Pumpkin

 When Max was in 1st grade his teacher hosted a pumpkin play day.

The kids did all things pumpkin. There were crafts and lots of food.

Max loved all of it. He discovered a great love for all things pumpkin that day. This morning on the way to school he asked if we could have our own pumpkin play day.

Here is what I have come up with for a little pumpkin fun later today:

Pumpkin Ice Cream

(no eggs and/or cooking in this recipe so we can throw it together after school!)

Pumpkin Pie Play-Doh

(we need new play-doh anyway, so might as well dye it orange and spice it up!)

We have yet to visit the pumpkin patch for actual pumpkins, but this should hold us over for a bit longer until we can make it there!

Zoey

 Zoey is 11 months old!

She isn't walking yet, but she is teething like crazy. I froze some oatmeal cookies for her to gnaw on. It seems to help and keep her happy :)

 Zoey finally has enough hair to pull into a tiny pony tail.

I like to think that she enjoys the new style.

I love this little girl!

A Slice of Life

 This is the picture that Ty sent me from work the other day.

Certainly this is the view every patient wants just before being put out for surgery!

I think he's pretty amazing :)

This is Max at karate.

He is loving it!

He enjoys getting dressed in his uniform and showing us what he has learned.

and of course Granola!

This is a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Granola

I am going to make it and add chocolate chips.

Life is Pretty Happy!

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a wonderful weekend! Typically Ty ends up working over conference weekend, but this time he was home for both days and we were able to watch each session!

I was so glad to be able to listen to conference with Ty. I feel like it is such a great way to grow and make goals together.

I was seriously inspired. I need that recharge every 6 months. We are so blessed to have such wonderful church leaders. They are great examples to me. I have lots to work on. Life never gets boring when there is so much to aspire to!

This morning was business as usual. Ty went back to work and I packed school lunches for the kids. I put a special happy note in Max's lunch because he had a tough morning. I am hoping his day ends up being a good one. After dropping the older kids off I took Zac to Starbucks for some hot chocolate. He loved it :) I did too!

Now we are back at home trying to get things back in order; laundry, dishes, bathrooms....etc.

Ty will be working late tonight so the kids and I are on our own. I am already planning an easy dinner of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's to a Fabulous Monday!

Good Things

1. Thank goodness for cooler weather. My hatred for shorts is only matched by my love for long pants, boots, and sweaters.

2. I made Peanut Butter Nutella Granola this morning. It was a little sweeter than my go to granola recipe, but still pretty delicious.

3. I thought the first session of conference was amazing! As usual I am now inspired to start being perfect. I will let you know next weekend how that plan is working out :)

4. When Ty goes to priesthood session tonight the kids and I are going to eat home made bread with jam for dinner and watch movies. It will be awesome!

5. I love that my brothers call and text me often. I can pretend that I am super popular!

6. I slept in this morning and then went for a jog. By slept in I mean it was after 6.....it was glorious!

Yay Weekend!

Friday, Cookies, and Stuff

 This has been a very busy week. I have cut back on some of my regular indulgences, like exercise. I have swapped out an evening jog for mopping, and some time on the elliptical for cake decorating.

Mia's party is this afternoon and I am looking forward to it, but I am also looking forward to tomorrow and cuddling with my little people while watching conference and not doing much of anything else!!!

As I said, there was a little cake decorating going on. I covered Mia's cake in a layer of ganache and I had some left over so I stuck it in the fridge and tonight when Ty comes home (and after we put the kids to bed)

We can make these:

Truffle Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies  from Sugar Hero :)

It will be a fabulous end to this crazy week!

In other news:

Max put one of the child-proof knob covers on his door so that he can shut the door upon leaving the house and not worry about Zac getting in and playing with his toys. Poor Zac :( 

The tile floors have been cleaned. I did it last night after everyone, including Ty, was in bed.

It was actually a fabulous time to clean. If I didn't need sleep I could work wonders!

Mia got a Lalaloopsy make-up set for her birthday and I think a tutorial is in order. She came out of her room this morning with her forehead covered in sparkly eye shadow!

Zoey is just about 11 months old and still not walking. The other kids were walking by 10 months. I think the fact that everyone else in the house can pick her up and carry her around might have something to do with it.

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend :)

Happy Birthday Mia!!!!

Today is Mia's 5th birthday!

(The party is tomorrow, but today is still a BIG deal!)

 Mia came out of her room this morning with a big grin on her face. She was so excited that it was finally her day.

Today is also school picture day.

She helped pick her outfit :)

Mia is the most beautiful 5 year old I know!

She is a wonderful friend.

She loves to talk!

She loves chocolate.

She loves art, drawing, and painting.

She loves to dance and sing.

Mia loves to help in the kitchen.

She plays well with her brothers and sister.

Mia is the BEST!

Happy Birthday Mia :)

This and That

1. The Pioneer Woman is doing a giveaway today on her blog. She is asking people about their favorite fast food restaurant. I was reading over the comments and was kind of horrified by the answers. Some people are seriously in love with the food at Mcdonalds and Taco Bell. I am kind of a fast food snob. I hate Mcdonalds and Taco Bell, but I do enjoy In-N-Out on occasion :)

2. Mia is having her first field trip today! The kindergarten classes are headed to the local pumpkin patch. This will be Mia's first time riding on a bus. She was so excited this morning. I can't wait to hear all about it!

3. I am really looking forward to conference weekend coming up. Does anyone have any fun traditions they do before, during, or after conference? 

4. My brother is coming over to spend the day with us. He asked to have fried chicken and cornbread for dinner tonight. You don't live in Nashville for 3 years without learning a thing or two about fried chicken.

5. I noticed that my downstairs tile is looking pretty terrible. I should do something about that.....eventually.

Happy Wednesday!

Takis

It's all about the Takis.

I never knew that a snack food could be so popular.

Max started asking for takis and I had no idea what he was talking about. He tried describing them to me and I thought he meant spicy cheetos. He pointed the takis out to me at the store and insisted that we buy them for his school lunches. I do what I can to be a cool mom so I bought several bags :)

Max takes large amounts of takis to school each day to share with his friends. He and the boys in his sunday school class convinced the teacher to bring takis for a snack on Sunday. Max has started using the term Taki-Licious to describe something yummy.

I still don't understand the obsession, but it has been fun to be a part of the Taki sensation.

Inside the Test Kitchen

After a long weekend of call Ty had today off!

I had a few errands to do this morning to get ready for Mia's birthday party on Friday and I drove the kindergarten carpool, but with Ty home and helping I was able to spend a little time in the kitchen.

I tested 2 recipes today and they were both successful!

The first were these Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Cookies

from The Unrefined Kitchen.

 I left out the coconut, but other than that I followed the recipe exactly.

They were delish! I had to freeze them for later so I could move onto the second project:

This Apple Fritter Cake

from Cookies and Cups.

Ty and I dove into this warm cake and we both agreed that it was the best non-chocolate dessert we have had in a long time!

Ty even had seconds and he never has seconds :)

Like I said.....a pretty successful day in the test kitchen!

Now onto homework and test prep. and karate! Happy Monday!