Happy Halloween!

Tonight is the big night!

Sara has been beside herself with excitement all day.

Sara and Steve are out trick-or-treating, and I'm here at home in charge of candy distribution.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Sneak Peak

On Monday evening, Sara's school had a Halloween carnival.  From the decorations to the teachers in costume to the games, the evening was the perfect start to Halloween Week.  I continue to be impressed with the ways the staff at Sara's school put in extra hours and work to create memorable events for the kids. 

Here is our Super Girl in the entrance, which was filled with bubbles, strobe lights, ghosts and goblins.

 Right now, Sara is obsessed with Thomas, Superman, and Batman (I swear, her dad has no influence over her whatsoever ....).  Based on her current loves, Super Girl seemed like the appropriate costume choice.  Her teachers must have talked about the party all day Monday, because she came home from school and immediately wanted to put on her costume.  And since her one fabulous night in character, she's wanted to wear it non-stop.  Sometimes life doesn't get better than a costume.

Steve showed Sara how to fly like Superman.  Here she is showing off her skills:

I know I'm totally biased, but I'm going to go out on this limb tonight: I'm pretty sure my kid was the cutest one at the Halloween Carnival.  When I talked to my sister on the phone tonight, she agreed that Sara most definitely had to have been the cutest. God bless aunties who judge simply based on principle.  (I'm sure these statements are totally annoying to anyone reading this post besides grandparents, but I won't offer apologies this time).  

More Halloween pics to come after our tricks-or-treats.  For now, enjoy your sneak peak!

Down on the Farm

After Saturday's storms, the weather on Sunday was beautiful and we were able to enjoy some time at the pumpkin patch (which is actually a whole lot more than an average pumpkin patch).  Sara enjoyed feeding the goats.  Her first method was to hold out just one kernel of food at a time, which didn't really go over.  Then she took bigger handfuls and started dumping them somewhere in the vicinity of the goats' mouths.  I'm not sure they were fans of her feeding, but she thought it was pretty awesome.

 I'm going to put it out there that I think every parent's goal at the pumpkin patch (as evidenced by the number of thousand dollar cameras and fancy fall outfits on display at the p-patch on Sunday) is to get the adorable fall sitting-amidst-many-pumpkins shot that will forever serve as a reminder of the quality family time that was had during a nice fall day "out in the country."  Well, Sara doesn't really pose for shots like this, so I had to go for the action pics.  The one below, for example, I like to call, "Sure, you can take a picture, but I'm going to keep walking whether you get the shot or not."

 In the pumpkin-lifting category, Sara scored high.

 By far, the biggest hit at the patch, which I should just call a farm, was the barrel train.  The glimmer of excitement in my girl's eyes at the prospect of riding a on (in?) real life "train" was almost more than my heart could handle.

 You can always judge a dad's worth based on whether he'll also squeeze into the barrel.

 Sara enjoyed looking at the turkeys, chickens, and horses.

 The flower on the right side of this picture was right at Sara's height, which would have allowed for a great photo op.  Instead, she chose to stand on her tip-toes and look through the taller flower.  Whatever works...

 I love days like our Sunday at the farm.  Simple, fun, complete.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Despite the fact that I proudly sported my Twins shirt during their abominable series against the Yankees a couple weeks ago, their season quickly ended.  However, my number #2 team is still in season, and for the first time in franchise history, the Rangers are going to the World Series.  The excitement level here in DFW is high, high, high.  Grown men and women who have waited their entire lives to see their beloved Rangers make it to the World Series are watching their dreams come true.  Seeing the emotion in the stands last night (through the TV, of course) was pretty inspiring.  I told Steve that it may be time for me to finally buy a Rangers shirt ... problem is, I don't think I could find one right now if I tried.

This morning I'm going to redeem a gift certificate Steve gave me over a year ago for a massage, pedicure, and manicure.  While I rarely do this type of thing, this will be the second massage I've had in a year (my mom and I went last spring), and I'm certainly looking forward to it (and trying not to feel guilty for spending this Saturday morning away from home).

If the weather holds up this afternoon - rain is in the forecast - we're going to head over to the pumpkin patch for some good old fashioned family fun, as Clark Griswold would say.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

*Update: It's storming like crazy, so there will be no pumpkin patch trip for us today.  Fortunately, there's plenty of good college football to watch.  And in what can only be described as some crazy twist of fate, the Cyclones just upset the Longhorns in Austin, 28-21.  Hook that, horns!

Necessities...

 ...she's got 'em all.

So Long at the Fair

Melissa and Adam came to town for a quick weekend visit, and the top item on our agenda was a visit to the State Fair of Texas.  The weather on Saturday was beautiful, and we had the best time.

Melissa and Adam rode the giant ferris-wheel, also known around these parts as The Texas Star.  Sara took her first spin on the merry-go-round.  She was holding on tight in this picture, but was going hands-free by the end of the ride.

With just a little peer pressure, we convinced Melissa to try a fried jalapeno.  Doesn't she look so cute with it?  She only ate one, but that's one more than she'd ever had before.

Steve is a sucker for fair games.  I try to be supportive, but it's a struggle.  He and Adam were happy to pose with their winnings: a Cowboys ball and a Vikings ball.  We all watched the game between the two teams together on Sunday.  Bad and badder.

I had to post this picture because, though it doesn't highlight the fair in any way, it's important to note that Sara hugged me and posed for the camera at the same time.  Delight.

 Adam decided to purchase some deep fried guacamole.  In theory, it didn't sound so bad.  In reality, it didn't taste so bad.  In our sleep, however, it haunted us.  We came to a consensus that the fried frito pie was the #1 food choice of the day.

A number of museums are part of the state fair grounds.  We took a similar picture last year outside the Natural History Museum.

 Sara spent a good hour or more touring the fair like this.  She woke up in time for the car show and was thrilled to sit in the driver's seat!

A nice man went to great lengths to take a picture of us in front of Big Tex.  We didn't have the heart to tell him he'd cut Sara out of the picture, so we'll have to make do with just the top of her head.

 After leaving the fair, we headed to Matt's for some fine Mexican cuisine.  I guess we thought it was a good idea because, you know, our pants still buttoned.  We left Matt's more full than any person should ever feel, but also completely happy and satisfied.  We drove home and everyone promptly went to sleep. 

Thanks for coming, Mel and Adam.  Love, miss, see you soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Little Bee

Last night, the final twenty-five pages of Little Bee were calling to me from the nightstand when I climbed into bed.  So although I was tired from our quick trip and happy to be back under my own covers, I couldn't resist the urge to finish the book.  Book club isn't for a couple of weeks, but I am so anxious to share my thoughts with you now.

First, the back of the book gives this information on the story: We don't want to tell you what happens in this book.  It is truly a special story and we don't want to spoil it.  Nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this: this is the story of two women.  Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face.  Two years later, they meet again -- the story starts here ... Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it.  When you do, please don't tell them what happens.  The magic is in how the story unfolds.

Out of respect for the author's statement, I won't say much about the actual story.  However, I will say that I deeply loved this book.  Not in the way I love some books ... not because I enjoyed predicting what would happen or because it ended just the way I thought it might.  I loved it because it challenged my head and my heart (and at times, it broke the latter).  This story forced me to open my eyes, even though I really may rather have kept them shut.  It moved me in a way that only true human injustice, love, betrayal, sacrifice, and triumph can.

Little Bee belongs on every bookshelf.  Read it; you won't be able to help but internalize this incredible story.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore

We're back from a quick weekend road trip to Kansas to meet Sara's new cousin, Lexey.  Sara was great in the car (with the exception of a huge blowout on the way up and one on the way back that required a longer-than-anticipated stop, undressing in gas station parking lots, an emergency Lysol purchase, and clothes in the trash).  Seriously, though, other than that, she was a perfect rider.  Here are just a few pictures of our weekend.  I wish Sara didn't live so far away from her cousins ...

 Sweet Lexey enjoying her swing.

 Lyndsey and Sara had the best time together.  They got along perfectly, shared, hugged, giggled, and even slept wonderfully in the same room.  This morning when I walked in to check on them, they were both sitting up just chatting!

Suckers on the porch.  The weather was beautiful, and they ran around outside for a long time.

Candid shot of Sara, Lyndsey, Ashlee, and Lexey.

Spaghetti Squash

While I have long been intrigued by spaghetti squash, I've never been brave enough to make it.  I must have gotten a wild hair at the store yesterday, though, because I bought one, and then I proceeded to actually cook it.

 Per the simple instructions attached to the squash, I cut it in half and placed it on a baking sheet.

 It went into the oven on 375 for exactly one hour.

 I wasn't sure what the spaghetti squash would taste like, so I decided to go a fairly generic route for the meat portion of the entree.  I sauteed chicken and veggies with one of our go-to seasoning mixes, Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Seasonings: Original Mixed-Up Salt.  It contains a variety of spices and flavors.

 For the vegetable medley, I used onions, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, and Anaheim peppers.  It was sort of an odd combo, but those were the veggies in the fridge screaming, use us now or throw us out! They ended up complimenting each other perfectly.

 After sixty full minutes in the oven, the spaghetti squash looked like this.  In hindsight, I should have put foil under the squash halves to make for easier clean-up.

 I picked it up with tongs, and simply scooped out the insides with a fork.  As I scooped, the squash pulled apart to look just like spaghetti noodles, hence its name.

 The squash was a perfect side dish to our chicken and veggies.  It was a little crispier than boiled noodles would be, and took the place of noodles or rice in the meal.  A fresher, healthier alternative! (You will notice we still got our carbs in the form of bread sticks.  We never skip the carbs, unfortunately).

Even though the spaghetti squash took a little planning ahead because of the hour-long bake time, it was super easy and relatively maintenance-free.  We decided it would probably adopt the flavor of whatever it is served with, so we could try it with a variety of dishes.  And since we had a good first experience, I think we will!

My child refuses to pose for pictures.

We're having a pretty lazy Saturday around here.  I actually vacuumed out the couches this morning, which I guess wasn't lazy, but that was the only thing on the cleaning agenda today.  There's some good football on this afternoon, though for some crazy reason, Fox Sports Southwest is showing the Colorado/Georgia game tonight rather than Iowa State/Texas Tech.  This is incredibly frustrating to me because, among other reasons, 1) we are in serious Big XII country and 2) nobody in the Big XII cares about Colorado (no offense intended, just stating a fact). 

Sara is wearing her new Cy shirt that Steve picked up for her in Iowa last weekend.  I've tried every trick in the book to get her to stop, pose, and smile, and nothing seems to work.  So this is what we get: profile and blur... 

Hope you all have a great Saturday, and hope your teams win big.  Sorry Mel and Mark ... big loss to Baylor.  That has to hurt. Rock-chalk-what?  (P.S. You can make fun of us later when we get beat by lame texas tech.) *Update @ 9:40: The Cyclones won!  It's true: 52-38.  It's nice to have bragging rights once in a while, even if they are short-lived and perhaps not completely warranted.