YOU CAPTURE: AUTUMN

I sit before you, okay - before my laptop- totally stuffed and pumpkin'd out.  Is that possible?? 

I have been indulging, okay - over indulging - in lots of pumpkin yummies tonight.  And, DARNIT, I blame blogland.  I keep reading all these great pumpkin recipes and I finally had to give a couple a try. 

But, did you know there is shortage on pumpkin?  I actually have heard this a couple times, and since I live under a ROCK, if it has hit my radar it must be SERIOUS.  When I went to the store to grab a can, the shelf was indeed pretty empty.  Except for the jumbo can.  Perfect.  Not ideal, but I can make it work.

So I emptied out half the can and made these super EASY and actuallygoodforyou Pumpkin Muffins (click HERE for the recipe.) 
I was skeptical about the goodforyou part.   How good can they be, right?  Shouldn't I be adding a stick of butter, an egg and some oil?    Nope, and still they turned out amazing and good enough for Chase to eat about 4 of  'em.


(This photo is not staged.  He actually swiped that muffin right off the plate in front of my camera!)

So, you gotta give those a try.  So, then I had this half can of pumpkin lingering around and I remembered another yummy recipe that I spied the other night and wanted to try - Pumpkin Butter (click HERE for the recipe.) 

This is also so EASY and yummy and makes the whole house smell Divine.  And before it is all the way cooled off, plop some right on top of one of those pumpkin muffins and Mmmmm. 

Now you see why I am over-stuffed and pumpkin'd out, right? 
But not as pumpkin'd out as my neighbor's.  They go ALL out for the holidays.


Anyway, now it even SMELLS like fall at my house.  And speaking of Fall, hasn't it been GLORIOUS?  We have had day after day of  the best fall weather.   Well, except for the last couple days.  We haven't blown away yet, but CLOSE. 

Can you tell from the photo above that Dorothy, ToTo and the Wicked Witch had just flown by? 

Thankfully, I did manage to get a couple good fallish leaf shots before they all blew to.... Virginia probably.








Now, head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for lots more Autumn captures.  And maybe even a few more recipes - yikes!!

DYLAN IS THREE

He turned three on Friday.  I know... I know. 
I have been meaning to write up a post about it.  A nice warmy-fuzzy post gushing about how I can NOT believe HOW on earth my baby is three and all the usual stuff.  But I am struggling with this one a bit.  Because, I CAN believe his is three.  He has been acting like a three-year-old for weeks now.  (LONG, agonizing weeks.)  He is moody and hot-headed and has started yelling and hitting and throwing tantrums for little or no reason that last for hours and hours.   It has been kinda tough with him lately.  His poor voice was horse and scratchy from the constant screaming and crying.  Seriously.  It is crazy stuff. 

I am really trying hard (unsuccessfully) not to just focus on the bad stuff because when he is good, he is great.  His normal little sweet, adorable self.  Hugging and kissing and being as cute as ever.  He is my Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde right now.  And watch out when the flip is switched. 

So, how did we celebrate?  
Well, we opted to not do a big hoopla given that he isn't keen on other people and he despises being the center of attention.  We kept it pretty simple and figured we could try something new and take him to Build-a-Bear.  I was just sure that he would LOVE it. 


He picked out the cutest, softest little doggie and seemed to be enjoying himself until it was time to head to the stuffing station.  He would NOT let go of his doggie.  He did NOT want stuffing.  He apparently just wanted the doggie skin.  While we were trying to coax him into it (for the record, this kid is NOT coax-able)  he tossed the doggie aside saying, "I don't want da doggie now, I just want a twain ride."  And off he marched to the kiddy train. 


He was super excited about the train and all the other little rides, he even loved riding the escalators.   It apparently doesn't take much.

At home, we did presents, cake and ice cream.  Nothing elaborate.  But again with this guy, LESS is MORE!












And there you have it, my BABY is now THREE.  And with that means we will likely get the good, the bad and the ugly of THREEdom.   Thankfully we know that this is just a stage and is temporary.  We miss our little guy, the easy-going, go-with-the-flow, happy-go-lucky guy.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS

He:  was 23 years old and home for Thanksgiving that weekend.
She:  was only 20, home for Thanksgiving break, and was sneaking into a seedy bar with her friends on a mission to drink underage. 

He:  looked so cute (and TALL) in his plaid shirt and immediately caught her eye
She:   was eager to edge closer to him

He:  was singing along to Garth Brooks
She:  was singing right along too

He:  asked if she would like to go to the concert with him in a couple weeks
She:  said,  "SH-YAY!"

He:  asked for her number
She:  handed it over and gave him a kiss on the cheek

He:  has made her heart go pitter-pat ever since
She:  just knew that he was the one and told her friends that very night, "That is the guy that I am going to Marry

And, she DID!  10 years ago today.  Can you believe it?
10 amazing years. 
Here is  a little recap that I put together.   (Turn your music ON!)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary Babe!

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

On Tuesday, we went to check out the new exhibits at our little local Museum.  They had Beatles/John Lennon themed displays out.   Mom was like: WOW.... but the kids were a little bored, until they caught sight of this wish tree. 

Chase grabbed a slip of paper and pencil and began feverishly writing out his wishes.  As he was tying it on the tree I asked him what he wished for.
He started rattling off his list  "...skate board... ramps...video game..." 

So, we explained to him that the goal of the Man and his wife in all the photos was to make the world a more peaceful and better place.  I urged him to rethink his wish.  He started again.  He drew a heart, a peace sign and a smile face and then wrote - Turn off all the lights. 
"Mom, that would make the world a better place, right?" 
It's a start!






He decided that this John Lennon stuff wasn't so boring after all, when he caught sight of the rock band room. 

Anyone for a little Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

Linking up to this week's You Capture Challenge:  Orange. 

IT'S LIKE VEGAS..... FOR KIDS

So, if you have been to the Wisconsin Dells, you know exactly what I am talking about.  Or, actually, what my friend Melissa is talking about.  That is how she described the Dells, and I thought it very appropriate!  Home of a zillion water parks, amusement parks, arcades, candy stores, shopping, restaurants, and every money-making kid friendly tourist attraction you could imagine.   To top it off, we went with 6 other families, all of our play group friends that Chase has been playing with since he was 9 months old.  So, it made for one giant kid party ALLLLL weekend long. 

I will share some of the highlights.... just a few.  I took way too many pictures.... again. :D

Testing out the hotel bed.

Kicking back in the kiddie pool.  (I only got a few water park photos, since I barely went in there!  Dylan refused to set foot through the doors to the water park area, much less get WET!)





Feeding the animals!  They had a really cute Harvest Fest going on in town.



Pumpkin decorating.  Chase is showing off all of his glitter!





Watching the choo-choo train as it delivers food around the restaurant, how fun is that?

Chase is pulling his chicken fingers off the Train.   The kids were fascinated!

Trick-or-treating in the HOTEL!?!?!    Why not.  We just had to make sure they only knocked on the doors of people we actually knew :D

Breakfast at Paul Bunyan's.



Dylan and I, off doing non-water related activities.  He loves animals, so I figured I would take him to the Deer Park. 



And, oh-my-goodness, he LOVED it.  Until 6 or 7 of them started surrounding us.  I had to hold him most of the time.  I could not get over how friendly and tame those deer were, and there were hundreds of them!  Pretty cool stuff :D





Beautiful color on the River Walk.

A quick stop at the candy store. 

And....one last chance to sqeeze in a few rides.   Chase was riding big (ADULT) roller coasters on Saturday.  But didn't seem as eager to ride them on Sunday.  He seemed content to escort his brother on the kiddie rides. 

Their favorite though, was the "golf carts" as Dylan kept calling them. 


What a weekend!
PS - I am still trying to catch up on the laundry.  Thankfully (grrr) Dylan would only wear ONE sweatshirt the entire trip :D  He must have wanted to spare me the extra wash. 

KILLING TIME

The boys and I were on our own this past week.  It was a lot better than I thought it would be.  Things do get easier-ish as they get older, I am finding.  On Wednesday night we ordered a pizza for dinner and needed to kill a little time before picking it up..... so I managed to convince them that photo taking would be a grand idea.    I had been eyeing a really pretty spot with lots of great fall colors and leaves.








I got a couple worth sharing at least.
Did I mention I just started a photography class?  I am so SOOOO excited about it.  I am finding out all I have to learn... still!  My instructor showed us all these amazing Multiple Exposure images that he does.  I have never heard of that!  I, of course, cracked open my manual right away and tried to figure it out.  Here is my first attempt. 


Now, we are on a weekend get-away up in Wisconsin.  We are supposed to be clocking in lots of family time.  But, Dylan isn't exactly thrilled about being at the water park or the amusement park....  He is at a really difficult stage right now.  **sigh**    So, we are just killing time (we seem to be doing a lot of that!), waiting for Daddy and Chase to get back from roller coasters and go-carts and all sorts of cool rides.  Chase went on a big BIG roller coaster for the first time today and LOVED it.  I can't believe he is ready for that.  I certainly am not ready for him to be ready.  Man..... didn't I just give birth to him??? And now..... roller coasters???

Anyway, wishing everyone a super great weekend!!!