Fall-ing in Love!

Fall where we live is probably the most glorious season! Here is some early proof:

My first attempt at Apple Dumplings.**

All prettied up with vanilla ice cream--yumm!

An evening stroll around our land.


The cutest little bundle of all!!!

Ben and I were bringing up the rear, holding hands while the grandparents did the real work this loop around. ;)

**Added September 29: For all of those curious about the dumplings, I just linked to the recipe I used above. I cheated and used Pillsbury pie crusts from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and in the comments on allrecipes, I followed this one for the sauce, because it sounded better to me--

I've made these a couple of times w/ a ready-made crust & homemade. A little involved to make but both looked impressive and were DELICIOUS. Sauce could be improved, instead, use the following caramel sauce from another recipe on this site: 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup butter 2 tablespoons light corn syrup Heat brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter until melted. **Remove from heat** stir in corn syrup. (Add crushed pecans w/ sauce for a beautiful presentation!) Great Recipe!

--though I never tried the original sauce. It is very caramelly, and Ben thought a little too decadent, but then again, I really loved it with that vanilla ice cream!

Friendly Football and Dress-up

A week ago last Sunday, we went to friend's to watch the Vikings game and eat yummy food...here's what the kids did:

Hunting season, anyone? And yes, it IS fake!

Growing up fast *tear*

Here's Nehemiah enjoying his new big boy bed and quilt courtesy Grammy. She calls it Nehemiah's crayon box. :)

So BIG, and proud!

But not too big to be goofy...

or to jump on the bed! I see 2 little monkeys jumping on the bed! Love ya' munchkin! :D

tinkering

trying some new bloggy stuff...bear with me! :)

My baby girl is growing, growing, growing!

I can hardly believe Adelynne is 6 months old--wowzers! She is growing like a beautiful little weed! She is in the 97th percentile for height and the 90th for weight, and she is still nearly 2 pounds under where Nehemiah was at this age. She is such a mover and shaker! I have a feeling between the two of them, they will always keep me on their toes! What a blessing children are!

Moments in time

"Yumm...watermelon," Adelynne exclaims.

"Look at my apple!"

"Mama has almost finished my super hero cape!"

Snapshots of Vacation

At the park with our new friend Jack, son of our old friends, from camp, Steve and Amy.

One of the resident fawns. Nehemiah loved this little guy!

Nehemiah pulling Papa into the Playplace that parents are allowed in too.

See the rules? My Dad was being antinomian, as it does not specify grandparents!

Proof! What a Grandpa!

On the playground at the camp where we stayed.

Walking in the State Park together.

The cool wooden playground before church.

Making s'mores with Meji (Grandma)

A proud tradition of smooches!

Man on a mission!

Sliding with Mommy.

Hiking on the hill at camp.

Blowing bubbles on the boardwalk outside our hacienda!

Being cute and showing off the muscles all at once! You go girl!

Hunter-Tate's birthday party!!!

We have some close friends with kids named Hunter, Tate, and Callie. Only Nehemiah refers to the boys as Hunter-Tate. They don't seem to have separate names, and they are both named the same thing! So here are pictures of good ole' Hunter-Tate's (actually, just Tate's) 3rd birthday party earlier on in August!

The awesome Dino-cake! I didn't catch it until after the marshmallow eyes were gone...darn!


Callie and Tate chowin'

Happy birthday Goofy Guy!

The cake eatin' crew!

My muncher <3

Now I don't feel so bad!

As some of you know, I have been working on my house, and I shall continue to stay strong and do so, but this Mama of many gets it. And now, I don't feel so bad! <3 What a realistic encouragement!

Cleaning house

I have been cleaning and organizing on our house bit by bit, because we would like to put it on the market. While I'm in the mood, but need a break, I thought I'd clean up my bookmarks, and link you to some of the wonders I've come across lately! Here they are by category:

Parenting the littles (food, teaching, and projects):

Weelicious--making (mostly) healthy baby and toddler foods

Bake or Break--fun and realistic recipes

The Write Start--exciting emergent writer ideas

This Little Project--all sorts of neat ideas and recipes--even how to make your own tap shoes! ;)

How to make a Rainbow Cake--totally groovy!

Baking Bites


Crafty goodness:

U create

Toddler t-shirt dress tutorial with ruffles!

Ruffly dress made of a button up shirt

Do it yourself laundry drying rack

Lots of refinishing examples

The Market Skirt tutorial

Twirly Skirt tutorial

Pillowcase dress

Two straight lines-- a mom sharing her homemade things

Chair backers for Valentine's Day--Sooo cute!

Organization/decorating:

Thrifty Decor Chick

Mommy track'd--tools and templates for free!

Flylady.net--how to get rid of C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) in the home (I'm working on it!)

Food Storage for a year--mostly I like the from scratch recipes--still looking into this!

The Nester

Like Merchant Ships

Great deals--or steals:

A clearing house of sorts--Dealsucker

Woot.com--mostly an electronics deal a day

Steep and cheap--outdoor equipment and clothes--a new deal every 20 minutes or so

Babysteals--got a shower to go to? Or a little one in your life? This rocks!

Scrapbooksteals

Is summer finally here?

After months of sub 80s weather, which is actually really nice. We have had a few days in the 90s with "oppressive" humidity according to the weather man. What else do you do but haul out the sprinkler and have a baby photo shoot?

Trying to spray mommy and Baby Adelynne

Run Away!

Hee hee--whatever's comfortable!

This is when we went in. How sad is that?! That's my itty-bitty baby's blood spilled by that nasty mosquito! That and Nehemiah started to play in the water coming out of the washing machine spout thingy, and I was washing Adelynne's diapers--eww!!!

We are Family!

When Ben and I got married, one of my friends DJ-ed our wedding for us. It was a blast, and one of the songs he played was, *We are Family*. I'll never forget dancing to it with my new brother-in-law Peter. We are so fortunate that we are family, and I love that my children are realizing those blessings too! Here are some pictures from their recent visit. Unfortunately many of the Adelynne pictures I have came out blurry--uugh!