a kindergarten halloween...

looks like this:

red, orange and yellow

the joy of cooking.

i have a secret desire to be rachel ray.
reasons being:
1. she is so dang cute. and real. and i love her raspy voice.
2. it would significantly improve my cooking...
3. one of my very favorite things to do is to cook, so cooking all day...trying new recipes all the time...would be fantastic.

but, since becoming rachel ray is not going to happen for me any time soon...i decided to get the next best thing...my own sous chef. i think you'll see she's pretty dang cute.


i love my little sous chef.

i'm not one to get political...

but i am a true advocate of this:

my friend leah explains the reasons why i am passionate about this issue here.

to learn more, go here.

and that is my two cents. the end.

fallness.

fall is always good for randomness and fun.
like this:


other randomness and fun fall things we did this weekend include:

we had some much needed time with wonderful friends:


Ellie got her flirt on with baby Wyatt (which mostly entailed of him sleeping through her massive drooling...very attractive):

we cheered on the cougars...

to win by less than a butt-crack:


as usual, we oogled and ahhh'd over our adorable cute baby Ellie:




my sisters, mom, aunt, cousin and me all got our witch on at Gardner Village:

where we looked fabulous,



where we danced like mad women:


where mom crashed into a tree:

and where we exhausted ourselves to the ultimate degree.


oh fall weekend, won't you come back again to play??

p.s. stay tuned for the reveal of our first ever chapman halloween costume ensemble! you won't wanna miss it.

mixed up brains.

"Mrs. Chapman, say 'knock-knock.' "

"Ok, 'knock-knock.' "

"Who's there?"

long awkward pause.

"Wait, I don't think I know the joke... you do."

"Oh yeah." giggle. pause.

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana!?"

"Orange-you-glad-I-didn't-say-banana-who?"

long awkward pause, again.

"Orange."

confused? ok, go ahead and read it again.
what my 5-year old friend says is in red.
what i say is in orange.

don't worry, i'll wait.

done? ok.

yes, she gave me the punch-line a bit too soon.
and then told me the pre-punch line in the punch-line's spot.

sometimes kindergarten brains get a little mixed up.
i'm glad they get mixed up. because they make me laugh.

morning eyes.

every morning between 7:30 am and 8:00 am, i get to see these eyes peeking at me through the fluff and pillows in her crib:


when i get a little bit closer, i get to see this mischievous little grin:


i love mornings.

10:30 pm = treat craving.

it's 10:30 pm...and around this time is when i always find myself wanting a treat.

not just any treat.

i want frozen yogurt.

with mangoes. and kiwis.

from this place.

deeee-vine.

is anyone else addicted to frozen yogurt like i am?
gee whiz, i really thought cravings were supposed to end with pregnancy.
hmmmf.

cause to celebrate

after a long 14+ days of NO POOP, E finally exploded today. ok, exploded doesn't even come close to describing it. she detonated. she erupted. she blasted. what do you expect? 14+ days with no poop = cloggage like you've never seen.

indeed, there was great cause to celebrate.

and so, to celebrate this happy poop day, we made a happy poop day cake:



i know what you're thinking. marci, you're so weird. and a little grotesque. why did you make a happy poop day cake?? and, why did you make your cake look like poop? to answer the first question: i love any excuse to make a delicious dessert. to answer the second: well, honestly, it was an accident. i've never made homemade chocolate cake before (obviously). and taking cake out of two 8" rounds to stack them on each other is a lot harder than it sounds. but i'm happy about the accident. i think it is very appropriate that our happy poop day cake looks like a big pile of poop.

thank goodness it didn't taste like it.

happy poop day to us!

{a very happy, empty ellie}

*note: M would like me to make it clear that i was NOT the one who cleaned the explosion. you see, ellie conveniently chose to erupt while i was at work today. he was the knight in shining...poop.

currently addicted to making this:

using these tools:


and getting as messy as possible, true baker style:


i have made this inquiry before...but can anyone please share some homemade pizza-making secrets? i'd love to graduate from homemade pizza rookie to homemade pizza connoisseur, but i need your help. dough is my weakest link. i'd love your input!

xoxo

for good.

wishing i was here:


seeing this:


with these fabulous people.


four years ago, (has it really been that long??) i lived in southern connecticut...just 45 minutes north of the big apple. i became a broadway addict, seeing 11 shows in a short 4 months. the very last show i saw...just three days before i left the east coast... was wicked.

one word to describe the experience:

wow.

double wow.

triple hop-scotch wow.

while every show had its marvelous moments (lion king = costumes, 42nd street = dancing, beauty & the beast = the sets, etc), wicked was incredible in every single way. the music. the dancing. the costumes. the sets. the story-line. idina menzel's voice was breath-taking. kristin chenoweth was adorably annoying.

yes, i saw the original cast.
yes, it was amazing.
yes, i am bragging a bit.

after seeing the show, i certainly was changed for good.

so, tonight i will be wallowing in jealousy...thinking of my lovely loved ones being entertained to the maximum degree by the wizard of oz' greatest parallel musical.

hmmf.

p.s. i've caught word that wicked is coming to utah? true?? if any one knows details, i'm all ears. also, i've heard that it travels to san fran now and again...anyone know details about that (where, price, etc?)? i'm determined to see it again before i die...or before it dies (whichever comes first).

we're leavin on a jet plane...

i remember back to my freshman year of college, i decided to take up the guitar. one of the very first songs we learned was leaving on a jet plane by john denver. ever since i learned that song, i always think of it when "leaving" comes to mind.

sniff.

yes.

we're leaving.

as most of you know, M did an internship in the bay area this past summer. at the end of much blood, sweat, and tears (on his part), he was offered a job.

a couple of weeks ago, M sealed the deal by signing his life away to deloitte & touche in san fran.


sounds exotic, right? life in san francisco! but it's weird...because i think of myself as an adventurous person. but this leaving has me all scared, psyched out, shakin in my boots. i find myself "attached" to this utah place. i like the green jello. i like being around for family get-togethers and parties. i like seeing a steeple on every corner. i like the big mountains all up in my grill. i like finding a huge selection of modest clothing stores.

don't get me wrong, i'm 100% confident this is the right thing to do. and i'm excited for the adventure. so many amazing things to do and see in the bay area! and to be close to M's family! but. i'm still scared. in fact, i'm a big fat scaredy pants. how is that possible? it's not like we're moving to jupiter. i can leave on a jet plane to the beehive state just as easy as i can leave on a jet plane to san fran, right?

sigh.

pun-kin land

and so it was that all of my five-year old kindergartner's wildest dreams came true:

today was field trip day.

we went to "pun-kin land," as most of my kids call it. we got to walk around a huge corn maze, enjoy a small petting zoo, play on a huge (overly crowded) playground, go through a not-so-spooky spook house, and pick their very own pun-kin from "all the pun-kins in the whole wide world," as explained by my little friends.

what a fun, memorable day.

{cutest stinkers on the planet}

feeling the love.

wow. i feel loved. so loved. in fact, i feel like the grinch on how the grinch stole christmas...when his heart grows tons and tons of sizes because of all the love he feels inside.

i felt the love by my sweet M, who sneakily hi-jacked my account and wrote me such a sweet birthday post. i feel like meg ryan who has found her tom hanks (in you've got mail OR sleepless in seattle...take your pick).

i felt the love from you, my readers, my friends, by all of your lovely comments the last few days. you are wonderful.

i felt the love by my mom, dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband M who all went in to get me this beauty:


i'm so excited to figure her out and take some lovely pictures of my sweet E. here's one that i took yesterday:


for more pic's, go to ellie's blog by clicking here. not invited? send me your email!

i felt the love by my brother and sister-in-law who went out of their way to bring me cheesecake factory goodness and presents after our breakdown (emotional and mechanical).

i felt the love by all my church friends who remembered my birthday on sunday. especially my primary kids who sang to me. you made me feel so special!

i felt the love from all of the birthday calls, texts, and messages you left me. how wonderful to hear the voices and read messages from those that i love! i saved them all. sorry if i didn't get back to you; my phone was locked in the dead swan till late sunday...but they were very much appreciated.

i felt the love by my kindergartners...who sang to me, hugged me, and gave me lots of treasures, including hand-drawn cards and pictures, books, hot homemade bread (de-lish!), restaurant gift-cards, and a little plaque outlining the ABC's of life. what sweet little stinkers.

i felt the love by ellie...who gave me slobbery kisses...and tons of giggles. to die for!

i felt the love by M, lynne & jeffy who spent the day with me...and made me a delicious homemade meal with roast, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, fluffy rolls...and CUPCAKES! (who doesn't love cupcakes on their birthday?)


so, thank you to all of you for loving silly ol' me. it was a lovely day, in every sense of the word. indeed, i feel very loved.

Happy Birthday Marci

Hi, this is Marci's husband m (as she refers to me on the blog). I have hijacked Marci's account for a few minutes without her knowing so that I could wish her a happy birthday . . . so, Marci, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I'm so glad you were born. You really are the most amazing person I think I've ever known. I am in constant amazement and appreciation for what you do for our family. You are such an amazing teacher for your little kindergarten kids, and then you still have the energy to come home and be the most amazing mom to little E. You truly are an amazing wife, mother, and friend. Thank you for making our lives better.

I hope that today was a great day for you and that you could feel how much we all love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I love you.
- M

test #1.

"come what may" certainly came in full abundance today.

did i love it? mmm.... not so sure. let me elaborate.
confused? click here for an explanation of "come what may."

well, remember how i love the month october? one of the main reasons is my birthday. i'm turning 23 on sunday... yet still can't get rid of that "little girl excitement" that has been festering inside of me since i changed the calendar from september to october. seriously. another reason i love my birthday month is because i share it with my mom and my sister-in-law. so every year, we all get together and go out to dinner to celebrate- and we exchange gifts (LOVE THAT). well, tonight was that special night where we were celebrating the three of us. the restaurant of choice: the cheesecake factory. was i excited? uh-hem, do i really need to answer that? pretty obvious that i'd been daydreaming about it all week.

so, i left work 5 minutes after the bell rang (thinking, cheesecake, cheesecake, cheesecake!) and got home. ellie was due for a nap. "ok," i thought. "we can do this." i had a lot to get done; wrapping last minute gifts, getting diaper bag ready, of course pumping, and a lot of other stuff that seemed important then but i can't remember now.

well, of course since we were in a hurry, ellie decided to take a long nap. when she woke up, i felt panicked and rushed. we had to leave right THEN. ellie's happy awake time is precious. but everything wasn't ready. i was a mess. the house was a mess. i started crying. "we're so late!" i yelled at M. he started running around like a chicken with his head cut off- anything to stop the tears. but in my mind, i just kept getting madder and sadder as i thought of being late to my very own birthday party (irrational? maybe. but cut me some slack: i hang out with 5 year olds all day, remember?).

finally we were off.

traffic.

great.

oh well, we were on our way. tears finally stopped. i felt my rational self coming-to. and then,

crreeeeaaakkccchhsurrrsgjlj;akl;asghhh.

WHAT was THAT?

and before we knew it, we were slowly coasting to a stop on the right shoulder of i-15...somewhere in pleasant grove.

wonderful.

"what's wrong?" i asked M (trying to sound nicer than the last time i had yapped at him at the house).

"the car stopped working."

{seriously.}

silence.

more silence.

even more silence.

neither of us knew what to do.

and so, M did what he does when he doesn't know what to do: he called his dad. i did what i do when i don't know what to do: i called my mom.

an hour later, our next door neighbors came to our rescue...and we left the dead swan (our '01 corolla). no cheesecake. no presents. no car. hmmf.

there was a moment when we were sitting there...cars rushing by...the sun setting in the distance...and Elder Wirthlin's talk came to mind. "come what may, and love it." i was kind of mad when i first thought of it. "this doesn't count," i thought. "no one loves this." but, just minutes later, i held ellie in my arms...and she gave me the longest snuggle she'd ever given me. just laid on my shoulder, suckin' on her thumb, watchin' the cars jet by. "ok," i thought. "i do love this."

{snuggle on my shoulder}

so, the swan was towed...and the bad news came: we have to replace her engine. or ditch the swan for a new ride. neither ideal scenarios for a half-time kinder teacher and a full-time accounting student. real life bites, doesn't it? ugh! my first come what may test is a little more than i had bargained for....but i keep thinking back to that sweet snuggle on my shoulder...and i know "everything will work out." will i love it all the while? i'm sure when i can laugh about this in a couple of days...or weeks...or months, i will love it more than i do now.

{sad, stranded family}

p.s. i'd like to thank travis and becca for saving our sad, stranded family (see pic above) on your friday night. you pretty much saved our lives. i'd also like to thank my brother and sister-in-law who did deliver us some cheesecake factory goodness and some birthday surprises. thanks for going out of your way to share some of your party with us! and mom, dad & mimi, thank you for all of the gifts! you are wonderful- i'm sad we missed you tonight.
p.s.s. i just realized that i left my phone in our desolate swan...so if you've been trying to contact me...well, i won't be getting back to you for a while. hmmf.

come what may, and love it.

i think of myself as a sponge. it takes me a while to let things sink in so that i can clean my mess up.

this last weekend, all of us latter day saints gathered together in one giant slumber party to view our semi-annual general conference. ok, it wasn't really a giant slumber party...but i like to think of it that way as i imagine so many saints across the world gathered with tired hearts, ready to be rejuvenated by the words of the prophets. and so it was general conference. my spongey self was in full capoot (well, as much as it could be between feedings, and a few shut-eyes here and there due to the previous nights' midnight feedings). as usual, it has taken me a few days to really let everything sink in. there were so many uplifting words spoken. so many "goose-bumpers," as i call them (the ones that give you the chills all over- and make you feel fuzzy).

one, however, continues to stick out in my mind.

Elder Wirthlin's talk.

it's funny, because, Elder Wirthlin often isn't the most charismatic of the bunch. however, he always speaks to my heart. he always answers a quiet prayer that i didn't even realize i had said or thought aloud.

he shared a phrase his mother often used to share with him as a child: come what may and love it. what a powerful collection of words! i feel the goose-bumps rising just typing them. so what does it mean? he shared the following explanation:

"I think she meant that every day has peaks and shadows, and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. But in spite of discouragement and adversity, those that are happy seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger and wiser and happier as a result."

isn't this the truth? life can be hard. so hard. double dog hard. it can be frustrating. and exasperating. but i love how he said also that "the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be. if we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be of greatest growth, which in turn can lead towards times of greatest happiness."

seems impossible, right? how can you be happy, when life can be so double dog hard?

then he shared how. one of my favorite ways that he shared was through laughter. now, i love to laugh. so much. i think of my favorite memories and they often involve me being extremely silly, with someone i love, and a stomach ache from laughing so hard. it's true, laughing has a magical, healing power.

he shared a story of his daughter that is hilarious. i'd like to relate that story in his words:

"Our daughter went on a blind date of which we didn’t approve. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children. We watched as she got in the car- but it didn’t move. Eventually the daughter got out of the car, red faced and ran back into the house. The man she thought was her blind date, had actually come to pick up another one of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife. We all had a good laugh over that. In fact we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now, I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed, but she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it to this day. The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead."

it made me think of the things in my life that are hard. yes, there are things that are too serious to laugh about. but then there are things that i take too seriously that could be laughed about. my spongy self realized i had a mess to clean up. i need to smile more. i need to enjoy the small moments more. i need to remember that life is always going to throw curve balls and rainstorms and lemons. but i can choose to have a lemonade stand, enjoy the rainbow after the storm...and hit a home-run out of that curve ball...smiling all the while. so, till the next mega LDS slumber party, i'm going to try my best to remember the phrase, come what may and love it.

to kick off "come what may and love it," i thought i'd share this little video that my family and i think is hilarious. little charlie knows how to laugh! i hope you get a laugh, too.

my mom.

{we love you, mom!}

i'd like to give a shout out to my mother, my momma, mi madre, mi mamy, my M-O-M.

on this day, not so many years ago...in a beautiful paradise called havana, cuba, my mom was born.

i'm so stinkin glad that happened. for several reasons:

1. her existence means my existence. without her, i would not be breathing the beautiful oxygen that i am breathing.
2. she is hilarious. which brings a quote to mind: "this salad is SO HILARIOUS..." just one of the many wonderfully funny things my mom has said (this one while dating my dad and learning english).
3. she makes the best food EVER. like, when i think of eating my all time favorite meal, it involves a pot, rice, chicken, several spices...and most importantly, HER (cooking it, that is).
4. everyone loves her. in fact, i'm pretty sure all my friends in high school actually came over to my house not to hang out with me, but rather to hang out with my mom. she's that cool.
5. she loves everyone back. the flower man at ben franklin, the nail ladies at california nails, the groomer at Pets Mart, Mary of Mary's Post Net (a mail store), dogs of all shapes and kinds, my friends, my brother's and sister's friends, my husband, my husband's family, my baby...and, of course, ME.

so, today, i'm so grateful for my favorite cuban friend. my mom. like the movie, two weeks notice puts it, "she's the voice in my head." she really is.

i love you, mom! happy, happy birthday.

xoxo

it's reveal day!

have any of you ever watched clean house? oh man, i'm obsessed. but really, when i think about it, i don't love all the therapy sesh's that niecy nash gives the dirty, selfish people...i don't really like seeing all the scum and garbage spread from floor to ceiling...and i don't like how they convince them to give up all their sentimental stuff, even though it often is crap.

no, my favorite part of clean house is REVEAL DAY. the part where they show how gross and yucky the house once was...and how they transformed it into this beautiful, lovely, clean place. it's like magic. it always motivates me to get myself together. it makes me wish i was a little messier so that clean house could come and save me. sigh.

well, even though my blog wouldn't really be considered in need of clean house...it is in need of a REVEAL DAY! the best part! i get to unveil the winner of my first-ever-blog-giveaway. (say that ten times fast).

thanks to my friend, d-dawg, i used this awesome list randomizer found here. basically, i entered everyone's names..and decided, the name they randomly put as #1 would be my winner.

drum roll please:

this is the list they gave me:

1. Candace
2. Josh & Hilary
3. Aaron & Ashley
4. Melissa
5. Rach
6. Marci & Daniel
7. Debra
8. Mike
9. Kristi
10. Kade & Jess
11. Beachbummin
12. Jason-Cassie-George
13. Randy and Cassi Guthrie
14. Jylaire
15. The Oldham’s
16. Lynne
17. Mark
18. Davis & Quinton
19. Jeff
20. Brittany
21. Lindsaykeller
22. Claysjenna
23. Tiffany Johnson
24. Linda
25. Bookworm
26. Alesa
27. Jons and Celeste Leigh
28. D-Dawg
29. Lea Billings
30. Devin
31. Ju and Brack
32. Amy
33. Steph and Tony
34. Alicia

what does this mean??? i'll tell you what it means:

CANDACE, you are my first-ever-blog-giveaway WINNER! congratulations!! would you mind emailing me your address (marcichapman@gmail.com) so i can mail you YOUR very own october ensemble??

{just a friendly reminder of what you've won!}

thank you to all those who commented. this was so fun! i love you, readers!

didn't win? sad? don't fret, my pet! keep checking back for my first ever HOLIDAY giveaway...coming soon to a ballroomandbiscotti blog near you.

xoxo

get excited..

hope you're as excited as m&m&e are for the reveal of my first giveaway winner! check back tomorrow for updates. no clue what i'm talking about? click here.


xoxo