Ten for Tuesday 10.14.08

Yes, yes, I know it's not really Tuesday, but let's just pretend, okay?

1. Michael has been begging me to put up our Halloween decorations. The problem is that we didn't really have any Halloween decorations. So, we finally went out and bought a few festive items, and the kids love having the house all decked out. We put out our pumpkins on Thursday night, and by Friday night some little rascal had already stolen one. Seriously, how much fun can it really be to steal pumpkins from a three year old?

2. It's Halloween time, so that means that once again I am having heartburn over costumes. I have a fundamental problem with forking over 20 bucks for a cheap-o superhero costume from Target that may not even hold up for one night of trick-or-treating. That said, I've probably spent 20 bucks in gas running all over town trying to find the perfect costume. Tomorrow my mom is going to take me to the fabric store, and hopefully we can find something that the boys will be excited about---and hopefully I won't be having fits over my sewing machine for the next two weeks!

Still on the subject of Halloween costumes, I'm thinking about dressing up as Sarah Palin, but it really feels like a very boring costume. Anyone have some fun ideas for me?

3. Before the freeze on Friday night the boys came out with me and we brought all of the tomatoes inside. Blake was so excited to finally be allowed to pick those green tomatoes! What a cute little helper! I decided to cover the tomatoes with newspaper and put the in the basement to see if they ripen. I have a TON of them! Hopefully I don't forget about them and have to throw out boxes of rotten tomatoes in the spring!

We also got a pretty good showing of carrots this year. Michael loves to pull them up out of the ground and eat them.

4. Speaking of tomatoes and carrots. . . I've had several requests for my spaghetti sauce recipe. The problem is that I don't actually follow a recipe. Which is pretty unusual. I almost always use recipes, but this time I just kind of winged it. Anyway this is the gist :

Olive oil

Onion, finely chopped

Carrots, grated

Garlic, minced

Tomatoes, peeled and blended

Tomato paste

Sugar

Salt

Italian Seasoning

Zucchini and/or summer squash, chopped or shredded

Meat (optional)

Saute the onions, carrots, and garlic until translucent. Boil and peel the tomatoes, and blend them in the blender. Add to the pot and bring to a boil. Add tomato paste until the sauce is as thick as you like it. If it gets too thick you can always add a little more water. Add seasonings. I used the McCormick Italian seasoning from Costco that had a sauce recipe on the back, and I used the ratio they suggested---1 Tbls. seasoning to 2 tsp. sugar. Add salt to taste ( I like a lot!). Add zucchini and meat if desired. Simmer all day. Obviously, amounts of the ingredients will vary depending on how many tomatoes you have that need to be used up. I made a HUGE pot, each time and froze it in quart size bags. It's pretty time consuming using all fresh ingredients, so you might as well make a lot to make it all worth the effort!

5. This is Ty throwing a MAJOR fit at Michael's soccer game on Saturday.

The rest of us had a great time---except for the fact that it was freezing cold! The boys had to get all bundled up just to have their team pictures taken. Next week is the last game of the season, and I hope the weather is a little bit better.

6. First snow of the season! What a cause to celebrate. Ty was in our room bright and early on Sunday telling Daddy that there was snow outside and wanting to go out and play. What fun for little boys. Blake was pretty jealous watching them out the window!

7. In all actuality, I really hate snow, and I hate to be cold. That's why this has become my new best friend. Actually, and old friend, rediscovered. It's my rice bag. It's huge, and I nuke it for 4 minutes every night and stick in my bed to warm my toes up. If you don't sleep with a rice bag, you really ought to try it sometime. I love having my bed toasty warm when the weather is cold.

8. Fun at Great Nana's house.

9. Yesterday Michael's teacher told me that she had asked the class to be patient and wait for a minute, and Michael raised his hand and said, "My Dad says 'Good things come to those who wait!'" What a funny kid! Amazing to find that he actually hears the things we say to him.

10. This is a big THANK YOU to all the women who came to my activity last night and cut fabric and colored file folder games. We got a lot of work done, and I am so grateful for your help! Also, a big thank you to Jessica who brought her delicious peanut butter cookies!