Pumpkin

When we went over to my parents for my birthday weekend, and all the boys went to the corn maze, my dad got Liam a pumpkin. It has been sitting prettily on our kitchen table, but a few days ago, I felt it high time we do something with it, before it had a chance to go bad.

So, I cut the top out, and let Liam scoop out the seeds, and then I roasted it in the oven, pureed it and we made pumpkin muffins with half of it, froze some, and had the last little bit in our oatmeal!

I also toasted the seeds, but I don't think I did it quite long enough because they don't taste good.

flooding and girls' night out

On friday night, I came home from work to discover that the spigot behind our washer was spraying water everywhere. We pulled the washer and dryer out of the closet and commenced cleanup. I ran to Jon's office and brought home a couple of box fans, which we kept blowing all night long.

Saturday, we called the apartment office and found out that since we could stop the leak, they weren't going to send anyone until monday. We hooked the washer back up to the cold spigot (it was the hot that was leaking) so that we could finish our laundry, but we forgot to put the dump hose back in the drain, and ended up flooding the area for a second time. It was very frustrating!

Thankfully, I had made plans to go on a girls night out a few weeks ago, and it happened to be Saturday night! A God-sent break that was so very, very nice!
We went to the mall, and had dinner at the Macaroni Grill. We were going to eat at PF Changs, but there was an hour and a half wait and we didn't want to wait that long. We had a wonderful night of talking, laughter and yummy food and was just the break I needed!

Harley Fun

So, last weekend, my mother in law took me along with her to a Garage Party at a local Harley store.....(if you didn't already know, my in laws are BIG motorcycle people. I think it's pretty cool myself.)

Anyway, so I went along to this Garage Party cuz I thought it would be a great way to spend some time with Carol, and also get some good bike learning in a non-formal setting. It was a ladies only event---the only men were guys who worked there, and a really fun evening! I learned a ton about bikes and gear and got to sit on some mega sweet bikes! Oh, it was fun!

This bike had a really cool paint job...the color was different depending on your angle/light source.

This bike was SO heavy! I had Carol snap the picture as soon as possible because I thought I'd lose my grip!
I think I would like to learn how to ride and get my endorsement and all that, but for now I just like the fact that I'm not afraid to sit on a motorcycle alone anymore!

Apple Love

My parents have a few gorgeous apple trees on their property, and apple time is one of the things that make autumn my favorite time of year! During this season, we usually bring home a big bag of apples and munch away until they are gone. It is wonderful!

My favorite of the trees is the one closest to their house, a "Liberty" apple tree. It always produces tons of beautiful, crunchy, tasty apples. It was ready the last time we were there.....

Pulling an apple off the tree and biting into it is one of the greatest pleasures, and the kids certainly enjoy it!

They have also enjoyed the big bag we brought home, eating up to 3 or 4 a day!
As the apples aged (and the one down point of Liberties is that they do not age well), I used up the last of our bag to make a big batch of apple sauce. I will probably cook down some a little more to make apple butter, and we'll eat the rest.
I also made an apple crisp. We'll get more apples soon and I am sure I'll make more delicious tasties with them, as well as just enjoying them raw.

A fellow blogger and a friend of my mothers, celebrates Apple Day each year. What an appropriate and wonderful celebration! We have not celebrated Apples on a specific day this year, but each and every time we bite into a fresh apple, we've been celebrating!

Thank God for apples. And Autumn. Amen.

Sweet Little Bunny

I found this sweet little guy last night when I was spending my birthday money from my parents. I had been in the underwear section looking for a bra (got two!) and was walking out of the dressing room when I spotted him, and just had to get him. What does he belong to, you are probably wondering....

A deliciously soft, warm and beautiful pair of pajama pants!
The coolest part, was before I went shopping, I was thinking about what to look for, and I thought it would be great if I found a bra (which I desperately needed) and a fun pair of "night-night" pants. I got just what I went looking for and I am so happy about what I got!

Thanks for the gift card, mom and dad, it was perfect!

Tea Party

I've always loved Tea. The beverage itself is simple, delicious, comforting......and then when you add meal or a snack to it, it becomes something really special.

When I went to London 9 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) with my mom, Shelby and Yvonne, we had "High Tea" at the Dorchester. It was marvelous.

So, this year when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for my birthday, "Tea Party" jumped to mind and well, once there, I couldn't resist the pull. I told my mom and Faith and they were on board and excited!

The big day was this last Saturday (the day before my actual birthday because of scheduling snafoos on the actual day), and it was all I had wished for and much, much more.

Faith hosted and everyone brought a little something tasty to go on the table. We had a couple of different black teas, including a Rose one that I just loved. It was a simply delightful evening!

Here's the group! My brother was there at the beginning and took our picture for us!

(starting with me and working clockwise: Me, Pamela, Mom, Rhonda, Carol, Jessie and Faith)

Showing off some of my presents:


And the lovely cake Faith made me:
Such a fun, fun party. I just might have to have a tea party for my birthday every year! I wasn't sure anything could top going to the zoo last year, but this sure did! Thanks to every one who helped make it special and wonderful! A special shout out to Dad and Jon, who watched the boys!!!

corn maze and delicious dinner

We went to my folks for the weekend because it was my birthday. I will have to tell you all about my Tea Party at another date, because my mom has all those pictures on her camera, and I haven't had a chance to get them yet.

So, instead, you are going to get to hear about the boys' weekend. My parents bought tickets to the corn maze near their house. I will admit, I am so jealous! Corn mazes sound like fun! Anyway, Dad and Jon took the boys while us girls were at the tea party, and from what I heard afterwards, they had fun. I sent my camera with them and they got a few pictures:

Then, on sunday, my parents took us to dinner and I got this great photo of Liam enjoying his grilled cheese sandwich:

A Simple Morning

Here's some of our doing this morning:

David eating breakfast. f you look closely, you can see the great bed-head he's sporting!

Liam and David dancing. Priceless.
Liam decided that his animals were cold, and went on a search to find sweaters for them all!

What have you done on this chilly autumn day?