Weekend Plans

I am so excited that Halloween is on a Saturday!
I feel like I have time to do everything I need to, for like the first time ever!
This year I am helping my little sister with her Halloween Party!
(I have been wanting to throw a Halloween party for some time now...)
This is a quick list of what I have been up to:

• Ice Cubes: They were super easy to make Just put one blueberry into your standard ice tray. Add water and freeze. And, when the cubes are in a drink they look like eyes! (also, some of the blueberry's burst so it gives them and extra creepy look.) I have a couple of bags of those ready to go in the freezer. (it took em about 1 weeks to get 2 bags. I kept forgetting to check on the ice...)
  
• Pies: (because I can't make enough of them lately) I made some Mummy apple pies last night. They turned out super cute!!! Instead of just doing the lattice pattern, wrap it to look like a mummy, then add 2 blueberries for eyes. Wicked cute! Today I am making Jack O' Lantern pumpkin Pies, just use the extra crust to make the eyes and mouth!
• Ghosts, and sugar cookies: I am making chocolate ghost lollipops. And Creepy Cookies, I really like this sugar cookie recipe. Royal Icing tastes the best with these cookies.
  
• Lanterns, and other decor : I am also super excited to decorate the buffet table. I made some lanterns from Martha Stewart. they were super easy, just make sure you use 12X12 paper or 12X24 paper to make them. I used 8 1/2 by 11 paper, made my life a little difficult and, it took forever. They look really good lit up with glow sticks they will add a really creepy look to the buffet table. I have some black paper coffins, spider webs and black lights to add to what has already been decorated. I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like all dark!
  
• Dinner Tonight: I am making a spooky Alfredo, with graveyard peas and sweet potato pumpkins.It is super easy, Just make regular Alfredo (it is spooky cause it is white). What makes the peas graveyard peas is the bread. Just cut grave stones out of bread toast them with a little butter in a pan and place in the peas. And, the sweet potato pumpkins, instead of cutting them into fries, just leave them in circles. Vola, you have pumpkins. A really Easy fun dinner.

I will post pictures of the festivities hopefully next week. Wish me luck!
And everyone, have the Best Halloween!!!!

H1N1 shot

Well I got mine.
I (and others like me) am at the top of the list They told me they only had 13 shots left, I am still not sure why they told me that...
The best part was that it didn't hurt, and I don't feel sick at all.

Take that! All you fear mongers.

Also, I got a super cute band aid. It was a crayon shaped band aid.

Pumpkin Carving Pictures 2009

Here are the pictures from pumpkin carving!

The one on the left is Justin's and the one on the right is mine.


~Boo! It's a Ghost!~

The pumpkin on the far right is my little sisters. It is Ang, glowing with Avatar power. You can't see it, but she has carved in the air symbol on the back of her pumpkin, which looks really cool on the house.

Looking for a unique Christmas gift?

Check out this shop on Etsy There are several Cute purses and some really fabulous shopping bags.
Maybe you will be lucky enough to get one this year for Christmas...

Pumpkin Carving

This year instead of carving pumpkins will all my cousins, I decided to carve pumpkins with Justin. (Lately I have really been feeling a time crunch, and I want to do as much as possible with him while I have the time and am not extremely sleepy.)
Anyways, We talked about what we wanted to do. Originally we were just going to do 1 pumpkin together. Justin had a really great idea for a pumpkin, and I wanted to do a more traditional pumpkin. Se we decided to each do a pumpkin. (well, I really decided that we would each do a pumpkin;) It was really cool to carve the pumpkins we grew in our garden this year! I am still amazed at how big they got. And to think, if we would have stayed in Provo, we would have had 2 more!
We spent 2 1/2 hours working on them. And I really liked the results! (I will post pictures soon)
We lit them both up and took pictures than went inside and cleaned up, and had hot coco. MMmm

Also, It is snowing right now! I wonder how much will stick?

Carrots from the Garden

Right now I am in love with the carrots we pulled from the garden. I have tasted the carrots that come from the store and I don't like them as much. The carrots have been such a fantastic tasting treat fro me. I think I may be enjoying them as much as the rats have been. The other day I was snacking on one while they were out and they practically mauled me trying to get a bite. They did the same thing to Justin yesterday.

That is one thing I noticed about being pregnant, some things taste sooooo good. So far the best tasting stuff has been Indian Food and Carrots.

In and Out Orem Style

Oh man, Yesterday I saw it. The almost completed building.
(Really, I must live under a rock to not know it was there.) But, I am excited!!!
I really LOVE their burgers!!!
Too bad it wasn't there 7 months ago when I really wanted burgers.

The only crappy thing about it being opened in Utah is that the words "Grand Opening" attract people like flies to poop.
Seriously, every time I have seen a "first one in Utah" open, the place is a mad house for almost a year. I still remember the whole state of Utah waiting in line for Donuts. Not to say that they were no good, just not worth waiting 2 hours in line for them.

I know there will always be lines around dinner and lunch time there.
I have eaten there plenty of times to know that:)
Also, there will be other chains opening (hopefully around the same time) in American Fork and Draper. So that may relive some pressure from the bursting tides of people trying to get one of their delicious burgers.
Oh man, that is where work should get our next parent night catered from.

That looks so good right now...

Fall Pictures!

Here are some fun Fall pictures!

Justin prepped the garden for winter. Daisy really enjoyed being outside with Justin.

This is the rest of the fall harvest. I was surprised at how many apples were still on the trees. The apples are really tasty! This weekend I am going to pick the pears. I hope they taste just as good.

Another picture of the front yard at Halloween! I just love the color of the trees. Too bad all the leaves were blown off this week...During fall break we went to Gardner Village. It is a pretty cool place. I really liked every shop we went into while there. It was fun to do some shopping with my family.
Eliza also colored my hair! I really like it. The good news is that I can still donate it! I was just getting super tiered of the dumpy hair. I just needed something to make me feel girly.



The girls in front of the pumpkins! They had so many pumpkins! My nephew just loved all the pumpkins. I also loved all the pumpkins. I really like pumpkins! They also had a ton of witches there (real and not) the day we went. It was fun to see all the women dressed up for witches night.

ABC's of ME!

I saw this on a friends blog and it looked like it would be a fun activity for the day.

THE ABC’S OF Katie

A – ADVOCATE FOR: Eating well. Not just healthy things like using fresh fruit and veggies in cooking, but also eating what tastes good too. maybe spending a little bit more when you go out to eat. (I HATE being disappointed when I eat out.)

B – BEST FEATURE: I really like my wrists.

C – COULD DO WITHOUT: pain

D – DREAMS & DESIRES: That Justin and I could live on a farm, with the exact house we want, and I could be the house wife I have always wanted!

E – ESSENTIAL ITEMS: chapstick, iPod, car keys

F – FAVORITE PAST TIME: making things!

G – GOOD AT: Cooking, criticizing things, creativity.

H – HAVE NEVER TRIED: Sky diving

I – IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: Go by that farm and build our dream house.

J – JUNKIE FOR: Good Cheese & chocolate

K – KINDRED SPIRIT: Eliza, Justin

L – LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I have a scar on my tongue, and I hate green beans. (worst vegetable ever)

M – MEMORABLE MOMENT: Getting married. I don't know if I will be able to top that. Maybe in a few months...

N – NEVER AGAIN WILL I: spend $70.00 on a pair of pants I don't really like.

O – OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Bombay house, and clothes shopping!

P – PROFESSION: teacher aide

Q – QUOTE: "The Greatest Adventure is what lies Ahead..." (this was the only thing I could think of, other than "where there's a whip there's a way"... I must have those old cartoons on the mind right now)

R – REASON TO SMILE: The rats, and Justin "playing" with the baby.

S – SORRY ABOUT: not having enough time and energy to do everything I want to.

T -THINGS THAT ARE WORRYING YOU RIGHT NOW: Will I ever be able to fit into my old clothes? Is there enough room in our room?

U – UNINTERESTED IN: math

V – VERY SCARED OF: spiders, swimming in open ocean, Great white sharks, the Twilight Zone, Zombies (only the ones in my dreams), being sucked into the vacuum of space.


W – WORST HABITS: Not doing things that need to be done.

X – X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: small beach house in norther California, with a tandem bike.

Y – YUMMIEST DESSERT: There are far to many to choose from, I really like Mango with rice and coconut milk (a Thai desert) Cheese Cake (Justin's)

Z – ZODIAC SIGN: Libra

Red Ribbon Week

Today is the last day of Red Ribbon week at school. Making posters and helping with a few things has made me think of my decision to be "drug" free.

Simply, High School, I just saw some of the silly things people did and the consequences of drinking and getting high . Also, Smokers stink, actually there is literally a smell, and that grossed me out.
I also lost a grandparent to smoking, and will lose another soon because of the long term effects of smoking.

So, ask yourself why are you "drug" free?

Most amazing Rat feet Ever!!!

Last night we had the rats out in the room they were happily playing. Justin had a piece of the yummy ice cream cake from my birthday. Magellan snuck up and started licking the plate, Justin said "NO" and put him n the ground. Magellan must have really liked the cake because he climbed up on to the door of the cage and was balancing on top of the open door trying to reach the cake.Pleas excuse my primitive drawing, but essentally, this is what it looked like. Rats really are amazing!

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!

So I am finally loading some pictures. they range from August to yesterday! I hope you enjoy them!
We finally gave them a real bath! We have tried this a couple of times. This time they were almost ok with being shampooed and cleaned. They were super cute to watch afterward in the towel snuggling up and trying to get dry. I forgot how white they were...

They are super curious, and quick. it is not easy getting pictures of these little guys. (don't worry the cup was put in the dishwasher afterward)

My nephew and his birthday cake! He really liked the orange frosting!

Girls Night! We had a girl party at my Aunts house. We had fondue, Pulled pork, and lots of fun.
The girls enjoying the chocolate fondue! (my favorite was the caramel with pretzels....)

Making pies conference weekend! Justin was a super help!
We made the pumpkin pie filling from scratch! Much easier than either of us expected it to be. Oh I just love the color of the pumpkin!




Adding the spice to the pumpkin pies!

The pies all done! It was super weird but the pie with the burnt top tasted better than the un-burnt one. We used the same exact bowl of pumpkin pie mix.... Oh and the one in white is the wheat free version of the pie!

Beautiful red apple from my parents tree! Get ready to be in a pie!





I didn't get as many of the "making of" pictures for the apple. thank heavens for Apple Peeler Corer Slicers! they make making apple pies much easier!


The bottom 2 are the apple pies and the top one is my mom's wheat free cherry pie! (she bought it at Good Earth) No I did not make my own crust. I have in the past, and it is fabulous, but really I just wanted to relax. Making pie crusts can be very frustrating.


mmmmm pies...

( I really like making pies)



Eliza made a super yummy Buffalo chicken Chili for dinner that night!

Justin and I have been going outside and using my parents dutch oven pit and a small fire pit. It has been very romantic and nice for the two of us. but My little brother wanted his Friends to come over one night for the fire. Let me tell you it is hard to get 8 people around a little 2 foot hole. So Justin had the idea to take the trampoline off and use that as a bigger fire pit. It was a success! We had fun cutting down some dead branches and adding some broken chairs to the fire.
P.S. the bamboo chairs from Ikea burn super hot and long, you don't need to do more than one chair at a time.

Justin, my Little fire starter.

Me playing with the settings on the camera.


I have also been helping my parents get ready for Halloween. This is the not so scary, kid friendly side of the yard. A cute scare crow and pumpkin patch.

And the little bit creepy graveyard side of the house. I really like this side. The grave stones on the far right go back for quite a ways making it one of my favorite grave yard set ups. Next year maybe I will have time to make 20 more stones and do the rest of the yard too...
I also decorated the inside.
Scary Piano!

~spooky table~
Justin and I Painted our baby crib this weekend. It was fun to do a "project" together. we have talked about re finishing and doing other things for a while but this is our first one! This is what the crib looked like before.


And almost, kind of after. You will see a picture of it all put together in a few weeks. We decided on a mat black paint. I really like how it looks. I am going to paint some Dr. Seuss characters on the larger panels. Which ones I don't know yet, but I need to figure it out since I have a 5 day weekend to work on it this week. Don't worry I did help paint and so did Justin's brother Collin. we didn't make Justin do it by himself. Then we went to Bombay house. Oh man I love there food soooooo much. I swear, Indian is the best food!


I also had a birthday this weekend! Wow I look "super" good! makes me wish I would have put makeup on...
Ah well, I was super comfortable.



This is for those of you who want to see what I look like pregnant. Super awesome picture for future generations...



And the cake was yummy, mint chocolate chip icecream cake! Oh man it was sooooooo what I wanted!

Cake idea for an upcoming baby shower...

Here is what I was thinking for a cake for my shower...

Nah, just kidding. I do not need a cake representation of my belly, seeing it everyday is enough for me;)
But you should check out this blog Cake Wrecks. It is super funny!

Banned Books

I can totally understand some books NOT being in Elementary Schools, Jr. High's and High Schools.
But, after reading some of the books in the top 100, I was shocked. A light in the Attic, James and the Giant Peach, Tom Sawyer, just to name a few. (I still can't figure out what could be offensive in James and the Giant Peach? Maybe the aunts, they were pretty mean...) Anyways, I found the information interesting and I thought I would share the web site I found this information on with you. On the site there are also graphs that show the biggest reasons why books were banned, who asked them to be banned, and where the books were to be banned from. Also, you can look at the top ten books banned by year.
For me, it reminded me how important communication is with children and young adults. You have to basically trust that you have taught them good principals and trust that they can make good decisions. ( a responsibility that seems to be getting a little more real for me now...)
Here is the link to the American Library Associations Website
Personally, I love reading and I am glad that my parents never limited what I was reading.

Front yard and inside finnished!

I have been working on decorating the front yard and the front room of my parents house for Halloween. It is not my best work, I just got tiered...
The front yard is kind of different this year, we have a half scary and half kid friendly front yard. Half is a pumpkin patch with a scare crow and the other half is a spooky graveyard. Personally I would really like to make more tombstones, but I only have so much time and so many projects to do before the baby comes. I can't believe 2 more months and I will have a child! (no name picked yet...)
Pictures to come of all the fun things we have been up to. ( I am so glad I finally remembered to take pictures!)

H1N1, or Swine Flu

I read this article today about H1N1. I found it to be very informative. It is 7 myths about H1N1.
Please remember to wash your hands frequently, keep your work areas clean and sanitized. They are super easy things everyone can do to keep not only H1N1 at bay but other flu's and colds.
yeah for Lysol, Clorox cleaning wipes, and Germ X!!!

One of thosee days, again...

This morning after Justin got out of class and we were walking to the car, I had the overwhelming urge to call in sick. I just wanted to go on a hike and be outside. It was so wonderful and crisp! I just wanted to celebrate such a great fall morning!

I chose the high road, and went to work...
At least I can see the mountains.
But before I got to work, we decided to go out when Justin comes to pick me up from work. I am super excited. We are going to hike (walk really) up to Bridal Veil falls, eat at the brick oven in Orem, and go shopping at Harmon's. I love shopping at Harmon's! The store is so great they have had everything I have ever needed, and so many things I don't. If you have never been, you should go. Here are my top ten favorite things about Harmon's:

1. Cheese Monger! They have a Cheese Monger! So cool, he was able to help me match a goat cheese to what I was making for dinner! Also they will cut cheeses for you to try and answer any questions you might have.
2. Fresh Fruits and Veggies. Not only do they have a huge selection, but everything comes with a little explanation of what it tastes similar to and what you can use it in. The only fruit I have had a hard time with is Mango's, but I have never been able to find fantastic mango's in Utah.
3. Bakery, mmmmmm. They have a new addition, specialty breads! Fantastic!
4. Foreign Foods, they have a larger selection of Asian, Mexican, Italian, English, etc... than I have seen in any other store.
5. Store Managers. They are really the best! I have always felt super welcome in the store, and they are always easy to find and willing to help. Also I don't think I have ever waited in line longer than 8 min. Seriously, I was there Thanksgiving morning 2 years ago and I was in and out of that store in less than 4 min. They did such a good job of directing people and having ALL of their registers open. Also everyone that works there has been super friendly and nice.
   
6. Local produce and other locally made items. They carry locally grown and made items. Seriously try Clinton's Cereal. It is fabulous! Also try their bread! It is made right in Salt Lake! ( we also found cheese curd, a favorite of my moms, made in Logan)
   
7. Health Food Section. It is the biggest I have seen in a grocery store. They have all kinds of whole foods, all natural, no preservatives, and Gluten free. ( like a mini good earth) They also have an all natural beauty selection, Not just bert's bees ( like most). You should try the Jason Aloe lotion it is amazing on sunburns! also the Coco Butter has been very nice an soothing on my belly.
   
8. Florist area. They have your usual grocery florist plants but they also carry a wide variety of in season flowers too. They have a nice selection on vases and other floral needs as well.
9. Deli and Sushi. They make their sushi fresh every day, and they have more than imitation crab rolls. They have real uncooked fish! The Deli carries you usual pre-made, and fried stuff, but also a large variety of meats and other things. And they have Ice cream! Not soft serve, but real ice cream!
10. Clean! The store has always felt clean when I go in. I love that!!!! It makes me feel more relaxed. Ugh, I hated shopping by the Albersons next to my old house. It just felt dirty and dingy, like old cigggarette butts. Also, I hated that their fresh meat section was hiddden behind their Large Bulk items. HOW WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT THE MEAT LOOKED LIKE!!!! Super scary, super scary...

I have gone to the Sunflower Market, The Good Earth and Smith's Market Place. Smiths has some fun things, but it just feels like it is too big and spread out. Not personal. Sunflower Market has a great selection of fruit and Vegitarian items, and is super friendly. The Good Earth has a great selection of suppliments, and beauty things. I love all the essential oils and other things you can use to make your own fragrences. No store does it for me like Harmon's. It is kind of like Forever 21 to teenege girls. ( I also love that store too!)
Everyone has their favorites, and this is just one of mine.
Also, is anyone else super excited for Halloween! I know I am! Now I just need to think of a costume...

Rats on the mind

Lately when I have been dreaming, I seam to dream about our rats. Usually they are not a big part of the dream, usually I will open a box or a drawer and find it filled with little Magellan's and McBeth's. Most I think would find that terrifying but, I always think it is cute in my dreams.
Anyways I was trying to figure out what to do for my class room and I was looking at Martha Stewart.com and found these paper mice. I was super excited. It is something i can totally do while I am at work!!! Although I am realizing that I am going to be cutting out mice for the next 2 days straight... But the results should be fun and a little creepy.
Also, cutting out all the mice is making me think of the rats. I miss those guys, I can't wait to go home and play with them...