Date Night

I just bought Twilight tickets for Marshall and I to go!!  I wish we were going opening night, but didn't get tickets in time and  don't want to sit on the front row, so we are going that Saturday it's coming out.  I'm SUPER excited and I'm sure Marshall will appreciate my choice of movie, lol. Maybe we'll do dinner beforehand. Another reason that I'm so excited about the whole thing?  It's been over 6 months since the two of us have been on a date together.   We are way past due.  Now to find a babysitter....

Rocket Soup

So any soup that we have is dubbed "rocket soup" by Chandler thanks to Little Einsteins. Today I had made hot and sour soup in the slow cooker to eat for lunch. When Marsh came home, we all sat down and asked Chandler if he wanted some rocket soup. Of course he was ecstatic about the whole thing.
He looked at his soup and started naming some of the ingredients in it:

"Oh chicken! Yummy..." He takes a bite and little does he know, it is really cubed tofu

"Oh a hotdog!" = carrots

"And noodles!" = bamboo shoots
He actually ate quite a bit of the soup. If we told him it really wasn't chicken and hot dogs, he wouldn't have eaten it. What's wrong with getting your kid to eat their food, right? You are probably thinking how disgusting it sounds, but it is actually one of our favorite soups. My sister Jer gave me a great slow cooker book a few years ago and I've loved it. (Fix it and Forget it Lightly)
Here's the recipe for those interested: (I've tweaked it a little to how I like it)

Hot & Sour Soup

4 cups chicken broth
8 oz can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
1 carrot, cubed
3 Tbsp. quick cooking tapioca
6 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 ozs. firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 egg, beaten

1. Combine all ingredients, except tofu and egg in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 9-11 hour or high 3-4 hours.
3. Add tofu
4. Cover. Cook 45-60 minutes
5. Pour egg into the soup in a thin stream. Stir the soup gently until the egg forms fine shreds instead of clumps.

And here is the sticky chicken recipe that Lila asked for:

Sticky Chicken

INGREDIENTS

* 4 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 onions, quartered
* 2 (4 pound) whole chickens

1) In a ziploc bag, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. I buy a chicken without the giblets so I don't have to deal with it. Place foil down on a counter and place chickens on foil. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. It is so important you do it at least the night before, otherwise it is no where near as good.

2) Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).

3) Place chickens in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Start basting at 2 and a half hours every 30-60 minutes or so. Not mandatory, just makes the skin crispier and the meat moister. Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

Today I.....

*got up early

*ran errands around town for something exciting coming up (more details to come)

*thought about exercising.... ;)

*went to a playdate at Sara's

*got a few clearanced things for the boys at GAP

*talked to my mom and both sisters on the phone

*made sticky chicken (which was marinated over night and slow cooked in the oven for 5 hours.  Delicious!)

*did laundry and cleaned

*comforted both my kids

*donated blood

I guess somedays I get more accomplished than I thought....

Check ups

We went in for well child check ups today. Row's 9 month and Chan's 3 year. Chan was 32 lbs and 38 inches, and Rowan was 19 lbs 1 oz and 29 1/4 inches. They are both tall and skinny. Rowan's weight is really evening out. He weighed 5 oz less today than he did 3 weeks ago. I think it's because of how active he is. Chan looks great and healthy, and I wish I could say the same for Rowan. He's sick and has another ear infection. When he gets a cold it makes his asthma flare up terribly and he sounds like a dragon. We are trying another albuterol that has a steroid in it to see if that helps better with the wheezing. It's been pretty bad at night and I'm up a lot doing breathing treatments and not getting as much sleep as I'd like. I just hope he grows out of this asthma when he gets older. (Chan's b-day and Halloween pictures in the posts below)

Chan's Birthday

Chan's birthday was a lot of fun. I don't know why but birthdays seem like a big deal to me. Maybe because they seemed like a big deal growing up. It should be extra special right? A whole day dedicated to just you. We told Chan Happy Birthday around 100 times throughout the day. We tried to think of what he would like to do on his special day, so we went to eat at one of his favorite restaurants, picked one of his favorite activities, and then invited his best friend to come along.
That night we went to Panda Express, aka Kung Fu Panda. Maybe that's why Chandler likes this place so much. After dinner we went swimming and he was so excited when Carson showed up. I wish I had gotten a good picture, but they hugged many times that night they were both so happy.

After swimming the Birch's came over to have cake and ice cream with us.
I was going to make just a normal sheet cake but decided to go out on a limb. Thanks to familyfun.com I made this cute crocodile cake. I'm pretty happy how it turned out considering I don't have much artistic ability, just don't look too close. Chandler LOVED it and that's what matters.



It was a great day, and I'm sure Chan would agree.

Halloween

Halloween was fun as usual. We went to the trunk or treat at our church and were there about an hour. I handed out candy while Marsh took Chandler around. Chan really got Halloween this year and liked it a lot. Marsh changed out of his burrito costume and wore the blow up costume from last year while I wore the wolf costume.

This picture just looks funny...

After the trunk or treat we went to get dinner. So many of you thought that it was a cute idea that Marshall was a burrito for Halloween at work. Here's the real reason we dressed him up as a burrito - free burrito at Chipotle on Halloween if you are wearing tinfoil. So after the trunk or treat Marshall dressed back up while Chandler and I had foil wrapped around us as well. Worked like a charm - free dinner. Thanks Chipotle!

Bean Faced Rowan

Free Family Dinner (The workers loved Marsh's hat)

Chandler eating his burrito bowl

3 Years

Wow. Where have the last 3 years gone? Challenging, hard, fun and rewarding all at the same time.  Life is definitely sweeter because of this little guy.

Happy Birthday to our Chan Man!

We love you!