Harvest/Halloween Party

Here are some photos from the Harvest/Halloween party we were at yesterday. Can you guess who Justus is? His hat wasn't staying on very well (I forgot a safety pin to help keep it on), but I think most people can guess who he is. Ezra was a cowboy for a 2nd year in a row, not because he wanted to be one, but because I was having trouble finding a kid's pilot's hat. Maybe next year. I'm still not sure if the boys will be dressing up today. It will all depend on naptime and if we make it downtown to trick-or-treat at the merchants down there (before the madness starts after dark).

Did you know that I never went trick-or-treating when I was a kid! We'd go to little school carnivals and festivals and dress up for school, but my mom just didn't like the idea of going to people's houses to get candy. It does kind of make sense, especially in the world we live in today. The street we live on now will probably be pretty quiet, so the mini-Snickers and Reese's peanut butter cups I bought will most likely be eaten by me, Matt and Alex. Yum!

Pumpkins!

We made it to the pumpkin patch this year! This is the 3rd year we've been to Rodoni Farms, just outside of town on Hwy 1. It's located on a hill so we had a few runaway pumpkins to deal with, but other than that the boys had fun! After we picked out some pumpkins, we headed over to Natural Bridges to see the Monarch butterflies. They come this time of year and it's really amazing to see all of them hanging out in the trees and flying around.

Funny!

I saw a funny video on another blog and from there found this other funny video, Top 10 Women Drivers of the Year. Here is a link to watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyn-9cn0nE

(I'm not so technically advanced to put the youtube screen right here, anyone is welcome to enlighten me!)

If you don't have the time to watch the video, the best picture is the one above (sorry it's so small).

I do consider myself to be a pretty good driver, not the stereotypical, bad woman driver. However, I have driven into a planter box in a parking lot (when I was 17 and newly learning to drive stick shift and trying to say hi to a bunch of guys from school). That was pretty awesome. Also, I do know someone who drove away with the gas nozzle in the car, it happened right here in Santa Cruz, that may have been even more awesome. Any guesses who that happened to???
Maybe I'll try to scan in the picture, I'll have to work on my techno savviness...

New Blog to Read!

Some friends were talking about this blog and I had to check it out. It is awesome and I've only just looked at the pictures! Check it out!
http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

Nice and Cozy

I went into the boys' room the other night to check on them before I went to bed and this is what I found. Ezra sleeping in Justus' crib. Usually Ezra will be bothering Justus so we'll hear them, but I guess they were both too tired this evening!

Chicken Stew with Biscuits

I saw this episode of the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) where she makes a chicken stew with biscuits. Normally her recipes are a little more involved than I care to do, but I decided to give this one a try as it looked super delicious and would even make enough to freeze for another day. It was great! At least Matt and I thought so. Justus ate some of the chicken and biscuits and Ezra ate one bite of chicken, then was putting his head down and trying to fall asleep (he didn't take a nap yesterday). We managed to keep him awake, gave the boys a bath and then right before bed time he was ready to eat more chicken.

They must be related!

I was going through some pictures and found these 2 that Ezra took. The one of me is in February and the one of my mom is in December. I thought it was pretty funny!

Future

Future daddies and future skater.

I Love Dim Sum!

Good news! We found a place where you can get dim sum locally! Dynasty Restaurant in the El Rancho Shopping Center on Portola serves dim sum on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am-3pm. My mom was in town this weekend, so she watched the sick kids while Matt and I went out to lunch on Sunday. It was great! For those that don't know what it is, dim sum is:

In Cantonese, "dim sum" means "heart bits," little foods to touch your heart, by way of your mouth and stomach. Traditionally eaten in the early afternoon, this unique meal stretches its centuries-old roots to the teahouses along China’s legendary Silk Road. Weary travelers and hungry workers gathered to engage in traditional "yum cha" (tea drinking), adding heart-touching snacks. Chinese immigrants coming to America in the 1800s brought this civilized custom with them, to the New World’s benefit.

Growing up, my Japanese family would go to dim sum on the weekends, to the large Chinese restaurants where big Chinese families would sit at the round tables. Waitresses would push around little carts with the different dishes on them and we would choose based upon the looks of the food (as we never really understood what the ladies said when we asked them what it was) and believe me, some of it looks pretty strange! Some of my favorites were classics like pot stickers and egg rolls, the little pork dumplings (shu mai), steamed bbq pork buns, and especially prawns in bell peppers. My mom's cousin would always get the chicken's feet, which would gross us kids out. We'd leave stuffed every time. Mmmmm, good memories.

Anyway, we'll all have to go after church one day. I could probably go every weekend, now that I know it is there!

P.S. I just ordered these super cute board books: First Book of Sushi and Yum Yum Dim Sum, by Amy Wilson Sanger. Check them out!