Reston Mom

pumpkin butter thumbprint cookies

I'm always trying new recipes and I love it when I come across a keeper.  Right now I'm loving these little cookies - they are like a traditional thumbprint cookie, but not too sweet.  I think the pecan-sandiness and sweet/salty taste of the cookie in combination with the pumpkin butter really captures the idea of fall.  These would be great to munch on during the game or even as a before dinner appetizer on Thanksgiving - or a nice hostess gift as well.  If you like a sweeter cookie, you can opt to lightly roll the edges in powdered sugar once the cookies are completely cool.  Also, if you aren't a pumpkin butter fan some seasonal alternatives would be to fill the cavity with apple butter or whole berry cranberry sauce or preserves.  (I bet the cranberry ones with a little powdered sugar would be very pretty at Christmas time). Yum!

Oh Oh Oh - I just had a brainstorm!  This cookie dough recipe would make a great pre-cooked cookie crust for something like a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake! Oooooh, I'm going to have to give that a try!

1 C + 2 Tbsp whole pecans
1 C flour
1 stick of butter
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Pumpkin butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pecans in a food processor and pulse until they resemble a very coarse sand.  (Don't over process until the nuts become butter). Add the sugar, flour, and salt and pulse until combined and you can't really discern the nuts anymore.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add vanilla extract combining well.  Add dry mixture to the butter mixture and hand mix until the dough come together.  

Scoop out a tablespoon of dough at a time.  Break the tablespoon in half and roll each half into a ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Use your finger (I use my pinky to get the right size) to make an indentation in the center of the cookie ball.  Fill the indentations with a little bit of pumpkin butter. Bake for 12 - 18 minutes.  

The cookies will not really brown or give much sign on top when they are finished.  I look for a light golden bottom to the cookie.  

cute Thanksgiving ideas

I love these cute and easy ideas for a kids table at Thanksgiving:

Paper bag popcorn turkey over at One Charming Party

Apple cider apple cups over at Gimme Some Oven

some pictures from this fall

Here are just a smattering of pictures from this fall that I like.

a little fall decorating

I love to decorate for the seasons.  A few touches here and there just to celebrate - but this year I've been keeping it pretty simple.  Here are few things I've done:

I used to have something different on this wall, but was craving a change. The two white frames were in my basement and used to be a hideous gold color, but I liked the detail so I decided to paint and use them.  I had bought a straw wreath form last year and wanted something that said "warm and cozy" so I made this knitted creation.  I didn't have a picture for the other frame, but I had a $1 black mat from the dollar store, a black sheet of construction paper and a white art pencil - so...I penciled in a few words that characterized fall.  The three frames at the bottom cost $1 each on clearance at Michael's Craft Store.  I painted them the light green color left over from the accent wall in our home and trimmed them in the same white as the other frames.  The leaves are real leaves that I pressed.  Since I had most of the materials, it cost me next to nothing.  I haven't decided if I love it, but I definitely like it and it is all easy to change out for other seasons.

I spent a moment updating the girls' container play garden in the backyard from summer to fall.  The mini-pumpkins are obviously fake - they have to be or the squirrels eat them.  I also spent some time with the girls earlier this season making these rainbow webs from yarn and some sticks to hang from the playhouse window.  

Hollin farm and pumpkin patch

A fall family tradition for the past 3 years has been to visit Hollin Farm in Delaplane to cut our own pumpkins.  It is beautiful out there at the foothills - especially during this time of year when all the leaves are changing.  We like the pumpkin patch - which features a variety of cut-your-own pumpkins and gourds and it is fun to cut the kids loose to find their perfect pumpkin.  There is really nothing super fancy about this place, but that is what we love.  There is a corn maze and fresh farm apples for sale - and just a whole lot of fresh air and room to run around and pumpkins! A drive west always makes me feel refreshed.

sunflower cookies

These are so cute.  I think one cookie would send anyone into sugar overload - but I'm definitely going to do this as a special reward with the girls one day after school this fall.  Check out the how-to and complete article here at makeandtakes.com 

  

Tuesday's Tip - Turkey

 Since I'll be hosting and cooking on Thanksgiving this year, I've been thinking about the turkey! Usually, we grill (yes, you can grill an entire Turkey and yes, it is amazingly good!) but since our gas grill has some issues, it looks like a good old-fashioned in-the-oven bird this year.  No prob - I've done this before.  But, I heard that rubbing the bird with salt the day before helps the skin to get nice and crispy.  Has anyone done this before?  I've definitely heard of doing an herbed salt-rub instead of brine, though my refrigerator doesn't allow space for submerging the turkey in brine overnight and I'm too timid of parts of the bird being too dry to try burying it in salt - but if a nice poultry massage with salt will draw out some of the moisture and leave a perfectly crispy, brown skin it may be worth a try.  We all know though that it's the butter that works magic on the outside of Turkey, right?  Butter and basting (basting every 30 min or so) - that's the way to go if you want a nice golden bird.  Tent your foil until towards the end of baking and then take it off and watch the bird tan nicely.  If it browns too quickly, just put the foil on again.  

Halloween wings!

Hope and Maddie put in special requests to dress in costume as a fairy and a butterfly this year.  I'm not a huge fan of spending a ton of money on Halloween, so I figured I could whip together some wings from some materials I already had on hand.  I thought they came out pretty well considering I didn't have any patterns, although I wish I had used stronger wire to support them.  It is difficult to tell how glittery they are in the pictures - they were outlined with glow-in-the-dark glitter and the fairy wings have swirls and the butterfly wings have white sections that are made from this glitter as well.  Plus the sparkly trim and sequins they were a big hit for some pretty girly girls!  The girls just picked some pretty dresses that they already had - and away they flew! 

  

Back to Delaplane for pumpkins!

When it comes to choosing pumpkins - nothing beats plain and simple and out west in the rolling foothills. So, we headed back to Hollins Farm to picnic and choose our own pumpkins and gourds right out of the field on the slope.  There are also goats and pigs and a huge corn maze to check out - and there were a few ADORABLE puppies for sale that we were able to pet - sob, sob that we couldn't take one home! They also have a variety of organic greens and other produce that you can pyo. 

I love that place because it is out in the country and there isn't a lot of fuss n' muss about it.  It just feels so good to be out there!  And since the weather was actually in the 50's - our day certainly did feel like fall. We had to stop at Salamander Market in Middleburg for some hot drinks on our journey home. And we got an adventure and all of our interesting pumpkins and gourds for the same price as two decent sized pumpkins at the grocery store.

acorn bird feeder

I love this site - Design Sponge.  I read it all the time.  I just love this acorn bird feeder project - I think it would be an awesome project to do with your kids, a really great weekend activity to do with dad maybe. It would make a great gift as well - perhaps a hostess gift for Thanksgiving?  Not quite the same as a great bottle of wine but what? - the birds can't feast too? After all, they've given one of their cousins for your own feast, no? 

Hope in a quiet moment

This is where we found Hope the other day when Matt sneakily snapped this photo - sitting on a stool in our front yard just having a peaceful moment all to herself.  

Fellow Star Wars geeks, I ask you....

How cute is that Princess Leia costume?????

get them here.

fall poem

I can't overstate how much I love fall.  The crisp air invigorates me - honestly, a good fall day naturally gets me as hyped up as several shots of espresso - and better. 

Often, we experience hot weather right into October here (I have many memories of sweating my way through pumpkinville) - so the cool clear day that showed up for September 1 this year is a pure gift in my opinion.  

My husband recently introduced me to a poem by Ruth Bell Graham that quickly became a favorite.  So, in honor of a gorgeous September day and a wonderful poet, I share:

They come and go so quickly

Spring and Fall...

as if they had not really 

come at all.

Perhaps

we could not take

too much of beauty,

breath-catching glory,

ecstasy without relief;

and so...

God made them

brief.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"The blessings we are used to, become so much the habit of our lives that we are apt to take them for granted and to fail to be stirred by them to any positive emotion of thankfulness. There are those who,ever mindful of the unequal measure in which privilege, opportunity and all material goods are distributed in this world, are always consciously grateful for the ordinary, every-day comforts; for food and shelter and decent surroundings and a peaceful life. But most of us, differently constructed, are prone to consider that all we are used to have is ours by a natural right, and that on the whole it is rather a hardship that we cannot contrive to have an ever-increasing share of sugar-plums allotted to us. We that are of that disposition must try at Thanksgiving to come to a fuller appreciation of our more recondite blessings, as well as of those which we accept as matters of course."    E.C. Martin

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."   Melody Beattie

Let the feasting begin!

My family will have it's fill of Thanksgiving foods this year starting today!  This evening my small group from church is coming over to share a Thanksgiving dinner together.  Then tomorrow we are traveling 3 hrs. to my parents home to have Thanksgiving with them.  Thursday morning we'll travel another hour and a half to Matt's sister's house to have celebrate with his family.  Now that's a lot of turkey!  I'm feeling grateful for all the food that will abound (we've got some top notch chefs in this family), but mostly for all the friends and family we'll be surrounded by this year. 
When we return, we'll be traveling to the mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree - another fun family outing I'll be sure to post about!
Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving - and thanks to you for visiting this blog and for all of your friendships!

fall photo shoot

Here are  some pictures we took of the girls this fall.  The background and setting seem somehow unreal to me, like the stumps were arranged by somebody for this with a great backdrop...but amazingly, these are just shots we took while on a walk in the trails behind our home.  The fall here was GORGEOUS! and the models here are gorgeous too, I think!

Thankful Thursday, Nov. 20

Continuing my November Thankful Thursdays,

Today I am thankful to God for:

• being able to choose my attitude
• the new baby and all her ferocious little movements
• having a houseful of little girls
• I often say thankful prayers for my eyes - that I can see my children and my husband and so many beautiful things, and for my ears - that I can hear their voices and music and all different kinds of sounds
• hope (my daughter yes, but I mean having hope for our lives and our futures)
• rest and peace

Thankful Thursday, Nov. 13

Today I thank God for:

Clean water - showers, a dishwasher and laundry machines, toilets,  a refrigerator with ice, plenty to drink, extra to cook and clean and play with. 

Health - healthy children, husband, and self; access to health care and products; food and clean water and sanitary living conditions.

The option to be a stay at home mom

Always, the people I share my everyday life with and who share theirs with me; Matt, Hope, and Maddie
and the new baby girl

Thankful Thursdays in November

Okay...so it's not Thursday.  I'm a day late, but no less grateful.  In honor of Thanksgiving Day, I'm spending some time pondering all the things I have to be grateful for and practicing giving thanks. 
I'd like to add that I find being thankful a little meaningless without actually directing that gratitude towards someone.  I do believe in God and so I am going to direct my own thanks towards Him.

Today I thank God for:
- I was listening to a story on NPR the other day about day laborers in our area not being able to find work and giving up their daily meals sans maybe one candy bar so that they can send everything they are making to family back in their home country.  They won't go home, their families wouldn't let them anyway, the economy there is just as bad and even if they only work various jobs for a total of two weeks per month in the States, they are earning like ten times what they would at a regular job back home.
I am so grateful for being an American, for having an amazing home full of conveniences to live in, together with my family, and for the food we have and my husband's job. 
I am grateful for the words of Paul (in the Bible) " I have learned the secret to being content in plenty and in want" and also "Godliness with contentment is great gain."   Americans seem to be about the most discontent people in the world, and yet we are the richest.  I think that giving thanks breeds contentment, maybe that was Paul's great secret - today I feel like the wealthiest person on the planet in so many ways!

Halloween pics

Matt took the girls trick-or-treating just down our little street, which is funny because not only was it Hope's second time ever, but Matt's.  Maddie joined them this year and the girls did great - confidently approaching the doors all by themselves and coming home happy as ever.   I folded laundry and gave away candy to the only 5 people who came to our door :) Needless to say, we have a lot left over and I'm going to need to pawn it off on someone or throw it away soon since I have very little restraint when it comes to my sweet tooth!  Instead of spending money, the girls chose costumes from their dress-up trunk - a princess and a cat - they were totally satisfied.

a healthy halloween tip

If you plan on taking the kids trick-or-treating this year, here's a tip for keeping their intake of sugar and all those artificial colors and ingredients to a limit.  It's easy - have them take a smaller bag.  Too often kids eyes greedily light up at the game of how big a hoard of tooth-rotting candy they can glean from their generous neighbors. Then as parents we end up throwing away candy, trying to limit the kids consumption over a long period of time, or eating it ourselves.  There is no reason why a child needs to fill a giant pillowcase full of candy or more than one receptacle...even those plastic pumpkins hold way more than a reasonable amount of candy.  Why not use this as an opportunity to teach kids self-restraint and gratefulness?  Try a smaller bag and stop trick-or-treating when it is full.  Teach your kids that there is such a thing as enough and that they can be content and appreciative.  This is a small application of a lesson that will go a long way in life. 

Birthday festivities

I really enjoyed my day this year.  There were lots of fun things for me to get excited about.  Matt surprised me early with a pair of diamond earrings (oh how I love things that sparkle!). My day started with great big "happy birthday mommy!" wishes from my girls and Starbucks brought to me by my hubby.  Then we all set off together for my doc appt. - short these days because things are going really well, but we got to hear the baby's chugging little heart again which was sweet and special.  Then we all headed to Cox Farms for the day - my family knows how much I adore Fall and jump at the chance to enjoy any and all autumn activity.  And finally, my husband lined up a baby sitter and took me out for a nice dinner.  With all the sentiments from friends and family included, it was a very nice birthday.  And...I'm excited to be 30 - I think it's the best age and I'm loving it!
Here are some pictures from Cox Farm:
 

Days of Fun

What have we been up to lately?  Why, enjoying the fall of course! 

Making pumpkin pie!

Climbing trees!

Mama Chef - Savory Pumpkin

I was thinking about my "Mama Chef" posts recently and wanting to post some pumpkin recipes.  In the past I've posted some great recipes along the lines of what we typically think of when it comes to pumpkin: sweets! Pie, breads, muffins, pancakes, etc... all tempting with that blend of spices that complements pumpkin so well! 
This time, however, I was thinking of doing some not so well known ways to delight your tummies - savory pumpkin dishes!  The problem is, I'm not that familiar with them myself.  So, not having any recipes of my own, I did some research and found some ideas to begin with:

• pizza with goat cheese, caramelized onion, and pumpkin roasted with rosemary
• savory pumpkin bread - think sage not sugar and pepitos (pumpkin seeds)
• pairing pumpkin with pasta as in pumpkin ravioli in a sage butter sauce or pumpkin lasagna or spaghetti with a pumpkin sauce (puree with a little chili and lemon zest and top with a little good quality fresh ricotta)
• pumpkin soup - I saw a variety of recipes ranging from pumpkin and wild rice to pumpkin and black beans to pumpkin orange

I'm going to have to try some of these out before recommending and posting a recipe - and I'm dying to create a savory pumpkin recipe of my own! But, until then, if any of you have a great savory or unusual pumpkin recipe for us to try, please share!

Candy Corn Fondant

I ran across this idea while I was looking for photos of candy corn...and thought it would be a great idea for using up any left-over candy corns - that is, as if there would be any left over!  Still, if you are looking for a simple and creative way to decorate cupcakes or cookies this fall - this might be your ticket.  I think the ones with the chocolate bottoms might be a neat addition to something like this as well - especially if you are like me and don't favor them over yellow-bottoms.  If it's a mixed bag, I always end up tossing the brown ones.
How To Make Candy Corn 'Fondant' Decorations

We got Boo'd

There is this little Halloween tradition that occurs in our neighborhood each year...it's called "Boo".  Basically, someone starts it by anonymously leaving treats at two people's doorsteps plus taping a little picture or piece of paper to the door which says "Boo!"  Within the package of treats is this little poem:

This treat is for you, we hope you enjoy.
The idea is simple, one we hope you'll employ.
You pass "Boo" along to 2 other neighbors,
along with any kind of Halloween favors.
If we all do our part and spread the good cheer,
by Halloween night it will be very clear:
We're a friendly bunch, we like to share fun!
So please do your part and keep "Boo" on the run!

The key is taping that picture to the door - this lets other neighbors know that you've received this treat already so that it can pass without repeat, but it's my favorite part because usually people have their kids draw the picture!  Suddenly front doors throughout our neighborhood become decorated by handmade drawings by kids of all ages and they are really cute!  And during a holiday time which features going from door to door to get,get,get...it's a nice change to take your kids to someone's door to give a thoughtful treat.

The best pumpkin pickin'

There are lots of REALLY great places to go around here for fall festivity...but we decided to skip the rigmarole and frills this time to go find someplace where we could cut the pumpkins from the vines ourselves.  We found a really great place - Hollin farms in Delaplane.  Matt and I could just feel our blood pressure dropping as we drove out into the rolling country along rte 50 amidst the colorful foliage.  There is nothing fancy about this place, which made it just about perfect.  Just one huge pumpkin patch to wade through to find the perfect pumpkins, a fantastically huge corn maze, and pigs to feed the corn to.  There was raspberries and tomatoes for the pickin' too and some already picked apples that were so huge and gorgeous the girls begged us to buy them one for a snack.  The patch is on a sloping hill and even from within the corn maze you can catch tantalizing glimpses of the mountains covered in color and spotted with farm buildings.  Other than those simple pleasures, there isn't anything there but a lot of space, a lot of fresh air, and a lot of peace.  In my book, it was perfect.

 

Apple pickin' time!

We traditionally go apple picking each fall.  This week on my husband's day off we spontaneously headed out to the foothills of the mountains for some good orchard fun.  Unfortunately, the orchard we were headed to was closed.  Luckily there is another just across the road...where I might add, they were making caramel apples on the spot, so we of course shared a gooey warm one, yum! That is, after we turned around and drove eight miles to the nearest town to find an ATM because we forgot to bring cash. The view was gorgeous and relaxing, we had lots of fun and came home with a bunch of nice big Granny Smith and Stayman apples.  We discovered that night that Stayman apples make an awesome pie! I made a batch of applesauce today and even with tons of fresh munching we have enough left for another pie - all for ten bucks and a great family trip! And yes, Hope is really driving in that picture (though Matt is controlling the pedals) - and thankfully, no trees were taken out :)

LED votives and tea lights

Of course I've seen these before, but I ran into them again at the grocery store recently.  I have to say that I think that battery-operated LED candles are a fantastic idea, especially at times like Halloween.  I have a specific memory of the smell of a candle burning inside a freshly carved pumpkin...but when there are lots of children around, safety is the best policy.  Little tea-lights can be placed in paper bags to line a walk-way at any festive occasion or used wherever a real flame might be a temptation or a hazard for little ones.  You can get them in pretty much any size (even pillars) or color and they aren't very expensive. 

I'm a sucker for fall

I adore the fall, so whenever it looks like it might be headed our way, I start to go crazy thinking of ways to celebrate.  The girls and I decided to decorate their playhouse.  We wanted to put little pumpkins on the windowsill, but discovered last year that the squirrels will eat big chunks out of them.  So, instead we found a little flag for the window(which is difficult to see here because of the shadows) and then the girls helped me to make some pendants out of felt, glued on felt leaves, pumpkins, and letters, and some artificial fall leaves.  We just stapled them to a brown ribbon and they look really cute in their house.  I wonder if any trick-or-treaters will come a 'knockin at their little door this year :)

Family Night #5

We've been slacking on our regular family night lately...which is okay, because honestly we get more time together than most families do.  But Friday was nice and cool and perfect for heading out into the backyard for a fire in the firepit and some s'mores. Afterwards we grabbed a few balls and headed out into the grass behind our place to play together for a little while.  It was nothing fancy and semi-impromtu, but such a fun time!  Just goes to show that you don't need a whole lot of anything fancy to have a fantastic time together.

Into the woods....

One of my "happy" places in this world is out tromping through the woods.  I remember playing out there for hours in the fall as a child - lost in building forts and such until either it got too dark or too cold to stay out any longer.  To this day, finding myself in the woods with frozen fingertips and nose is one of my very favorite feelings. I so want my girls to experience the invigoration of discovering nature, learning about it, and finding it the best and most imaginative space for play! And I have been seriously craving the opportunity to take the girls (and myself) for a good healthy adventure in the natural outdoors.  So, today we took up some buckets for collecting treasures and off we went.  We played until we were too cold to stand it any longer, then followed our shadows home in the afternoon sun.  Oh that every child should have the opportunity to spend the greater part of their days in the woods, at the beach, or on the mountains - what a marvelous dose of education, imagination, and exercise nature has to offer!

a week of giving thanks - Friday

Friday's quote:
"The blessings we are used to, become so much the habit of our lives that we are apt to take them for granted and to fail to be stirred by them to any positive emotion of thankfulness. There are those who,ever mindful of the unequal measure in which privilege, opportunity and all material goods are distributed in this world, are always consciously grateful for the ordinary, every-day comforts; for food and shelter and decent surroundings and a peaceful life. But most of us, differently constructed, are prone to consider that all we are used to have is ours by a natural right, and that on the whole it is rather a hardship that we cannot contrive to have an ever-increasing share of sugar-plums allotted to us. We that are of that disposition must try at Thanksgiving to come to a fuller appreciation of our more recondite blessings, as well as of those which we accept as matters of course."  E.C. Martin

My thought for today:
Today I am thankful for all of the things I have.  I am thankful for my wealth, which is so far above and beyond what many others have in this world that I sometimes feel ashamed.  I am thankful for my home with all of its comforts, for cars and clothes and food and water.  I am thankful for toys for my children, this computer, kitchen appliances, a washer and dryer and so much more.  I am thankful to live in America. I am thankful for access to healthcare, groceries, books, church, art, a plethora of services, playgrounds, and education. 

a week of giving thanks - Thursday

Thursday's Quote:
"No thanksgiving is complete without its generous thought of those who are not so favored as we are. The truly grateful heart always thinks of giving blessing to some other. Says George MacDonald: "When God comes to man, man looks around for his neighbor." Our own Thanksgiving dinner will be sweeter if we have shared it with another household. An unshared meal on this glad day will not bring its best possible blessing." J. Corson Mill

My Thought for Today:
Today I am thankful for Jesus who changed my life in a very real way.  It is to Him that I direct all of my gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Thank you to all of you who visit my blog and read anything that I would have to say .  Thanks for sharing this parenting journey with me and sharing your wonderful comments!  I hope that your dinner is the tastiest yet and that when you lie your head on your pillow tonight you'll fall into a peaceful slumber before you can even finish counting the many things you have to be thankful for.  Have a great day!

a week of giving thanks - Wednesday

Wednesday's Quote:
" I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new." Ralph Waldo Emerson

My thought for today:
Today I give thanks for the people in my life, for my family and my friends.  Thank you for loving me and caring for me especially when I don't deserve it (which is always).  Thank you to every one who has ever helped me, advised me, given me anything, made sacrifices for me, put up with me, shared your life with me, shaped me, challenged me, prayed for me.  And especially I give thanks for and to my husband, for whom words aren't enough to express my bottomless well of gratitude, and for and to my children who are my heart walking around outside of my body. 

a week of giving thanks - Tuesday

Tuesday's quote:
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

My thought for today:
Today I am thankful for every circumstance - or at least I am learning to be.  I am thankful for the difficult things which make me stronger, for things that take time and therefore develop my patience, for the mistakes I have made which lead me to better and wiser decisions in the future. I am thankful for not being able to have absolutely everything I want but always having had everything that I need. I am thankful for vulnerability and reminders that life is both strong and fragile and every moment is a gift. I am thankful that there is forgiveness for imperfect relationships.  I am thankful that there is something to learn in every circumstance and that there is always hope.  I am thankful for tomorrow no matter what it brings. 

a week of giving thanks - Monday

Monday's Quote:
Gratus animus est una virtus non solum maxima, sed etiam mater virtutum onmium reliquarum
" Gratitude is not only the fairest of virtues, but the parent of all others." Marcus Tullius Cicero

My Thought Today:

• Today I give thanks for my eyes - eyes to see the leaves turning, the azure sky, my children's faces, my husband's eyes, the ocean waves,the mountain heights, grand and small, majestic and simple, I can see them all!
• Today I give thanks for my ears - ears to hear my child's questions, music - oh indescribeable music!, whistling birds, drippy rain, crackling fire, sweet nothings and a million different somethings, I can hear them all!
• Today I give thanks for my hands - hands to touch and feel my daughter's silken hair, her soft young skin, my husband's stubble and the warmth of his hand, the smooth, the cold, the grainy, the velvety petals of a rose, tiny frozen snowflakes, I can feel them all!
• Today I give thanks for the taste of good food, and the scent of a thousand things, for a body that is healthy and strong, and Today I give thanks for a mind that is sound and in bursts of clarity may carry enough sanity to know that I have more to be grateful for than I could ever account for.

this year's take on the hand turkey

The girls and I made this little craft for our door.  Hope and Maddie helped out with collecting and gluing.  My new favorite craft item for this time of year is cracked corn.  I bought a huge bag of it in the birdseed section for about $2 nearly two years ago.  It's been kept in my freezer and re-used for kid's crafts (like our traditional hand-turkey finger-paintings last year) and the girls love the feel of it and sprinkling it on top of the glue and then leaving the extra outside for birds and squirrels. ( I'm thinking it would make a great fill material for inside the bottom of some holders for candles on the thanksgiving table.)  Well, we just couldn't leave out that familiar hand turkey this either.  All four of us traced our hands and put them together with "thanks" so that we could be united in our gratitude. 

family outing to D.C. museum

We took the girls into D.C. today to visit the Nat'l Smithsonian Museum of American Indians - sort of inspired by all the pictures of Native Americans we've been seeing in the Thanksgiving books I've been reading to the girls.  Hope loves museums and get so excited for these kind of family field trips.  Including the crisp fall weather and a couple of soft pretzels, it was a really nice time.

Halloween at our house

Here's Halloween evening at our house:
preparing snacks - fresh baked cookies and homemade kettle corn

pretty pretty princesses go trick-or-treating (Hope's first time and her dad's too!) Maddie stayed to help mom pass out the candy
super adorable neighbors come by

 

hanging out with friends - a rockin' band of awesome musicians, they have a regular gig here.

 

an autumn poem

wrote this little verse sitting next to my husband as we drove down the road in the car. He lent me his ear and helped me make sense of it....I wish I were a great poet, fall is such great fodder...

Fall

Colors explode
Leaves go pop!
and fall to the ground
to remain like spent confetti.

Cox rocks for fall family fun!

Spent our family day at Cox Farms fall festival.  The girls had a blast!

Halloween treat for preschoolers

  One of my girls' fave sites - sesame workshop - has this great little seasonal game for preschoolers where you can add features and clothing to a pumpkin, scarecrow, or silly witch to create different faces and looks. 

Off again to the apple farm

We fulfilled our yearly tradition of apple picking, this time choosing to check out Stribling Orchards in Markham, VA, and taking along our good friends Chris and Lena and their own two daughters. It was perfect weather for the occasion and after picking some tasty Rome and Golden Delicious varieties, checking out the animals, pumpkins, and country store, we settled down to a tailgate picnic of cider, cheese, crackers, and of course....fresh apples. Stribling was a much bigger, more public-friendly operation than Hartland, for instance, and I still haven't made up my mind which is the better way to go. In either case, we had a ton of fun!

It's a balloon....It's a pumpkin......

Actually, IT'S A PINATA! My good friend Lena and I indulged in a whim and helped our kids create home-made pumpkin pinatas! They each made a small one to keep, and we made one large one to fill and play with. It was so much fun, I'm thinking of making it a yearly autumn tradition - to be made ahead of time, enjoyed as festive decor, and whacked open on Thanksgiving (something to look forward to). 

As the girls get older, they'll be able to do the project mostly by themselves, expanding to different shapes and colors... let their own creativity flow and see what happens. Though I have a feeling that as the years go by we'll have to upgrade the treats inside from Teddy Grahams and Jelly Bellies

Actually, IT'S A PINATA! My good friend Lena and I indulged in a whim and helped our kids create home-made pumpkin pinatas! They each made a small one to keep, and we made one large one to fill and play with. It was so much fun, I'm thinking of making it a yearly autumn tradition - to be made ahead of time, enjoyed as festive decor, and whacked open on Thanksgiving (something to look forward to). 

As the girls get older, they'll be able to do the project mostly by themselves, expanding to different shapes and colors... let their own creativity flow and see what happens. Though I have a feeling that as the years go by we'll have to upgrade the treats inside from Teddy Grahams and Jelly Bellies

not my kind of party.....

While we were out today, I ran by The Party Store to pick up some tissue paper in a specific color for a project I'm working on. Walking into the store, with my very young daughters in hand, I suddenly felt my stomach twist into an uncomfortable emotional knot that I recognized from the same experience last year. Really, I should have just turned and walked right out, but having searched several other places beforehand for a simple pack of orange tissue paper, I decided to just grab it and go as quickly as possible. 

The grotesque and disturbing Halloween displays are one thing to me, and quite another to my impressionable and sensitive young girls, I'm sure. And, it would be one thing if it were contained to the costume section, so that I could avoid it if I choose, but from the very front door and cascading down every isle from wedding items, princess birthday supplies, and disposable tableware, we were confronted with hideous, evil-eyed skeletons hanging menacingly above us to garish displays of dead, bleeding figures hung upside down by their tightly spun spider webs - not to mention the creepy, animated horrors of the actual Halloween section which we tried hard to avoid but were nearly forced to walk into to get to the rest of the store. 

Now, I'm really not trying to bash The Party Store, as most of the year, I find it a colorful host to friendly festivity... but I have felt terrible now for two years in a row upon walking in there unsuspectingly and exposing my daughters to visions of terror, and I am making a promise to never set foot in there again in Sept-Oct. Honestly, it is a bit much even for me and I don't want to have to look at that junk either.

While we were out today, I ran by The Party Store to pick up some tissue paper in a specific color for a project I'm working on. Walking into the store, with my very young daughters in hand, I suddenly felt my stomach twist into an uncomfortable emotional knot that I recognized from the same experience last year. Really, I should have just turned and walked right out, but having searched several other places beforehand for a simple pack of orange tissue paper, I decided to just grab it and go as quickly as possible. 

The grotesque and disturbing Halloween displays are one thing to me, and quite another to my impressionable and sensitive young girls, I'm sure. And, it would be one thing if it were contained to the costume section, so that I could avoid it if I choose, but from the very front door and cascading down every isle from wedding items, princess birthday supplies, and disposable tableware, we were confronted with hideous, evil-eyed skeletons hanging menacingly above us to garish displays of dead, bleeding figures hung upside down by their tightly spun spider webs - not to mention the creepy, animated horrors of the actual Halloween section which we tried hard to avoid but were nearly forced to walk into to get to the rest of the store. 

Now, I'm really not trying to bash The Party Store, as most of the year, I find it a colorful host to friendly festivity... but I have felt terrible now for two years in a row upon walking in there unsuspectingly and exposing my daughters to visions of terror, and I am making a promise to never set foot in there again in Sept-Oct. Honestly, it is a bit much even for me and I don't want to have to look at that junk either.

Is it fall yet?

If you don't know, I am an autumn junkie! I love things about every season, but fall is when I really come alive.  And, I'm already jonesin' for some crisp weather, fat pumpkins, and outdoor romps!  Okay, I know  it is early... but seriously, the days are in fact getting shorter and as soon as I take notice, it is all I can do to contain myself until this nasty humid weather melts itself away. 

And as if to add an extra tease, pre-game season has begun!  The news is following the development of this season for our local Redskins and I'm tearing my hair out just hoping that summer doesn't linger through the end of October as it is sometimes wont to do in this area.

I have to admit, though, fall is a bit different with kids.  September is sometimes the best month for the beach, but when fall signals the start of school schedules, family routines, and the coming plummet into a winter-long season of mostly indoor play... well, I can understand why some people don't exactly get enthusiastic about it's arrival. 

Still, if you want to see me on a massive adrenaline high, come join me when the weather gets cool for hot apple cider, caramel popcorn balls, soft colorful scarves, and a walk through the leaves!

If you don't know, I am an autumn junkie! I love things about every season, but fall is when I really come alive.  And, I'm already jonesin' for some crisp weather, fat pumpkins, and outdoor romps!  Okay, I know  it is early... but seriously, the days are in fact getting shorter and as soon as I take notice, it is all I can do to contain myself until this nasty humid weather melts itself away. 

And as if to add an extra tease, pre-game season has begun!  The news is following the development of this season for our local Redskins and I'm tearing my hair out just hoping that summer doesn't linger through the end of October as it is sometimes wont to do in this area.

I have to admit, though, fall is a bit different with kids.  September is sometimes the best month for the beach, but when fall signals the start of school schedules, family routines, and the coming plummet into a winter-long season of mostly indoor play... well, I can understand why some people don't exactly get enthusiastic about it's arrival. 

Still, if you want to see me on a massive adrenaline high, come join me when the weather gets cool for hot apple cider, caramel popcorn balls, soft colorful scarves, and a walk through the leaves!

Slow cookin'

Something about the fall makes me want to cook (or maybe I just want to eat) and so my family is benefiting from my urge with some more home-cooking lately. For the most part I've been doing it the easy way, so I've got to tote the benefits of using a crock pot/slow cooker. You really can make almost anything from homemade rice pudding and fruit compotes to all kinds of soups, stews, roasts, and beyond. I love that you can just toss a bunch of stuff in there and in a couple of hours and voila! dinner!

You've got to have a good cooker that can create the needed heat, and you have to know a little bit about cooking your meats completely and safely - but if you haven't pulled out the slow cooker recently, there is no better time to get started then now. I've already used mine this season to treat my family and guests to hot spiced cider, homemade cinnamon spice applesauce, chicken and dumplings and chili - tonight is spinach lasagna (yes, you can even make lasagna!).

Do yourself and your family a favor - search some fall magazines or the internet for a few good slow cooker recipes and treat everyone to a hot home-cooked dinner. You'll treat yourself to some extra sanity during that crazy dinner hour and only one pot to clean up. Not to mention your house will smell fabulous!

Liberty and pumpkins for all!

For a beautifully frightening pumpkin to decorate your doorstep this fall, try giving your youngster some poster paints and some freedom to get messy! Hope literally used up all of the paint in each of her little container cups on this one, but the pride in her work was apparent and since daddy joined in the fun, it was a good time for the two of them together.