new things

I have always been a person who gets excited about things pretty easily. D. teases me that I have too many "favorites", and he's probably right. But, here are a few new things that are making me happy today.

These two books came in the mail yesterday! I love books, and I can't wait to make things from both of these books.

This is a seasonal flavor which only comes out around Christmas. I had this in my coffee this morning. It's so good, and definitely a fave.

And last, but certainly not least, here are my new creations! I finished my first two knitted hats! I am so proud of them even though they are just little things. I'm now on to bigger and harder knitting! (yeah, right) I also finally got a free hour to scrap and got to do a layout for the Scrap Whispers challenge. I love how it turned out, but I can't share it till the layouts are shown on the site.

So none of these things are very big things, but they are bringing me happiness right now! What's making your day brighter right now?

the rear view

So much of the time as a mom I feel like I'm looking in the rear view mirror of life. Thinking about the kids when they were younger, and missing those days sometimes. At times I'm scared to look ahead because the future is uncertain and the world is so scary. I can only wonder what it will be like when my children are in middle school and high school. I am constantly reminding myself to live in the moment. But, I also look in the rear view mirror of my car way more than I did before children. I have been known to appear as a drunk driver, swerving as I try to find Mallory a book or Aubrey a car. I have absolutely loved listening to them jabber as babies in the back seat, Aubrey's running commentary about every truck on the road, and now Mallory's talking about whatever comes to her mind - most notably baby deer. Here are two pictures I have seen when I've looked in the rear view mirror in the past two weeks. And for the record, I didn't put the Nerf dart on Aubrey's head. He did that himself and D. and I just laughed and laughed when he fell asleep with it on his head.

pigs are flying

Yes, swine flu, that's what's been happening at our house. Aubrey came down with it really fast on Friday, so we've been resting (well, some of us have - I won't mention who hasn't) and sanitizing everything. So far the rest of us are still healthy, but I haven't had time to update the blog. After I upload some pictures, I'll post what else we've been doing. Just didn't want you all to think I've fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still keeping up with my October album, so I'll post pics probably tomorrow.

RIP Red

Yesterday we said goodbye to a member of our family who most of you never even knew as a member of a family. On Thursdsay when we were at Wal-Mart, Aubrey asked me if he could get a Betta fish. I said sure because we already had a fishbowl and fish are easy pets I think. When we got in the car I told Aubrey he had to name the fish and he said, "I already did! His name is Red!" Of course! What else would he name a red fish? (He also helped name his class gerbils lighter and darker. Yes, because they are lighter and darker.)

We got home and put the fish in Aubrey's room. I told him that he could not play in the water because he was putting his fingers in it. I thought (mistakenly) that would be the end of it. I caught him a couple of times after that on Thursday and Friday playing in the water. I finally told him on Saturday morning that if I saw it again, the fish would come live in the kitchen area where I could keep a better eye on him.

Aubrey's cousin and partner in crime, Hayden, came over to play on Saturday. They play so well together and have a blast. I was doing things around the house and was going to put some towels away in Aubrey's bathroom. To get to the bathroom you have to go into Aubrey's room, but when I tried to open the door it was locked. I knocked and Aubrey opened the door. I walked in and said, "What are you guys doing?" They just kind of looked around and said, "Nothing." (you know the word that means I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be) I looked over at the fishbowl and there were water droplets . I said, "Aubrey, what are you doing with the fish?" He said, "I just wanted to pet it!" I said, "What did you do?" He told me that he picked the fish out of the bowl by his fin. So, I reminded him that now I had to take Red into the kitchen to live. When I got Red to the kitchen, I noticed that he was at the bottom of the bowl! I couldn't believe it. So, to finish this long story, Red ended up (after about a half hour of suffering) going to the great fishbowl in the sky. Aubrey was devastated, crying and saying that it was all his fault. Of course I couldn't argue with that, but reminded him that this was a hard lesson in obedience-that we have rules for a reason.

One final note - While we were having Red's funeral in the bathroom, I said, "Goodbye, Red, you were a good fish." Aubrey was crying and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you I changed his name to "Black/Purple/Red"." Well, he's consistent if nothing else. And there went a member of our family as quickly as he joined us.

the latest

I haven't kept up with my October pics on here, but I have been taking them every day. I've been kind of bummed though because my good camera is broken so I'm just using my point and shoot. However, I keep reminding myself that the quality of the pictures isn't as important as the memories I'm recording. Here are a few of our latest activities.

My October album

Aubrey and Mallory have been dancing before bed to Aubrey's Veggie Tales "Boyz in the Sink" CD. It is hilarious, and usually wears them out. Aubrey has quite the moves I must say.

At the park on one of the rare sunny days this week. Check out Gus' sunglasses. He is one cool dude!

We met Jill, Jameson, Leah, Jay, Les, and my mom and dad at our usual place, Chick-Fil-A. This picture cracks me up because of the way Jay is looking at my dad. Like, "What is this crazy man doing?" They are both such characters!I am doing this Bible study right not and oh boy has it been good for me. I can't wait to meet Queen Esther in heaven and get all the scoop from her. What a woman!

This was the view from our backyard the other morning when I got home from Jazzercise. The sun was just coming up, and since we are up so high we were above the fog. With the fall colors it was just amazing.

More pumpkin!

Yesterday I decided I would use up the rest of the fresh pumpkin I had left. I saw a recipe on one of my very favorite blogs so I thought I would try it. Sherelle Christensen has such a great blog. She is a wife, mom, and lover of crafty, vintage things and just has wonderful taste. I lover her postings about her children and their farm life. She recently posted a recipe for iced chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. I wasn't sure I'd like chocolate chips and pumpkin together, but thought the recipe looked good so I gave it a go. Let me tell you, it is a new fave. They are absolutely delicious. Sherelle says to double the recipe on her blog, so I did. It made 5, yes 5, dozen cookies. And I didn't make them small. I used my Pampered Chef scoop and it still made that many. I made 1 dozen without chocolate chips so Mallory could eat them. The icing is so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon. Try it, you will not be disappointed. And go give Sherelle some love for them too. I asked her if I could link the recipe here and she was very gracious and said, "Sure!"

Here is a pic of the kids helping to clean up after our cookie making. You know the best kind of clean up! Sorry it's not a good pic. I had my camera on a funky setting and didn't realize it. Oh, and by the way, I still have about 3 cups of fresh pumpkin left so I will be baking more today or tomorrow. (what hasn't been decided yet)

I will post more October pics soon, but I just had to share this recipe first. Happy baking!

Pumpkin Bread

The other day I was talking with my friends Erin and Laura about making pumpkin bread. I told them I used fresh pumpkins and they told me I needed to post pictures of how I bake them to use. I am passing on knowledge that my sweet friend Jill taught me. So, here we go.

First, buy pie pumpkins. I got one at the grocery store because Aubrey had to have a pumpkin so I let him get one I could use. But, I usually like to get them at the local market.

Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees. Place the pumpkins in the oven. (Tough stuff here I tell ya.)

Bake the pumpkins for about an hour. They will get a little brown.

Take them out and let them cool. The one from the grocery store got a little mushy, but the ones from the market felt crispy.

You will be able to crack the rind and it will just come off. Peel it off and scoop out the seeds and "guts". (I strained the seeds and roasted them also.)

You can then mash your pumpkin and use it however you want! I got about 7 cups of pumpkin from the 3 pie pumpkins. I made 4 mini loaves, 3 big loaves and 24 muffins and still have at least 3 cups of pumpkin left over. I will be baking more this weekend.

That is my contribution to the cooking knowledge of my sweet friends. If you would like the recipe to the pumpkin bread I make, just make a sweet comment and I'll send it to you. It's actually my mom's recipe, but I found the same, exact one in Paula Deen's new Holiday Baking magazine out this week. Cool, huh? Must be good if Paula likes it.

I will post my October album and pics this weekend. Have a great Friday!