apple dish number three

before

after

this is the third apple item that I have tried out for our apple cooking item. So far the apple gravy has been best. This is Dutch Apple Pie. It ended up pretty tasty. Kent made the crust for me. I don't love making pies from scratch...it takes way to much time and effort. And makes far too large of a mess to be worth it! The crumble on top is the best part. If any of you have any good apple recipes, I NEED one! Send them my way :)

3 years and one day married.

the dangers of cute little z

here comes halloween, halloween.

While shopping at target last week we found out that Zeb is TERRIFIED of much of the halloween paraphenalia! It reminded me a lot of little gage (our little neighbor boy from orem) and his terrors of halloween! because of his reaction we were a little nervous about getting out our halloween gear. Don't get us wrong, we are still all about frightening little children. The problem is that I am home with him all day and didn't want him in constant tears. We got out all of our stuff anyway and we discovered that he is not in any way scared of ratty here. Most kids that come over won't even go near him. It doesn't phase Z a bit, even if we growl or yipe at him with it. Just another sibling to him.

Here is a picture of the items that scare him most. Halloween light-up cackling eyes. He freaked. He got the little shakes and started wailing (at both walmart and target)! why is it so funny and cute when he cries?

i agree with most of it. I don't think that people would see me as flaky or untrustworthy. kent agrees. maybe obnoxious and tactless fit better.

You Are An ESTP

The Doer You are adventurous and risk taking. You act first, think second. You love being the center of attention. Chances are you were the class clown. Competitive, charming, and charismatic - you have your own code of honor. You live a flexible life, bouncing between a series of activities that interest you. In love, you are a master seducer... and quite manipulative when you want to be. If someone loves you, you'll only believe their actions. Words don't mean a whole lot to you. At work, you are a "people person." You're especially good at getting people to do what you want. You would make a great salesperson, marketing director, or entrepreneur. How you see yourself: Reasonable, proficient, and tough How other people see you: Flaky, unrealistic, and untrustworthy

What's Your Personality Type?

little z's friends

as you can zee, the little rugrat didn't love this game! we went to our friends', the sacks, house for a birthday celebration. it started at eight and little z would much rather have been in bed. he fell asleep shortly after this! the little boy holding him is matthew (he's ten months) and then cohen is to the right (he's 3 weeks younger than z). Z will have his first few years of everything with these boys! they'll do nursery and primary together. maybe even a little preschool!

gloom gloomy gloom

The past few days have been wonderfully gloomy, but ickily humid. its so terrible to wake up to gloom and go outside just to realize its still hot and muggy. it is one of the most disappointing parts of ohio. One of the least disappointing parts ,however, is the random animals that just appear! This morning on our run this is what z and I stumbled upon! I did some research and have deducted that he must be a "WOOD TURTLE or Clemmys inscuipta". Here is its description: "This is a rare turtle. Wood turtles are reddish orange on the neck and limbs. They are the most terrestrial Ohio turtle and good climbers. This species has been known to scale a six-foot chain link fence".

While trying to take the picture he kept hissing at me (kenna, I think he'd kick your turtle's trash). I kept thinking that I should bring him home for awhile but the hissing swayed my decision. Too bad the little rugrat slept through it all! I think that he would have loved the turtle.

Happy Anniversary at the pumpkin patch!!

Lots of great gourds.

Zeb really really likes goats (pretty obvious though huh?)

Kent got off school super early today and we decided to have some fun around toledo~ First we went to the art museum (with my great talking skills we got to park free) . We didn't realize the museum closed so early so we'll have to go again. I loved what we saw however! Laney, you'd love the museum! its amazing. The store didn't super impress us though.

We decided to search through a "Do Toledo" brochure and we found Freitz's Pumpkin Patch! It was great. It reminds me of farmer grant's down on geneva road! We want to go back on a weekend with friends! They have a big corn maze and hay rides for a dollar! a snack barn, a craft barn, and lots of good squash, gourds, and pumpkins! Sorry the pictures aren't great quality! We keep forgetting our camera. Thank heavens for cell phones!!

The little pumpkin that I am holding is engineered especially for pumpkin seed baking! apparently the seeds have no "hull". we'll let you know how they turn out. There is nothing better than a tasty toasted pumpkin seed.

Kent and Z in the free mini corn maze.

We did it!

THREE YEARS!

the best of my life thus far for sure

Just a few of my favorite things that have happened these past three years.......

• We got married!
  

• We both graduated from college.

• We moved to ohio

• We got accepted to medical school (yes, WE, I worked hard for it too!)

• We did the baby thing. Kent did his part of that I guess.

• We went to Disneyland three times!

• We have had SOOOOO much dang fun.

Depending on how the rest of the day plays out we'll see how the renewal goes! I may just sign up for one more year. the past three years have been wonderful

our day at the zoo

Today playgroup was at the zoo! of course it got scorching hot out of nowhere. It got to ninty today and I can't stand it. Zeb and I went running this morning and I could see my breath...now its terribly hot! The zoo is wonderful and free to Toledoens monday mornings, but It was a bummer that I went without kent. We bought an annual pass to a museum in San Mateo California that lets you get into all zoos and children's science museums around the country for free all year long! Its great cause the museum here (COSI) is supposed to be AMAZING. Our pass just hasn't arrived in the mail yet.

My favorite part of the zoo is the Butterfly exhibit! There are hundreds of butterflies just flying around! they land on you and let you get as close as you want without flying away. The elephants were pretty cool too! I didn't go to much of the zoo cause I really want to wait until I can go with kent. The Hippos were nasty. they poo in the water and flap it around with their tails. Its hard to see them through the glass and poo water.

poor little tired rugrat

To get the full effect, click on the pic to make it big.

Zeb is a people lover but he has his limits. We had some people over friday night and there were too many, plus he was pooped. Little Matthew (check him out on jill and glen's blog) squwaked and little zeb went to his bottom lip and frown. It is so sad when he does it, but really really funny and cute too. We got out the camera and tried to get him to do it again. With a little growling and egging on, this is what we got! Isn't it so funny? He hates when other kids cry.

I went on a new running path saturday and it was GORGEOUS! Its the park I normally go to , but I ventured into a much deeper and quieter little path this time. Zeb was an angel and slept the entire run! I love having a little bit of the world to myself for awhile when I run! Laney, you would love the parks and trails.

We finally got batteries for the regular digital camera and it takes much better still shots than the video camera! plus it is far easier to take out with me everywhere! although now that I run with the stroller I can take all that I want really, just store it in the compartment under Zeb. Kent and I are going to run the 5K this Saturday at Swan Creek! We are stoked. I will have to admit that it is lots more work to run pushing a stroller. I thought for some reason that it would be easier, that I'd have a place to lean or something! I did some internet research on it and they say you burn quite a few more calories with a stroller! HOOOOOOray.


Plus, I got a new IPOD shuffle for FREE! its blue and great. I got it from the GAP. You get reward/recognition points for good service, getting gap cards, etc. I saved mine all up and got a shuffle! very worth it.

fabulous food

October's cooking group is Apples. We have to make something with apples in it so I have been experimenting! I made an apple bread and it was delicious but appeared atrocious so decided against it. This week I saw this recipe on rr and we tried it this evening! It was AMAZING. this obviously isn't our picture but I have never made a meal from a cookbook that ended up looking so much like the original picture! and Kent gave it a 9 on the ten scale! we used whole grain brown rice instead of white (I know that my mom will be proud of that) and used mozarella instead of cheddar, and appple concetrate instead of cider. Kent is the gravy connoisseur and tweeked it to his methods. It was so dang good. The rice pilaf was insanely good. The apple gravy was divine. hooooooray.

here's the link! try it out.
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/44969/

best age ever

I know I've said it a zillion times but firstly, zeb's age right now is soooooooo much better than it was! he is so much fun right now. and secondly, he is the best baby imagineable. I can't believe how good he is. You all better come visit soon or he's going to grow up!

These are some photos of Zeb's new favorite toy. he got a package from Nannie Annie today and he LOVES LOVES LOVES the bouncy bug. He played with it for an entire hour today. He grabs at it, puts it in his mouth, talks to it, and just stares at it. Thanks so much mum! and for the book too. I was so excited when I looked through the peephole in the door and saw a UPS man with a package. i love mail.

We got Z a cool pirate shirt at H&M for five bucks. I love it. He looks like a little pirate. We might just get him an eye patch for halloween!

Man Night

Leisy had enrichment tonight so some of us guys with babies got together for Man Night. Three of us first years all have baby boys under a year old. Cohen is only 3 weeks younger than Z. They thought staring at each other was way cool. Justin (Cohen's dad) caught these two holding hands - I tried to capture the moment but it was too quick. Maybe they were just shaking hands. We realized that we still don't have this baby thing down when both Justin and I realized that we didn't bring bottles. Glen provided bottles for all. All-in-all Man Night was a success - the babies loved it!

we like this one too.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

i thought that this was pretty accurate

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

book club and stuff (my last two GREAT days)

Kent had a test on monday and was able to come home at one after working out! It was wonderful! then to make things even better, he didn't have school at all yesterday! We slept in till eight (that's a big deal now that we have the little rugrat and school) and then I dropped him off on campus so that he could study for a few hours and work out while I worked out and cleaned up the house a bit. I picked him up at one and we went to eat at this little cheap authentic mexican restauraunt, Mi Hacienda.

the food was okay, but the salsa was AMAZING. It was inexpensive as well, so it was very worth it! We got to spend the day together and had lots of fun. That evening I had book club at eight. Its great cause Z is asleep by then and kent can get in a little more studying!

At book club, we read/did "The Color Code". Kent and I LOVED the book in high school! I took the quiz then and last night I came out EXACTLY the same. 27 red, 4 blue, 0 white, and 12 yellow! I have some pretty intense qualities still. Lots that I'm trying to work on (being tactless, insensitive, etc...I must get those from my dad :) ). Kent is still Blue and great at it. I have the greatest husband in the world.

Its great that there are so many fun groups here. We are all in similar situations and have at least someting in common so it makes it easy to get together. It was also great to get to know people better. We had great treats and laughed till pretty late. I really don't love alone time (that's the red/yellow in me) and there's always something fun to do in toledo! HOORAY.

Hahaha

After my Mom posted my nephew Ethan laughing it reminded us of this little kid. Leisy and I could watch this a hundred times and not get sick of it.

Zeb and fam

Since we opted out of the "your mom is a hand puppet ladybug" plan, we've devised another. Here are Zeb's siblings. A few of them actually sing and talk when squeezed! His favorite sibling thus far is the little tigger. he has a jingly tail and he's very soft. We figure if he's okay with these guys we won't have to have any more real babies. So far he seems quite content.

Test Tomorrow!!

Sitting in Sacrament Meeting today I suddenly panicked. Oh my gosh! I don't think I remember how Acetyl-CoA leaves the mitochondria to initiate fatty acid synthesis in the cytosol!!! It was quite stressful because I know there will be at least one question about that tomorrow on my test. I guess I'll have to wake up extra early tomorrow to fit in a few more hours of study before the test. I talked to my mom this week and she said something like, "I can't believe there is really that much more to learn than what you've already been through." Our bodies do some amazing things and we have to learn how everything works correctly before we can start to explain how and why things go wrong. There are SO many things I don't know - each day I realize how little I know and what a long road I've begun. It's fun, I love it - wish me luck on my test!

NEWS. the early achiever

We have completely forgotten to document on the blog two momentous occasions in the life of little Zbinden.

On September 3, little Z did his first flip! he is now officially flipping and rolling around the room. He's weird, cause he doesn't love to roll and take his time with it, he just flips backs and forth like a little trout out of water. When he's on his stomach he'll hold his head and upper body up so high, it looks like he's going to put his arms down and start crawling! I'll try to get a picture of it to post! I'd have to say that rolling over at three months is quite the little accomplishment. We have a genius (or an athlete) on our hands.

SECONDLY, and unfortunately, Zeb has gotten his first tooth. The pictures above are to illustrate his feelings about his first tooth. He's ticked and has decided to become a screaming banshee on occasion because of it. When he screams like he has this week it reminds me of his cousin Ethan(whose screams rival MANY screaming banshees) ,and I count my many blessings that he has only done it two or three times. The tooth is just surfacing and we have tried to get a picture of it as well. Getting that picture will be IMPOSSIBLE. We have only been able to pry open his mouth and move his tongue to just catch a glimpse of it, let alone having time to snap a photo.

what is this?

I didn't get the best look at this little critter on our lawn. before I could get it to look up, a car came by and scared it back into the bushes! any ideas? its definately wild. perhaps a badger?

these make me almost pee my pants!

brrrr.

It is starting to get really cold in the morning when we go out to the park! yesterday it was really cold and little z kept kicking off his blanket and sucking on his fingers so he ended up being freezing cold! I pulled out his little snow outfit (I got it at the baby gap in 2004 for 75 cents!!!) and put it on him to see if it fit. Shortly after I put it on, he zonked. He didn't have anything on underneath but I figured he'd be fine. It ended up being a little warmer then yesterday but I think he enjoyed it. It is supposed to dip below forty one of the nights this week so we'll probably be using it again soon! Really I just think that the picture is super cute!

Has the white coat gone to Kent's head?

Leisy's cousin recently asked if my white coat had "gone to my head" because I never blog on the bloggie-blog. This picture fit perfectly - as you can see it is the books and studying that has "gone to my head". I had my first test on Sept. 4th and the next test is this Monday. The crazy thing about these tests is that they are ENORMOUS!!! We have covered ALL of the material and more of my Biochemistry class at BYU that was an entire semester! And that is just one subject! The test will also cover the histology of bones, connective tissue and muscles! I feel like all I do is study - but I love it! Our bodies are incredible and learning the nitty-gritty details of metabolism and how our bodies function is something I've dreamed of for years. I have finally found my own Hogwarts - they even call us first years! School is great - it's really challenging but exciting. So, I've disappeared from the blog but let's all admit it - Leisy is a much better blogger.

here you go... the tartlet recipe

Wonton tartlets
12-18 wontons (found in the refrigerated produce section)
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 pack cream cheese
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp orange juice (lemon juice works)
fresh berries (any kind works)
whipped cream

Brush one side of wonton with butter and lightly coat with brown sugar (this adds such great flavor!). Press wonton, butter side UP, into nonstick muffin tin. Bake for 7-9 minutes at 325 until edges are lightly browned. Remove from pan to cool.
In a bowl, combine c. cheese, honey, and juice. I add about 1 cup of cool whip to sweeten and lighten the mixture. I also add a few spoonfuls of sugar (I really like sweet). Spoon mixture into each wonton. Top with berries, fresh mint, and whipped cream (I just did the berries, and they were a frozen mix). Can be served immediately or refrigerated for later.

Tips: Because I added cool whip I let my mixture chill for thirty minutes (not required). I also made it low fat- low cal! Low fat butter, nonfat or low fat cream cheese, and fat free cool whip. And the wontons were already low cal and fat free!

Really the inside filling can be made to yor tastes.

hooray for wonton tartlets (and terri schraeder)

Once again I have put my cooking "skills" to use. Tonight was cooking group and the theme was "appetizers". I had NO idea what to make. The first thought was spinach dip or artichoke dip or something, but I figured that everybody else would do that. It turned out quite true. We had three spinach dips and two artichoke dips! I sat and pondered, even looked all over online. Then an epiphany struck! Terri Schraeder (or however you spell it), my parents next door neighbor, had made the most amazing little "tartlets" for a little get together we had and she had given me the recipe! I made them and they were a HIT! they look really fancy but are super easy to make! plus they are delicious!

Two things that I love!

TWO things that I love...one of which does NOT exist in Toledo.

One of the med student wives (Julie) told me about this place called Hobby Lobby. She's from Texas and loves the place. It turned out we have one here in Toledo! Hobby Lobby was totally foreign to me but as I looked into it I found out that there are THREE of them in Utah. Logan, Layton, and in the Sandy area. I absolutely hate craft stores but this place is AMAZING. They have the most outrageous sales and a plethora of wonderful items. Its a mix of Roberts Crafts and Tai Pan Trading and I love it.

About Mr. Yoshida's teriyaki sauce. I also LOVE it. It, however, is nowhere to be found in Toledo. I really miss it with my chicken. It was so delicious. Sometimes I would dip my finger in it and just eat it plain. I can't wait till Christmas when I can buy it.

anybody bored?

I remembered something else I can do with my free time! I've started up indexing again here. My friend Barbara (from our Orem ward) taught me how to do it. I did it occasionally in Utah but couldn't find time to get into it like I wanted! Now that I am home everyday I've started up again. I really enjoy doing it. It's easy, fast, and rewarding. The whole point of it is to go through old census/birth/death or whatever records and pull out info to put into a database. The database is then used by anyone to do family history! go to http://www.familysearchindexing.org/ if you want to figure it out...or ask hailey. she's a pro at it!

zeb's little head.

I love when zeb holds his little head up. His head is in the 25th percentile so it is a little small. hopefully that has nothing to do with his intelligence. I wish that he had been born the same time as little jack jack. Their heads together woud have been quite the sight (jack was off the charts for head size)! Plus that top pic is one of my favorites cause I LOVE babies in pajamas.

Blog Thievery

I really don't know what the ethics of blog stealing suggest about taking really cool things off of other people's blogs and putting it on your own, but this was really funny and we want all to enjoy.

For all Harry Potter Fans: Click here

People who hate Harry Potter: Click here

P.S. Thanks Kenna!!

Being home everyday has finally allowed me to use my cooking talents (blaaaa. i have none) to actually make kent dinner each night. pizza was on the menu for last week but then we found out that schlotzky's does wednesday night pizzas for 1.99!! and we went there. they were AMAZING! so this week we decided to do homemade.

I told laney about the pizza and she wanted the recipe...so voila. here's the recipe and a pic. We should have taken a picture after it was done baking, but kent was too hungry! kent rates my dinners on a scale of 1 to 10. anything above a five or six is okay for a redo. The pizza got an eight. I have to admit, this was my best pizza yet! I really liked the crust. it was crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy on the inside. and the sauce was delish. we didn't have any pineapple for a topping, its my fav. kent HATES warm pineapple so he was glad.

The recipes are a little bit adapted and made up. you can change them to your own liking.

sauce:
half can of tomato paste (or a whole can if its one of the small ones)
half can tomatoes with juice (the ones cut into pieces)
half can of tomato sauce
spices! I added oregano, basil, onion salt, garlic salt, and a few shakes of parm cheese.
a couple spoonfuls of b. sugar (it makes EVERYTHING taste better)
Just put in the seasonings to taste. whatever you like best.
put it all together and stick it in the magic bullet. If you don't have the mb you can probably use a blender. just pour it on the uncooked pizza dough. add toppings.
oh, and because everything is half a can I made the other half and froze it for next time.

dough:
2.25 tsp yeast (1 packet)
1/2 tsp b sugar (I put in a tablespoon)
1.5 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 and 1/3 Cup flour
1/4-1/2 cup parm cheese
seasonings to taste (oregano, onion salt, garlic salt, etc)

dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water(let sit for ten minutes)
stir in salt and oil
add seasonings
add flour
if its too sticky, add some flour. if its too tough, add some water.
let the dough rise one hour (covered). after an hour punch it down, roll into a tight ball, and let it relax for a few minutes. place on pizza stone that is well oiled with evoo.
add sauce and toppings. put the pizza on the BOTTOM rack so the crust cooks and the toppings don't burn. when edges are light brown it is finished! about 15-20 minutes. dont let the crust get too brown...it should be LIGHT brown.