Halloween

We had fun Halloween night. We carved the obligatory pumpkin, then prepared for trick-or-treating. Our town does a big event on the Main Street. Everyone trick-or-treat's in their own street, then goes into town about 6:30 PM.

We walked a few blocks going door to door in town. I didn't even dress John up for it -- too big of a hassle -- he just sat in the stroller. Maddie had fun though. She went as a Mickey-Mouse queen. I didn't even take a picture that night -- UGH! But, here's a picture of the family the week before at the ward Trunk-or-treat.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

I can't believe she's six. It's gone by so fast! I guess I only get to give six wonderful things about my little girl, but I could give a thousand. Here are my favorite six:

1-- Sings. Sings. Sings. She sings more than the singing bush from Three Amigos. She is always singing. I can hear her up and down the neighborhood, riding her bike, singing a song. It always makes me smile.

2-- Femininity. She's got so much! She always wants to look her best, have on jewelry, lip gloss and a fancy dress. For her birthday, she's going to dress up so we can go out to dinner at the restaurant of her choosing -- Denny's.

3 -- Smarts. She is so smart it scares me. She reads everything, understands everything and has incredibly complex follow up questions.

4 -- Kind. Maddie is always looking out for everyone's feelings. She wants to involve everyone and help them to have fun too. She's always making new friends and meeting new people.

5 -- Inventive. She's always got a new story, game or idea. If something doesn't work out the way we had planned, she'll always come up with some other idea that can work just as well.

6 -- Determined. When Maddie wants something, nothing gets in her way. She can move mountains with her determination.

I love my little girl so much. I feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She's one of the greatest gifts I'll ever receive in life. She makes every day better just by being around.

I know that all children are cherished, but when after fighting for two and a half years just to get pregnant, and then struggling through the pregnancy, I'll never forget the moment when I knew she was here and safe and OK. I was filled with such joy. She's never done anything to tarnish that feeling. It just grows everyday. I love you Maddie!

Here's her kindergarten class singing to her today:

Taking a Tumble

I have no idea how it happened. One moment I was talking to Maddie, pointing to the waspy-thing I had just sucked into the hand-vac.

The next thing I knew I was rolling end over end down the stairs. All the way from top to bottom -- 15 stairs. There is a giant streak on the wall about 3 feet above the carpet where my tennis shoes raked the paint. New paint required. I broke 5 posts on the railing with some part of my body -- I think my head. Five new posts, new paint and some kind of new knowledge required to put that back together.

My only injuries are a big bump on the noggin, a twisted ankle and some scraped skin off my hands and shins. I can't believe I didn't break something. Sometimes blessings come in the strangest ways -- today I feel blessed just to be in one piece.

I was alone with the kids today -- Maddie watched the whole thing screaming at the top of her lungs. It really freaked her out. She wasn't the only one. But, I have to say, I was pretty ticked off that the vacuum broke into a bunch of pieces on the way down, scattering the contents everywhere. That darn waspy-thing was still alive. You can be very sure I stepped on him until his life was over. Darn bug.

Scrambled Egg Snob

This was my breakfast this morning --- I love scrambled eggs. I eat them almost every morning. This may come as a shock to some -- those acquainted with my early years in life. Until I lived in Maryland(at the age of 26 or so) I never ate scrambled eggs. I'd touch eggs if they were an omelet, but not scrambled. I first really started to like scrambled eggs at IHOP in Rockville. But, I never made them for myself.

In 2004, we went to Montreal, Canada for a virology conference. Our first night there, we searched for a place to eat and were sent to a funny little basement restaurant called the Move and Pick. It sounds like a discount store to me, but it was a great little gourmet restaurant.

Each type of food had a different station -- Crepes, Omelets, Hamburgers, Steak, Chicken, Salad, Fruit, etc. It's where we were first introduced to strawberry crepes with chocolate sauce --YUM! I chose an omelet for dinner. They had ceramic pots with all the different choices for omelet toppings. I asked them what was the favorite -- spinach, mushroom and cheese was the reply. I decided to give it a try. They put all my choices into an omelet pan and whipped up my dinner right before my eyes. I can still taste it. It was beyond incredible. I went back to ask which kind of cheese they had used -- it was Gruyere.

This was my first time eating Gruyere cheese. It's a salty, nutty, flavorful hard imported cheese. It's found in most grocery stores, but it is pretty expensive. I usually only buy it at Trader Joe's because it's about half the cost there. We really love this cheese -- Maddie begs to have it just plain because it tastes so good. I use it in pasta dishes, quiche and now scrambled eggs.

Just plain scrambled eggs aren't cutting it for me anymore. I want flavor. Gruyere is where it's at for me. I love that extra punch it gives the eggs. This is where my snobbery comes from. I simply can't go back now that I've tasted the gourmet side of life. Plus, it always makes me think of Montreal and the funny little Move and Pick.

Fun in Florida

We had a great time visiting Jared's parents this last weekend. We left Thursday morning and got back very late Monday night.

The flights were pretty good -- I'm glad we don't have to pay for John's ticket, but in some ways, I really can't wait to pay for John's ticket. Holding a 26-pound wiggly ball of muscle is tiring after 5 hours. Oh, and he so very desperately wants to kick the seat in front of him. And to the lady in front of us who leaned her chair back putting her bright blond hair right there in front of his face. Yep. I'm sorry he pulled it, but you kinda deserved it.

We had dinner together as a family -- Jared's grandma who is lovingly referred to as Grandma 'Dock by some and just 'Murdock' by others was able to join us. Gina and Doug, my sister and brother-in-law just recently moved to the Jacksonville area and were also with us for most of the weekend. It was so great -- Maddie got to play with her cousin Josh for 4 days straight! She just adores her cousin Josh. Considering that their both the oldest and pretty much only children in their families(John's just not a factor much yet) they got along really well.

Friday we got to tour Gina's house, eat at Longhorn steakhouse, go to the park and rest a bit. Jared, Gina, Doug and I went on a double date that night. We headed out to Cruisers -- a great little diner -- for a fun filled evening. I just love hanging out with my husband. He's a pretty funny guy. He had us all rolling over paying the bill. Such a dumb thing to think is funny, but it was funny. Then we went to Truffles dessert house and begged our way in the door even though it was an hour past closing. We got four gigantic chocolate desserts to share around and headed home.

Saturday was a blast. We got to go to DisneyWorld. It's about a 3 hour drive from Jacksonville, so we hopped in the cars about 7:30 AM and drove down. We rode so many rides! It was pretty packed, but we got on Buzz, the Rockets, Space Mountain, It's a Small World, Pirates, Splash Mountain, the Haunted House, Big Thunder Mountain, Dumbo, Aladin's Magic Carpet, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and more I can't remember right now. The kids got to do so much! Huge thanks to Jared's mom -- she watched little John and the others so we could go on the big roller coasters. We had a fantastic time! I just love Disney. I know it's supposed to be a happy place, but it's amazing just how much fun you can have with 50,000 other people. We drove home that night and got in about 2 AM. Oh, so very tired.

Sunday we ran out to Ponte Vedra to see our friends Eve & David that moved from Maryland a few years ago. It's always fun to catch up with them and see what latest projects they have going. Then we went to church with Sarah. After our short naps, we drove over to Grandma 'Dock's house for dinner. Yum! No one else makes roast beef and rolls the way she does. We went home and I went to bed and Jared played guitar hero with Doug all night.

Monday we all got to go see the dentist :) It was Maddie's first visit and everything was great! It helps to have Grandpa be your dentist.

Crazy sale!

If you are looking for formal wear for your children, you've just got to look at Gaga's website. They are a rental/retail store that has tons of kids stuff for unbelievable prices! Are you looking for a tuxedo for your little boy -- just $27! A full tuxedo! I can't even buy a regular Sunday church outfit for that!

They also have hundreds of girls dresses for about $20-$30 -- and you could even get a range of sizes for matching girl outfits.

Amazing!

End of an Era

I married Jared almost ten years ago -- now before you go jumping to conclusions, we're still very happily married. During most of those years, he was in school while I stayed home with Maddie. We really struggled to make ends meet. So, I picked up various odd jobs -- helping at an ultrasound office, working trade shows, teaching piano, teaching quilting, babysitting, and on and on.

Two very important ventures were: First, I tried a purse company with my good friend Lindsay called "Darli". We had a great time and sewed hundreds of purses and things to sell at in-home parties. Second, I started a vinyl sign company. But, I never actually tried to promote it. I got so busy doing all the other things it just got pushed to the side. I've had the website up for years and years, mostly just functioning as my email address.

Why the end of an era you say? Well, I shut down the Paint It Perfect website today. I'm sad to see it go, but I was just not doing enough to justify keeping it just to use as an email address. So, my new email address is darcykpatch at gmail dot com for those of you who get bounced emails. I'll be sending out a broadcast in a week or so to announce the change.

For want of a couch

Funny thing though, because we don't have a couch in the basement, I've been creating a few things to sell so that I can buy us a new couch. I desperately want to be able to lay down and watch tv and relax. Right now, all we have is a chair. It's not that comfortable, and doesn't allow for any snuggling at all. But, my want is your good fortune, seriously! I've made some of the cutest things!

I found a website that will let me sell them straight to you in an easy format for both of us. I'll be posting the link where you can buy them next week. To wet your appetite, here's a few things that will be available:






Watch for the email with dozens of adorable things!

Fond memories

It may not come as a surprise, but I associate wonderful food with wonderful memories. Most family traditions that I cherish revolve around food -- sugar cookies on Valentine's Day, Ham and yummy potatoes for Easter, BBQ anything for the 4th of July, Turkey with homemade rolls for Thanksgiving and bread sticks for Christmas Eve. (My dad makes the most unbelievable bread sticks!)

But it also extends to happy family memories outside of the holidays. I remember food from various vacations like the Chocolate Moose from the Anaheim Marriott, the strawberry pie from Marie Calendars on Maui, hamburgers from Fat Boys on Maui, fajitas from Houston, Chocolate Raspberry cake from Truffles in Jacksonville, and on and on and on.

A few years ago, a friend explained that his mom only made blueberry muffins on for General Conference weekend. (General Conference is when Mormons don't have regular Sunday meetings, but instead watch 8-10 hours of special programs on TV or cable so that we can listen to the church leaders from Salt Lake give talks.) Since hearing about the idea, I've been making cinnamon rolls almost every conference. YUM! It's actually become a sensory memory for me now.

But, I've come across a few recipes on a blog that I'm now haunting, and I plan to spice up the menu a bit. It will be a mix of old and new together. This is what we'll be eating:

Saturday Morning: Apple Cake

Saturday Night: Wild Rice Soup & Challah

Sunday Morning: Cinnamon Rolls

Sunday Night: Challah French Toast

YUM! If you're out and about and want to stop in, we'll share with you! If you're not local, I've shared my recipe's below. The recipe's from the blog are linked above.

A note on the soup -- this is a hearty soup -- we make a big batch and freeze lots so that we can have it whenever the mood strikes.

Wild Rice Soup
By Darcy Patch
INGREDIENTS:
1 large Onion
2 Carrots
3 Celery Stalks
½ cup Butter
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Water
2 TBSP McCormick chicken base (or 4 Bullion Cubes)
2 pkgs Rice-A-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice
5 Chicken breasts (cooked and cubed)
2 cups Half and Half
½ Tsp. Salt
½ Tsp. Pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Chop vegetables and place in large soup pot. Melt butter and sauté vegetables until tender.
Add flour and stir until vegetables are coated. Slowly add water and stir vigorously until flour dissolves. Prepare Rice-A-Roni as directed on box, then add to the soup.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low until well blended, usually about 1 hour.

Cinnamon Rolls
By Darcy Patch

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water
4 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
½ cup milk, scalded
¼ cup butter
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

Dissolve yeast in ¼ cup warm water. Add 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, milk, butter egg and remaining water; beat on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead until smooth -- until about 6-8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Roll out, brush with butter, spread cinnamon and brown sugar over the dough until covered. Roll. Cut slices and place in greased pan. Let rise until doubled again.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Top with Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg Cream cheese at room temperature
1 stick butter at room temperature
3 - 4 cups Powdered sugar
2 TBSP Vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Mix cream cheese and butter thoroughly.

Add confectioners sugar a bit at a time and blend as you add it. Add the vanilla.

Blend the frosting until smooth and fluffy.

Here's Caramel sauce for topping the apple cake if you so choose:

Caramel sauce
INGREDIENTS:

½ Cup brown sugar
½ Cup white sugar
½ cup cream
1 Tbl flour
1/2 Cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Bring to a boil all together except for vanilla. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Take off of heat and add vanilla. Stir. Serve warm.

I hope you go all make something yummy this weekend!

Determined Daughter

When I watched the Olympics in August, I was constantly impressed by the determination of the athletes. I wondered what makes them work so hard day in and day out.

Since thinking that, I've been watching Maddie and recognizing her determination to accomplish something once she decides it's important.


Last year, she had a giant blister on her thumb. I asked her what it was, and she didn't know. It took all day to figure out that she'd gotten it because she was practicing snapping so much she'd given herself a blister -- bigger than the size of a nickel -- on the pad of her thumb. She can snap louder than anybody now!


Two weeks ago, she came home with giant blisters in her palms. Again, I asked her what they were from. She told me it was from learning to do the monkey bars at kindergarten. They were hard and she had to practice to be able to do all of them. Now, she tells me she can do all of them, so her blisters are going away.


As you probably know from previous posts, Maddie has been learning to ride her bike this month. She's gone from not being able to ride at all the morning of Labor Day, to looking like a pro today. She's all over the neighborhood and even learning how to do tricks. Every day when she comes home from school, it's the first thing she wants to do. It's hard to convince her to come in once it's dark.


I think she's just amazing. She's worked so hard to go from frustrated to excellent. I'm not sure I have the innate determination she has. I really wonder where her determination will take her. I simply have no idea. I'm just along for the ride!


Here's a picture of her on Labor Day during her frustration:

Here she is on the very tiny bike (that was the trick for finally getting it):

Here's all her bruises from falling down while learning. It's really hard to see, but her shins were completely black and blue from crashing. We beg her to wear knee pads so that she doesn't get all skinned up.

Maddie's Prayer Rock

At church a week or two ago, the kids learned about saying their prayers. The teacher taught them that they could get a rock, and paint it to make a prayer rock.

Then they should put it on their pillow when they make their bed in the morning so that when they lay down at night, they'll bonk their heads and remember to pray. Then the teacher said to put the rock on the floor so that they stepped on it in the morning to remind them again.

Maddie was very fired up to paint her rock. She worked on it during the afternoon(I took a nap). She did want one thing clarified though, "Mom, if I use the rock, do I really have to bang my head on it, or can I just remember to say my prayers?"

John's hair cut

Back in February, Connie our family hairdresser gave John his "first" haircut. It was really just so that we could say she'd cut his hair first. She didn't take off much, just enough to get cute pictures of my mom and Connie.

His hair was getting so bad we just had to cut it this weekend. Look at how scruffy the ends were getting:

It was so funny, he just kept waving his head back and forth in front of the mirror. I'd try to hold his head still while Jared used the clippers. John was happy, no fussing, he just really wanted to see what was happening.

Here is the astonishing amount of hair -- it was really quite a pile!

It's a little hard to see, but his face was just covered in hair. After a bath to clean it all off, the happy conclusion -- a baby boy with his snuggly and his bottle. All is well in the world.

Trip to the Peabody

We had a lot of fun at the Peabody Muesum. It was great. They have very big dinosaurs, lots of things to do and see. We did end up looking at all kinds of things. Then we went to IKEA for lunch -- it was a mad house -- then Trader Joes and Costco. What a marathon day!

Maddie's First Day of School

OK, this is a month late, I'm really sorry about being so slow. We've been out of space on our hard drive for months. I finally cleared enough off so that I could download all the pictures from my camera. Please pretend you're excited for events that passed many days ago :)

The family waiting at the bus stop.

All the kids from our neighborhood that ride the bus with Maddie.

Maddie with her teacher Mrs. Fudge on orientation day(the day before school).

Maddie's First Day of Soccer

Maddie started soccer Saturday, Sept. 20th. She just loves it. Her coach is really good with kids. My favorite part was how she knew every kid there. She could say almost every name, even though she didn't know a soul when school started. I'm really proud of her for stepping out and trying to get to know all the kids around her. They all know who she is and shout, "Maddie!" in greeting. What fun!

New Pages

I promise, someday I'll come back to all our current activites and goings on and post all of our adventures, but I worked on these pages today, and had great fun with brushes -- I used a brush to make the fish on the background and the boat in the foregroung. My friend Amanda taught me how to make my own brushes. Here's her steps:

1. Find an image you like, a boat or flower for example


2. Make sure the image size is smaller that 2500 px if not adjust it.


3. Then under "edit" find "define brush".


4. You will then find your brush at the bottom of the list of your currently opened brushes


5. If want to save it for good, choose "save brushes" on the brushes tab and make a separate folder for your brushes.

So, this boat is my first brush! Yipee!

Free Museum Day

This Saturday is free museum day with the help of a coupon from the Smithsonian Magazine. Most of the area museums are participating in CT, NY, MA and even UT and FL for all our other family and friends. Click here to get your admission free for you and your family!

Have fun! Let me know what you go to see. We're going to the Yale Peabody Natural History Museum in New Haven. Dinosaurs. Science. Evolution. IKEA. :)

Exploring brushes...

Today I wanted to learn how to use the brushes tool in Photoshop Elements. I've never played with it before. I'm totally in love with brushes! It's so fun -- you can take a brush, and make the image any color you want, cut it out of any paper you want or mutate it like the cookie cutter tool. I know many of you are way ahead of me on this, but it's fun! Some brushes start out boring, like straight lines, but the ones downloadable have fish, bubbles, stars, hearts, all kinds of things!

I found a great website that has bunches of free brushes. The sponsor has a list of free ones, and then people have contributed at the bottom of the page as well. Enjoy 'em! Here's the website:

In case you're curious about my latest pages, here's a few samples:



I think I'm getting better at this the more I learn.

John Walks!

Yeah! John walked today for everyone to see -- you included. I'm so proud of him. This was the best one yet, five or six steps. I know that it's a bit premature to call him a 'walker' but he's definately walking.

I had predicted that he'd walk by Sept. 15th, so I'm a bit disappointed he's two days late, but I have to say, he's pretty talented nonetheless.

'D' Vent

OK, so forgive me for indulging in a little venting here. I'm so sick of health trouble. This year has been the hardest year health wise for me I've ever faced. For those of you I haven't whined to yet, in the last 18 months, I've had:

• Bone hump and pinched nerves in my neck resulting in the loss of feeling in my arms and fingers
• Gestational Diabetes -- tummy shots, pricking fingers and all
• C-Section surgery(this was worth it for my darling boy)
• Terrible asthma-- loss of 20% of my lung capacity
• Terrible allergies -- UGH!
• Three bone spurs in my feet, resulting in loss of movement and extreme pain. I finally got a cortisone shot this week and I'm doing much better now
• AND.....

The most recent discovery today was that I have a severe vitamin D deficiency. Seriously? Isn't that for third world countries and people with malnutrition, or those who live in Alaska???

Supposedly it is the vitamin D loss that is causing my extreme fatigue and aches. It could even be responsible for my crazy bone formation in my neck and feet. Who knew?

They are telling me though, that apparently once your body has a severe deficiency of vitamin D, no amount of time in the sun will make up for this problem. They've prescribed special vitamins for me to replenish my stores of vitamin D. Normally, a daily supplement has 400 IU of vitamin D. The special vitamins I'll be getting have 50,000 IU. Crazy! Apparently I need to take these for several months before I'll be back to normal levels.

As sick as I am of health problems, I'm so very grateful for medical care. I can't even imagine the state I'd be in if there were not people who work very hard to help me. Both to do the tests to figure out what's wrong, but also to fix the problem when we know what it is. Getting a cortisone shot was the singular most painful experience of my life, but now my foot pain is gone. From absolutely miserable to pain free in minutes. What a miracle in my life that wonderful shot was. It's amazing what the right medicine in the correct spot can do to help!

Thanks medical team -- I love ya all!

Ridin'

Maddie has been working all summer learning to ride a bike. She's had some good friends that have been willing to learn right along side her, and that has helped her progress a lot.

I made the mistake of buying her a bike that was too big for learning. So, we've traded bikes with our good friends so that she could have a smaller one to learn on. It might be a bit too small, but it's given her the confidence to keep trying.

Today after school, she jumped on for a couple of minutes to see if she could just start on her own and get going. I should mention that getting started and stopping have been her greatest challenges. (Sorry she's breaking the helmet rules!)

In addition to starting, her biggest obstacle was her little brother. He kept chasing her all around the driveway, trying to get at the bike. You'll see the end result here:

Capturing the Cackle

John has this spectacularly funny cackle. I've tried for some time to get it on video. We were finally successful tonight. Maddie was jumping off the stairs trying to surprise him while he ate his rice. Sorry he's chewing with his mouth open-- this happened during dinner. We just had to take what we could get.

You just can't help but laugh right along with this little guy...

Aurora's Chicken Pepperoni

You may or may not be familiar with Aurora's Chicken Pepperoni. For me, it's been a dish I've thought a lot about. Why? Some lost family recipe? From my great-grandmother perhaps? Not even close. It's a featured item in the plot of one of my favorite movies, Seems Like Old Times with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, please, enjoy!

I've thought a lot about this menu, and I've always wanted to try making it to see what it was like. So, of course, I googled it. But I was very disappointed when I followed this link to the supposed "recipe" for the movie. I'd like to argue that this is not possibly the dish that was served in the movie for the following reasons:

1. It is prepared in a saute pan. Glenda is clearly wielding a 9x13 baking dish


2. It uses cutlets -- there are visible little mountains of chicken in said baking dish in the movie


3. The recipe listed is more of a casserole, not the dish you would serve the governor, not even if it has artichoke hearts


4. If it was a casserole, then why would there be side dishes on the table, aren't casseroles a one dish meal?

So, since I couldn't find what I was looking for online, I invented it in my kitchen tonight. Here is my version of Aurora's Chicken Pepperoni:

• Chicken Breasts, pounded thin
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Butter
• Garlic Salt
• Pepper

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Pound the chicken until about 1/4 inch thick. Lay it on the cutting board. Put 3-5 slices of pepperoni on the chicken. Top with mozarella cheese. Roll up, place with the end down so that you get a nice piece of smooth chicken on top. Repeat for desired number of chicken breasts.

Melt butter. Coat chicken with melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper to taste.Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a light golden color starts to appear -- or until internal temperature reaches about 150.

Remove the dish from the oven. Top each chicken breast with about 2 tablespoons of spaghetti sauce. Then top lightly with more cheese. Put it back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes, or until the cheese is to the desired crispiness and the chicken internal temperature measures 165 or more.

Serve atop fettucini noodles with extra sauce on the side.