Happy National Pickle Day!

How excited we are to find out there is a pickle holiday! We love pickles at our house!

So did Thomas Jefferson!

"On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar."

It’s National Pickle Day! Pickles have been a popular food for thousands of years. In 2030 B.C., cucumbers were imported from India to the Tigris Valley. There, they were first preserved and eaten as pickles.

In ancient Egypt, people consumed pickles for their nutritional value and because they were thought to enhance beauty. Cleopatra attributed her good looks to her full diet of pickles. Centuries later, Napoleon believed that pickles offered health benefits for his armies, so he offered a huge cash prize to anyone who was able to preserve them safely.

Today we honor the culinary history of pickles. This versatile vegetable can be enjoyed as a condiment, snack, or side dish. Stock up on your favorite kind of pickles and celebrate National Pickle Day!
--from punchbowl.com

Nathan-ism

Nathan and I were having a literal face to face conversation yesterday. He stopped talking, staring at my eyes.

Nathan: That's weird.

Me: What is?

Nathan: Why do sometimes people have maps in their eyes?

Me: Huh?

Nathan: You have little red things on your white part.

Me: Ah! That is called lack of sleep, son!

Halloween Trunk or Treat

This year was really hard to find something that we could all agree on! I finally came up with the idea of recreating the costumes from the kids' favorite show The Backyardigans: International Super Spy. But Esther didn't want to be the "bad guy" Lady in Pink. So we all went as the good guys - super spies.

 Joe Cool here with his top secret briefcase.

 Jacob's tight lipped smile! He wouldn't give me a big grin. His cheek is all red from being out in the sun during a yard sale we were a part of all morning in the cold!

 We have a whole series of Esther's different poses. These were the cutest.

 Double trouble!

 A family of spies. Don't my boys look handsome? And Esther is a natural at sporting her secret agent look. I had so much fun putting everyone else's costume together that I nearly forgot about mine. Thank goodness for a last minute trip to the thrift store for an overly large faux leather coat and some black pants!

I keep wondering how long my kids will think it's cool to dress up together. Forever, I hope!!

Texas State Fair

We really enjoyed our annual visit to the State Fair of Texas!

Checking out the cars and Esther thinks she's a star!

 Jacob taking in all the action and noise.

 Taking a break.

 Daron took the older kids on the Texas Star ferris wheel. That thing is 20 stories high. So I kept my feet on firm ground and stayed with Jacob.

 The carousel is an antique from the 1920s, I believe.

 Jacob sat on a horse for a little while and was loving the wind blowing in his face. But he was so wiggly that I had to take him off and just hold him.

 Every year we see the Kroger Birds of the World show. It's a conservation effort as well as an educational and fun show about birds. They always have two that fly into the amphitheater from the ferris wheel. Here is Nathan giving a bird a donation. The bird took it and put it in the box.

 Big Tex - just days before he was lost to fire. RIP Big Tex...

 This year there was a Chinese Lantern Festival. There were gorgeous lit pandas, pagodas, dragons, walkways, mermaids, lotus flowers, fans, etc. It was really quite pretty.

 This dragon was made of China plates!

What would a lantern festival in Texas be without a herd of longhorn cattle?

While Sister's Away...The Boys Will Play!

Daron's Surprise Birthday Party

The kids and I had a lot of fun planning a surprise dinner and party for Daron on his birthday a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday and he already had a lot of meetings scheduled for the day so it was easy to set up while he wasn't home.

I invited some friends for dinner and they were here by the time he got home from his church meetings. Esther shouted an extremely enthusiastic "SURPRISE!" before he'd even gotten into the house. We enjoyed a football themed dinner - including pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches and IBC Rootbeer. The blue and white balloons were for BYU. It was also kind of "Hooray, college football season is almost here!" party.

I made the table runner myself based on a Martha Stewart project. It's a green textured table runner from TJMaxx, white ribbon, and adhesive numbers. Easy-peasy!

As soon as dinner was over, the cupcakes arrived. Blue velvet with cream cheese frosting - yum! Thank you Sabrina!! (Here's her link:http://sabcakes.blogspot.com/) As she started setting them out on the island, Daron started to wonder just how many guests I was expecting. Then they arrived en masse! I couldn't invite the whole ward, but it seemed like it in our house. The kids were all very well behaved and sat in the kitchen and chatted, colored pictures, wrestled in the living room, and helped Daron open his gifts.

Daron's gift from the kids and I was a frame backpack for those Scout and camping trips!

People stayed for about an hour to visit and then Daron left for yet another meeting. So we cleaned up, had a healthy green smoothie and another cupcake. The kids showing off their blue tongues.

Post party fun!

It was a great day. I know Daron doesn't like a big fuss made over him, but it was something I needed to do for him. This three kids thing has really thrown us off. Daron's schedule is getting busier and busier. It has been harder and harder to find time to spend together. I really felt a need to make a great effort on something for him. And this was the perfect chance. He understood that and was glad of the all that I'd done to make the day special for him.

Toothy Grin

Second one gone!