Pumpkin Time!

This year we went to a pick-your-own pumpkin patch!

This place is a pick-your-own bonanza - pumpkins, apples, and, during the summer, all sorts of berries.

We've come a long way from the pumpkin patches in California. As in, oh look! An actual patch! Of pumpkins! And they're not piled on top of hay that is scattered on top of asphalt in a big strip mall parking lot. They're on ACTUAL VINES in an ACTUAL FIELD! Who knew?

Obviously not us. Because when we stopped by the cashier hut before heading out to the field, James asked the man if we needed any tools to cut the pumpkins off the vines. He looked at us like we were idiots. Turns out, the pumpkins just pull right off! Geez man!

So we started at the bottom of this field:

We got about 10 feet in and James said, "Hey, Ella, how about this pumpkin?"

And she was like, "Yeah! It's cold! Let's go in the car!"

So they grabbed her pumpkin and a few more on the way (because it was buy 1, get 1 free day! Heck yeah!) and drove around to the other side of the field and waited while Peyton and I looked for our perfect pumpkins.

Do you see our Blazer? That teeny, tiny, little blue and white speck at the top of the field? I found my perfect giant HEAVY pumpkin right away. Next time, I'll wait until I'm much, much, closer to the car to pick the perfect giant HEAVY pumpkin. Dear Lord! That was a long way to carry that stupid thing.

Peyton searched and searched and searched:

We hiked through that entire pumpkin patch and got to the car and he still hadn't found his perfect pumpkin. So we gave him a couple choices and made him pick one. Sometimes it's hard to be a perfectionist. Sweet little boy.

Then we went apple picking. We searched the rows for our favorite apples:

Honeycrisp!

I loved hearing those sweet little voices: "Twist and pull!"

"Twist and pull!"

"Twist and pull!"

Back at home, here's my pumpkin and Peyton's pumpkin, hanging out on front porch:

The pumpkins Ella and James scooped up on the way back to the car are in the living room:

But Ella insisted on sleeping with hers on her Tinker Bell table in her room. Because she's the cutest girl ever:

Yay for pumpkin time!

Broccoli and Bow Tie Pasta

I just love this pasta dish. It's simple and fresh and delicious.

I originally got the recipe from Ina Garten (you can find her version here), but I changed it up a little bit. And sometimes, when I feel like living on the razor's edge, I add the broccoli to the pasta water while the pasta is cooking. I think it's fun to try to time it so both the pasta and the broccoli is done at exactly the same time. I'm serious. I think it's fun. Every single time I add the broccoli into that boiling pasta water I get a smile on my face. I'm a wild woman in the kitchen - watch out!

Broccoli and Bow Ties

Kosher salt

4 cups broccoli florets

1 pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 lemon, zested

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup toasted pignoli (pine) nuts

Freshly grated Parmesan

Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water. Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon. Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to the package directions. Drain well and add to the broccoli.

Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Off the heat, add 2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, and lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta. Toss well. Season to taste, sprinkle with the pine nuts and cheese, and serve.

To toast pine nuts, place them in a dry saute pan over medium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown.

Serves: 4

Enjoy!

Monster Mash!

So fun! Watch our awesome Halloween video!

Cast

Frankenstein: Ella

Dracula: Peyton

Frankenstein's Monster: James

Bride of Frankenstein: Me

Wolfman: Our sweet dog up in doggy heaven, Max

I presented it to Peyton and Ella this morning. During the entire first screening Ella would scream, "NO IT ISN'T!" every time I said, "Look! That's you! Look! There's Daddy!"

After a bit of explaining she finally understood how I had put our pictures in. Then my sweet kids watched that video approximately 20 times in a row. Ella spent her time during those screenings practicing the video dance moves and kissing our characters as they came up. Kind of awesome.

Thanks, Ali, for the great idea!

Tissue Ghosts

Every Halloween-time my kids and I make Tissue Ghosts. They're fun and fast and incredibly easy and practically free. And also because I remember making them with my mom when I was little.

This year we decided to hang all of our ghosties (Tissue Ghosts, Glue Ghosts, Windsock Ghosts) together in one area. You know, for that designer grouping effect. We call it the Ghost Garage.

I also call it Making Martha Stewart Cringe - One Colored Pushpin at a Time:

If you've never made them before, don't worry - you probably have all the necessary materials in your house already. Maybe not the perfect Martha Stewart-worthy materials, but really, it's a craft made out of hanging Kleenex from the ceiling, so who cares? Right?

I'll tell you who cares: Peyton cares. Halfway through hanging the ghosts with the only pushpins I had in the house, he said, "Mommy, you REALLY need to get some clear pushpins." And I was all, "I have taught you well, young grasshopper."

Tissue Ghosts

Materials:

Facial Tissue

Marker

Scissors

Fishing Line

(or white string if you're rebellious like me)

Pushpins

(crazy colored ones if you're rebellious like me)

Instructions:

Crumple up one piece of tissue into a ball. Notice the concentration on Ella's face:

Put it in the middle of another tissue, and fold that tissue up around the ball.

Cut a long piece of string and tie it around the tissue to hold the ball in place. Leave one end of the string long so you can hang your ghost:

Use the marker to draw a face on your ghost like this:

Or like this:

And make the "Boooooooooo!" sound:

Swing your ghost around and knock your sibling in the head a few times:

(Peyton's gray tooth is starting to fade back to white a little bit!)

Hang your ghost from the ceiling with a pushpin and scare all your friends!

Happy Haunting!

Predictions Via the Cell Phone

Ella: "Yay! My cell phone! I need to call the police. Now be quiet."

(Dials out loud) "459-795-382-0"

"Hello? Hello?"

(Closes phone) "They hang-ed up."

Me: "Why don't you call again?"

Ella: "Okay, I'm going to call them."

(Dials out loud) "321-470-852-369-06"

"Yeah, hello."

(Listens for a moment) "What time is our house going to caught on fire?"

(Hangs up)

Me: "What did they say?"

Ella: "He said it's going to be snowy on Sunday. He said our house is going to be on fire on Thursday."

Me: "Did the police say what to do if our house is on fire?"

Ella: "Crawl and if the door is cold then we can open it and call the police and go in the police car but we won't go in jail."

Me: "Oh, good. Because I don't want to go to jail."

Ella: "Me neither!"