Scary Masks

While we were at Walmart today we were trying on masks. Apparently Ethan wants to be a SCARY monster for Halloween. I tried on a scary mask and talked to Little Miss Madi… I am so mean!! I almost made her cry… She even got those cute little pouty lips! It is a really good thing Jennifer was close to stop her before she started to scream! Ashlee tried it on also… and then poor Madi got tortured with a mask of her own. She probably could have fit her whole body in that mask! It is a really good thing she didn’t see it. She might have scared herself! Sorry the pictures are turned… I forgot to save them after I rotated them… OOPS!

Ethan and I also had a sword fight in the middle of the aisle… I used a little sword. He used every single knife and sword and blade he could find!

Men in uniform…

… I have a thing for firemen… I do… it is a weakness. And of course (I can not believe I am admitting this!) the first thing I do when I see a fireman is I check that magically finger on the left hand…. I do it all the time at work when they come in and whenever I have a chance to work with the fire department OR take the residents to visit… I do it! I LOVE FIREMEN! Today I went to the Bonney Lake Fire Department Open House. Ethan was so incredibly adorable the whole time. He was like a kid in a candy shop and had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. He got into the ambulance and the EMT buckled him in. The EMT asked Bubba what his name was and he blew raspberries at the man AND THEN proceeded to tell him that he went poo poos in the potty. In fact he talked a lot about poo poos but I really couldn’t understand anything but POOP! I love being around little kids and seeing the delight in their eyes when something excites them. It reminds me of my favorite quote that is also posted at NW Trek:

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” – Rachel Carson

Every time I think of my daddy, I think of this quote. He has a way of making things seem magical, and exciting. I think I am very lucky I have a dad that knows how to act like a kid. I think growing up I saw things differently than most kids because the view my dad took when us kids were around and the imagination he let us have. He is not afraid to have fun and goof off but he knows how to take care of business and be a spiritual example. He is amazing. My goal in life is to be like that for all the children in my life. To climb up ladders in police boats to play with the kids, or roll around in the mud, or (GROSS!) pick up frogs, play princess, sword fight in the middle of Walmart with super cute nephews, and to play tag when I am exhausted. I want to forever be a grown up kid.

Anyways… here are the pictures from the open house:

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Rachel Carson is an author and biologist. I guess that quote came from a book she wrote called “Sense of Wonder” (go figure!). I am going to do a little research about her and read her books. I figure if I love the quote so much, I might a well learn more about her.

Nothing worse…

then grabbing your Kindle and seeing this:

NW Trek

We went to NW Trek with the residents yesterday. It was very enjoyable! Enjoy the photos!

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Today has been a busy day for me. A fun busy night I should say! After work I decided to chop my hair off. I love it! (Pictures will be posted soon after I play around with it.) I then went and hung drapes at Margaret’s and played with Samuel who LOVED messing up my hair. I can’t wait until the morning when I see the bed head! He kept telling me he doesn’t like my short hair but I love it!

I have said it on the blog before that this was the year I was going to try new foods. I have been adventurous these past couple months with pancakes, salmon, crab, shrimp and octopus. When I got home tonight I was told I had to try something. I made Wayne Hathaway tell me what it was before I tried it. I gagged while chewing it just knowing what I was eating and I am so glad I did not see it before I ate it because I wouldn’t have eaten it. After tasting it, I might give it a second chance! Yes, tonight I ate pig’s tongue! Crazy, huh? I can’t believe I ate it. I am not a picky eater… just selective AND I ATE PIG’S TONGUE!!!

Do the Puyallup

I really wasn’t into going to the fair this year. Paul and Avery called me up on Saturday (I had a lazy day and did nothing all day but wash bedding at the laundromat, read books and watch Hulu) and invited me to go at 8:00pm…. so I did…. nothing really to see that late except all the crazy people so we walked around and visited the new Rainforest exhibit… which was fun!!!!!! We then waited in line for 1 1/2 hours for scones… not my favorite thing in the world!

Avery at the beginning of the exhibit… we even bounced on lilly pads!!!

Paul and I

My new ant boyfriend being eaten by a praying mantis!

Laura Turtle

Paul Turtle

Avery Turtle

The Project Part 2

Here are more photo updates from Margaret’s home. It is coming together quite nicely. Today we picked up drapes. THANK YOU MOM! We have been looking at Bed, bath, and Beyond for drapes and the cost was adding up way too quickly. I called my mom about the ease of just sewing and she suggested we try JcPenney’s. They had great clearance and we save a lot of money. The panels are energy-saving panels and are thick and beautiful. After they are ironed or the wrinkles hang out of them I will post pictures… Plus that room is not quite finished yet…

The downstairs bathroom is a very simplistic “beachy chic” theme. it is very calm and relaxing! Her son wanted to help decorate and said that they boat needed a person… So it stayed (for now 🙂 ). And of course had to take a picture of the desk for the master bedroom. It needed to be smaller so it didn’t take up too much room and this little guy worked perfectly…. Plus Margaret and I put it together and it so far has stayed together!!! I love putting furniture together!!!!!!

3rd Annual Arbor Village Iron Chef 2012

UGH! It isn’t bad enough that I can not sleep but the blog I started typing completely just disappeared sooo… instead of doing a BIG update, I am going to do a couple small updates. I am editing pictures from our outing to NW Trek today so I can get them sent to our website lady to be posted.

Friday, September 14th- 3rd Annual Iron Chef Competition

This is one of my more favorite events at Arbor Village. Besides the initial preparation once the event goes under way, I really do not have to do much. Usually I am running around with my head chopped off and this event I can really just watch and run around with my head held on my multiple strings! It is great! This year our secret ingredient was Avocados. I told myself a couple months ago that this was my year to try new foods. I definitely did that on this day!! So here are some pictures of the food I tried:

Whipped Goat Cheese and Avocado Bruschetta topped with fresh mint… OH MY GOODNESS! This was heavenly! You couldn’t taste the goat cheese and the mixture was absolutely amazing! It was fresh and fluffy. I dream about this frequently!

Vuelve la Vida (I am not sure if I remember the name correctly). It means “Bringing back to life”. Supposedly in Mexico when you drink ALOT you eat this to bring you back to life. I do not eat seafood… never really have but because this is my year to try new foods I had shrimp alfredo a couple weeks ago and loved it! I was chugging down this very tasty dish and started chewing…. and chewing… and chewing some more. My coworker Jessica looked at me and said, “You know you are eating Octopus, right?” UHM, NO I DIDN’T! I enjoyed it though. This also had crab and shrimp in it. I ate probably 6 of these! I even saw a little octopus leg with the little suction cups and ate it! SO PROUD OF MYSELF!

I thought I got a picture of the other seafood appetizer but I didn’t. IT WAS SOOOO delicious! It was a shrimp cocktail with a mango avocado salsa. It was heavenly. the shrimp didn’t taste shrimpy and the salsa was so delicious. It had was fresh and citrusy and a bowl full of heaven. I ate leftovers of this for days! (With fresh roti from my Fijian coworker!)

 

Oh, change my mind… you really can not see it but this resident is eating the shrimp cocktail. It is in his left hand. I guess I should explain a little history on the appetizers. The first year we had mangos as the not-so secret ingredient. We didn’t have appetizers. The residents got mad (they get jealous easily). The second year we had mint as our ingredient and told the judges they needed to prepare 100 appetizers. Everyone in attendance got to test the appetizers and vote on the winner. This would be the tie breaker.

 

Luckily the chef that made this made extras. It was a stuffed avocado with crab. UHM! SO GOOD!!

 

Anyways, this was a great event. If you would like to see more pictures… take a look at the Arbor Village website (you can see the desserts also!):

3rd Annual Arbor Village Iron Chef 2012

Afterthougt: I forgot to post the best picture of all! My work sissy, Jessica and I!

80’s are back?

Today was 80’s day at work… I technically should have dressed in a diaper since that is what I was wearing for majority of the 80’s… but I decided to take a more colorful approach. This picture is with my coworker Cindy. Don’t you just love my shoes? 

My daddy is also in town! We all (Jenn and Family, and my daddy) met up at The Rainforest Cafe in Tukwila and had a “birthday” dinner with my dad. I LOVE HIM!!! I can not get the collage website to work so you get photos the old fashioned way!!! P.S. Yes, I went to Southcenter Mall dressed like this!!

 

Bubba and his monkey balloon 🙂

Grandparent’s Day Hilights