Pumpkin Patch

...I'm just barely posting the pics from our adventure to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. We all had fun searching for our perfect pumpkins and taking in the fall colors and the crisp air that comes with it. The kids had a blast. Whats not to like about roaming around in a muddy field?! Little Timmy's pants will prove how much fun it was.

Tim found Mosby's farm not too far from our house. In fact, you could probably see it from our house if we didn't have some trees in the way. They had a little maze for the kids to play in, a hay ride towed by a tractor in 6 inch mud, and a field full of pumkins! It was a great time!

My hubby is so amazing! He works nights and sleeps until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  He makes sure he makes time for me and the kids no matter how tired he is. Love you Hubs!

Ah... the pumpkin and ghost that Tim and I were stuck with most of the time there because thats all Timmy and Aubri wanted to do. Most of my pics contain them... sorry. But there are some good/funny ones to look at. ;)

This one speaks for itself. Daddy is so SCARY!

The girls turn...

Both kids! 

Tiger wanted me to fit my head in there with him. LOL! I can explain... I thought my bum was covered by the pumpkin... then I saw this picture. Seriously gave myself a good laugh.  

Last one... I promise. :)

So Aubriana left her sweater in the car and complained that she was cold. Somehow, being carried on her dads shoulders kept her warm? Go figure. She did this pose all on her own. 

My job was to tow Tiger around in the wheel barrel so he wouldn't keep heading for the huge mud puddles. 

The kids taking turns with Daddy on the hay ride.

*So funny! They had these big boxes of "baby" pumpkins that the kids wanted... well, Tiger wasn't going to settle for the one in the front, he had his eyes on the one near the back. So he kept falling in the box of pumpkins...

...there, he found the one! Hallelujah!  

Jack-O-Lantern

My kids love pancakes for breakfast.  I'm not very artistic like some people in my family, but I wanted to do something fun instead of the same ol' round pancakes. So in the spirit of Halloween coming up, I whipped up some Jack-O-Lantern pancakes using THIS cookie cutter set. My kids LOVED them!!! I think next time, I'll let them design their own Jack-O-Lantern. Something so simple, yet so fun and festive for the Holiday. 

* Quick tip:

If you like the quick and easy method of pancake mix but want it to taste more homemade, then I have a great tip to adding a little more zip to your mix... sour cream! It does wonders! My family's favorite mix for pancakes is Krusteaz. I follow the directions for the amount of pancakes I'm wanting to make, but instead of water, I use milk and add in a heaping spoonful of sour cream to the mix. The consistency of the pancake is more fluffy and helps the buttermilk flavor come out more.

*side note: sometimes the pancake batter is a little think so I add in about an extra Tbs of milk. You don't want your batter to be too thick or too thin.

** One more tip:
Use butter to coat your griddle before pouring on the pancake batter. It helps give the pancakes a nice golden color and add a yummy butter flavor to your pancakes.



Before you use the cookie cutter, make sure you spray the inside of it with cooking spray so the batter doesn't stick when you lift if off.  You want to make sure you push the batter to the edges of the cookie cutter, so you get a nice pumpkin shape. Make sure you don't put in too much batter or your pancake will be too thick.  Have fun with it and let your kids join in. They'll love it.

Favorite Word...

This boy is full of personality! I thought he had more of a timid personality, sometimes he does, but lately he has been full of toddlerness (I made that word up)!

About a couple of weeks ago, he thinks he discovered the meaning of "no" and has been using it ever since. You ask him any question, and without a doubt, he will say NO. Mainly I think he just enjoys using the word because he gets a response out of us, but he really does know what no means. It's really fun to watch them discover things and learn to communicate.

Here's a cute video of him and his favorite word...

*Isn't his voice so cute?!

Do It Yourself Play Dough!

If you want a really fun activity to do with your kiddo... who is bored and needs entertaining, well you're in luck! Make Play Dough! If your kid loves to help you in the kitchen like mine does, then this is perfect for bonding. 

You'll need basic products that you probably already have in your cupboards. What you'll need:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 Tbls vegetable oil

food coloring

**Put all of the above ingredients into a medium sauce pan and stir until smooth. Then put your sauce pan on medium heat on your stove and keep stirring until it forms a big ball. Dump it out onto wax paper and let it cool for about 10 minutes then have your kids help you knead it until you have a nice smooth ball of play dough! 

Step by step pictures of the process below. Courtesy of my adorable helper. ** stirring it on the stove top is for the adults only.

Now let them play and be creative. My little man is still pretty young, so I got him started with a little play dough head. He loved it and enjoyed his play dough after that. He even gave it a good taste and almost threw up. Yikes! He learned his lesson and hasn't tried any since. ;)

Leave it to my daughters imagination to come up with her own little Whoville. Cute!

Traditions

I love figuring out new traditions to make with my own little family. I definitely found one for General Conference on Sunday morning.

My sis-in-law (SIL) Dana was telling me about how often she goes to my friend Hannah's blog and tries out her recipes. She was telling me about all the yummy ones she has tried, including the sticky bun breakfast ring and told me I had to try it. So I decided this morning was the best time to make them while I had the LDS General Conference playing in the background.

Let me just say WOW! Delicious! The syrup and brown sugar caramelized while baking, making them so gooey and so so good!

My Aubri said while eating her sticky bun, "these are so yummy mom!"

If you haven't already, you need to check out my beautiful and talented friend Hannah's blog! I have her button on my side bar as well. Its called: All Things Delicious (you can snag a button for yourself from her blog as well). I also love to go to her blog to get ideas for planning dinners for the week.

**If you aren't on Pinterest yet, please let me know and I'll send you an invite. If you are on Pinterest, you can follow me HERE.

Here is the recipe with my results in pictures: (hopefully it tempts you to try it!)

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits 

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup (any brand you like, I used Mrs. Buttersworth)

1/3 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional

1/4 C. chopped almonds, optional

Instructions:

Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired). Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

** I ended up using 1 1/2 tubes of the Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits (1 tube didn't seem like enough) and baked it for about 30 minutes. It needed a bit longer to bake since I used more.

**Stay tuned for an awesome post about play dough! 

Siblings

I'm sure, by looking at this photo, you're guessing that my post is about lovey stuff. It's not. In fact, its about lying/telling little fibs. It starts really small with kids. Like when Aubri told me during a dinner that her tummy hurt, right after she told me that she did not like what we were having. She didn't get away with that little fib, so I'm not quite sure why she thought she could get away with the fib she told me yesterday.

It all started when I was in my room working on laundry and the kids were running around playing in the living room with the dog. I then hear Timmy burst out crying and Aubri telling him, "shh shh, its ok Tiger, its ok."

Meanwhile, he is running towards me with his fingers out to me crying his head off. I asked Aubs what happened and she first said, "someone bite him mommy." Looking at me like she's hoping I don't figure it out.

Me: "WHO, bit him Aubri?"

Aubri: "um, HE bite him."

Me: "Aubri, you're going to be in timeout if you don't tell me the truth. WHO bit Tiger?"

Aubs: "um, um, I think it was MJ (our dog)."

Me: "I don't think MJ bit Tiger, I think someone else did and I need you to tell me the truth."

Aubs: "I don't know."

Me: "Ok, go to timeout."

Aubri then proceeds to go to her timeout spot, screaming about not wanting to be there.  I made her sit it out for a couple of minutes before I went to talk to her. I told her it was so much better to tell the truth and say you're sorry, then it is to tell a lie and get caught. With tears streaming down her face, I felt she was most likely going to tell me the truth this time, so I asked her... "Who bit Tiger?"

Aubri: "I bite Tigers finger mom."

Me: "I'm very proud of you for telling me the truth. Now you need to go say you're sorry to Tiger for biting his finger."

She ran over to Timmy and told him she was sorry and he immediately leaned down from his chair to give her a big open mouth smooch. It was so cute! He leaned down about 3 times to smooch his sis and thankfully I keep my camera in a good spot where I could grab a shot really fast and hence the picture above. It was a moment to remember. My daughter trying to get away with her first "real" lie and then how sweet they were to each other afterwards. I love my kids!

Lesson learned. My kiddos do play pretty good together. Aubri is always watching out for her brother and lets me know if he grabs something or does something that is dangerous... cause he's a boy and thats what boys do.

Home Owners Again!

I am so excited to announce, after 4 years of moving moving moving, that we are official home owners again! Yahoo! We are saying goodbye to our old Gypsy ways and have planted our roots in Auburn, WA. We bought a split level home and the big selling feature for me was the huge kitchen and double ovens.  Oh, and the view can't be beat either. The kids have been running around non stop in it with all the space. It's our first home with the kids. It's been so great so far and such a blessing for our family. 

We spent 3 long months waiting to get into the home. It was a grueling process to go thru... wouldn't recommend foreclosures to anyone unless the home is really worth it. We felt like this home was. We also never bought a foreclosure before so it was a definite learning process. Oh, and make sure you have a great realtor that will bend over backwards for you and not one that only txt and sends emails. ;) We'll never be using Century21 again... EVER! Whew! Glad I got that off my chest. 

I felt spoiled waking up our first morning to this sunrise off our back porch...

Here's a pic of us hanging out in the back. Not the best picture of all of us, but our first real photo together at the house, so I love it.

... and Aubs and Daddy jumping for joy. lol!