Happy Apple Farm

This past weekend we celebrated fall with a little apple picking.We lured Micah to the orchard with promises of smoked brisket and turkey legs that were advertised on the website. Sadly, when we got there....they were all out. Micah recovered some of his enthusiasm thanks to apple pie a la mode. So we hopped onto the tractor and headed for the promise land.

Nicole loves fruit more than anyone I know, so apple picking is kind of like shopping for her.
The farmer encouraged everyone to sample all 4 of the different apples while we picked. So Skylar ate......

And ate......
And ate..
In fact, there are little bites and teeth marks in a lot of our apples. She had her very own bag and filled with all the rotten and bruised ones that were on the ground until it was too heavy to carry.

We emptied it for her and she started again.

Skylar liked being a farm girl.

We picked up lots of goodies while we were there: pumpkin butter, cider, roasted chilis and local honey. Now I just need to figure out what to do with all of these apples!

Grandparent's Day!

Dear Noni & Papa and Granbabe & Granstud and Nana & Papa and Mumma & Puppa,

Skylar has a special message for you!

Take one:

Take five:

Take nine:
I love you all very much!

Love, Skylar

The way I meal plan.

Micah reads this blog at work to find out what's going on in our lives, and he thinks my posts about recipes and cooking in general are very boring. Sorry Micah, that's all it is today.

Several of you have put your weekly meal plans on your blogs in the past, and it's always fun to get ideas. Mostly I'm impressed by your organization. I am so not a planner. I rarely know what I'm going to cook a day in advance. In fact, more often than not I decide at about 4 pm. The thought of actually figuring out a whole weeks worth of meals is so daunting to me (and contrary to my personality) that it will never happen.

On the flip side, never knowing what I'm going to make more than 3 hours in advance makes life harder than necessary. I love trying new recipes and cooking elaborate meals, but since Skylar has come along cooking has turned into a chore and I just don't have the motivation.

Last week it occured to me that I actually DO have a system, I just didn't consciously realize it. Over the past year, out of necessity, I started doing meal "groupings". Basically I have a small repertoire of ideas that can then be made into more than one meal, thereby minimizing the work (and planning) for me.

For example:

1st night: grilled or broiled marinated chicken breasts (the key to variety is with sides)
2nd night: quesadillas (made with leftover chicken breast, beans & cheese) or paninis (a loaf of day old artisan bread, pesto, roasted red peppers or artichoke hears, cheese, all squished to toasty goodness with my handy dandy panini press, courtesy of the in-laws:)
3rd night: Big salads for dinner with leftover chicken breast (I also like garbanzo beans, fresh grated Parmesan, homemade croutons, turkey bacon, avocado, and always homemade dressing on them). I just make them on seperate plates so everyone has what they like.
-or-
1st night: Whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs (tip: I use fresh grated Parmesan instead of breadcrumbs to bind them and it makes them really moist since there's almost no fat in the meat)
2nd night: Meatball subs with leftover meatballs
-or-
1st night: Tacos or chalupas made with ground turkey
2nd night: Leftover turkey for homemade mexican pizza or skillet mexican pizza with cornbread crust, or burritos, nachos, etc.
-or-
1st night: Grilled salmon
2nd night: Grilled salmon salad (A Barefoot Contessa recipe--love her)

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

I will also poach a batch of chicken (I simmer it in broth on low heat for a long time) and then shred it for enchiladas or succotash, or chop it for potpie or homemade chicken soup.

We don't eat red meat around here, so everything I make involves boneless, skinless chicken breasts, ground white meat turkey, or seafood (hard to come by in Colorado). This probably seems like it would get redundant, and Micah does occasionally get the urge to grill himself a steak, but for the most part we don't even think about it. In fact, 9 times out of 10 he still orders chicken even at restaurants.

On weekends when Micah is around to keep the munchkin occupied, I try new recipes or make more time consuming meals to mix things up a little bit. Either that or we go to Chipotle:)

Good-bye summer.

Over the weekend, Mary-Anne and I took the kiddos to go play in the fountain one last time before we both move. The fountain closes after Labor Day....which most people consider the official end of summer....I concede. Sigh.

Here they are all loaded up and ready to go in our new ride: After looking at a grand total of 3 cars, we bought a 2004 Passat from a man in Denver. It was a great price with low mileage and very well maintained. Neither of us loves it (which is kind of sad since half the fun of a new car is being excited about it) but we feel like we made a good, practical choice. And we both love not having a car payment. Getting 35 mpg coming back from Castle Rock didn't hurt either.
I realize that some people find it completely inappropriate to put little girls in bikinis. I however would argue that it's the only time in your life when you CAN wear a bikini. She won't be wearing them by middle school, I guarantee it.

Ethan loved the frigid water!
Skylar had to say hi and wave to everyone that would notice her. She has no stranger anxiety at all and would gladly run away with the first person that offered her candy....or just smiled at her.

Self expression.

Today Skylar gave herself a uni-brow, half of a Hitler mustache, and a giant neck mole:

I thought about leaving her that way for church tomorrow, but in the end I did the right thing and bathed her to spare her the humiliation of going to the nursery and being the laughing stock of all of her toddler friends. Then again, they would probably understand.

Best Dog EVER.

Our lab Sabot (pronounced Say-bo), is the most easy going, well-natured dog EVER. His goal in life is to make everyone happy (except for when his diet-induced hunger occasionally overtakes him and he can't control himself).

Skylar frequently crawls on him while he's taking a nap and he doesn't flinch. She'll just sit on his back and bounce and he sleeps right through it. She takes his bone from his mouth, and has even taken his bowl away while he's eating (we don't let her do that!) and he has never snapped. She pulls his tail and swings from it. He is constantly getting beat up by Skylar and Jack, sometimes they even tag team him:
Yesterday she was pulling on his lips and "honking" his nose like she does to me, and he just let her do it.

I noticed after I took these pictures that she even stuck her whole hand in his mouth at one point and grabbed his tongue! He never bit down he just laid there. I highly recommend a young lab to anyone with kids who is looking for a dog. His tolerance level is amazing.
On the down side, Skylar thinks ALL dogs are like this and wants to play with them all....obviously not always a good idea. When we were in SC, she was crawling on an older dog's back and he got mad and tried to bite her. I just screamed of course (apparently that's what I do in stressful situations) but Cynthia was rational enough to grab her and save her from permanent defacement. Skylar was completely unphased by it. She thinks that when dogs growl, they are playing like hers do. At least by the time Sabot is old and crabby, Skylar will be older to.

So hurry, go get your Lab puppy today!!! You're husband will understand.

Full house and Twenty-six!

Since last spring, Motel Rue has been open for business and in full swing! In 2 weeks alone we will have had 7 people staying here at different times. We have plenty of extra room and we love the company, so the more the merrier.

This past weekend in addition to Micah's friend Taylor who was staying with us since his return from Iraq, we had the two Pettegrew kiddos so that Edi and Travis could have a weekend alone. I was a little nervous about 3 kids since I knew Micah was working most of the weekend. It worked out great though and was much easier than I anticipated.

Skylar and Hailey were buddies all weekend and by Sunday they were fighting like sisters.
We all went to the zoo on Saturday morning and Riley was beside himself with excitement. He said he loved all the animals, he didn't have a favorite. He really got a kick out of feeding the giraffes. I asked him if he thought his parents were having a good time like we were, and he said "Yes...their probably playing tag....and maybe hide and seek".
He desperately wanted to go on this train ride, so he did...and he had the whole train to himself.

Haley and Skylar holding hands:)

There was a sprinkler in the kids play area and Skylar went nuts. She shrieked with delight and was completely soaked. Of course, I forgot to pack extra clothes so she wore a jacket and mildewed shorts from the bottom of her diaper bag after that.

They were totally pooped!

Then Nicole turned 26! We had a birthday dinner on Sunday night to celebrate. It was a fun crowd, Kristy and Andy came down, Steve, Rita and Brianne Wade, Tom and Jan Falconer, Natasha, and Nicole's friend Cathy. My camera hasn't been working well lately, I think it's on it's last legs, so most of the pictures didn't turn out. Natasha made her fabulous tirimisu for dessert. It was AMAZING.

The girls:

Nicole was giving Kristy meaningful touches. It turns out I'm not the only Austin who likes to torture her.

Yesterday was Nic's real birthday so Skylar and I took her to lunch and then we walked around downtown and had tea and dessert. Skylar has only been eating cantaloupe, grapes and mixed veggies for the last 2 weeks, but she tore into the chocolate torte....so I guess we can add that to the list of foods she'll eat.

Happy birthday Nickerdoodle!