Where have all the trick-or-treaters gone?

Happy Belated Halloween! Well, I need to get a pic of baby with her halloween outfit on, she was a sweet pea, or rather, a pea in a pod. So cute! Anyway. Where have all the trick or treaters gone!? We bought some candy a few weeks ago (that's dangerous) and have kind of been picking at it, so we bought some more at Sam's club. A HUGE like, 2,000 piece bag of Willy Wonka delightful-ness (not my favorite as itis not chocolate, but, good enough for candy starved kidlets). The night came, and we had maybe 15 kids! I was so disappointed! I made some ghosts and hung them on the tree outside and lit our lanterns and everything, put up some paper pumpkins on the door. There just weren't any trick or treaters! So NOW, we have all of this candy hanging around. That's just bad news for this chocolate fiend. I know I've already eaten waaaay too much. I shold just throw it out so I don't eat it.

Uncle Bob came to see us on Saturday! I do miss seeing family, so it was nice to have a visit and catch up. We just chatted for a while and had some steak sandwiches. I tld Kris they were pretty good except for the steak (I made them by the way). The steak was a little tough. I need some more practice cooking red meat, well steaks. I think also it was just the cut of meat. If you want to make them at home:

Steak Sandwiches:

Ingredients: *Focacia bread (or any other cool souning bread)
*1 1/2 yellow onions, caramelized (see below)
*Roasted red peppers (see below)
*arugala (a type of green)
*strip steak (something tender!)
*mustard mayo (see below)
Directions:

Caramelized onions:
-slice onions into med half circle shapes, not too thin
-add 1 TBS sugar and stir in
-cook over med low heat with some olive oil stirring occasionally until golden tender and sweet

Roasted Red Peppers:
- slice peppers in half vertically, remove inside seeds etc.
-place cut side down in cake pan, drizzle with olive oil
-roast in 400 degree oven for 25-35 minutes, or until skin begins blacken
-remove pan, cover tightly with tin foil (this helps the skin loosen)
-peel skins from peppers when cool (this gets messy, but it's worth it)
-store submerged in olive oil in fridge for up to a month

Steaks:
-remove steaks from fridge for about 30" prior to cooking (this will warm them up prior to them hitting the pan, so they won't steam and be gray)
-season each side liberally with salt and pepper (don't be shy, this is red meat, and needsquite a bit of seasoning.
-heat skillet to med high and add some olive oil
-add meat and don;t touch it. checking the meat will not allow it to get nice and brown and crusty, cook on first side for 3-4 minutes
-flip when nice and brown, cook on other side for another 2-3 minutes
-remove from heat cover with tin foil, allow to rest
-VERY IMPORTANT: When slicing, slice across the grain, not with. You want nice short pieces of fiber to be able to bite off. Otherwise, you will be pulling nice long strips of very chewy meat off your sandwich.

Mustard Mayo:
-1 1/2 cups mayo
-2 TBS dijon mustard
-1 TBS grainy mustard

ASSEMBLY:
*Slice bread horizontally, so it opens like a clam
*spread out your mustard mayo
*line bottom bread slice with arugala
*place your steak on top, then peppers and caramelized onions
*ENJOY!

Here are some pics of our baby girl!

This is today in her Sunday dress. We went to DI and got some more dresses, she's growing out of some of her other ones. Here she is standing, she LOVES to stand, and is such a strong girl!
Mama was making some noises and she thought they were soooo funny, I love this, you can see her cute double chin, the little chunk!

A few more smiles!

With Uncle Bob on Saturday.

A snuggle with daddy the other day, she is getting so big!

On another note, we've been having a really hard time getting Marin to take milk in a bottle lately. She just cries and cries and cries. I'm not sure what the deal is, she just wants to nurse. It's been a real battle. I've been nursing her at night and defrosting milk for her during the day, and she just hates the bottle now. She took it fine a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure what happened. Any suggestions would be great, but I guess I'll try some new nipples anyway.