Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, fun, safe, and WARM Halloween! We've had temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s all week, but it looks like we might have some rain today. It just wouldn't be Halloween in Idaho without some sort of inclement weather. The kids have a costume parade at school today, so they got to wear their costumes. They were so excited!! I remember Halloween being one of the most looked forward to days of the year as a kid, so it's fun to relive that through them. Enjoy a few pictures of our morning. :)

How True, How True...

My neighbor turned me on to this little true story today. Regardless of your political leanings, you have to admit that this is pretty hilariously spot-on:

The waiter and the bum
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside.

The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

$10 is pretty cheap tuition for Econ 101. I'd say this waiter got a nice bit of education out of this demonstration if he chooses to take it! :)

Scooter Blues

Todd had a traumatic experience on Saturday afternoon. He decided to ride his scooter to the public library. He was inside for all of 10 minutes and when he returned to the scooter/bike parking area his scooter was gone! He called me, obviously upset, but holding it together, so I went to pick him up. He walked out to the car with the longest face you've ever seen. When he got in the car I told him how sorry I was for him and he burst into tears. He sobbed and sobbed and was absolutely broken hearted. Kate (bless her heart) kept making excuses for the thief (maybe he thought it was his, maybe it was an accident, maybe he really needed a scooter, etc.) but this didn't really help the situation very much. I could hardly hold back the tears as I listened to Todd pour his heart out about how he couldn't believe someone would actually take something that didn't belong to them. He was completely incredulous. It was so sweet, yet so sad to glimpse at his innocence and realize that a part of that inherent trust he had is now gone. I hate for him to become jaded, but I suppose being a little world-wise isn't the worst thing ever.

I have to say that my first reaction was what we call "mama bear syndrome" at our house. All my fighting protective instincts came to the surface in a hurry. I seriously contemplated driving around Rupert, and stopping to interrogate every kid on a scooter -- until I realized that I may just end up being arrested for harrassing a minor. Maybe not the best idea I ever had! Once I calmed down, my second instinct kicked in and I very nearly drove to WalMart to buy him a new one. I just wanted to take away his pain so badly. But I also resisted this urge and instead we just talked about how sad it was that someone made such a wrong choice -- and how our choices hurt more than just us sometimes. Brad and I both encouraged him to remember how rotten it felt to be on the receiving end of such a slight, and then never do anything to make anyone else feel that rotten. He agreed and has since declared his plans to ask for a new scooter for his birthday (which is only 2 weeks away). Good timing, huh?

Todd and the K-Club

Todd came home brimming with happiness today because he was recommended by his teacher to join K-Club, a service organization for 4th and 5th graders sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. He will be helping with Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and Project Rudolph along with a few other community service projects. He gets to stay after school on Fridays for an extra 2 hours. He was thrilled. Yea Toddy!!!

Jack's Speech Update

We visited the speech therapist yesterday for the first time (just an initial evaluation). She was great with him and helped me understand some issues that I hadn't related to his speech troubles before. Basically, he has a speech pattern called "H substitution" -- it's considered a unique (rare) impediment, but she assured me that every child she's ever worked with who has that particular problem has been able to fix it without too much difficulty. She asked me a series of questions about his eating preferences and habits, and I was amazed to realized that the reason he often spits out giant mouthfuls of food is because he has a weak tongue which makes it difficult to chew. It's simply not worth the effort to him to struggle through the chewing in order to get the food down. He's done this (and been a great frustration to me) since he was tiny -- and I could never figure out why. Now I know, and it's so wonderful to have a way to start to help the problem. So far they've just given me a few suggestions of ways to help him strengthen his tongue. Eating peanut butter is a good way, also licking ice cream, sticking out your tongue, and holding a smartie to the roof of your mouth. Weird (yet fun) huh? I'm very thankful for knowledge and for people who study these things. I know this therapy is really going to impact his little life for the better.

Cafe Rio Crock Pot Sweet Pork

Cafe Rio Crock Pot Sweet Pork
(you'll want to plan ahead because this takes about 18 hours)

5-6 pound pork roast
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 cup brown sugar
12 oz. bottle La Victoria taco sauce (you'll need another bottle to pour over burrito)
20 oz. bottle of Coca-Cola

Place pork roast in crock pot and fill about halfway up with water. Cook on low for 12 hours.

Drain off almost all the water, add all other ingredients. Cook another 4 hours on low. Shred pork, then cook another 2 hours.

Take cooked pork and place in tortilla, roll into burritos, place in pan, cover with La Victoria taco sauce (green) and mozarella cheese. Cook at 350 for about 20 minutes and enjoy.

Kaycee's Fabulous Fresh Salsa

This recipe is courtesy of Kaycee (Allred) Wolfley, my great friend from high school and college. We devoured an obscene amount of this salsa over Labor Day weekend. I ate it standing up, so that doesn't count, right?

Kaycee's Fabulous Fresh Salsa

4-6 fresh tomatoes (diced into bite sized pieces)
1-2 avacados (depending on how much you like them)
1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 onion (chopped)
1/4 cup (or more) chopped, fresh cilantro
1 whole jalapeno pepper, finely diced

1 dry packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup cooking oil

Mix all ingredients. Delicious and ready to serve right away!