Halloween 2007

Here Comes the Sun

How amazing are the colors of this sunrise? 6:30am and I'm outside taking pictures because a display this brilliant must be documented. FYI: this has nothing to do with the fires, just a particularly beautiful morning. It's really too bad we're just renting this house...

Erin's Teeth

Before & After

The Waiting Room

The dental assistant called our name way sooner than Erin would have liked. She was having too much fun creating crazy characters out of her reflection in this wavy mirror at our pediatric dentist's office waiting room.The mirror kept her busy and relatively quiet, minus the necessary sound effects for certain faces and short fits of laughter for particularly silly reflections. Might not be a bad idea to get one for her room. I'll have to look into it. (hee hee, pun intended!)

My New Best Friends

Aren't they gorgeous?? (sigh)

Way too much fun with a wig.....

Holly Makes A Splash

And one more.......

Sunrise on Monday morning

Smoky Sunday

This is what we saw as we walked our home teachers to their car on Sunday. It was 2pm, but so dark and eerie outside! We figure the smoke came from the Castaic/Piru fires.

This picture doesn't do justice to the brilliant orange/red of the sunlight filtered through the smoke. The kids were in awe of it!

Cheese Anyone?

Brady wanted cheese. He was digging through the fridge and reaching for my bag of grated cheese which I didn't want him to have because I really don't like cleaning up little shreds of cheese from the table, the floor, and the bottoms of my socks. I handed him the 2"x 2" remnant of the block of cheddar cheese that was wrapped in plastic wrap. He took it to the table. I heard him chuckle. "Somebody colored on my cheese Mommy." Colored on your cheese? Oh dear. That can't be good. I hurried to the table. Yep, it was nice & green with mold. There was a neat semi-circle missing where Brady's little teeth had already taken a bite. Are you gagging? I was.

"Holly stop kicking!"

My Montage 10/17/07

Poor Brady was trying to get Holly's sock back on and she was just not cooperating! If you can't tell what he's saying, it's mostly "Holly stop kicking!" He was so determined...

Click on the photo to see the struggle.

Howdy Jenna!

I love my little Jenna girl! She earned this hat at school for reading minutes. Super cute, Jen!

Mother of the Year

I had to make lunch when we got home from church today. I put Holly into the exersaucer and, since she didn't protest, forgot all about her. Much later Jenna pointed out that she had fallen asleep in it! My poor neglected 4th baby. Truly an award-winning moment for me.

The One That Got Away

For the past few weeks, the girls have been begging me to let them fly their kites. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been windy enough. Finally, a few days ago it became very windy. The girls grabbed their kites, we quickly assembled them, and with hardly any effort, Jenna's cheap-o Strawberry Shortcake kite was flyin' high. Erin's was more complicated with two handles of string and, to her disappointment, it was really hard to control, even with Daddy's help. She was sad, but not nearly as sad as Jenna became when her kite escaped her grasp & was whisked away out of sight! From the backyard, we could see her kite way down below, caught in the brush by the golf course. Jason took the kids for a walk (while I was inside untangling a massive knot from the "better" kite's two strings & super long tail) trying to rescue her kite, but it's pretty hard to get to the green if you aren't golfing. Later in the day it blew onto the green & before long, we couldn't see it at all. Sorry Jen!

This collage of pictures tells the story: Jenna & Brady admiring the kite in flight, Jenna realizing how far away her kite has landed (her hair is a good indication of how windy it was that day!), the distance from our backyard to her kite (which is just below the tree in the center of the picture), a close-up of the runaway kite.

Note to self: next time, buy several of the cheap-o kites, just in case, and don't even bother with the more fancy, but pretty much impossible, dual string versions.

Ginger's New 'Do

Time for a change! Shorter & less layers...much better!

Thanks Jena!

photos courtesy of Erin Kate

Vitals

Holly had her 4 month check up today. She weighs 12 lbs. 14 oz. and she's 24 inches long. She is in the 40% for both weight and height...by far my biggest baby at this age and she's really not that big!
Everything looks good with her developmentally. She does have a small hemangioma in her underarm area. It was just a little red streak when she was born and has now grown some and become a little bit raised. The pediatrician said it will probably be gone by the time she's a year old. I'm not concerned. Yet another Z quirk manifest in one of my children!
No pokes today--I haven't done any of her immunization shots yet...I'll probably start them when she's 6 months. I'm just hesitant even though I know most babies are totally fine, including my own older kids. My ped. is totally cool about it and I appreciate that he skips the lecture.
So, all in all grandbaby #31 is doing awesome! I'm getting excited for grandbaby #32. Nat, am I invited for her birth?? :D

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

I hosted a Pampered Chef cooking show last week and the consultant made these ridiculous brownies...very easy & so good! Kate was there and had them warm; Mom was reluctant when I brought her the leftovers & she complained about their richness as they quickly disappeared, piece by piece. I didn't have them with ice cream, but yum...that would be my ideal splurge!

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

12oz package chocolate chips
18-21oz brownie mix, plus ingredients to make cake-like brownies
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup salted mixed nuts, divided
40 Rollos
vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375'F. Chop 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, water, oil, eggs, and 1/4 cup brown sugar; mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate; pour batter into jelly roll pan, spreading evenly.
2. Chop nuts. Combine half of the nuts and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut 16 Rollos into quarters. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips; spoon melted chocolate into ziploc bag; set aside.
4. After removing brownies from the oven, immediately press remaining 24 Rollos evenly into brownies. Sprinkle quartered Rollos and remaining nuts over brownies. Trim corner of chocolate-filled bag; drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares; serve warm and with ice cream, if desired.

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

What's new around here? I know you're dying to know...
Jason still has a job at Countrywide...for the time being.
I went to join the local gym today, but the start-up fees are so outrageous, I'm rethinking. Speaking of working out, I'm making Chicken Milano and garlic bread for dinner tonight...yum!
Erin is making her best effort to kick the nail-biting habit. Wendy can tell you, it's not just her fingernails...yeah, nasty. She still has two orange bottom teeth, but she has a dentist appointment tomorrow...I'm hoping the plan of action is veneers.
Jenna's name was mentioned at Back to School night as one of the students in Kindergarten who is starting to sound out words...yay! She comes home everyday with most of her food still in her lunchbox since my little slow-poke eater barely gets through one item (usually the least nutritious one) before they are shooed out of the cafeteria & onto the playground. Yes, she obviously doesn't have the speed-eater Z genes in her.
Brady won't stop talking. Didn't I used to complain about him NOT talking? Well, I didn't know he was going to sell me out all the time! The other day I secretly threw one of Jenna's school papers in the trash. Brady saw me do it. Jenna, who would have been heart-broken since she thinks I should save any paper she has taken a pencil to, did not. Brady, standing nearby, asked, "Mom, why did you put Jenna's homework in the trash?" Trying not to panic & knowing that "Shhh-ing" him never had any effect, I had to act fast. Jenna was within earshot, but not paying attention to Brady, who was already loudly repeating his question. Before he could ask a third time, I used my best distraction technique..."Hey Brady, do you want a treat?" It worked! He forgot what he had witnessed and Jenna was spared the details of her ill-fated worksheet.
Little Miss Holly is so well-behaved. She never talks back or gives me dirty looks. She is always happy to see me! She doesn't fight with any of her siblings & even has an ability to diffuse a tense situation just by cooing. She never complains about what's on the menu at meal time & she happily eats all of her food & always wants seconds. It's so nice to have such a sweet baby around!
Well, I guess it's pretty obvious...NOTHING is happening around here! And I mean that in a good way. If anything really exciting happens, besides the upcoming dentist appointment of course, I'll be sure to let you know..........