn't supposed to) because it would be faster for me.  We're talking 4-5 items.  It took forever..... and then the last thing was the bananas.  Andrew loves them and we'd been out for a few days.  He said the scale suddenly wasn't working.  Maybe he didn't know the code?  He walked around the area looking for someone to ask for help.  Finally after a phone call he said that someone was going to come.  When???  I didn't mean to be rude but I asked if they were coming right then.  He said they always say that but usually don't.  I ask if I should take the stuff back inside to buy, but really not wanting to.  He said I could pay for everything else then buy the bananas inside.....  So then I tell him we'll leave the bananas and just buy everything else.  Then we rush out and Andrew thinks it's hilarious and awesome that his mom is running across the front of Walmart from one far side to the other pushing the cart telling him we're going "so fast!" ("wooohoooo!!" : )  It was dark... Though I probably would have still run and delighted him in the light : )  By this time it's a little after 6:30, when the activity was set to start.  It took nearly 20 minutes to get to the church from there with the traffic, but of course there were others arriving with us and after us and we really hadn't missed much of anything.

The party was fun.  Since we're so new it was hard to know with some of the people who was really in the ward and who was a friend there with a friend.  There was a puppet show for the kids that we couldn't really hear, then lots of activities to go around to.  Andrew found some playground balls and that was all he needed.  We did take him around to some different booths.  He threw a sticky bug at a target and pinned a nose on a jack-o-lantern.  I colored part of a picture on his behalf.  Of course the cupcake decorating table was pretty much always crowded as was the donut on a string, so we let others do those.  Will bobbed for an apple, then Andrew ate the entire thing (and it wasn't small!) over the course of the evening.  He ate the apple and chased the balls while  we sat on the floor and watched people wrap each other up in toilet paper.

Pinning the nose on the jack-o-lantern.

 

Will got it with no hands!  But he did admit that the shallow bowl made it pretty easy. 

Then we went down to the "parking garage" for the trunk or treat.  I bought a pack of white paper lunch sacks and a pack of crayons at Target to make our decorations.  Someone commented that they were pretty good for having limited resources right now.  I didn't tell her that that was probably about what they would have looked like even if I wasn't so limited... : ) ha  I was proud to tell her, though, that my decoration ideas all came from my head, NOT pinterest.  And that, my friends, is what I'd call a success!  Will and I took turns taking Andrew to different cars and collecting candy in his hat.  If he sees it, he's interested and wants you to share.  Otherwise he isn't big enough to ask for candy yet.  Or to ask if we've eaten his stash.... : )

I took a picture of these at home after I'd colored the faces.  Good thing, too, because they spun around in the trunk spending most of their time backwards... ugh.  And I hadn't thought to draw on both sides!  Next time...  And sorry, this is actually my last picture/caption as I'm adding them and going back over things.  At this point I'm going to make you just turn your head to see them right side up because I don't want to fiddle with figuring out how far back in the process I need to go to turn it.... Never mind.  It was going to bother me and the good news is it was easy : )  Now it's easier to see, too, that I accidentally broke my black crayon... so annoying!

Saturday morning (October 31) we drove up to a "pumpkin patch" in Mahwah.  It kind of bothers me when they put a bunch of picked pumpkins in a field, and it's not the actual patch, but oh well.  Is that weird?  BUT, they had sanded down all the stem "handles" for maximum safety and comfort in picking and carrying pumpkins, and that was nice.  From Jersey City it took about an hour to get up there, but we went on new roads so it was all very interesting.  PLUS the trees are all super pretty with all the different colored leaves!  It's so  refreshing to be somewhere where there's more than 1.5 seasons.  The pumpkin patch had lots of neat and cute things.  Interesting squash to see, cut outs for pictures, hay and corn mazes, a corn box with tractors and dump trucks, farm fresh produce to buy, hayride, fun decorations, etc.  Andrew wanted an apple as soon as he saw them so we let him "pick" one out.  We got that and some apple cider donuts to enjoy.  mmmm : )  Once again, with his apple, life was good.

Someone offered to take our picture here - how nice! 

Sharing apple cider donut bites! 

We thought the apple cut out was a good choice for our apple lover. 

That face is making his car/truck/bus/and apparently tractor vehicle noise.

He loved the corn box!  The dried kernels had the same coloration as candy corn... must be why those colors?  I had never even considered that that was based on a real thing.  They were really pretty to see so many in one spot.  We found the kernels here and there for almost the rest of the day.  We also had to keep them out of his mouth - he's mostly figured out what's not food, but this looked like food!  There was a nice family next to us there and the grandma kept making a small outcry every time he tried or succeeded.  Her son/daughter/in-law? kept getting after her like they were embarrassed.  It was kind of funny and I know she was just trying to help so I wasn't worried about it.  They were very nice and we talked with them for a bit.  

I thought those long twisty squash were neat.  They had several interesting varieties of squash, pumpkins, etc to see. 

He was so excited to see the pumpkins he was trying to pick them up!  He's loved to see and "pet" pumpkins that we've been seeing around lately.  He calls them something like "bup" and apples are usually close to "bap."  He can see them in pictures (books, grocery store, etc) and he gets excited.  We really love the book Apple Farmer Annie and I'm so glad it's one of the handful we packed along to have with us while in temporary housing! 

Mom!  I'm at a pumpkin patch! 

Family selfie!  of sorts... 

A nice teenage girl offered to take our picture!  We made sure to get their family, too. 

Riding back on the hayride with Dad! 

They had some giant decorations made with hay bales.  This skeleton was cool.  They had painted different sized sticks and logs to make the body.  Not pictured are the minion and Olaf : )  (I just had to draw the line somewhere on what to put on the blog!  I do have them if you really want (need?) to see them. They were two bales stacked and then just painted to look like them.

We thought this skeleton going in for a slam dunk was funny and clever! 

This was my favorite hay bale decoration! 

There was no real reason we had Will's cut out picture in this one.  I do think it's fun/funny, though : )  Probably because of the funny face he's making.  Those are the pumpkins we chose to take home with us.  Probably since it was Halloween and the "end" of the season for them you could take one from the hayride patch home for free - 1 for each person.  So of course we needed three to bring home to be able to play with under the coffee table.

After exploring and enjoying that place we crossed the street to a park by some ball fields.  We played at the park for a little bit and enjoyed the scenery as there was a nice pond and lots of trees right by it.

SO COOL!!!  A car he can drive himself!  vrrrroooom! 

K, but seriously, guys, look at that scenery!  Being there with my little family was like one giant peaceful sigh.  Real life!  I didn't have to pinch myself : )

Fun times on the swings, including underdogs!

Then we went to a new friend's first birthday party!  We played with toys, ate food, and played at a park near their house.  We met some of their medical school friends who also just moved to the area as well as got to know some others in the ward... who also have moved in in the last little while.  In CA it was easy to find people with tech related jobs.  Out here it's a lot harder.  Especially among the "young family" set in our ward.  Most of them are here for residencies, internships, etc - medical things.  So it's interesting to hear them all talk about those sorts of things with each other!

That evening we had our Halloween dinner!  We didn't feel like we needed to take Andrew trick or treating around the building, so it was just family stuff then, which was nice.  I wasn't able to print out a menu this year, but made sure to tell Will what all the stuff was called anyway. : )  We ate it off of those cute partitioned Halloween plates/school lunch trays I found in the Target dollar section.  (And I told myself I wouldn't be buying new Halloween decorations/stuff this year as we're in temporary housing! ha!)

Andrew likes "monster brains" and "monster eyeballs!"

 There was also "mummy toast" and "healthy candy corn"

 I guess we don't have any pictures of the "pumpkin juice," which did have a small amount of pumpkin in it!  (The rest was carrot mango.)

Some of the mummies had mouths!  Honestly, I think they looked a little cooler before going into the oven.  Also, if I weren't so stingy there would have been more/larger cheese pieces to give it a better mummy look.

 Dessert: Spider Eggs - with little spiders... : ) mmmm

Another good Halloween in the books! And in my tummy.... : )