Seven Oaks

Last Saturday I took Adam and Tyler to Seven Oaks Farm for some Autumn fun! We picked out an "eating pumpkin" because Adam is obsessed with eating a pumpkin, but now I have to figure out how to cook it. They had pony rides, a petting zoo, cookie decorating, face painting, and lots of food. Tyler slept almost the whole time so I wasn't able to get any cute pumpkin pics with him and Adam was acting so serious that his pics aren't too great. But I'll post them anyways!

What do you do with 50 lbs of Tomatoes?!?

Make Salsa of course!

So the last few weeks my friend Janice and I have been on a "Molly Mormon" streak. We've been doing lots of crafts and projects, but Janice had a new scheme for today...Canning Salsa! Anyone who knows me is aware that the kitchen is not my favorite place to be, but I actually had a lot of fun canning. My friend Jolene was our teacher because she is an old pro. I pretty much just chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers for like seven hours, which gave my hands this lovely orange hue. Mario thinks that I have lost my mind and keeps reminding me that you can buy salsa at Costco, but it's all about learning a new craft in my mind. Right? Plus it was cheap to make, super yummy, and fun to do...but I am so getting into the jacuzzi right now with lots of bubbles because I smell like onions!

These are only SOME of the ingredients. We actually overbought the tomatoes and have decided to can spaghetti sauce next week.

Janice was a chopping machine and awesome to let us trash her house (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANICE, you're awesome!!!!)

Jolene was so nice to let us borrow her stuff and teach us how to do it all.

I have never in my life chopped so much! I'm going to be dreaming onions tonight!

Sweet, sweet success! Aren't they cute? It is so yummy!

Tyler slept some of the time and was a really good little baby. Adam was also super good considering that we didn't finish until 10pm...it literally took all day.

50 lbs of tomatoes equals 50 jars of delicious homemade salsa!

Mario Mayhem

I decided to embarrass Mario and do this because I never really write about him in our blog...I'm not even sure he knows we have a blog! LOL


1. How old is your husband? 28
2. How long have you been married? Five years in December, can you believe it?
3. Who eats more? Mario
4. Who said I love you first? Mario, It was in my parent's family room when he came to visit
5. Who is taller? Mario, but only by a few inches
6. Who sings better? Same?
7. Who is smarter? Finances and common sense..Mario, Book smarts and science along with celebrity gossip....me
8. If he is sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Canal Uno, CNN en Espanol, Ecuadorian soccer, Fox's News
9. Who controls the T.V. remote? When he's home he does
10. Who does the laundry? I wash and then he usually puts away to rooms while I fold
11. Who does the dishes? He does when he is home, but usually me
12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
13. Who cooks dinner? I do because I'm home, but he helps out when he is home and usually does Sunday dinner
14. Who is more stubborn? hmm don't know...same
15. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I am always the one to end a fight because I HATE contention
16. Whose parents do you see more often? Mine
17. Who has more friends? I have more friends that I hang out with regularly, but he has lots of friends too
18. Who has more siblings? me, 4vs.2
19. You’re out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch
20. What is one food he doesn’t like? Spaghetti, which is my favorite
21. Where did he go to high school? Espiritu Santo
22. What shoe size does he wear? 8.5
23. If he were to collect anything, it would be? Money maybe cars...lol
24. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Quizno's probably
25. He could eat this everyday? Rice
26. Favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
27. He wouldn’t be caught dead wearing? A t-shirt other than to bed or the gym
28. Favorite sports team? Barcelona Soccer
29. Who will he vote for? McCain, although he threatens Obama because I said I'd move to Ecuador is he wins
30. What is his sign? I don't know April 6th? what's that?
31. What is something you do that he wishes you didn’t do? Stress out about dumb things and complain about my weight
32. How many states has he lived in? New jersey, California, Idaho, Washington, Oregon
33. What is his heritage? Ecuadorian
34. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind is it? 3 Milk Cake
35. Did he play sports in high school? I think he did martial arts, swam, and played volley ball
36. He could spend hours doing what? Looking at cars online because we are looking for one right now
37. What is your favorite thing about him, both physically and emotionally? He is really handsome, especially his smile and he cares about our family more than anything, he is a great dad!

I love you Mario!

Portland...again

Being the huge wimp that I am about staying home alone, we once again followed Mario on a business trip up to Portland. It was last week but I have been a little slow with blogging. We had a nice stay and I was able to go to Ikea which is always fun. The best part though was meeting my Dad and sister, Laura, in Chehalis for dinner! We went North and they went South and we met at a little local diner. The food was....well....not that great at all! But the company couldn't be beat. It was so nice to see them! The only downside is that I have had a headache for a few weeks now that will not go away. On the way back down to Portland from Dinner with my Dad my head started hurting so bad that I couldn't see straight and I kept throwing up. The food was even worse coming the other direction! Not so fun! I was about 98% sure I was going to die from the pain and that is saying something considering that I had a baby with no drugs a few short months ago. I did survive, but still have the headache! I've been pretty miserable off and on with it for a while now so it was nice to get out of town and have a change of scenery. Plus we got to spend some great quality time as a family! Here are some pics.






















We ordered a crib at the hotel for Tyler to sleep in but Adam wanted to instead...silly boy!

Spooky Halloween Fun

In the past I've never really been into Halloween, but having kids totally has changed Halloween for me. This year we have had so much fun! This weekend my friend Janice had a Halloween get together. It was so fun to hang out with friends and see everyones costumes.

Tyler was the cutest lil' pumpkin!

Adam was Robin Hood! This isn't the best picture of him in his costume but it's the only one I have. He actually won best kid costume!

This is the table with the spooky halloween tree that Janice and I made. We ate carmel corn, mummy cupcakes, pumpkin cake, wicked witch eyes (deviled eggs), warty witch fingers (pickles), bat eyes (olives), witche's brew (punch), and some other fun things.

This is the pumpkin carving contest. Adam was a little feaked out by the mess at first but ended up having a great time. Although he did keep trying to eat raw pumpkin?!? Believe it or not this is the first pumpkin I have ever carved on my own. I guess as a kid I was more comfortable watching the carving then doing it...I'm not so great with knives! I think it turned out cute though.

Two little pumpkins!

This is proof that some people are having baby girls! Tyler is so lucky surrounded by cute girls!

This is why life is good...

I LOVE AUTUMN....and you have to call it autumn not fall. Fall is such a boring word for such a gorgeous time of year! I love the red, orange, and yellow leaves which are stunning in Southern Oregon. I love layering clothes and not having to hide in the air conditioning all day. I love the occasional rain storm that makes everything smell so fresh and then the crisp air that follows. Decorating with pumpkins, cornstalks, halloween things....so much fun! Autumn is also full of great days...the first day of school, halloween, thanksgiving, and my birthday (along with about half the family, my friend Janice and of course Conner who shares my birthday).

So we have been taking advantage of Autumn with some walks, crafts, and shopping for warmer clothes...so fun! Here are some pictures!

Tyler all cozy and ready for a chilly weather walk!

These are the mums in my yard. I love them! I like to take credit for them even though our gardner planted them and weeds around them, while our automatic sprinkler waters them...oh well!

This is the making of Adam's Robin Hood costume. Janice you are awesome!!!

Having fun at Kid Time

Adam really wants to eat a pumpkin.....He asks every night for dinner...

We even went to a great Halloween Party this weekend so I'll add pictures later!

Toddler Politics

We were at JoAnne's this week buying fabric for Adam's costume when he found these masks. This is a true story....He puts on the Obama mask and says, "ROAR, I'm a monster!" Who taught him that? So my question is out of the three masks which is the scariest?!?

Mid-Afternoon Snapshot

A couple days ago I decided to get the camera out and take more pictures of our everyday life. Nothing planned...just hanging out in the family room with the boys while Mario was at work.

Tyler wasn't too happy about it at first....

....but warmed up to the idea.

Adam ran away as soon as the camera came out. And yes, he is wearing no pants. For some reason he likes to run around in his underwear. Admit it, you would too if you could!

Adam likes to make faces..... Maybe a future actor?

Sad

happy

Suprised

Tyler makes faces too!

This is his "I'm fed up because my mom won't stop taking pictures of me and I'm too little too sit in this chair!" face.

And here is his, "Here, I'll give you one good picture and then go away" face.

I love my boys!!!