14 movies later...

So on black friday, I headed out at dark-thirty with my sister-in-laws to a crazy world of shopping. I discovered that when you get up at 3am, you can buy movies pretty cheap.

Now some of you that know me pretty well know that I'm not one for movies. I like them and all, but I don't usually fuss over them, don't like to wait in lines for them, and don't like spending much money on them.

So imagine my surprise when after a morning of shopping frenzy, I had 14 movies in hand.

Those of you who know Bobby, know he loves movies! Imagine his surprise come Christmas day to find out that I had bought him 14! (I admit, a few might have been a little more for me...)

Turns out it was a good thing too. The last few days there hasn't been much around our house but movies and the stomach flu. It hit me halfway through Christmas day, and so we watched movie after movie with me too exhausted to have my usual restlessness. Bobby even finished an entire puzzle by himself while I faded in-and-out.

Then today poor Bobby is getting his turn with the flu, and we are soon going to finish off watching all our new movies

Guess that will give me a turn at this puzzle.. Though I'm not as dedicated as he is, and this border is as far as I've gotten. The night is young, and if bobby comes back to life and switches back from movies to the star-trek marathon on our DVR, I'm going to have to stick to the puzzle!

'twas the night before christmas

And we are finally decking our Halls!

Bobby hammered and sawed, and I swept and stirred, and our house readied itself to accept some holiday cheer (and a tree!!)

bobby is wrapping my presents right now while I enjoy Christmas tunes and my beautiful tree

we wish a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours...

icicles trumped

Forgive me to posting photos of such mini little sicles in the last post, I was just too eager and excited when they started forming. Mother Nature continues to keep us in awe as each day they are growing along our porch. I think I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

icicles and little men

a sign of times to come...

There may be no Christmas decorations in sight... yet (hopefully!)

but by goodness we have a kitchen sink!

Leftovers

The Carnage: I wish I could blame this all on a certain red headed sister-in-law, but lets be honest, children are the reason why someone created disposable tablecloths

Couldn't help but take this picture of Bobby: Found in the nursery watching the flick with the children.

War ball : the porter chaotic version of dodge ball. I think I was very possibly one of the first people out each round. I guess the strategy is not to dodge toward the ball...

The things you'll do for sisters: Black Friday: 3am. Yes, 3am is the time I set my alarm for. We got to Kohl's for an opening at 4am, to Circuit City as it opened at 4am, and to Target as it opened at 6am.

My first time waking up at dark thirty on a Black Friday was to accompany my sister Jeniel on her bargain hunting when her children were little. I thought it was a fun time to spend with her. Just the bargains alone weren't enough to motivate me, but bargains and sisters are pretty hard to beat.

Porters, Guitar Hero, & the middle of Circuit City: Enough said.

And last but definitely not least: Little Molly, Beautiful.

Not Mickey

Bobby and I are apparently not friends of little furry creatures. Bobby caught a glimpse at a scampering ugly mouse hiney running through our house, and stood there jaw dropped in what he calls "a dark place of fear" trying to get the words out about our new little pet living in the wall.

We immediately went to the Depot to get a high quality $2 trap. Did you know that they come with fake looking cheese on them? Yea I didn't buy that and we slathered it with peanut butter in case we got even a remotely smart mouse (or at least one with a nose...)

I got the heebie jeebies just holding the mouse trap. It is like I suddenly felt the little critter climbing up my leg. What is with that? Why does my brain envision things to make me feel crazy!

Anywho, I'll spare you the picture of what Bobby found when he came home today...

walls are like a box of chocolates

Before we even put an offer on this house, we thought one of its quirky aspects was that their was no access to the 2nd bedroom other than to go through the main bedroom & bath. We've imagined many an awkward scenario of visitors being locked in their room because we are still sleeping and they can't go through our bedroom, or a dinner party with guests who can not use the restroom because someone is in the bedroom and that is the only way to get to the bathroom...

So we have dreamt of putting a door along the kitchen wall that opens into the second bedroom adding much needed flow to the house.

Yesterday was the day. I thought we were getting closer to finishing the kitchen & living area (my dreams that we just had to mud & sand again and then I was going to be able to paint! Some progress that you can see!) But we decided better to just make this mess while the house is already messy, then paint and make another mess again later.

We started removing the wall and what did we discover.

A Doorway.

Yes. I love this house. There used to be a door there. Right where we wanted it (almost- we have to move it over a few inches)

Good Grief, who covered up a doorway into the second bedroom? (and yes I just said good grief, and I'll say it again) Good Grief! I should never be surprised by what I find in these walls.


And just as a bonus, Here is a picture of Kung Fu Bobby punching a hole through the drywall. He discovered that it hurts much more than it looks cool....

skills

Hmmm... I bet no one can tell who carved which pumpkin in our family!

Do you know what happy halloween means to me this year? I get to eat donuts for the first time in a year. And I do believe that I may eat just as many as last year.

That means tomorrow may the beginning of another no sugar spurt for me until thanksgiving. I did it for the month of Sept, but have thoroughly enjoyed myself for the month of October and I think it is time to store up the cravings again so i can really enjoy and pig out on the thanksgiving goodness with the Porters!

Happy Halloween to you!

Pumpkin Waffles

This last weekend I decided we needed a little fall goodness for breakfast.

I couldn't find a recipe for whole wheat pumpkin waffles that looked just right for me.
So I ending up playing around and this is the recipe I ended up with:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
(then I added a handful of brown sugar because I thought it needed a little something)
1 T. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
nutmeg & ginger (sorry I'm not very good at measuring things!)
pinch (or so) salt
2 eggs
4 T. melted butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (that is what I measured- then I kept adding more because I REALLY like pumpkin- so I could have ended up with closer to a cup!)
enough milk to thin the batter to the right consistency
Pecans

I started out with the Pecans on top, because Bobby wasn't sure that he wanted them, but then for the last few, I chopped them up and cooked them in the waffles- YUM! I would suggest cooking them in!

Many of you are better (and more precise) chefs than I, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love them!

her day

I moved in with Kat straight out of the dorms in '99, and we ended up living together every time we were both living in the United States until I got married in 2007 (and then Bobby and I even lived with her for a bonus month while we were waiting for our house to close...)

She is incredible, and after that many years, she is better described as a sister than friend.

Today, Steve joins the family, and we welcome him, especially because he brings such a gorgeous smile to Kat's face.

Kat and I discovered long runs together, with orange slices in our pockets. We explored mountains, and learned survival skills. We went on road trips with guys we wanted to leave behind, and had dance parties behind closed doors. She is quiet and kind, but has a kick and a sense of humor you'll miss if you don't get to know her.

Steve, you'd better take care of this girl! Bon Voyage on the Honeymoon!


P.S. Kat & Steve you'd better not forget Grandpa Pfosts well wishes at the wedding dinner.. I believe you got the very direct command to start producing a male Pfost great-grand child ASAP!

The Fisher Price Tape Player

i have memories from my childhood that i really like. i remember this old (1980) fisher price tape player we had. i often would play one of my sisters erasure tapes on it. iremember one time when i wanted to listen to that erasure tape, i dont remember whose tape it was, i only remember that i took the tape and ran out of the house with the fisher price tape player because katie, probably wanting that tape, or i wasnt supposed to have it or something, was chasing me. after i had ran far enough for her to stop chasing me and resolve to give me one of her "ooo bobby i'm so mad at you" glares (like unto an 'evil eye' but with both eyes, and it had my name attached to it), i sat outside and listened to the whole tape. thats all i remember about the fisher price tape player, and every now and again when i hear an erasure song i think of that old fisher price tape player and the time i ran away from katie. i really like that memory. brings one of those "man i miss the good old days" warm fuzzy feelings. love ya katie!

Sometimes our kitchen gets dirty

Haven't given an update on the house in a while. The wall is down, the ceiling is braced and the drywall has begun to go up. Oh yea- and the Chimney is gone...

And somehow when you remove soot from a chimney dating back to 1914, it finds its way all over your house.

And then sometimes your husband gets dirty too...

Pretty sure I love it when this man sends me a text that says,
"Surprise I love you" 10 minutes after dropping me off at work.
I have it good.

Sailed the Ocean Blue

Lately, when I've been getting too stir crazy to run at the gym- I've decided to go tackle the mountain instead. So I've been hiking to the "Y" and back a couple times a week.

Last night Bobby assigned me the activity for Family Home Evening. (he should know never to do that!) So I took him with me on the little hike up the "Y" mountain. Bobby doesn't have a lot of love for hiking, so I'm sure glad he loves me and will appease my love for it once in a while.


And just for kicks, here is Bobby running away from me on the Mountain. First- because he wants to get the uphill over with and second- because he thinks he'll succeed in not having me take pictures of him that way. Little did he know that it hadn't occurred to me to take pictures of him at that point until he started running away!

So Happy Columbus day to all out there. I didn't get it off work this year, after we switched to the 4 day/10 hours schedule, but I'll take any excuse to celebrate anyway!

Which reminds me... two years ago today when I had the day off work, Bobby and I went to look at the fall leaves and Bobby accidentally told me he loved me. It went something like this, "that's because I love.. uh... uh.. I mean I like you.."

sticky

Caramel apples were on the agenda for Saturday night with friends. Fabulous activity and treat!



This is another humorous view at the difference between males and females. Just notice the difference in our faces as we eat the sticky decadence...
**Note Brian had just as awesome a sticky expression, I just didn't happen to catch it!

And just to switch it up a little bit, Here is Em and I rocking it (normally I make a much better spectator than a guitar hero)

Temperatures

And I'm Not quite sure I'm ready for it yet.

Fall, can you please stay awhile?

home?

Bobby and I headed to Northern California for a quick weekend trip. I haven't been to Chico for 5 years. It is a little hard to believe it has been that long since I've been "home." And realized, it hardly feels like home anymore.

But the weekend was jam packed with family.

We flew in Friday in time to help with some wedding prep (aka fruit chopping...) and the rehearsal.

Sunny California turned a little rainy. The rehearsal was a bit muddy, and my brothers, naturally, plenty goofy (kinda makes you wonder how they could have possibly dropped the ring during the ceremony!

But the wedding turned out perfect. We gambled for moving the chairs outside a hour before the wedding. And the clouds threatened to dampen the spirits, but then the umbrellas were a bit fun as well.. and the sun came out just in time for the bride and groom.
Jared probably would have gone for a wedding in shorts and a t-shirt, but the bride, as she should, won. Jared looked great in his tux. Personally I think the converse look pretty dang good with the tux.
Then a party, complete with a toast only Geoff could make. And here is a view of what Bobby does when he doesn't know many people at the party. Who knew such entertainment could come from the napkin decorations?

It was a fun long day, and Jared looked very happy. The last of the Hall's is married. I guess we are all growing up and better start acting like it! I think acting like kids runs in the family...

While we were in Chico, I got to drive by my old house, and suddenly the street seemed shorter and everything smaller. It was like my home from a lifetime ago. But while we were in town we got to eat at Burger Hut and Bobby's first experience eating at a real, off the side of the road Taco Wagon (which he loved after much skepticism)

To top the weekend off we even got to rush up to Placerville and see the Porter clan! Mom and Dad came down from Oregon and we got to laugh with Dave and Erin, and enjoy delicious brunch with Jeanie and Scott. Good times, great weekend, and busy enough that at least my body let me wait until we were on our way to the airport before it shut down and came down with a fever... Apparently it had had enough fun for the weekend!

Wallpaper history

Our house has a story. It is told in many layers of wall and wallpaper. Who ever thought it was a good idea to put wallpaper on top or old wallpaper layer after layer?