I'm Drained...

I think I used up my Christmas creativity decorating this weekend... so you will probably see my blog layout change again before Christmas. I'm not happy with this one, but it's all I can come up with right now!

I also have no illusions that my readers aren't tired of hearing about the Knotts' illnesses, but our germs just keep going and going and going. We all enjoyed about half a week of health, and now we all have colds. It's nothing serious; we're all just sick of being... well, sick! I kept the boys home from our Ohio Thanksgiving this weekend, hopefully giving them the rest they need to recuperate before the week starts. I was very sorry to miss the family in Ohio, though.

We did make it to two other Thanksgivings on Thursday. I started to take pictures, but Zachary soon took over. When he returned my camera, I found that I had pictures of almost all the attendees, as well as A LOT of pictures of his shoes, and a ton of pictures of doggie behinds (he was chasing after the four dogs, trying to get their pictures). These first pictures were taken by my aunt Patty and myself:

In Plymouth, hanging with the doggies, and showing off his "turkey shirt".
Cheeeeeese!
Watching the dogs wrestle.
"Here, puppy! You can play with this!"
Evan playing with the dogs, and Zachary documenting it.
My grandpa
The rest of these were taken by Zachary:

Just one of the 38 pictures of Zachary's shoes.
"Wow, cousin Matt is WEIRD!"
"Smile, grandpa!"
Another one of Zachary's subjects of choice for the afternoon; Gretchen.
Daddy and sleepy Evan.
The amazing bendy Chandler!
* * * * *
I spent most of the rest of the weekend decorating for Christmas. I have always been able to get everything done in one day, but I've found that is now nearly impossible with 3 1/2 and 1 1/2-year-old boys! It didn't help that my 9ft pre-lit tree is no longer pre-lit (thanks to the "Great Flood of '09"). So, slow and steady was the order of the weekend, and Christmas has officially landed all over our house! Here are a few shots along the way.

Zachary's First Pre-School Program

I have been under the weather again... I'm beginning to wonder if my doctor offers "frequent flyer miles"! I DID make it to Zachary's Thanksgiving program at school this afternoon. A little back story first:

I was stopped by a parent of one of my former students last Monday. She now teaches one of the pre-school classes. She told me about the rehearsal they had that day.

"Zachary's quite the performer, isn't he?" she called down the hall.
"He can be... why, what did he do?" I nervously asked.

She proceeded to tell me how she had watched his class practice their song in the church. While most of the children sang quietly and looked at the ground, my kid was singing at the top of his lungs and dancing. You know there's always one or two of those children in every kids' choir. Well, it looks like Z is it!

We figured that once the church was full of people, Zachary probably would not be as exuberant... we were right. I did get a couple of good chuckles, as he did, however, manage to fall TWICE during the song while just standing there. I thought it was really cute that the boy next to him put his hand on Zachary's back to steady him after he fell the first time. I guess at least he didn't burst out crying like the poor little girl to his right... the poor thing looked petrified!


Best wishes for a great Thankgiving, and I'll be checking in again soon!

Buffalo Chicken Chili-Mac

Below is another one of our favorite recipes. It's a slight variation on a recipe I got from watching Rachael Ray (LOVE her!). To make it more kid-friendly, I am light on the hot sauce (adults can add more later), and broil mozzarella cheese on top of the boy's dishes instead of pepper-jack for us. If you try it, I hope you enjoy! It makes a TON!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2 lbs (4-6 pieces) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bits
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. hot sauce, depending on how hot you like it
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 lb whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese (optional)


Preparation

To make cutting the chicken easier, place it into the freezer for about 15 minutes until it firms up slightly but isn’t frozen through. This will let you cut it up quickly into small pieces.
Preheat broiler and place a large pot of salted water over high heat to bring up to a boil for the whole wheat elbow macaroni.

Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the chicken bits and brown them, about 5-6 minutes. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, paprika, bay leaf and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook the veggies, stirring frequently, until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the hot sauce and crushed tomatoes, and bring up to a bubble. Simmer the chili for 8-10 minutes to let the flavors come together and thicken it slightly.

While the chili is simmering, toss the pasta into the boiling salted water and cook until al dente according to package directions. Once cooked, drain the pasta and toss it into the chili, then transfer everything to a casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over the top and place it under the broiler until the cheeses have melted and the top is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.

Yields: Officially, 6 servings… but I think it feeds more than that.

My Amazing Shrinking Husband!

This will no doubt embarrass the living daylights out of Marcus, but it's a risk I'm willing to take -- I am so proud of him! He has been on a diet since August, and in that time, he has lost a significant amount of weight (I am not permitted to say how much), a number of inches off his waist, and to top it off, he's doing it all by himself.

To the left is the end of July 2009, to the right is October 2009

Christmas Comes Early

I couldn't help myself...

The 2009 Knotts Elves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Little Stud Muffin

The boys are on the mend (again), but the bug is just hanging in with Marcus and me. So, not much to report. I did take a couple of pictures of Evan sporting his brother's fireman's hat the other day. What a little ham!





Also, you can check out three new YouTube videos of the boys on the right. Have a great weekend everyone!

The Haunted Grotto at Nutball Manor

Well, the Knotts boys and I are still under the weather, so we decided there would be no trick-or-treating for them tonight. They didn't notice, though. They got to stay home, watch some Scooby-Doo, hang out with Grandpa DeArmond who came over for dinner, and help hand out candy. Zachary was really digging being the "Candy Master"!

Since there are no cute kids in costumes to be had, I thought I'd post some pictures of the Knotts Haunted Grotto. Every year since we moved here, Marcus and I have had a lot of fun making our front porch area spoooooky... and we add a little more to the decor every year. Of course, you can't get the full effect in the day, and I couldn't take very good pictures as night -- but be assured... it was very spooky, and kinda cool!

Join me for the daylight tour:

We enter the Haunted Grotto through an archway of thorns and man-eating vines (actually a rose bush & Purple Granadilla vine that are currently past their prime). At night, small strobe lights illuminate the arch. Watch out for the black widow spiders that make their nests at the very top!

Once you enter, you are greeted by the sounds of spooky music piped in through hidden speakers. To your left you will see the Grotto grave yard, complete with festive jack-o-lanterns guarding the graves. The tiki torches were lit for the occasion, casting flickering shadows as the skeletons begin to escape!

In the trees behind the headstones live curious creatures that can only be seen at night -- and only their glowing red eyes that stare out at you. (Marcus is a wiz with repurposing big, red Christmas lights!)

Jack was the newest resident of the Haunted Grotto, but as you can see, he met a tragic (if not comical) end. If you look closely in the background, you can see two glowing eyes looking over the scene. Could this creature have had something to do with Jack's untimely and messy demise? Not to worry, it was only a plastic axe, and he will live to see another Halloween!

And finally, before you get to the door and collect your sweet reward, you must pass Yorick, our first ever Halloween decoration. He's a cheeky little devil, that one!!

And that's it for Halloween 2009! Come and visit the Haunted Grotto again soon... If you dare!!! Hee-hee!

Best Laid Plans

It's obviously been a while since I've posted. My only excuse is that it seems that life is going at light-speed for me right now. Not sure what's different lately, but the days are just flying by.

Last week, the boys' school was shut down until next Wednesday, due to a flu outbreak. Surprisingly enough, my walking-talking germ mangets were not among the 32% of students that were absent last Tuesday! My friend, Cara, who teaches there, watched the boys for us the next day (they had a tremendously wonderful time!!!). I then took some vacation days on Thursday and Friday. During that time off, we took our yearly pilgrimage to the Indy Zoo for Zoo Boo.

Fireman Zach in front of a "Poper Bear".
Watching the walruses.
Evan was fascinated by the walruses.
The Knotts' on the "Haunted Carousel"
We were able to catch the dolphin show for the first time since I stopped working there over three years ago. Both boys enjoyed it, but Zachary was dumbfounded. The kid wouldn't speak, his eyes were glued to the dolphin tank and he slowly clapped almost the whole time. When I ask him about the dolphins now, he tells me that the dolphins "fly high in the sky and spin!" -- All the while with a big smile plastered on his face.

For more pictures of Zoo Boo 2009, click HERE.

We also spent time in the South Bend area this weekend for my cousin Gretchen's wedding. I'll have a separate blog entry on that sometime soon (I hope)!

I really thought we had made it through the flu outbreak unscathed until about 5:00 tonight. Both the boys have been sneezy for about a week, but nothing out of the ordinary for them. Tonight, Evan started running a fever of 102 and has been inconsolable. (I am really hoping that he didn't infect anyone at the wedding yesterday.) It caught up with us... but hopefully will not last long... or spread. I'm not counting on it though; we are a VERY "giving" family!

Stay healthy this week, and check back soon for wedding pictures -- mostly taken by Zachary, actually! In the meantime, here are some pictures of pumpkin decorating, toddler-style.

SEGAAAAAA!

Sega sound bite  Ringtones sound bites

Now HERE'S a blast to the past for all of you who grew up at about the same time as me. Who remembers the Sega Genesis?!!? My brother got one for Christmas when we were young, and we all had games to play on it. Man... I remember countless hours on that thing. Good times were had by all -- except for my parents who had to force us to do our homework first and then listen to us whine about how our siblings were playing WAY longer than their allotted time. Ah, the memories!

This branch of the Knotts family tree doesn't own a Wii, Playstation, Xbox or whatever new gadget is out there. Marcus is the only one who plays video games, and he sticks with ones he can play on his PC and his iPhone (you know... his WORK iPhone?!!?). However, he discovered a little gem this weekend! It's a site of links to freeware games that you can download to your computer. All the games were popular when I was a kid. I thought maybe it was just a sample of each game (maybe a level or two), but the whole game is there in all of it's pixely goodness. Click HERE for the page of links.


My favorite from way back when was, of course, Mickey's Castle of Illusion, so Marcus downloaded it for me. We can play it on our big TV, because it's hooked up to the computer... now THAT'S cool!!! It's a big hit with Zachary of course. Hmmmm... we may be creating a monster. I guess I'm not too worried about it though. He can't get addicted to video games if he can't pry the controller away from his mother right?!!?

Don't worry, Minnie!! Jackie and Mickey will save you!!! To the castle!

"Shoulda seen the other guy..."

Well, the "other guy" was the door at daycare, but still...

Reunited and it feels so good...

We confiscated Zachary's blankie this weekend for a little emergency surgery by Aunt Christina. She made him this blanket before he was born, and he has been without it at bedtime only a handful of times. Because of that, it was beginning to get a little ragged, and Christina fixed it for us. However, during the time Zachary was sans Blankie, we had some rough nights! He was VERY excited to get it back yesterday... and so were we!! Sleep tight, sweet prince; your blankie is back!

Evan's been fighting some kind of stomach bug the past few days. When he's not throwing up and miserable, he's acting perfectly normal! It's quite perplexing, and I'm hoping it's over soon. Tonight before bed, he was chatting up a storm, so I was able to get some of his words on video. Have a great weekend!!!

Candied Apple Pie

I made this fantastic pie Sunday night (and two more today). It's really easy, and tastes fantastic!! It's the perfect fall pie, so I had to share!

Ingredients
(pie)
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
6 c peeled, thinly sliced tart apples
1 pkg pie pastry
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp lemon juice

(candy topping)
1/4 c melted butter or margarine
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tbsp whipping cream
1/2 c chopped pecans

1.Preheat oven to 400F. Add sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Add apples & toss to coat. Spoon into pastry-lined 9-in pie plate. Dot top with butter; sprinkle with lemon juice.

2.Top pie with second pastry crust; seal edges & cut vents. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

3.Meanwhile, for candy topping, mix butter, brown sugar & whipping cream in a microwave safe measure. Microwave on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in pecans and microwave on high for 1 minute.

4.Spoon candy topping over top of hot pie. Bake for 2 minutes longer. Serve warm. Enjoy!!

Checkin' the fantasy football scores and impatiently waiting for the pie to cool.

Pictures from Julie's Wedding

My friend Julie's wedding photos are finally done. Here are a few screenshots of the proofs, since I don't have any pictures of my own to speak of! So I don't feel like I'm "stealing" the photographs, I'll give credit where credit is due! The Goeckers used Alanna Photography out of Indy.

Kelli and me singing
"Wait... I see the camera... but why isn't the person behind it Aunt Julie or Uncle Dan? I'm confused."
The last two pictures were taken of Zachary on the dance floor. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!