October

Here are a bunch of things, (in my lazy list format) from my October:

1. I have been working A LOT lately. A lot for me, anyway. I think from October 5-November 15, I will have worked more hours than I did in all of July, August, and September combined. I've been at a hospital that I've never worked at before, and I have really enjoyed it. And by "enjoyed", I mean "taking care of COUNTLESS people that have flu". And then having to explain to them, that yes, they most likely have swine flu (99% of all flu we have seen since April has been swine flu. If you've had the flu, or known someone that has had the flu, it has been swine flu.), and that no, we're not going to test them for flu/swine flu because there's no treatment for it anyway. The swine flu has proven itself to be fairly resistant to the TamiFlu you are begging for a prescription for, but likely won't find a pharmacy to fill because they are all out of stock. So go home, take some Motrin, and crawl into bed for the next 4 days. And please stay out of the hospital, because NOBODY THERE WANTS YOUR FLU. Most of the nurses I have been working with have gotten used to wearing a mask all day at work and handwashing about 100 times a shift (no exaggeration) to keep from getting sick.

Stepping off soapbox now.

2. Dane has become quite the runner in PE. I take no small amount of satisfaction in knowing that I can beat my 5 year-old's time.

3. Harper has had a very busy month as well. She has gotten her first tooth, started saying "da-da-da" (not in reference to her Daddy, just babbling new sounds), and is very close to crawling. She can do a forward army-scoot, and occasionally figures out how to get her knees up under her. Her days in the "Cuddlers" nursery are numbered, she'll soon graduate to the "Crawlers" class at church. That is, if her Cuddlers Crew will ever put her down to see if she can crawl, which isn't likely. So she may stay snuggly wrapped in the sweet arms of her Cuddlers Crew till her first birthday, which is just fine with her!

4. Due to our erratic work schedule these past few weeks, we have been making a lot of soups, and similar things that we can make in a big batch and come home and reheat for dinner. Monday and Saturday are the only nights of the week when we are all home in the evenings before 8:30, so it's been nice to have quick and yummy things to eat instead of grabbing fast food.

We discovered this tortilla soup recipe that has made our life complete. We made it twice last week:

2 cans pinto beans

2 cans of Rotel (I used 1 can regular and 1 can hot and it had a pretty good kick to it, may be too spicy for you)

2 cans tomato soup

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon Worshticer sauce (don't know how to spell that...)

1 clove of garlic, pressed

1 chopped onion (I think we used 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and 1/2 an onion)

1/2 bag of frozen chicken tenders (the raw ones--they cook faster than whole breasts)

Cook chicken in 6 cups water, boil till chicken is cooked. Remove chicken, shred. Measure 4 cups of chicken water. Add chopped onion, spices, Rotel, and tomato soup. Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. Drain and rinse beans, add beans and chicken to soup, and cook on medium for another 15-20 minutes.

We served it with shredded cheese and tortilla chips on top, Brandon also topped with sour cream. For a milder version, use mild Rotel.

I also made Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Spice Muffins with cream cheese icing yesterday, and my life will never be the same. I'm pretty sure Brandon ate four of them for breakfast. And I'm trying to justify the cream cheese icing by calling it a "dairy". Hmmm. And look! She's all dressed up for Halloween:

5. Aidan played an entire 6 minute quarter and half of another one in his soccer game yesterday without crying and running off the field. He actually ran with the pack of other 4 year old soccer players, and even kicked the ball a few times, including a possible score on his own goal. He thinks he scored a goal, as evidenced by the look of sheer jubilation on his face at the time. This may not sound like a big deal, but it's a huge deal in Aidan-land. I have a picture of Aidan playing soccer to put here, but Blogger is having an identity crisis and went to find himself, and can't be bothered right now to post pictures where I want them.

In other soccer news, Dane's team was "white" instead of "red" yesterday, prompting a temporary name change. His team is the Fireballs (what happens when 5 year-olds name soccer teams), but Dane told his coach that they couldn't be the Fireballs, since they were in white they would just have to be the Snowballs. His coach didn't quite know what to say to that one.

6. If I am related to you and you are wondering what to get me for Christmas, I have decided that this is the only thing on my list this year. Isn't she pretty? I think I'm going to go with the ice blue color that makes me happy when I look at it yet doesn't go with anything else in my kitchen. In 9+ years of marriage, I have never owned a stand mixer, only a $19 hand mixer that moans a little bit and smells like burning plastic every time I use it.

7. Halloween and trick-or-treating is next week, which means I have approximately 6 days to rig Harper's Princess Leia costume to fit her properly. Because right now, the side-bun-hat thing is big enough to fit Brandon. Happy October!