A Few Fall Favorites

If you read this blog regularly you must know by now that I love fall and I love recipes. Here are a few favorites I especially love to pull out at this time of year. If the old adage is true, we certainly won't be needing any doctors any time soon thanks to the number of apples we've been consuming! Today we made the apple crisp and the girls were so excited to help. Ella manned and cranked the peeling/coring device and Delia snatched up and gobbled up any piece of apple that went astray. A warning comes with the caramel corn: only make this as an extreme exercise in self-discipline. It is that addictive! Thanks to Karen for sending me the healthy autumn chili recipe last year, we love it and hope you do too!

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Apple Crisp

Core, peel and slice about 10 apples, then lay to cover about 2 inches of a greased 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle over apples:

1 cup sugar

1 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

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Mix and crumble on top:

1 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup four

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve warm with ice cream!

Caramel Corn

3/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

3 cups any mixture of roasted nuts (almonds, peanuts, pecans...) OR extra 1/4 cup unpopped kernels, if you don't like the nuts.
2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pop kernels using air popper. (Kyle says you can make this with microwave popcorn, just be sure to use the plain kind and take all the unpopped kernels out of the bag after popping). Pour popped popcorn into 3 greased 9x13 pans. Sprinkle nuts over top.

Combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in saucepan. Bring to boil. Boil 5 minutes and stir constantly to prevent sticking. Remove from heat and add baking soda. It will be frothy. Pour over popcorn and nuts, toss to coat. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Remove pans to stir every 20 minutes. Cool and store in sealed container.

Autumn Chili

1 lb. turkey breast, cut into chunks

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz. can black beans

1 8 oz. tomato sauce

1 cup peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash. (I HATE dealing with squash. I wouldn't make this recipe if Trader Joe's didn't sell me a bag of prepared squash cubes for $1.19)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (can skip if you don't like it so spicy)

1 Tbs. chili pepper (can use less if you don't like it so spicy)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups fresh spinach, shredded

In crock-pot, combine all ingredients and cover. Cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours. Serve sprinkled with shredded cheese (pepper jack is good), if desired.

Fun Not Deterred by Rain

It's that time of year again when we feel really appreciated for our work. Funworks always goes out of their way to invite all local pastors and their families for a day of free fun. We were really looking forward to this day, but the typhoon-like storm that has moved through our area had Funworks looking like this today:

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So, no go-karts, no mini-golf, no bumper boats, no corn maze. Funworks still loves us, though! They gave us passes to use on another, sunnier, day and several bags of tokens to use for some indoor fun. We love you too, Funworks!

We had arranged to meet fellow-pastor Lloyd and his family for some Pastor Appreciation Day fun at Funworks. And even though we were confined to the indoors, we still had such a good time!

The kids loved the giant play structure with ball pits, ladders, shaky bridges, tunnels and giant twisty slides.

Ella led me though a mile-long maze of tunnels as we climbed our way to a slide that felt like it started on the ceiling. Here we are about to go screaming down.
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Delia and little Kathryn climbed the smaller playgrounds together. Delia always surprises me by being pretty scared of big, colorful play things. She didn't want to get anywhere near this one. Hmmm, thought climbing was her thing.

After spending a few tokens to bop alligator heads, ride motorcycles and roll skeeballs, we used our free rides on the crazy bumper cars. The rain and wind really kept people away so we loved having this pretty much to ourselves. We played Pastor Lloyd's family vs. Pastor Dave's! Those of us entertaining little ones cheered and danced in the black lights. Going out for a pizza dinner with the Wickers topped off our afternoon of rainy-day fun.

Crowder Concert

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realise just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

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And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

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He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

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And we are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way… He loves us,

Oh how He loves us.

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Yes, it was as awesome as you'd imagine it to be!

A Bigger World, Thanks to Dorina

Another book signing brought my famous author of a college roomie, Dorina, to the Bay Area again yesterday. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend some time with her and her family. And, as is always the case, the day with Dorina opened our world up even bigger as it was full of unique fun and food. We met up in Berkeley, a very interesting place for a conservative, Christian, small-town gal like myself to take in. Our meeting place was the massive Tilden Regional Park, a super cool park that featured steam trains, botanical gardens, nature trails, a lake and this merry-go-round, built in 1911 and on the list of National Historic Places.

The girls were thrilled to see each other. Meilani and Ella share a special bond that has them hugging, wrestling, running and giggling together within moments of reunion. Delia tried hard to keep up with big girls. Our time together began with just watching the merry-go-round and the girls found it pretty hilarious.

Taking a ride on it was even better!

We next went over to Anza Lake and hiked around the entire perimeter of it while catching up.

We can always expect a special food experience with Dorina! Last night, she and Ericlee directed us to their favorite Ethiopian restaurant. While we dug our injera bread into spicy chicken and pureed yellow peas, we heard about their plans for the future and how God is working in their lives. Delia did great with this new food; Ella not so much, though she bravely tried it.

Time with Dorina, Ericlee, Meilani and smiley little Giada is always great time. We feel so blessed to live near enough to one another to make these day trips and learning experiences happen often!

Raise Your Hand if You Love Apple Hill!

Our weather is finally cooling off just enough to give us hope that fall will not elude us this year. It's been gorgeous, 70's every day. This cool-down and excitement for the change of seasons prompted today's trip up north into the hills. We revisited one of our favorite fall spots-- Apple Hill. This is a 10 mile stretch of 46 orchards, bakeries and pumpkin patches right in a row. We stopped in at 7 of them. We did such a variety of cool things that I'll describe them using pictures and the game we played on the way home, "Raise Your Hand If..." I'll start with Ella's submission, "Raise your hand if you wore your smile a lot today!"

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Raise your hand if you filled up several buckets of apples to take home and enjoy.

Raise your hand if you ate apples that you picked right off the tree. Raise your hand if you ate about 20 of them! (Since the orchard we U-Picked at grows nearly every single kind of apple, we were told to sample each one before we put any of them in our buckets.)

Raise your hand if you climbed around on pumpkins and hay bales today.

Raise your hand if your tummy is full of delectable apple treats. Raise your hand if you ate an apple donut, caramel apple, apple dumpling and honey stick.

Raise your hand if you played tag in an orchard after eating your lunch at a picnic table in the middle of it.

Raise your hand if you saw, petted and fed chickens, pigs, sheep, cows, goats and a giant turkey.

Raise your hand if you rode a horse today! (Delia's first pony ride, she LOVED it!)

Raise your hand if you helped pedal and steer a paddle boat.

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Apple Hill is such a neat place, I'll have you know Ella is prepared to give up her toys, books, house, dog, friends, school and church to stay and live there! She told me about this plan as we were packing up to head home.

Fall Fun on the Farm

We spent yesterday afternoon at the pumpkin farm.

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Ella and Delia posed in the pumpkin piles.

Ella made corn angels.

Delia rolled around in the cotton seed.

Both girls jumped on the hay-bale trampoline.

Ella milked the cow.

Delia took a rest after trying to lift this heavy pumpkin on her own.

Ella stepped in to help.

Delia watched the Watusi.

Ella hauled the wagon to the checkout after helping pick out our pumpkins and gourds.

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Just for fun! Check out how much the girls have grown by checking out these links:

Pumpkin Farm 2007

Pumpkin Farm 2008

Ella's $12 Score

We yard-saled today to take advantage of the city-wide yard sale that was occurring in our town. It definitely increased traffic and decreased the need to advertise. While Dave held down the driveway, I took the girls out to look for a big-girl bike for Ella. We were so excited to find this one! Strawberry Shortcake, pink, pedal and handlebar breaks (so she can grow into it) and training wheels included, it was perfect. Because we do need to replace the seat, it was only $12. Ella said something about it being "the happiest day of her life" when we drove home with it.

The spin we took around the church parking lot this afternoon felt like deja vu. When Ella got her trike from Grandpa and Grandma 2 years ago, she hopped right on that and rode like an expert too. Ella was flying around and turning easily on the new bike. She didn't even seem to notice the wobble. Delia gets to take over the tricycle now, though she still struggles with the pedals.

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Something is up with the sound on our video camera (hasn't been working since Hawaii), but you still get the idea of Ella's impressive big-girl biking skills!

Yard Sale Report

With a full heart, I can brag that about 100% of our baby items have been things people gave us. First there was the Mail-In Baby Shower my sisters-in-law organized. For this, close friends and family members picked things off our registry and had them either mailed to us or available for us to pick up in the store. Then there was a GEMS Shower, since I was a leader 5 years ago. Next came the overwhelming Church Baby Shower, where it seemed every person in our church helped completely clear out our registry. Then when each of the girls was born we were given gifts again, and money! And lastly, we were, and still are, supplied with hand-me-down baby items, clothes and toys by friends Teri, Julie and Penny. I cherished each baby item we owned, not just for the memory of my babies using it, but also for the love it was given to us with. It has always been important to us to give it all back some how. We were just considering the idea of a fall yard sale when a family was laid on our hearts. This is a family who has been through a lot and who still has a long road ahead. This is a family about to add another member through adoption. This is a family we love and want to help. It was so obvious that by selling the things we were blessed with, we could maybe bless another family with a baby on the way.

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So, while it wasn't easy to part with my stuff, I did it with a happy heart. And I was so excited to hear some of the stories of the moms and grandmas who went home with our things! The family that got our crib and bedding just took in a 5 month old foster baby. He was taken from his mom because of severe physical abuse. They didn't have a single baby item. Another woman was loading up on baby gear for her young, single-mom daughter. Another group of ladies makes Baby Cakes, stuffed with onesies and bibs and stuff. They snatched up all the brand-new, still in package items we were just never able to use. Another woman is opening a store and can sell some of our things. The young mom who bought our stroller and car seat set was exhausted after looking everywhere for one that was at a price she could afford. In the place in my heart that holds the memories of Ella and Delia in the swing and cradle, I will stuff these stories as well.

And not only were we blessed to meet new people and hear their stories, the yard sale was a financial success! We made almost twice what I was even hoping we'd make! It helped that my good friend Amy brought over a whole car-load of items for us to add to our sale. Every big item went and most for the asking price, if not close to it. I even priced high and we feel we compromised nothing!

In the end, this is all that is left. One bag I hope to sell at a used children's goods place. One bag for the homeless shelter. And a few items to be donated to our church nursery. What a day! I'm not quite ready to do it again any time soon, but I feel so rewarded!

Hmmm...

"This is a picture of Mommy and Daddy and a new brother."

Cleaning, Sorting, Pricing, Remembering

We're feeling pretty brave. On Saturday we are putting together our very first yard sale. And the majority of the stuff we are selling is all the baby items that allowed us to survive with 2 infants/toddlers for the past 4 years. The challenge is getting our gently used items to look sparkly new again and then coming to a decision on what we think strangers would be willing to pay for these precious pieces of our children's babyhood. The guest house and covered walkway are jam-packed with cradle, swing, bouncy bassinet, high chair, crib, bedding, travel system, toys, bath tubs, receiving blankets, diaper pail, breast pump, etc. Of course, I am making this overly nostalgic and even hassled Dave with the "Are we REALLY done?" conversation when he returned home from youth group (and a, like, 13 hour day) yesterday. I'll post an update on Saturday, hopefully bragging about what a success our sale was!