Boo at the Zoo

We spent a fun afternoon with some friends. We went to a special costume and candy collecting day at the Zoo. It is Boo at the Zoo. It is very fun and very crowded. It was a nice day to see the animals.

Halloween Decorations

The lady that watched my children when I work has her house decorated with lots of cute and fun Halloween decorations. My boy was asking about these decorations and so I told him we could get ours out when we got home. Almost everything I have I got from my mother in law. I am not really into decorating for all the holidays except Christmas. I am realizing that it really is not about me, it is about the kids. They are the ones that love the decorations.


Last night after all the boys had gone to bed I was cleaning up some of the toys and such. I found these cars on top of my toilet and put them away.



The next morning my son went about the house placing his cars in different places. Then cheerfully announced, "mom, tell me good job for decorating for Halloween."







My goodness that was cute until later that day I asked him to clean up another one of his messes and he put most of it on the couch claiming that he was decorating for Halloween again!

Mr. Independant

My baby has been getting better at picking up foods and eating them himself. Well today he was mad when I tried to feed him. He wanted to do it himself!

Give me that spoon!


I wanted to do it!


Now I am mad!


Oh that is more like it.

Halloween Dinner

I don't know why this uploaded sideways but I can not seem to get it to upload another way.


The theme for my recipe group this month was Halloween. I found this idea on the Internet and used my own meatloaf recipe. Here are the instructions if you want to try it out.


Meatloaf Mice
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c onion, minced
1 egg

SAUCE:
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c. ketchup


To decorate:
Carrots
Spaghetti
Raisins/craisons
You can do this with your own meatloaf recipe too.

First cut 2 coins per mice out of the carrots for ears. Then make long thin strips out of the remaining carrots for the tails, one for each mouse. Steam until they are crisp tender. DON'T OVERCOOK!!

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together the ingredients for the mice bodies and shape into 4 little mice shaped loafs on baking sheet. Have them shaped to a point in the front and rounded in the back. Bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven or until desired doneness.

Take and cut little slits for the ears about 1/3 from the pointed end. Place the carrot coins in the slits for the ears. Make a tiny slit in the rounded wide end for the tail and place one of the carrot strips in the slit for the tail. Use the raisins for the eyes. Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles into pieces and place around the "nose" (pointed end) for whiskers. Mix ingredients for the sauce. Place a large spoonful of sauce on a plate. Place a meatloaf mouse on top of the sauce to serve.




These are some cookies that another lady made.

Where's Daddy?

In mid September we bought a 4-plex. Mark has been looking for one for a couple of years. He has been looking for a unit that would cash flow. He finally found one thanks to Brett. Ever since we closed he has been tirelessly working on the place. All the tenant had vacated when the bank re-possessed the place and they pretty much left it a mess. Mark has replaced sub floor, patched holes in the walls, laid kitchen and bathroom flooring, layed carpet, painted, cut tree limbs, shampooed carpets, cleaned all day, cleaned windows, made numerous trips to Home Depot and Lowes, established an LLC, opened a business account at the bank with our two children in tow, listed an add in the paper, patched fences,and searched for, wheeled and dealed and loaded and unloaded by himself 2 fridges and 3 oven's. All while trying to screen and find good renters among all the potential renters I was sending to him.

These are just the things I can think of off the top of my head. I know there are many more things he had done for his property in the last month. I have a hard time keeping track from day to day.

He has been working 10 hour days at work and then putting in 2-4 hours at the apts after work. All day Friday and Saturday he has been there as well. On top of all this he has been playing flag football and has also been playing co-ed volleyball with me on city league teams. What a guy! This is why I ask where is daddy? We have missed him and are anxious for him to be home with us again.

As a side note.....After a particularly annoying day spent cleaning he commented that he hated cleaning all day and did not know how anyone could do it. I just laughed and said that is all I ever do. I clean teeth at work and then I clean house at home all while catering to two little boys. He sympathized with me as I sympathized with him.

I am sure grateful to have Mark. He is so awesome. He had never layed kitchen flooring or carpet before this project. He did his research and found we would save at least 50% if he did it himself, so he did it himself. This is what I love about him. He is not afraid to tackle a job himself and save us some of our hard earned money. My dad is like this and it is a trait that I always wanted my husband to have. I feel so blessed.

So here is what you have been waiting for the four-plex. Here are some pictures of them. They are 2 bedroom, 1 bath, have washer dryer hook-ups, extra storage and there is one more available. Interested? Hehehe. We have rented out 3 of them. One is being lived in now and two have deposits down and plan to move in on the 1st of Nov.

Fourth File, Fourth Picture

My friend RaNell gave me this TAG.
Here's how it works. I go to my pictures and click on the 4th file, then upload the 4th picture. Then explain what the picture is of. Here's my picture:




This was last year at this time. We went to the corn maze. This little ride was a hit, and so were the suckers. We need to make it to the corn maze again this year. Last year was fun.

Oh I TAG Tanner, Leslie, Tanya and whoever else.

Flossing Tips

I am a Hygienist and for two full days a week I remind patients to floss their teeth. Sometimes I wish I could just play this video instead. My sister found it on YouTube and it is really funny. Thanks Ang and thanks Jammie.

PROP 8

I am posting some more info about preserving marriage. Watch these video's and leave a comment if you would like.

Eight young people talk about the issues in CA.


Elder Bednar has a discusion on prop 8 with young people.


Children learning about gay marriage in MA public schools.

Here are some helpful websites. What is Prop 8? Protect Marriage

Who is losing rights?

Simply Happy Designs

My friend Cathy just started a new blog to promote her photo card designs. She is very creative and good at whipping up new designs. She is having a give away of a custom designed Christmas card. I usually order from Costco, but I often see duplicate cards of others who order there too. I was thinking it would be nice to have something different this year. Most of her cards are only $15 so I could still print at Costco for .17 4x5 or .39 5x6 and get them done for pretty good price. So check her out. http://simplyhappydesigns.blogspot.com/

FLASHBACK!

My little brother is a freshmen in high school and he asked me to post some ideas for creatively asking friends to dances. I am not a good one to ask. Thinking back to high school I can not remeebmer any creative invitaions to dances. There may have been one but I can not remember so it must not have been that creative.
I happened to document two invitations when I was a Ricks. So Tanner here you go. The first is a date invitation I got from my friend Neil. He dropped off a box of Lucky Charms that read, " You are so Charming, I would be Lucky if you would go on a date with me." I returned a porceline fortune cookie with a note that read, "yes."



In this invite the guy had my roommates place pink feathers and pink balloons in my room with a giant pink sign that read, " I would be tickled pink if you would go to homecoming with me."
Speaking of roommates, aren't they cute. I sure loved rooming with these girls. Heather, Lora, Emily, Me, Jess, Tasha. I have enjoyed reading their blogs.

Tanner, I hope that helps.

Stand for Something or Fall for Anything

Last week the subject of same sex marriage came up with a group of women all of my same LDS belief. Some were for and some were against same sex marriage. To tell you the truth, I really had not given it a lot of thought. I do not believe in same sex marriage but I really had not thought a lot about the consequences it could have on our society. I don't agree with homosexuality as a practice but I was not sure if I cared whether or not they married. Let them do what they want, it doesn't effect me or my family or does it?
This week I have discussed this issue with many other friends of and not of my religion, I have been enlightened by their points of view.
Tonight I read a friends blog that gave a link to this article. The Divine Institution of Marriage. This article brought clarity to my mind and reaffirmed my stand.
Then I checked my inbox and found a forward urging religious and non-religious people to fast on Sunday October 12th for the 'building block of society,' the Family. It said, "Pray for a positive outcome for California Proposition 8, that hearts may be softened, that understanding and wisdom will prevail, and that marriage will continue to be defined as between a man and a woman to protect families."
I find that I am often times confused about the political issues and canidates these days. I don't (have) make time to research all of the issues. When I do try to tune in I question if I am hearing the truth or just what the media wants me to hear. More often than not I just go about my busy life and forget about political issues. This one has really got me though. I plan on joining in on the fast on October 12th and urge you to do the same. Also read that article, it really puts things into perspective. Where do you stand?