the field trip

i and my camera went with the K4 class to Montgomery farms on the kids' first ever field trip. the trip included a hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, a ride on the "cow train", and alot of fun on the play loft and in the corn box which is like a sand box but filled withcoer kernels insted of sand.

picking the perfect pumpkin proved to be quite a task.

this super cute miniature horse tried to eat the button off of my jacket, im told its a wonder that he didnt succeed,
the kids LOVED feeding the chickens, however, you have to put a quarter in the big chicken gumball machine to get the corn to feed the chickens, i left the pumpkin farm quarterless.

fall fun

mmmmm, cupcakes.......

i know Meg's look prettier, but these were yummy, we made them as a thank you to the wonderful friends who fed Fatty while we were in Iowa a couple of weeks ago. we just couldnt resist tasting our finished product.

heres a look at a couple of the fall fabrics i have been shuffling around, now, what to make?
as an added tibit the acorn jar was a candle jar, my mother in law gave it to me a few years ago and i just LOVED the super cute lid too much to put it away with my fall decorations. it found a permanent job as the place i throw my pins when im sewing.

christmas is coming!

i saw it at Lowes! christmas trees and all sorts of tacky blow up lawn ornaments. that means its time to start thinking about my 2nd annual buy nothing christmas (well, almost nothing, mama cant make transformers, pity)

with this in mind, what was the best ever "un bought" christmas gift you have gotten in your whole life?

tell me, tell me!

im planning, bags, aprons, stuffies, hotties (whats a hottie you ask? its a grain filled bag which you microwave for the BEST warm snugglies on a cold winter night) and of course goodies.

pics to come but head over to last christmas to see some of my previous creations hea back to 2008 on my archive and check it out.

 after reading last christmas and some of the comments from my friends, i want to thank you, i may not have alot of readers but i do love you and feel so encouraged by all  of you. in addition, i promise to try to do better in the blogging department for the rest of the year.

what a week!!

whew! im glad thats over. it started out with what was to be a whirlwind trip to iowa (a 10 hour drive) to meet with some family and a few more official folks in discussing the final placement of my sweet 11 yr old cousin, who has lived with her grandpa since she was 5, but now hes like 75 and cant take care of her. Ken and i were considered a possible placement option, an idea we became very fond of. for the last 6 months her care giver has been a friend's mother, an arrangement that originally was not going to be permanent but she loves the family and they love her, and shes only a short walk from grandpas house (she gets worried about him if she doesnt hear from him every other day or so) so it seems she will stay permanently with her friend's family and have overnights with various members of our extended family often.

as we were packing our car after church last sunday for our trip, my sister called and told us my uncle , who had pancreatic cancer, had passed away. so our 3 day trip turned into a week and although i remembered my funeral clothes, i forgot to pack more stuff for the extra time we would be spending.

my mom cooked and cooked and cooked , me, my sisters, my brother in law, my dad, my step mom, my step dad and the 2 boys ate and ate and ate.  (if you go here its the family photo from august)

and thats why i havent blogged in over a week, i didnt even take my camera!! i know, i regretted it later, it just didnt seem important at packing time.

go...go on

i want you to go and visit the dumbass gourmet, right now.

she witty, she smart, and she does not have the skills required for her own cooking blog but for the sake of all newly weds learning the ropes in the kitchen, she gives us a look at how to use food before it goes bad and what to do if you mess up a little bit.

so think back to that time when you had to throw the whole dish in the trash and go get a pizza and enjoy DG's kitchen antics.

wish me luck

its the Team Kid carnival this afternoon, i would say there will be over 200 kids, K-6 grade, there. i have NEVER come home from TK carnival without a headache. im optomistic though, usually we hold the event in late may, sometimes its hot, the sun is almost always blazing and i end up dehydrated and sun burned. its suppose to be in the mid 60's today and overcast. so wish me luck in the no headache way. 

** after reading the last post of TK carnival i see that there was no sunburn of heat stroke, but i distinctly remember a headache

***update_ its now raining!!!. what the what are we going to do with 200 kids if its raining? im praying that it will stop. and the sun will come out.

when life gives you over ripe pears...

you can make this! how lucky was it that i has 2 pears about to go bad when i found the recipe for honey baked pears in a magazine?

it was even more fortunate that i already had everything (or a suitable substitute) that i would need to make it!

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup crushed graham crackers (we used 1/2 cinnamon teddy grams and half ritz crackers)

1 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp butter

2 pears cut into 1 inch wide spears, core removed

mix the lemon juice water and honey in a little bowl

mix the crushed crackers sugar and melted butter in another little bowl

lay the pears in the baking dish

put half of the cracker mix on top, pour on the honey mixture, top with the rest of the crackers, bake for 15-20 minutes (until pears are tender when stuck with a fork) at 400 degrees.

as you can see we ate ours with vanilla ice cream.

i did finally leave the boy alone so he could enjoy his dessert.