Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It snowed all day. When we got home from church, Ash was dying to go out and take a drink of snow (Grandpa John taught her the great way to quench your thirst when it's raining or snowing). Nate wanted to check it out as well. I didn't have my shoes on, so I tried my best to get Nate to come back in to the warm house. And this is the look I got. He took it all in. He stood like this for a long while - just enjoying all of the snow falling all around him. Then I tried harder to reel him in (I wasn't about to go out in my bare feet!) and he just laughed at me (scroll down for that face.)

Ash said it was actually hard to catch the snow cuz it was jumping all around the place. But she did get some.

Most of the snow didn't stick to the ground, so we couldn't build a snowman. It's still snowing...so maybe soon enough we'll build one.

A few random, cute pictures...

Nate and I went in to wake the girls up for school. They went to say their morning prayer, and Nate marched right over to join them. Nate loves attention for the cute things he does, so it was easy to get him to pose for the picture.

Sadie loves to take care of Nate. He's a pretty good sport considering all of the water she squirts in his hair.

At school Sadie's class was having a TG feast. She has talked about it for weeks and was so excited. Her excitment was evident as she came to breakfast already in her pilgrim costume. She wore it all the day long. It was also fun to have a memory jump into my head...that when I was in kindergarten, I was a pilgrim and wore almost the exact costume. I got the picture out to prove it.

Nate loves to climb on the big kid chair and sits there with as much pride as you could hold in a little 15-month old face. He's always trying to be like his sisters.

Fake Yawns

Background to this photo essay: One day I yawned. Nate copied me and yawned. I thought it was so funny to watch him fake a yawn. I couldn't stop laughing! So for the next several minutes, Nate kept faking a yawn, over and over and over. He LOVED being funny and making us all laugh. Just tonight while putting him down, he was almost asleep, but then poked his head up to show me his fake yawn. Funny, funny boy.

Ready for my yawn?

Here goes...

Aren't those eyes just awesome?

Clap for me!! I'm sooooooo cute! And funny.

Ready to see it again? I'll do it 100 more times if you keep laughing.

Piano Girls

For those of you (grandparents) who would have liked to be here at the recital...you might be glad to watch this short clip instead of sitting through the 1 hour and 40 minute recital. TOO LONG! Especially with Nate to chase.

It was fun to have our first little snowflakes accompany us on our drive to the recital. It was freeeeeeeeeeeeezing but so fun to have snow! Sadie could hardly wait for it to be her turn - and neither of them got nervous at all. Don't know where they got those genes.

Other exciting news at our house this week:

1. We got our first egg yesterday and another one today. We ate one and it was super tasty! We will conduct a blindfolded egg-tasting test soon and let you know if we can tell the difference between our eggs and the store's.

2. For our anniversary (9 years) Dave bought us ballroom dance lessons. Dave is embarrassed about this and has been known to say things like "No, I won't be able to do that...we have plans the next several Friday nights." But, as you might notice, he doesn't add what those plans are. For those of you (possibly the Walton boys?) that might think this is not so manly...I think it is especially manly. What is more manly than a husband doing the last thing in the world he would like to be doing on a Friday night - all out of love for his wife, who has always dreamed of learning to ballroom dance with her husband. We had our first class Friday night - and we had so much fun. Even Dave had fun. Thanks Dave! You know how much I love you!

3. Nate ate a grapefruit. Being the picky eater he is, this especially shocked me. The girls were eating a grapefruit and Nate wanted one. He tried it and kept wanting more. Go Nate!

Cheesecake Factory's Bang-Bang Chicken and Shrimp

I just typed this recipe up for my sister, so I thought I might as well put this on the blog for anyone who might be interested in this dish. It's not one of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals, but it is perfect for a special occasion. I'll have to double check with Dave...but I think we agree that this is our favorite entree to step foot in our mouths. We LOVE it. Don't let the long ingredient list or the long list of directions scare you. It's worth it, I promise. That is, if you love curry and peanut sauces and coconut the way we do. We're making it together for our anniversary next week. Can't wait.

Cheesecake Factory’s Bang-Bang Chicken and Shrimp

Curry Sauce

2 t. chili oil
¼ cup minced onion
2 T. minced garlic
2 t. minced ginger
1 cup chicken broth
½ t. ground cumin
½ t. ground coriander
½ t. paprika
¼ t. salt
¼ t. ground pepper
¼ t. ground mace
¼ t. turmeric
3 cups coconut milk
2 medium carrots, julienned
1 small zucchini, julienned
½ cup frozen peas

Peanut Sauce

¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2 T. water
4 t. sugar
1 T. soy sauce
½ t. chili oil
1 t. rice vinegar
1 t. lime juice

2 skinless chicken breast fillets
16 large raw shrimp, shelled
¼ cup cornstarch
½ cup vegetable oil

4 cups cooked white rice

Garnish

1 ½ c flaked coconut
½ t dried parsley, crumbled
2 T chopped peanuts
2 green onions, julienned

1. Make the curry sauce by heating the chili oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds then add the chicken broth. Add the spices and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk. Bring mixture back up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Add the carrots and zucchini, and the frozen peas. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes or until carrots become tender.

2. Make peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and chili oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, then cover the pan and remove it from the heat.

3. Toast the flaked coconut by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven. Stir the coconut around every 10 minutes so that it browns evenly, but watch it closely in the last 5 minutes so it doesn’t get too dark. After 25-30 minutes the coconut should be light brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

4. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Coat the chicken and shrimp with cornstarch. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the coated chicken to the pan and sauté it for a couple minutes, turning as it cooks. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp and chicken for a couple minutes, until it’s done, then remove everything to a rack or towel to drain.

5. Build the two plates (or you can divide the meal into four portions) by filling a soup bowl with 1 or 2 cups of white rice. Press down on the rice. Invert the bowl onto the center of a plate, tap it a bit, and then lift off the bowl leaving a formed pile of rice in the center of each plate. Arrange an equal portion of chicken and shrimp around the rice. Spoon the curry sauce and vegetables over the chicken and shrimp, being careful not to get any sauce on top of the rice.

6. Drizzle peanut sauce over the dish concentrating most of it on the rice. Sprinkle ½ t. of crumbled, dried parsley over the center of the rice. Add a T. of chopped peanuts on the parsley, and then place a pile of julienned green onions on top. Sprinkle ½ cup to ¾ cup of toasted coconut over the chicken and shrimp and serve it up.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Happy Halloween!

Here is the picture for the grandparents that want to see their cute grandkids in costume!

The rundown on the costumes:
Nate - got that for $5 at the consignment store
Ashlyn - a mummy and it was all her idea. $4 on a sheet at Walmart and Sadie ripped the sheet while Dave pinned it on her shirt. Super easy and cheap. Go Ash!
Sadie - a witch and it was all her idea. Her friend gave her the top piece and the tights came from friends in Georgia. I think the hat was $2 at Walmart, if not $1. Super easy and cheap. Go Sadie!

We had a fun night. Perfect weather (it was suppose to rain, but didn't). We trick-or-treated starting at 5:15 (yes, it was still light, but we had a lot to do in one night...so we just had to get started). Then we went to our ward dinner and trunk-or-treat, then on to our neighborhood party, then on to our neighbor's bonfire, then home to sift through the candy, eat a few pieces, BRUSH TEETH, then flop into bed exhausted from a fun day.

Nate quite liked the idea of Halloween. From what I have seen enter his mouth, he has not had any candy in his long 14 months of life. So we wondered what he would do with candy everywhere. Mostly, he had fun knocking on doors and standing (or sometimes kneeling) with a a big smile on his face. He held onto a few pieces, and sucked through the wrapper and managed a little sugar before it was snagged and he was distracted (call us mean parents, but he'll have plenty of years to enjoy sugar...why corrupt such a cute little body that thinks bananas and unsweetened applesauce is a TREAT?).