Happy Halloween...Almost

Our city held it's annual trick or treating day this Sunday, October 26th.
Although it was raining or snowing, temps were in the mid-40's with very strong winds.
Rowan really wanted to be a butterfly and Harvey got to wear the monkey costume I made for Rowan 2 years ago.
Although Harvey is walking quite well, he didn't want to get out of the wagon much. He ended up getting fussy and having to go home with mom just after 3 blocks. Rowan stayed on with Andy, but apparently she didn't want to stay too much longer either.
I had just put Harvey into his crib and I heard them enter the house. I don't think she liked the cold and the wind. Consequentially, her candy loot was much smaller this year.
As she napped, we sorted through her candy and took out the ones we though were not appropriate to eat....which really only amounted to about 3 things.
It was a good year.....no pennies, no popcorn balls, no pamphlets on morals, no orange and black peanut butter chewies, and only one Laffy Taffy (1 of the 3 things we pulled out). After her nap, Rowan will get to sort through her candy and get to eat something.
I hope that next time we go trick or treating, we will have a nicer day and kids that will want to stay out a little longer. But I can't really complain. We didn't have any injuries or meltdowns.

Beyond the Republicrats

My brother recently posted on his facebook account a quote that really spoke to me.
Up until reading this quote, I was pondering what I should do come election day. Do I vote for one of the two men constantly in the media? I didn't like either choice, but I wondered if I voted for a third party candidate or wrote-in my vote....would I be "wasting" my vote.
This quote helped me to come to the decision I've made.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
- John Quincy Adams, 2nd president

Making Jack O'Lanterns

This was Rowan's first year of helping clean out pumpkins. She had a good time and did a fairly good job. After we scooped out all the "guts", she helped separate the seeds from the stringy stuff.
This year, I made my first attempt at roasting the seeds in the oven. I chose to make a savory flavor of pumpkin seed that called for garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce. Andy said they turned out good, but I know I did over cook them a little.
Sorry I didn't get a final shot of the pumpkins faces. After I put out other decorations outside, I'll get a photo and you'll be able to see our pumpkins then.

We made cupcakes!

Harvey really likes his cupcake. This is the first time that I've attempted to use food coloring made from a natural source. I think it turned out pretty good.
What you don't see is that after he was done with the cupcake, I had to clean a lot of crumbs off the tray and had to try to clean frosting out of his nose.
But the cuteness is well worth it!

Back at the Cabin

We went back to the cabin this past weekend. The temps were pretty chilly. We brought along some light coats and that helped a bit, but we should have had some gloves as well.
Rowan went on a couple 4-wheeler rides with Andy. She was so much more enthusiastic about riding this time. I remember a year ago she really dreaded the sound of the 4-wheeler. It makes me happy to see that she has lost that fear. Harvey seems to be less afraid of noises right now and he also got one turn on the 4-wheeler.

Yummy sucker!

I asked Rowan to show me what kind of faces she made for different emotions. Happy and angry almost looked the same. But when I asked her to show me "sad" it was very easy to see the big bottom lip come out in a pout. It was a fun exercise in body language.
Andy enjoyed warming up in the small patch of sunlight.

Rowan is such a nice sister. Here she is sharing her sucker with Harvey. It was his first sucker experience and all he knew was to bite down on it. But the sharing went very well for quite some time.

Harvey enjoyed walking the drive way with Grandma, Rowan and Mom. It was hard for him to keep up since every leaf and twig would slow him down or tamper with his balance. Here he is wearing Grandma's gloves. He looks like a cartoon with them on.

Maverick ran up and down the driveway. Luckily, he never knocked down either of the kids. It was a nice opportunity for him to run super fast.

Andy and I love this pic of Maverick. The camera seemed to focus on his face pretty good while letting the background become a blur with his speed.

Rowan enjoyed reading books while indoors.

Grandpa shared some special time with Rowan. He had her help him plant some garlic in a pot out on the back deck. I hear she did a good job and even got to help water when all was done.

We also got to go out on the boat a couple times. Our time on the water was limited since it was chilly. Andy, Dennis and Janea went out fishing one afternoon while the kids napped. A few fish were caught but only one made it home for eating. I was very proud of the large mouth bass that I caught, but it was too small to keep (although I thought it was biggest fish I ever caught on that lake). We took the kids on a trip around the lake too. Harvey sat very still for the first 2/3 of the trip, but soon got antsy.

Thanks to the kids, we didn't have the best sleep in the loft. Other than that, our trip was fun and we had some great food prepared by Grandma and Grandpa. We can't wait to try out the toaster oven some more next time we are up.

Out at the park

We went to Riverside Park last week. Rowan tried to show Harvey all the fun things she likes to do. But for Harvey it was a bit of a struggle to keep up with her.



Finally, made it!

The Evidence Against Soy

So far, I've usually used the blog for posting updates and photos on my family.
Now I'm thinking of expanding the content of the blog to include my thoughts, links to articles and other issues I find of interest.
The intent is to just provide information - not to start a conversation or debate.
My hope is that I might be able to provide useful information to help improve the lives we lead.

So with that said....
I'm providing a link to an article that discusses the negative attributes to soy products.
I became interested in researching soy when I was considering milk options for my children (especially when I weaned them from breast milk). Since we have a hard time obtaining raw cow milk (for various reasons), I have started using whole, organic goat milk as a first non-human milk since it has great digestibility. As time passes, I intend to transition my son to whole, organic cow milk (hopefully raw). At one point, I did consider other milks such as rice milk, nut milks and soy milk. I believe that none of these have the correct proteins, cholesterol and fats for a developing child.
Anyhow, if anyone is interested in investigating and comparing milks, I'd be happy to send you links. I am opting to not post them all here, since I want to keep this post from becoming too complex.

Here's the link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/07/the-evidence-against-soy.aspx?source=nl

If the direct link doesn't work, try going to www.mercola.com and typing in "soy" in the search box.

Thanks!