Halu-Halo

What I learned this Hallow's Eve

...since I'm on a list kick

1. I'm a horrible, terrible micromanager of our pumpkin carving activities.  I was reminded time and time again, "I can do it myself, mom." (with the emphasis on mom)

2. That mummy dogs are always a hit!  Sure they are loaded with sodium and gosh knows what else, but I never have to beg anyone to have to eat them.

3. That neither begging nor pleading, threatening or cajoling could convince my 18 month old to channel her inner ladybug.  And that I must have forgotten or purposely purged the memory of this phase of toddlerhood.

It must be a self protective measure of the human race to do so, I think, because I'm sure this scene was quite frightening to those without children.

Did I say nothing convinced her?  Bribing sure did - a bag of pretzels and a lollipop did the trick.

And the 4th thing I learned this Hallow's Eve is:

4.  The first place to look for a lost piece of candy (and said lollipop),

is on your toddler's clothing.

 

I hope your night has been fun!  We had a wonderful Halloween, but I earned my candy bar tonight!  Sweet dreams, friends!

10 Things that make you go...

10. It's supposed to snow tomorrow?  I'm starting to fear the Mayan predictions of weather gone wild before the end of the world.  

9.  And along those lines, I have found myself not completely prepared for this weather.  Son #2 asked me this morning if I knew where his winter coat was, and by golly, I had no idea.

8.  In fact, we're supposed to have family pictures taken on Sunday (on location, natural light).  I may have to rethink the tutu that I was planning for Daughter #1 to wear.  It's now supposed to be about 40 degrees.

7.  It's also supposed to be pretty chilly for Halloween.  How do I  supplement Daughter #1's witch tutu without me covering up her black and white striped tights?      

6. Speaking of Halloween - it falls on a Monday this year.  Are schools ready for candy hangover symptoms that are sure to rear their ugly little heads?  I can't be held responsible for Krabby Patties that find themselves into my children's backpacks.

5.  I will, after all, be focusing on digging out all of the Snickers and Kit Kats to put in the freezer for my own personal consumption.

4.  Even though my doctor just this last week thought I could lose a few pounds.  As a "preventative measure" she said. Humph.

3.  I told her I would do my best.  After Halloween.  Or maybe after Thanksgiving.

2.  I need the calories!  I will be writing my heart out in November.  And training for my first half marathon in March.   

...and the #1 Thing that will make you go Eek in the Halu-Halo household is

1.  I have a Finished Object to show!  Can I get a...WOOP-WOOP!  

A charity quilt made using fabrics designed by Jay McCarroll himself....fabrics donated to members of the Modern Quilt Guilds for a quilt challenge.  The NOVA Modern Quilt Guild will be sending our quilts to Inova Fairfax Hospital NICU.

I call it "Building Blocks," and I dream for it to go to a baby who will lay, roll, and grow on it, dragging it along, dirtying it, staining it, so his parent will have to patch or re-sew it, and rewash it again and again.    

It is about 30 x 45, made improv style using a log cabin method.

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Friday.  Stay warm Northeast!

Before we run out of it..

I thought I'd post a new recipe.

It seems that the apples we picked last weekend won't last more than another week here. Now with my boys eating like grown men, they are going through our bushels swiftly, eating almost 4 large apples a day EACH alone.  Not to mention the girls and we parents, who are proudly doing our share.    

In fact, aside from the apple pie crisp I made yesterday, I've only cooked up apple butter, and that too is dwindling fast.  I am down to the last cup and a half of a 4 cup batch I made on Tuesday.  

I can definitely say that we were not lacking on fiber this last week.

This apple butter recipe was a result of several apple butter consultations with a couple of my girlfriends who were in the applebuttermakingspirit. From this wonderful recipe, they altered the amount of sugar to their tastes and I was going to follow suite.  Until I couldn't find my vanilla (who loses their bottle of vanilla?), and then in a fit of "oh what the heck," I decided to throw in a few different spices.

But it was a hit!  Hopefully you will like it.

-------------

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Ingredients:

7-9 chopped apples (peeled)

1/2 cup white suger

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

 

1. Chop apples and throw it into your slow cooker.  Fill that baby up!

Here is a picture of my little sweetheart.  I've had her forever and as much as I say that I'm going to need to upgrade her, I just can't.  We've come a long way, baby:

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour on top.

3. Set to high and cook 4-5 hours.  At the fourth hour, I helped along the apples and mashed it with my potato masher.  I had children salivating for it, after all.

Spread it on toast, on waffles, pancakes, or simply spoon it up and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Have a wonderful Friday!

 

A different kind of luxury

It's times like these that make me all giddy inside.

It took me a few minutes of arranging them *just so* so that I could snap a picture for you all, so that I could spread a little bit of apple-love.

Aren't they just so pretty?  So simple and pure, nurturing, and literally full-filling.  

How lucky I am to have a house full of apples, pulled right from the tree, touched only by my children's fingers.  Their skins are so thin that my toddler has no problem biting through them.  And they smell just heavenly, their scent greeting me as soon as I walk through my front door.

I think our trip to the orchard last weekend was just what I needed, with green and blue as far as I could see, with nothing to complicate or disrupt it except for the smatterings of the red and yellows of apples.  Where the thought of material, economy, expectation and competition is absent, and instead, replacing it was simply the need to run, to climb, and to just breathe in the air of just.that.moment.

These were easy moments, my children completely in their element, my Hubby relaxed, inspecting his pickings, and me just following behind when it is me usually Pushing, Cajoling, Preparing...parents - you know what I am talking about.  We didn't count our minutes, nor were there time hacks to make.  Ah, to be serenaded by a clear, beautiful day.

Perhaps it was my memories of my Lola's (grandmother's) fruit trees nourishing me on those days we were on her land which brought me some quiet. Or perhaps it might have been the way my children laughed almost the entire afternoon we picked apples which calmed my usual too-type-A personality.  But on this day, I walked away from the orchard bushels heavier.

And a hundred times richer.

Happy Monday everyone.

 

 

 

And he tells me that I'm the gullible one

We have quite a few running jokes here in this house.  And the butt of most of these jokes is me.  Hubby says that I should be lucky to know that I can bind the family in humor, even if I'm the subject of it.  Sure, babe, thanks a lot.

My family especially consistently discusses my infomercial habits; that I am the queen of gullible.  That even while vacationing with my parents one summer, after watching Billy Mays for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning, I bought so much Orange Glo that they used it for a couple of years in their home.  Or how I ordered this horrible makeup on autodelivery from QVC, and that they weren't even my colors, but boy - were they a deal!  

And don't get me started on the Home Party Planning stuff.  

I can go on and on.

But I digress.  

This post is not about me.

Because look what the cat dragged in.  

Yes, it's this.  Yes, my Hubby brought it home.  

My kids jumped up for joy.  I literally said, "O.M.G" while I rolled my eyes into the back of my head.

Really?

It sucked by the way.  I almost killed myself by hitting my forehead.

It's even worse than this, which he brought home a couple of months ago.

I really should pass my tiara over to him, don't you think?

 

TGIF!  

 

Still Army Strong

This morning my groin muscles are screaming at me.  I was barely able to get down the stairs to wish Hubby a good day at work.  If I didn't think he was going to laugh at me, I probably would have just waved him away and somehow directed Sugar the Boxer to walk herself.  Then again, if I didn't force myself to move, my muscles probably would have locked up in place, so instead I balled up my complaints and swallowed them whole.

Because I am a finisher.

A proud finisher, actually. 

The Army Ten Miler was a race I have wanted to do for a long time.  While I'm not a Bucket List maker, I pined at the opportunity that I could show myself that I could finish 10 miles and run with my community of Army supporters.  

But of course, life happened: moving, babies & the usual Army shenanigans. 

This year was my chance.  I trained with a great friend of mine, and in the process changed my idea of running.

I hated running while in the Army because of the pressure running symbolized, though I was a fair runner back then.  But after I left the Army I avoided it except for weight loss, and in the last decade, I preached at how terrible I am at it, and how slow I am.  

I suppose it's part of my self-depracating humor, but can I tell you all a secret?  

I am actually really proud of myself.  

Who knew I would become a reformed runner?

And who knew that I would finish with my personal record? (which may be slow to you all, but in my eyes, I was the wind incarnate)

I mean, I have always known that the concept of Army Strong is for the entire unit - the organization, the soldiers, the family.  But, as a veteran-turned-spouse, sometimes I forget.  My life in the last decade has been ArmyStrongSpouseFamilySupportUnit.  Out of necessity. 

Hubby for a week had been deflecting my race neurosis; on Sunday he cheered for me from the sidelines, and then greeted me with a hug and an "I'm so proud of you" after I crossed the finish line.  He knew I would do well all the while, although I didn't want to believe him.

On Sunday, Army Strong was me.  Me the former Army Nurse, me the Army Spouse Extraordinaire, me the Mom of Century, me the Writer of the Next Bestseller, me the Crafter of all of this year's Christmas Gifts.(excuse my shameful endorphins)

Now if I can only stand from this chair...

 

Have a great Tuesday!  I hope your weekend went well!

 

 

 

 

 

New Routine

Hello friends, this morning I finally was able to wake up after a few days of traveling followed by many days of trying to recover from jetlag and a resurgence of my fall allergies.  But, I am here!  And I'm blogging - thank goodness; how I have missed you all so.  

It's been a long couple of weeks, yo.  It involved a trip back to my home state for a funeral, but was actually a culmination of a few big and life changing events for close members of my family.  It took all this time for me to mourn, digest, review, and finally establish a new routine.

It came in handy that I had a couple of tools on hand:

How many minutes have I used asking, acquiring, achieving, taking stock, and working more more and more?  Goal-oriented, self critical, push-through-it-all, by golly, not just bloom where I plant, but want to flower with fruit with my roots embedded deep and far.  You all know me.

Balance.  These last few days, I prayed for balance, and thanked God for my blessings, for even the stains on my shirt when I walked out of my door this morning.  That the world is really small, our time here short, our potential- while infinite- is limited by the hours in the day and the strength in our bodies.  

Acceptance. But still Thankful.

Mind - Body AND Spirit.

Have a peaceful day everyone.