Catching up

It has come to my attention (that's you, Dave) that I haven't posted anything new for awhile.  I haven't had anything bloggable to say, but since when does that stop me?  So here's a totally unblogworthy update:

Sarah thought Jason got on her lap while she was eating breakfast because he loves her.

His true motives are becoming clear...

He makes a strike on the bacon!

In other news...Mike brought home this nice cup from CEFCU.  The kids took one look at it and yelled, "Wow! Cool cup!"  I took one look at it and said, "That doesn't look dishwasher-safe."  When did I become an old fuddy-duddy?  Sure enough, it comes with instructions telling me that it is not designed for hot or cold liquids, that I can't overfill it, that I must hand wash it without soaking or submerging it, can't use bleach on it or put it in the microwave, dishwasher, or freezer.  I guess it will be handy for a nice lukewarm drink of water.

Have I mentioned lately how much Marty loves math?  There can be all kinds of books spread out on the desk, and she always goes for the math.  If I had the know-how to put a thought bubble by her, it would say, "I love math."  

The box of flashcards is her favorite.  She's always reaching for the cards, sniffing them, scratching on them with her ghost claws, digging in the box, even chewing on them.  If only the kids shared her affection.

I saved the most unblogworthy news for last.  See that bit of clear counter space?  It's a very rare sight. It's one of those places that the Flylady would call "hot spots".  It's a stuff-magnet.  It attracts things that are on their way somewhere else, mostly to the recycle bin. 

and still more pumpkins

I steamed the pieces that were cut out of the pumpkins (eyes, noses, mouths, etc.) and mashed them up.

Used some mashed pumpkin in the bread dough.  The kids love punching down the dough after it has risen.

Rolled it into a circle,

cut it into wedges,

and rolled them into crescent rolls.

They turned out a little dense and chewy, probably because the yeast I used expired 3 years ago. 

More pumpkins

I washed and dried the seeds,

tossed them with garlic-infused oil and salt,

and roasted them for half an hour.

Yum.

Pumpkins

Drawing on their pumpkins

She wanted lips and teeth cut out of hers.  Instead, she ended up with....

They're scooping goop, and I'm separating seeds from goop.

Somebody threw some goop,

and there was some retaliation...

and an all-out goop war. 

Noah's turned out like this.  That hole next to the nose is a wart.

On the back, he made an N and 11, for Noah 2011.

Morning at the Janes house

Sarah woke up thinking about food, as she does every morning.  Her little feet hadn't even touched the floor before she said, in mid-stretch, "Let's make pancakes!"  But of course she's too hungry to wait for the pancakes to be made, so while she's stirring pancake ingredients she's munching on a granola bar:

The pancakes still weren't done, so she toasted herself a bagel:

She never does anything without singing and dancing, so she made up a song about pancakes and sang it into her spatula microphone:

She finally succeeded in waking Noah, who came stumbling out, squinting:

horrified at the thought of pancakes so early in the morning:

Just a typical morning around here.

Riverfront

This amazing WWII ship was docked in Peoria, and Noah was very interested.  

 

Mike met us there after work (and before Noah's baseball practice), and the two of them toured the ship.

 

Sarah had no interest at all in the ship, so I took her to the Riverplex playground, where she instantly made friends with these two girls.

Annual fall tradition

We always take a trip to Ackerman Farms at the beginning of September to get our free pumpkin and hold the kittens.  Here's Noah, carefully making his pumpkin selection:

Sarah latched onto this kitten and named him "Ounces":

She wanted to share the love, so she passed him over to Noah:

Then we went to visit the goats and horses:

It was a beautiful day at the farm!