Good Idea

 

 

P has been asking me to use his little pumpkin to make cookies for the past few days. Since he's been under the weather we (rather, I) finally got around to getting everything together to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from scratch. It took 2 days to accomplish the final product but it was worth the wait. Plus, I used it to teach him some Science, Math, Cooking and Photography skills. :) The cookies turned out great and P was proud of himself for coming up with the idea. Here's the process in motion....

 

P's pumpkin. He loved feeling the "goo" inside!

He helped cut the pulp off....with a child safety knife.

Pumpkin is cooking!

Mixing some of the ingredients together.

Are they done yet, Mommy?

P's picture of me during the process. :)

The final product.....YUM!!!

Another Good One

This has been another good weekend. A great combination of relaxation and fun. Yesterday we started the day with a family breakfast at one of our favorite places. We ended the day with taking P to his first college football game, which he loved. I'm not typically a football fan but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and wish we could've stayed til the end (P wasn't feeling 100% so we left with 5 minutes left...and then it went into overtime!). This morning P woke up feeling under the weather so he and Daddy had some bonding time while I went to church. The sermon was AWESOME, one of the best I've heard in awhile. Maybe it's because I wasn't distracted with a lil guy but I sure learned a lot from Pastor Joe. Afterwards I ran over to my friend's house to give my little goddaughter a big birthday hug and drop off her present. Once I made it back home I put all the ingredients for veggie/beef stew in the crockpot, watched the race and then we all piled into our bed for a family nap. The boys are still napping so I'm enjoying some quiet time. All in all, it's been a fabulous weekend!

Goldilocks v. Sleeping Beauty

I'd love to say that, now that it's cooling down, I'm more like Sleeping Beauty but I still resemble Goldilocks most nights. I honestly believe that I'd sleep through the night if P or my bladder didn't wake me up. Once I'm woken up then E decides to wake up and move around. After that I either realize I'm hungry or I start getting calf cramps. I've started eating bananas right before bed to curb this problem but once in awhile it still gets to me. Last night was one of those nights. P woke me up twice and by then I was wide awake. I came downstairs and played on the computer for about an hour. Then I tried to get comfortable on the couch. When I couldn't do that then I moved onto the guest bed. After tossing and turning quite a bit I got comfortable and fell asleep. A few hours later Mr. Goldilocks (aka P) found me after sleeping in his bed and ours. He crawled into bed with me and went right to sleep whereas I stayed awake for the most part. I guess I'm just getting extra practice for what it's going to be like in a few months with a newborn. Oh well! For the most part my body's learned how to function and, hey, I can catch up on sleep when I'm dead. :)

Lattin Farm

 

My girlfriends and I loaded the SUVs with kiddos and headed to a new pumpkin patch, an hour from town. Upon our arrival it didn't look like it was going to be worth the drive. But after a hayride, picking pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, picking raspberries, the petting farm and the kiddie train we changed our minds. What a fun day with a fun group of friends!

 

Story Teller

My Papa was my hero for so many reasons. Not only was he talented and quite the handy man but he was also creative. He made every visit fun from beginning to end by doing stuff to create special memories. Although I have more fond memories of him than I could count, one of my favorites is the stories he would tell my brother and me. He'd take us for drives and tell us stories that kept us on the edge of our seats. He's been gone 9 years now, which is so hard to believe. There's a lot I want to share with him, wanting him to see how my life has turned out.
One thing I know he'd be proud of is that I've passed on his love for story telling to his great grandson. A week or so ago, P asked me to tell him a story. I made up something quick and simple and he loved it. Since then he's asked me on a daily basis to tell him stories. His favorites are when he's the hero at the end and "saves the day". The stories are mostly told while we're driving somewhere, which has been a lot in the past week.
Last week when we were visiting my parents my mom had told him about how I had caught a live frog when I was a little girl and had eaten its leg before she caught me and took the frog from my vice grip. Today when we were coming home from visiting Rob out of town P told me he wanted to tell me a story. This is how it went.......
"When I was a little boy I was standing my the door quiet. I was eating a frog leg and Gee came over and said "Jennifer, stop eating that frog. It's yucky!" So I  gave Gee the frog and she wiped my mouth with a paper towel. Then she said, "Jennifer, don't do that again!""
I love how he incorporated both stories. I also both how he is getting more creative with every story he tells. I have no doubt that my Papa is looking down on us from above, beaming as we make up stories on our car rides.

Still Good in the World

For the most part I'm a glass half full type of person whereas Rob is more of a glass half empty type of person. But we both saw the good today. Let me retract a minute....
Our former neighbor emailed me that there was a package that had been Fed-Ex'd to our old house for Rob. He thought it was work boots that he had ordered but found out that the package was too small. So we were both eager to find out what it was. I met up with our former neighbor today and my curiosity was peaked by this small package. Much to my surprise, when I opened it, it was Rob's wallet that he had lost a couple weeks ago while hunting up near Idaho. Not only was it his wallet but everything was still in it!! It's nice to know that there are still honest, good people in the world that go out of their way to help others, to return things that they could've easily kept. So a big thank you to "Ash" for being that person and putting a smile on both of our faces!

Fall Fun in Hot Temps

  

From the pumpkin patch to miniature golfing to a shopping spree to wedding events, P and I filled another weekend full of fun things with my parents. It didn't quite feel like Fall, though, when we were sweating profusely- or is it glistening like a pig profusely??-at each thing (minus the shopping spree). Either way we filled the memory books with my parents once again and loved every minute of it. Here is a snip-it of our weekend in CA.