Fall Puppies

I took this picture a couple years ago but I love it so much.  Two of my favorite things...the fall and their smiley faces.

Pumpkin Pie Anyone?

Look at these filthy creatures on my pumpkins! Yup folks, those are slugs.  So disgusting.

Last year I stretched my culinary expertise and made homemade pumpkin pies and pumpkin butter out of A-L-L the pumpkins we carved.  If you remember the size of Kennedy's pumpkin last year you can imagine how much pumpkin I had at my fingertips.

It was much more work than popping open the Libbey's can of pumpkin I usually do when making "fresh" pumpkin pie. I used two different pie recipes and Shane definitely had a favorite, one that was surprisingly better for you I found in a Cooking Light magazine. We were both amazed at how many pies one pumpkin could make....we had pies falling out of the freezer there were so many and there are still two containers of pumpkin butter left.

I was looking forward to trying new recipes again this year and using some of it for pumpkin puree.  I'm going to pick up fresh pumpkins today and save them for cleaning and baking next weekend.  This year Brittany mentioned trying to make her own from scratch pumpkin pies.  I'm sending her good thoughts today for slug-free pumpkins.

Spooky Movie Night

Since we did alot of Halloween themed spooky activities this weekend, we decided our movie night should be spooky too.  These were the choices:

Belle prepared the popcorn, giving Dan and Lady a few bites too. 

Kennedy picked Coraline which to our surprise came with 3d glasses for all of us! Yay!

 Sadly, I did not make it through this movie with both eyes open.  It did make me feel better to wake up mid-way through the movie and see Shane and Belle asleep on the floor too.  Kennedy was the only one who stayed awake.  We will have to finish it another time when we haven't had such a big weekend.

Pumpkin Carving



Carving by fireside



Shane took matters in his own hands with power tool carving.  For some reason, this reminds me of something my Dad would do (considering he used to light our birthday candles with a propane torch).  Go big or go home!  I love that Belle added her finishing touches to everyone's pumpkins (and her arms).

Everyone was clearly thrilled with their spooky pumpkins.  This picture is even spookier with Dan and Lady.

Spooky Porch



Kennedy and I have a tradition of cleaning and baking pumpkin seeds.  We are not above squirting a few at each other (or at Dad) as we work.





Punkin Patch

Saturday we spent the afternoon at the pumpkin patch.  Our hay ride led us to the perfect pumpkins for the front porch. Belle found the little pumpkins (gords) a bit more her size.

Besides finding the perfect pumpkins, we got to do lots of other fun things.  Kennedy got to fire a corn cannon at a sweet ride.

Even scarier than the sweet ride, was that Shane after looking at the construction of the corn cannon, thinks he could (and probably should) make one himself!

Hay bale climbing

We tried to find our way through a corn maze.  After multiple attempts, one which led us back to the beginning, and a few in completely the wrong directions, Shane and Kennedy blazed a trail to the finish. We were warned at the maze entrance this was against the rules, along with smoking.  One out of two isn't bad...

We all went for a ride on the cow train.  Shane and I didn't find the ride as comfortable as the girls did so the 2nd time the girls had to do it solo.

Hay bale maze



Limo Truck

Shane has spent the last few weeks working on the truck Don brought home for him.  One weekend they replaced the intake manifold and heater core.  Belle liked helping her Daddy. I personally have never been able to work on an engine while wearing a dress so this is impressive to me. 

After successfully getting the truck running again, Shane started working on the inside.  He took out ALL of the seats and shampooed the cushions.  He ripped out the carpeting and stinky pad that was underneath and replaced it with rubber flooring.  He also cleaned up the whole dashboard and all the doors...it smells so much better in there now!  And no mousetraps! Yay!  We drove the truck most of the weekend and it ran great.  It was so funny to me how excited the girls would get when they knew we were taking the "family truck." 

Shane ordered new seat covers for the front seat which have not come yet so he hasn't put the passenger seat back in.  Until the seat covers come, I get to ride in the back with the girls.  I have tons of leg room and get to look straight out the front window...very nice. It does feel a little strange though when we drive it without the girls...I'm in the back and Shane is in the front.  It's our version of a limo truck and I feel like I'm being chauffeured.  Unfortunately, it's usually to places like Walmart and Costco for groceries but still fun!

Minus 1

I got to see two of my three sistas Saturday morning for coffee and pumpkin bread. It was a great start to the weekend!

Joy

The face of this little guy brought me joy this weekend.

Congrats to the Hermann's!

We spent our Labor Day weekend this year in Lewiston, Idaho for Brittany's wedding.  She looked beautiful!  Seeing her stand at the alter with Ryan touched my heart.  I kept having flashbacks of her as a baby.  She could stare right through you with those baby blues and never crack a smile.  Even as you were goo-goo-ing and ga-ga-ing over her in baby talk language she would still stare right through you.  We used to try and make her blink or crack a grin and she just wouldn't!!  Watching her say her vows to Ryan with a huge smile on her face was really special.

Aunt Kelsey danced with the girls all night at the reception. They closed the place down! Belle showed 'em her "Boom-Boom-Pow" and Kennedy was really getting the hang of swing dancing.  It was a great weekend with family.

Brittany just got her pictures back from her wedding and I wanted to share a few.

  

The bride and groom with their nieces and nephews







Guilty!  Belle got caught snackin' on the mints!



I love this picture!  The sky's the limit!  Congrats to my sister and her new hubby, Ryan!

We Need More Web

Shane made a haunted house last year for the front porch.  It has become Halloween tradition to decorate it every year with new spooky items.  Last year it was covered in skeletons but this year the girls chose spiders.

  

 

Belle cut lots of spiderwebs.  She would say, "We need more web!"




Lady was all smiles



Dan's excitement wore off quickly

 

The finished product.  Belle was more excited about cutting web than having her picture taken.

 

So spooky

 

Pupcakes

Isabella and Kennedy made Halloween cupcakes this weekend.  "Pupcakes" if you are Isabella.  This was reminiscent of Mom letting us cut out, bake, and decorate sugar cookies every Christmas Eve.  I loved this and it made Christmas Eve fly by.  Maybe that was strategic on Mom's part so the 6 of us would quit asking her, "When can we open presents?" Hmmmm...... 

Unlike Mom's yummy Christmas Eve sugar cookies, these pupcakes were nowhere near made from scratch.  I also forgot to add the orange and black sprinkles to the batter until the first batch had come out.  Kennedy found them on the counter and reminded me to look at the pupcake pictures on the box.  Sprinkles or no sprinkles, they tasted good!  

Popcorn Night!

Growing up, my family always had the best Saturday nights: popcorn, root beer floats and a good movie.  Everyone scattered on the couches or on the floor with their favorite "blankies" and pillows.  It seems like the movie selection was a Disney special on TV I had never seen before and looked forward to all week. 

Shane and I had a great popcorn night this weekend with the girls.  (Minus the root beer floats.  I didn't think that far ahead to pick up ingredients.) Root beer floats aside, it was still great.  We snuggled up on the couch and got to use the new popcorn bowls we got for our wedding from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Erin. Movie selection: The Karate Kid.

How good was the movie you ask?  I managed to stay awake for the ENTIRE movie! This is almost unheard of!  Once I hit the couch horizontally, I'm out like a light. I think I've inherited Dad's gene for this although I'm not quite able to sleep sitting up yet.     

Visions of Blog Moments Danced In My Head

Confession: I stalk Kelsey and Kevin's blog.

Rationale: It seems like our phone conversations hit the highlights and brush over the simple moments.  I love that their blog lets me keep up with their day to day life moments too. 

I mentioned to Kelsey that maybe starting a blog would be a good way for me to share our day to day moments with my family.  My intention was to start in December when my 2 jobs didn't seem so overwhelming.  Kelsey ever-so-gently urged me to start now...by starting a page for me and sending me the link to it! As we went through our weekend, I kept thinking to myself, "This is a good blog moment. I should be taking a picture."  So here goes...