Pumpkin Carving

Last night we were able to have Family Home Evening since Derick was home!! We decided to carve pumpkins and make Halloween shaped cookies. Kurtis was so excited, the two of us had carved a baby pumpkin which quickly spoiled so he was happy to have a new one. Our friends Brit and Steve came over and enjoyed the festivities with us!! It was a lot of fun, and the pumpkins came out pretty good too!I know both are similar but he looked so cute I had to put them both up!! He posed himself, so cheesey and too cute!!

Kurtis and our first baby pumpkin!Brit and Steve's Nightmare Before Christmas Pumpkin, Angry Big Pumpkin and Crying Baby Pumpkin.

(Kurtis wanted an angry pumpkin and a sad pumpkin???)Kurtis with all three pumpkins.

Our friends Brit and Steve!!

Just like Mommy!!

Kurtis has a new love....SMORES!!! Just like his mommy this kid loves sweets! We like them with peanut butter on graham cracker, add chocolate chips, and then marshmellows on top! It was a lot of messy fun!

Our little Winona Ryder

While Amy and Kurtis were shopping at the mall, a funny (or troubling) incident occurred. They stopped in a toy store to purchase a birthday present for a friend's party, and without much of the usual asking for toys by Kurtis, they went to a clothing store where Amy found some clothes to buy. When she went to put her bags under the stroller, she noticed a heap of toys from the previous store hidden there. “Did you put these things here?” Amy asked sternly.

"I wanted to take them home", Kurtis responded bluntly. Momma then raced back to the store, explained to the worker what happened, and then Kurtis got a lesson in the proper way of taking items home!

Too bad for me, I was on my way to teach the lil' man the art of thievery! I'd be Finnigan to his Oliver Twist! We'd run the streets I tell you!!!

Singing Songs

So when Kurtis is with Derick he is an active ball of energy which is the way he is with most males, and then with me he is either talking (constantly) or singing (also still a little ball of energy). Recently he has really started singing. Sadly in public I have started to just tune him out waiting for him to say "isn't that beautiful mommy..." then I quickly pipe up.

Just last night in the LONG line waiting for someone at JoAnn's Fabric Store to cut our material we had picked he was singing Row Row Row Your Boat but just kept singing in a round. I was really trying to figure out what was taking so long so I was not even phased by his singing, but the couple in front of me thought it was the cutest thing. Once Kurtis realized they were giggling and laughing at him he just kept going and going and going. Then the gentleman sneezed, and everyone in line said "bless you", of course then Kurtis saw his opportunity for a laugh and quickly faked a sneeze just like the man's. Everyone was laughing, he is such a cute little Derick!! At least he keeps my annoyed frustrating times filled with laughter and joy!! We love him!! Here are some videos of him singing for you, the beginnings seem to be cut off a little bit, sorry!

Little Man Started Pre-School!!

So Kurtis started preschool last week and he was a very excited boy! Even though it’s only once a week, it is a small taste of a long, adventurous career as a student! We are so proud!

He has already met a bunch of friends, some familiar faces and new ones as well. School starts with some songs and movement, followed by circle time, then a story, lunch, and free play- What Fun! Kurtis loves his teacher Judy and wants to go everyday if he could- soon enough young man, soon enough.

New Toys

Kurtis is so blessed to have the Catalano Family who gave him this very cool power wheels truck. We are waiting for a new battery to actually drive it but he loves giving it a "car wash" and pretending to drive around.Kurtis also loves this cool castle set that his awesome cousin gave to him. What a lucky boy!!

Thank you all, we really appreciate the love and support!

Kurtis Haircut

We shaved off Kurtis' hair, here are the photos of our cute little boy!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Chicken Enchilada's- Honey and Lime??

So I found this recipe on this blog, and thought I should try it. I love my friend Anne's chicken enchiladas and thought the photo looked similar so it was worth a shot. Here is how they turned out:
I served them with Spanish Rice which turned out wonderfully and sweet white corn which was delicious!!


Here is the entire recipe:
6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream


Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour . Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.


My thoughts: The enchiladas were good, but the honey (which is not a taste you are really used to having in your enchiladas) kind of over powered the rest of the flavor. I will try the recipe again incase I did something wrong, but everything else about this recipe was really good!! The missionaries loved it, but what do they not like??

Super Kurtis...Our SUPER HERO

Derick's sister brought over this adorable costume that her little one (who is really not little anymore) wore when he was Kurtis' age. Kurtis loves it. He has worn it a few times and tries to fly off of all the furniture!! He is so funny, his favorite super hero is ICEMAN and Derick is usually Spiderman they both get really into character, and have such GREAT imaginations!! I am glad he took after Derick in that way!!

Cheesecake Attempt

Okay, I did not take as good of a photo as Jill, but this is a family recipe from Jill, here is her blog which I LOVE. I am good friends with her sister who gave her blog and I am so appreciative (THANKS MELANIE) as most of my craft projects these days have come from her blog. This cheesecake was super easy and I really enjoyed it. Usually other recipes for cheesecake I have tried or even the restaurant cheesecakes seem a bit dry, but this was perfect filling!! Send me feedback if you try it!

Crust:
1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
1/2 C sugar
1 stick of butter, melted

Combine and press into a spring-form pan (bottom and about an inch up the side).Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.

Filling:
3 eight oz. packages of cream cheese - cream until soft in mixer add
5 large eggs and beat until smooth
Add: 1 C sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt
Mix until well combined.

Beat it for at least 10 minutes.
Pour into the cooled crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the top browns and the center isn't jiggly.
Check often after the 45 minute mark, but try to resist checking earlier.
Cool for about 20 minutes.

Sour cream topping:
Mix 1 1/2 C sour cream, 1/3 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
Pour on top of the cheesecake and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Chill at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

Top with your favorite fruit when ready to serve.

I used a ten inch spring form pan which worked great, although my cheesecake ended up really tall which is not typical for a cheesecake, but it was delicious.

**NOTE: My crust ended up really hard, not too hard for your teeth but too hard for the fork. It tasted amazing but was just hard, if anyone can tell me how to fix that I think this is the most perfect cheesecake recipe I have ever tasted. I will have to try it again to see if maybe I just did something incorrectly.

Kurtis LOVES watermelon!!

It is a shame that the end of the summer is here, at least we have been able to grab a few watermelons that are still pretty tasty at the grocery store! Kurtis loves watermelon, just like his Aunt Katie!! Who doesn't love watermelon when its hot outside?! Here he is devouring five pieces all by himself!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend we went to a fun BBQ at our friends house. Some friends from the ward were there and all the kids really enjoyed the backyard to play in. There was homemade, amazing pulled pork BBQ which really reminded me of the southern BBQ from home. It was a lot of fun with some great company! Thanks all...here are some of the fun pictures we were able to take before Kurtis got too tired and we had to go home for him to take a nap.

Here are our fun pics from the day:

Tell me Kurtis does not look JUST LIKE DERICK SITTING HERE, he is a little DERICK!!

Too funny!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Okay, so my little sister Jackie has been engaged for a while but I did not have photos so I was waiting to post a great post congratulating her!! Congratulations Jake and Jackie, they are engaged and will be sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple in November!! We are so excited for you guys!!

Happy Grandparents Day!!

Kurtis, Derick and I wanted to say Happy Grandparents Day to all of our Grandparents. We have many family members and church family that act as Grandparents to us as well that I do not have photo of, but we love you all!!! Grandma and Grandpa Pikula (Derick's Parents)

(We really need to take more photos, we did not have any of the two of you together.)

We don't have any photos of Derick's grandparents on either side at our house, but we have heard amazing stories and seen some photos of Paula's family.

Pops and GG (Amy's Parents)
Grandma and Grandpa Christensen (Amy's Grandparents- Mom's parents) Nanny and Poppa (Amy's Nanny and Poppa- Dad's Parents)
Aunt Jessie and Uncle Bill (Amy's adopted Grandparents)
Uncle Kenny and Aunt Karen....they spoil Kurtis like he is a grandchild, and he loves every minute of it.

There are so many more that we could mention Uncle Bob, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Pasty and James, and so many others in my home ward at church (Belmont) and our current home ward (MarVista), I do not want to forget anyone but you know who you are and we love you!!

Happy Grandparents Day!!!

We are lucky to have you all.

Waking Up Kurtis Style

So every morning Kurtis wakes us up by jumping in our bed. We now have photographic proof of his shennanigans!! No need for alarm clocks at the Pikula household, we have our human alarm that prods us out of bed through the use of kisses or kicks- the hard knock way.

So, we are happy to report that Kurtis is quickly getting over his G-H-O-S-T problem. The culprit seemed to be his nightlight. Ever since we took it out of the wall, he has had no reported sightings. Or maybe he has learned to cope and is now helping them pass over to the light. Our little Sylvia Brown is helping people!! We have always wondered why his hair was white! -Ok, I better stop before I go overboard.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

My little brother Ryan and my sister in law Jordan had their beautiful baby girl last night!!

Her name is Ella Jo, congratulations guys, we love you all and cant wait to see you for the blessing!

Friday and Saturday Farmers Market

Okay, so I need to practice taking photos so my eyes stay open. After ten takes (love you Derick) of Derick looking absolutely perfect and me looking rather horrible this is the best we could get. But I was able to go out with some girlfriends to PINKBERRY and BEARD PAPA'S to enjoy some yummy dessert and great company. Thanks Ladies!!

As a family, we enjoyed a fun, beautiful day outside at the Farmer's Market in Century City. It just started less than a month ago so it is still a little small, but we found some wonderful organic fruits and veggies!! Kurtis loved running around and dancing to the live band.