Starbucks Pumpkin Scones--Homemade

That's right, HOMEMADE Starbucks Pumpkin Scones. Incredibly awesome, with a recipe found here. You're welcome. :)

She's a Hoot...

I feel almost overwhelmed by blog material, which means only one thing. Nothing gets blogged about. However, Farah requested some pictures of the Doodle in her Halloween costume. So apparently, my blog has become TRL, and I'm fine with that because it means I may actually blog. Without further ado...Halloween 2009.

Our Small Group traditionally has a party thrown by the ever fabulous Shaw Family. This year's theme? Famous Couples. And as you can see, they were not only famous, but epic!

The Shaws as Alice and that Oh-So-Mad Hatter!


The Patterson's as Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm.


The Baldizon's as Ketchup, Mustard and a Hot Dog!


And us as, ha ha, The Shaws! And the Doodle as an owl. A super cute owl.


It was a wonderful evening of food, friends, and fall themed games. But the fun couldn't end there, no. The next night (actual Halloween) we headed over to the Harvest Festival with the Baldizon's and the Grindy's. While it was a little 'old' for our kids, we all had fun hanging out, and heck, I'm all for any excuse to see Ada as a sweet little owl.

The Baldizon's ditching the condiment costumes, and opting for some subtler ones. Gotta love that cute Darth Vader!


The Grindy's, aka 'The Jedi Clan'.


We figured no one would appreciate our Michael and Farah costumes since no one here knew Michael and Farah, so we went for Karate Master and Starbucks Barista (aka, stuff we had in our closet.)




It's almost too cute, right? Right.

Happy Halloween!

Saturday Mornings

I love Garage Sales. What I don't love about them is that they tend to be early on Saturdays. Because of that reason, I'm not at them on a weekly basis. Now that I have a baby I definitely don't get to sleep in like I used to, but they're still hard to hit up sometimes. Last weekend, we decided to go out there and try our luck. We're in need of some baby gates since the babe has started her army crawl. We thought perhaps we could find some nice used ones. We went to one neighborhood where it was apparently garage sale central. We honestly hit up about 15 sales. NOTHING. Not one thing. How is that possible? I don't think that's ever happened to me in my life. Here I am with money to spend and not one cool thing jumps out at us? Nothing useful, or perhaps even un-useful but cool none-the-less? Well, we hopped in the car and drove over to a church that was having a sale. This was our last attempt. Did we find something? No baby gates, but...well, this was definitely worth $3.


Really? For me? In almost mint condition with the keys and everything? The perfect place to hide my knitting from curious hands? Excellent.


So, knitting is on the list of things that will start being done seriously around here. It's fall, and guess what, it actually feels like fall! Most of my free time has revolved around getting my talk together for the Women's Retreat this Saturday. (Please keep me in your prayers!) But once that is done, it's all about knitting, The Chronicles of Narnia on CD, and lots and lots of tea. Mmmmmm, I love fall! What do you guys like about fall, and what's you best garage sale find?

Yum?

We're rocking food over here. Rice cereal and applesauce. Actually, we're not rocking the applesauce so much. We're kinda hitting a wall.

'Mama, what is this?'


"I don't like it!"


"Why this torture???"


Ahhh, this makes feeding time SO entertaining and fun. You'd think we were feeding her lemon juice, honestly! I also find it pretty funny that she's so offended by apples when I ate my weight in them during the pregnancy. What a hoot. Being a parent is truly a blast!

Raindrops on roses...

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? I'm glad to return to the world of blogging. Apparently, I took a bit of a sabbatical, but I'm back. For today at least. And really, today is an excellent day. Why you ask?

Because this book just came out. Woo hoo! It's the sequel to Hunger Games, which I just read last week after Brittany highly recommended it. I am now totally obsessed. This is such a great series. So, if you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today. (End public service announcement.)

Other things I'm loving lately? This paper.
Darn you Martha Stewart for having so much lovely stuff I'd like to purchase. Honestly, bandana paper? That just makes me giddy.

I'm newly obsessed with this blog, the Old Red Barn Co. She's delightful, and she has this wonderful Quilt-A-Long that is so great and helpful I am now fully inspired and plan to make a quilt. It's wonderful and completly user friendly. The quilt I'm going to make? This one. From the ever excellent Posie Gets Cozy blog. What is it with all these wonderful crafty women inspiring the world at large? Someone buy them a Starbucks, honestly, they're too great.

And last buy certainly not least, an ever present favorite: Fall. Autumn. Not Summer. September 1st it is, and although there's no Fall Equinox, let's just face it...it's here. There are Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks and they're selling Christmas stuff in stores. Ahhh, I love it. Now for some cooler weather, and we'll be right as rain.

And in other wonderful-ness, the Doodle is now rolling and sitting up and happens to be a super fun and happy baby. I feel so lucky that I'm her mama and get to hang out with her everyday. She's seriously the best.

I love those two.

So, what are you loving these days?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love, family, food, blessings, and more food.

Autumn, I think.

Well, I think it's time for the fall post. I mean, it's October 28th, you'd think there would've been an autumn post months ago. But alas, when the weather is 90 it's hard to feel like it's really fall. I mean, you can imagine all you want, but that doesn't make it real. However, this week it's started to cool down a bit, rain is scheduled to visit us this weekend, and it's Halloween for crying out loud. All these things mean fall. Other things meaning fall? Apples, scarves, getting darker earlier, apple cider, sweaters, fall leaves and colors, pumpkin patches, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice lattes...anything pumpkin really. Autumn, I'm so glad you're here. (Please stay awhile.)

And speaking of Halloween, how excited am I? The theme for the party we're going to is "People of Power". I can't wait to see what everyone came up with. And I tried on my outfit last night. Ahem. It's hysterical. I totally look like an idiot, which I'm not supposed to, but it'll be entertaining to say the least. Pictures surely to follow after Halloween.

Halloween 2006. Fitting since I'm so into Project Runway Season 3 right now.

As for crafty goodness, I decided to bust out the ole' sewing machine and make a top... mainly because most of mine no longer fit. I'm super excited about how it turned out, and was even able to wear it today with a long sleeve shirt underneath. See? Autumn.

The goofy faces ensue when there's lighting issues...

And I finished the lovely pink scarf and sent it off to the birthday girl, Anissa! I hope you had a wonderful day Anissa...and I must say you look great in pink. Scarves? Autumn.

Hi Anissa. I miss you. Please move back to CA.

Also super exciting, my favorite actor at PCPA (although he may just be my fav actor period), Michael Jenkinson, is of course staring in many of next season's shows, but is going to be Marius in Les Mis. SO.EXCITED.ABOUT.THIS.SHOW. If you haven't seen Les Mis, don't miss this one guys. It's sure to be amazing. (Okay, this one has nothing to do with autumn, but it makes me just as happy as it being autumn, so there you go.) Picture courtesy of http://www.pcpa.org/

Hi, my name's Michael and I deserve to be on Broadway.

And finally, Little Miss Sunshine is doing good. I have a feeling Jon and I are going to have a fiesty child. She's already displayed so much personality. Yesterday at my appointment they were checking the heart beat but she was moving around so much they were having trouble getting a reading on it. I sat there for about 2 minutes while they ran the thing over my stomach listening for her heart. All of sudden, she started kicking like crazy. I'm sure she was in there saying, "Get this thing off me, this is my space!" It was pretty cute though. Jon still hasn't felt her kick, even though I tell her to kick her daddy often. Hopefully she starts listening to me! (Oh, and you guys can be praying. My thyroid level is a little off. Nothing to worry about, but something they're monitering. I'd rather not be on some medication, so a normal thyroid level would be wonderful.)

I hope you have a wonderful week whether it feels like fall to you or not!

My husband rocks...

My wonderful husband decided to take me on a little weekend get-a-way in lieu of my upcoming birthday. And can I just say, this was honestly the best present. Ever.

Fall in all it's glory

It started Friday afternoon, where we drove up to Three Rivers and stayed the night just outside the park. We relaxed and watched tv and allowed ourselves to do nothing. Quite the little treat.

Having a good time

We woke up the next morning and headed into Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks. It only took us about 15 minutes to get in the park, but then you have to drive about an hour to get to all the "good stuff". But let me just say, although it doesn't seem to be fall in my little neck of the woods, autumn has certainly reached this area. It was SO beautiful. The winding river, the reds and yellows of the trees, and animals everywhere. Okay, random fact about me. I LOVE animals in nature. Not so much as pets, but wild animals are so, stinking, cool. Just ask Jon and Amy. I freaked out at every animal we saw on the roadtrip, whether it be a rabbit, deer, or a buffalo. (Especially the buffalo. I love the tatonkas.) So, we saw a bear, and since it was from the comfort and safety of our car, I was super stoked.

We finally made it to the center of the park, and there was so much cool stuff to see. The Sequoia's are breathtaking. They're so huge they seem to defy gravity. And they're everywhere!
We did a couple little hikes, nothing too strenous, and just took in the glory of nature. I grew up in a State Park, so I really love the outdoors, especially mountains. It was so refreshing to be there and away from all the stress and worries of everyday life. So after our few hikes, we grabbed some lunch, and made our way to Moro Rock...

Big intimidating mountain...

A bit more strenuous than our little meadow hikes, but certainly worth it. The view from up there is phenomenal. God certainly is an amazing and creative God.

On the top! Yeah for preggo lady kicking the stairs butt!

And then, there was another encounter with a bear. NOT from the comfort and safety of our car. Having grown up around bears, I know what they're capable of. Hence, when I saw the bear, I refused to get closer. My husband however, was like a kid in a candy store, literally running down to get a picture of it. Great. I told him he wasn't allowed to go, and he didn't listen. The nerve! :) I eventually moved down there, but was glad to keep my distance, and also ready to run if need be. It was about 100 feet from us, but really could care less about the 20 tourists taking pictures of it eating. It eventually wandered off, as did we...

Mean bear that is eating...yeah, eating, not attacking, but still scary.

We then made our way out of Sequoia, and into King's Canyon. Jon reserved a little cabin for us there being a nice husband that didn't expect his preggo wife to camp out and walk outside 5 times a night to find a bathroom. They have these cute duplex's and triplex's you can reserve. However, there is one single cabin known as the "Honeymoon Cabin" that has a bigger bed and is a little larger than the rest. For some reason, this was avaliable and they gave it to us. Score! Now, I have this odd fantasy about wishing I was a pioneer women that lived in the Old West with her farmer husband and lived off the land. This was a chance to do that. No tv, no wireless (okay, there was electricity and running water, don't judge me). There was a cute little porch to sit on and look at the stars, and a thick quilt to cuddle under to avoid the cold. (There was also a heater, but again, not the point.) Again, this was great because I figure I'll never live out my fantasy unless:
a. I build a time machine (not likely), or
b. Nuculear fallout (not good).

Can I live here?
I suppose I could become Amish, but that doesn't sound as fun as the others. (Wait, being Amish doesn't sound as good as a nuculear fallout? That OBVIOUSLY came out wrong. Proof the babe is indeed stealing my braincells and making me say stupid things. To all Amish reading this...wait...anyways, I apoligize.)

Cute inside. Sigh...

Okay, funny story. I'm definitely not used to so much activity in one day, so by dinner I was pretty hungry. There was a great restaurant by our cabin and I had a cup of Minestone Soup, and the biggest Ceaser Salad you've ever seen. Seriously. I also had the majority of some potato/jalepeno appetizers, and some of Jon's milkshake. We headed back to the cabin, and I munched on some almonds and a banana. Still being hungry, I polished off most of Jon's leftover pasta, and an apple. And a Cliff Bar. Also, a Nalgene full of water. Yeah, and I was still hungry. But I was pretty much out of food at this point, and also sick to death of eating. I went to sleep, and woke up, well hungry. :)

The babe enjoying herself. And sucking all of mom's energy.

The next morning we got up and did a couple things around Grant Grove where we were centered. We then packed up from our little cabin (tears...I'll miss you) and headed into the heart of King's Canyon. It's about an hours drive down, down, down this intense canyon. We wound around the river and eventually made our way into fire country. It being the last week of their season, they were doing controlled burns. It was kinda fun to see, but also made picture taking less enjoyable, and breathing more difficult. But it was also nice becasue there was almost no one there. I felt like we had the whole park to ourselves. We headed as far from the fire as we could and had a lovely picnic lunch by the river. We then did a meadow hike which was surely my favorite thing by far. For half of it you wound around the river, the other you climbed over these huge rock slides. It was phenomenal.


When we hit the Road's End, it was time to head back to real life. We drove back into society and cell phones and, well, the 21st century. But I'm so happy for our little step into nature and a simpler time where you enjoy God's creations; trees, rivers, animals, and family. Thanks for a stellar birthday, baby.

(Oh, and the winner of the prize is Carrie Swenson! Carrie, can you e-mail me your address? Expect something fun in the mail! Thanks everyone for playing. You're the best supportive friends and family a girl (two girls!) could have. And by two girls, I mean me and the babe. No, still no twins.)

Babe Stuff...

It's true, this post will mainly be about the babe. So if that's not your cup of tea, don't worry, I won't be offended, just skip to the end for the survey (a fun one at that, too!) and be on your way. For the rest of you brave souls...enter in...

Okay, I'm at 19 weeks, and that means that the baby is currently the size of a mango. Ahem. I know this isn't that big, especially compared to how big it's going to get (don't remind me...), but still, this fact freaks me out. A MANGO. Seriously? Oh my...

In other news, I felt the babe move for the first time on Sunday! Yeah! I wasn't quite sure that's what it was, but honestly, this little fluttering felt like nothing I've ever felt before. It's like someone gently brushing your arm...that feeling, except inside your, well, belly. It's pretty weird, but in a good way. I was describing it to Britt and Hannah and Kris said, "Yeah, that's it! Fluttering is exactly what it is." Kris having been pregnant 7 times, I'll take her word. :) So that's pretty exciting. I haven't felt a full on kick or anything, and except for what I assume was a little somersault the other night, the babe's been laying low.

In non-related baby news, I made these cookies today. These are, no exaggeration, the best cookies in the entire universe. Cara blogged about them last year, and they've been a favorite around here ever since. It being fall (well...), it was time to bust them out. You know they're good because the icing calls for 1 1/4 sticks of butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar, among other things. Oh my...

And finally, on to the survey! A week from today (hooray!) we have our big ultrasound and find out the sex of the babe! I'm so excited, oh man, oh man, oh man. Or, oh baby, oh baby, oh baby. Here's where you guys come in. What do you think we're having? Go ahead and leave a comment on this post. We'll of course post once we find out. And one lucky winner who guesses correctly will win a prize! Good luck!

A few things...

Fall is the season of many things, but one is certainly knitting. And while I've been trying to keep up with it during the summer, it's just so much more fun now. So here's some of the projects I've been working on.

First of all, there's this.
My Aunt Jane made all of these, and I decided they needed to be put together into a wonderful blanket I can cuddle up under this winter. Well, "winter" here, but you know. :) I'll post more when I finish it, but for now you just get this little tease.

And to go along with the warm theme, a lovely scarf. Don't be fooled by the coloring, it's not orangish at all, but this really nice pink. I hate all the names of pink that go along with this color...'Desert Rose', 'Blushing Bride', 'Dusty Pink'...they all suck. I think we should call it 'Babies Bottom'. I mean, that's cheesy too, but it kinda makes me laugh, so that's good.
Also, I've been making soup because I love it, and it's fall. Those things seem to go together in my mind. So, here's this soup, quite yum-o Mrs. Ray. I added some carrots, changed the chicken broth for vegetable, and nixed the dill. Because really, who likes dill? (Okay, plenty of people, but certainly not me.) Enjoy. And enjoy your week!
P.S. Okay, I'm sorry for all my Heroes obsession, but I'm watching it right now and future Sylar, married to who?!?!? Why the heck is Mrs. Muggles in the house? BAH!!!!

Date Day

Okay, as much as I may complain about living here, it really is gorgeous. And Jon and I were able to take advantage of the lovliness the other day. My wonderful husband took me on a fall date day to some of our favorite places. Care to join us?

We started off with a trip to the amazing AG Farmer's Market. If you guys haven't been to this one, you're missing out. It's my fav, by far. They always have music and food and tons of people, but it's not as insane as SLO. And the produce is quite lovely.

I wanted to eat every one of these.

God loves us so much He gave us more than one type of basil. I'm seriously thankful for this.

Okay, even I would like these tomatoes.

Then, we stopped at that amazing little French Pastry Shop across fromt he Market for some goodies. Note to everyone: this place has the best eclairs ever. I was apparently so distracted by them that I forgot to take a picture. Harumph.

Then on to world famous Splash. I hadn't had Clam Chowder in ages and it was totally sounding good. And whatever sounds good to a preggo lady, they eat. So we chowed down and headed out to watch the surfers.

We're happy to be hanging out. And eating.

After that we took the lovely See Canyon Road...

to our favorite apple farm, Gopher Glen. We grabbed ridiculous amounts of apples (one of my particularly favorite cravings), sampled apples until there were none left to sample, and picked up a stash of their wonderful fresh pressed Cider and their homemade Apple Butter Ice Cream. Yeah, you heard me right. APPLE.BUTTER.ICE.CREAM. I kid you not, it's transcendental.

I'm happy to be here. But not happy about the dorky picture.

After that, lazily wandered home on back roads, took in the amazing view, and relaxed. And may have gotten a pie from Marie Callendars. Isn't that what fall is all about?