Happy Halloween!

We went with our neighbors to the Halloween party at the elementry school. Kind of a let down, but the kids still had fun playing a few games and winning some tootsie rolls and pixie sticks. Seriously, we had to pay $5 for him to walk around and play maybe 8 games in a total of 20 minutes and none of the treats were chocolate! Anyhow, here's the kids in their costumes. Brett was not interested in the least about getting his picture taken, hence Mike holding him up like a doll for show!

Recipe

I'm always on the lookout for a good dinner recipe. My ideal recipe has 6 or less ingredients and can be made using minimal utensils and pots/pans. Oh, and if it can be ready by the time I get home from work, even better.
I'm a huge fan of the crock pot - especially during the fall and winter.
Here's what I made for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with all 3 of my boys.

Crock Pot Ham and Potatoes
1 ham - I used the big 'loaf' type ham that was pre-cooked
8-10 med sized potatoes peeled and sliced
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 cans cream of celery or mushroom soup
Paprika

Cut ham in servings size portions. Put half of the sliced ham and potatoes in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grated cheese. Repeat with remaining half of ingredients. Sprinkle with Paprika. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours.


Colton took a bite and his first words were, "Mom can we have this again tomorrow? This is so good." For those of you that know Colton, the only dinner foods he will eat without causing a stink are pizza and steak.

So there's my good dead for the day - sharing a dinner with 6 ingredients and it's ready for you when you get home from work. Does life get much better?!

The Party

Every year for the past 5 years, Mike's co-worker and her husband have thrown a huge Halloween bash at their house. Well, this year we attended and we had a great time. People go all out for their costumes, they have games and contests all night long, and the decorations were amazing!

According to the hostess, Mike was one vote away from winning the male costume contest......

Needless to say, when anybody spun my hat, the yellow circles were off limits! ;)

Redemption

We took Mike's parents out for dinner last night. Mike's dad taught Mike how to fix some big house "issues" and helped him winterize our boat. Plus they are watching our kids (and my niece and nephew) on Saturday while all of us go gallivanting to our Halloween parties.
Anyhow, this time we went prepared. My purse was loaded with a full sippy cup, cookies, a nuk, you name it, I had it. We also selected a more family-type restaurant to ease our nerves. Brett was hysterical for the full hour and a half we were there. There was music bumpin, he was jammin, and he ate from the time he sat down to the time we left. Cookies, popcorn, breadsticks, 1/2 a full size cheeseburger, beans, corn.......the list goes on. He was just laughing and having a good ol' time. Heavenly.
Oh, and Colton ate his whole kids pizza as Grandpa bribed him with a dollar to go play the shooting game if he ate all his food. I must mention that he's got a good shot. One moose and seven turkeys. He was jazzed!
A pleasent evening out. Halleluja!

That Family......

Last night we were that family. We attempted to go somewhere half-way decent for dinner as we had a little reason to celebrate. As a promise to myself, I don't talk about work on here, but the celebration had to do with work and we'll just leave it at that.
Anyhow, I met Mike and the boys after work. Brett was in a great mood to start. Then he took a turn. A sharp turn. One might call it a nose dive in the wrong direction. He wanted nothing to do with sitting in a high chair. Nothing to do with his sippy cup. Nothing to do with the crayons.
We tried to entertain him....anything we gave him, he chucked across the room. He didn't just drop it on the floor, it was an all out throw. Thankfully they had a pumpkin on a hay bale and some lights and some gourds by us. That kept him busy for all of 3 minutes.
Luckily our lovely waitress put a rush on the boys' food. Then, not so luckily for us, Brett had about 6 bites and was ready to move on. Loud squeels, thrown food, embarrassed parents. Ugh.
Mike and I ate in record time while Colton waited paitenly after telling us he was full after one chicken strip. We apologized to our waitress, left a good tip and commented that we were those parents doing what we said we'd never do.
I have a feeling life will be full of these types of moments.....us being parents doing what we said we'd never do when we have kids.

PS - for any of you readers that dined at Maynards last night.....I'm sorry.

Lil' Pumpkins

I just had to share a couple of cute pictures of my little guys.

Yes, It's Lady's Night!

The beezatches.....front row: Jaci and Marilyn back row left to right: Leah, Leah, Lynn and JillAhhhh, girls night. I really look forward to these being that I'm surrounded by boys at my house. We always have way too much yummy food and not enough wine. ;)
My belly always hurts the next day from laughing so hard. These girls are hilarious!

• Thank you to Leah (not me) for hosting this last one! Your lasagna was a hit!
• Jill, my sliver of garlic bread was to die for!
• Jaci, thank you for reliving the dance move of the night at Marilyn and Neil's wedding - hope you didn't pull a muscle.
• Lynn - I can't wait to see your new hair cut...be sure to blog about it!
• Marilyn - Thank you for letting us feel your belly. I still think it's a girl!

If you want to see the other versions of the night, check out Jill's, Jaci's or Marilyn's blog.

Doctor Visit

Today was Brett's 15 month well child care visit.
Over the past 3 months he's gained 3 lbs and is now at a whoppin' 23lbs. (25th percentile)
He's grown 1 1/2 inches and is a striking 31 1/2 inches (55th percentile)
And his head circumference is almost off the charts 19 1/2 inches (96th percentile)

Oh, and he's got a double ear infection to boot. Dang.

Public Service Announcement

This is for any of you that may happen to drive the same detour that I do on a daily basis as of Oct 1.
Apparently, Lawndale road is 40 mph...the WHOLE way. At least that is what the lovely police officer informed me of today.
It was 6:43am.....I was driving on a road that I've only taken once before when a car was coming towards me in the other lane. The red and blue lights flashed on, the car turned around and I looked down at my speedometer and remember something to the effect of 55 mph. I immediately pulled over and shut the car off knowing that those lights were for me.
Mr. Office ever so politely asked me if I knew what the speed limit was. I politely responded back, actually, I'm sorry I do not. I've never been on this road before (white lie) and now with the detour......blah blah blah. I'm guessing it's 50mph?
Nope. Not so much. The conversation continued for a few more seconds, he asked about my history...no speeding ticket or other violations since I was 18.....he goes back to the car runs my license and comes back without a ticket.
Needless to say. I followed the speed limit all the way to work and on the way home this afternoon.
Thank you Mr. Police Officer.