Fall Festival

Tonight we just got back from a fall festival. A lady from work invited me and it was a great excuse to show off the kids. A was super excited about being Elsa and taking her snowman brother with her. We had a bit of a rough morning and then took a long nap this afternoon.

The kids were the hit of the festival and G win cutest costume. I need to make a few adjustments so that he can walk. But even with adjustments the bulkiness of the costume will be a hindrance. Every Elsa that walled by G said, "It's my Olaf!" and wanted a picture with him. I was glad the costume was recognisable.

Band

Last weekend we went to a wedding reception. It was a lot of fun and GMan LOVED the band. He was their biggest fan and cheered after each song. He clapped and was very upset when they packed up for the evening.

Komen 2014

Some pictures from our day today. As always Google did a good job of piecing together the information.

https://plus.google.com/101939083253376960013/stories/bf12944a-6b9e-384d-9cfa-5255fb3c96d714925f74f6b?authkey=CMjg5tHqtZC5Wg

Biltmore in the Fall

We went to the Biltmore this past weekend and has a good time. We got to see OU beat up on Texas, even if they let them in there at the end. We also got to see the farm and all the construction they are doing at the estate. We didn't play with the baby chicks. G slept through the chick part while A was a bit to scared to actually hold one. The nice lady was willing to help her and showed her multiple times how to make the chick feel comfortable. However, A would just touch the bird and start giggling. She also wanted to check how many eggs they had that day and was highly disappointed when they didn't know.

Outside the farm there was a great fall scene. There were a couple of scarecrows, some pumpkins and a couple names of hay. G and A did well with the hay and both also loved the pumpkins. They were the realistic looking foam ones so it helped tremendously. A decided that the pumpkins needed to line up and G decided he just wanted to roll the pumpkins around.

Empanadas

We got some oil for fried chicken and it had a recipe for pumpkin parmesan empanades. We made them a few weeks ago with pumpkin and then tonight with butternut squash. It is easy but takes a bit of time, as all fried foods do.

Dough

3 C floor
9 TBS butter
Enough milk to make the dough stick together

Filling

Oil to sauté onions/leeks
1 leek to the green part or 1 cup onion
1 TBS Thyme
0.5 TSP salt
Pepper
16 ounces of pumpkin
0.5 C ricotta cheese
1 C Romano or parmesan or asiago (or a combination)

Make the dough and chill for a bit.

Wait the onions and spices together. Add in the vegetable and stir. (Stir while hot and evaporate some of the water since we used fresh vegetable).  Add in the cheeses while still warm to help melt and blend it all together.

Make small pouches with the chilled dough and fill with filling. Fry in oil of choice until browned on both sides. They come out super yummy. G sat here and hummed the entire time while doing his happy dance. A thought the dough alone was fantastic both times and ate more of that than the finished product. They store well and are good for a while. We had them a week and change after we made them and they were still good. A has helped roll the dough both times and G has learned to climb well enough that he helped today. Watching is the first part of learning and both kids are doing well in that regard. 

We've not done much except work and go to school lately. We are both wondering what's going on with us being here and hoping that it all works or for the better.

We seem to have found a good church for now. They do a lot of kids stuff and have several families. We're just going that we can build some relationships and survive here.

We are working with A and her being kind. She is super concerned with things and what is hers. It is starting to bother us as we are curious why the obsession is there. She isn't using nice words and it is a sign of the day care she is at because of the way they interact there. She then brings it gone. We are hoping that something will change in our situation before G gets into the 2 year old classroom because a lot of the problems seem to stem from that room. We shall see.

Here are a few pictures.  A with the butternut squash we got a few weeks ago and have made several meals of. G with an empanada. Just the yummy empanada.

Boats!

Our new church gives us a lot more time for family on Sundays. Today we went to church and were napping by noon! As this would never have happened in Boone, this is a novelty to him. Our new church has a new nursery for the kids and a new Sunday school for A. Both kids are doing fantastic on the little time they spend there. Apparently the preschool that is held at the church is a fantastic one that all the people at work recommend. Is like to put both kids there, but it is a half day program. If anyone reading this wants to relocate and be a nanny part time let me know! It would be a great part time job for anyone who wants it!  G particularly lives the boats in his classroom. His lack of separation anxiety is hilarious to me as I put him down and he speed sped off to the motorboats. He started adjusting the steering wheel and the throttle as fast as he possibly could.

Last week the volunteer who watched him was an acquaintance of mine from the pool. I didn't know she was watching him but she has a lot of fun with him apparently.

G is starting to sleep a solid eight hours or so at night. This is FANTASTIC as a sleep deprived parent.  Now if only A would also learn to sleep through the night as well.

The kids are doing well at school. We also are continuing to figure out our work situations. We have meet our neighbours and I'm looking forward to helping them with high school science stuff. They both homeschool their high school children so it should be easy enough for me.

Close the Door!

A and G have decided that this cabinet is a fantastic place to play. While we have a ton of kitchen stuff nothing really seems to for in this cabinet except children. If they close themselves in can we be held responsible if something happens?