Happy Happy Cute Babies Day!

Well cute babies dressed as cute animals getting candy their parents will eat!

Hope you enjoys some fun people watching and/or enjoy the candy your children rightfully own.

Since I have no babies of my own to dress up in all the cuteness, I will share my nephews!

Here is Cubby in all of his Cub cuteness a couple of weeks ago practicing his Grrr!

Beautiful enough?

 Coleman dressed as a lion...Who could say no to a Delta Sigma picture?  No one in their right mind!  Grrr Baby!

Baby Bear loves giving Cubby rides!

I haven't seen pictures of Caden and Copelan's 2011 costumes yet, but I'm sure its absolute adorableness.  Here's a little look back at the cuteness from years past!

Cutest Boxers in the world!

Caden, one of his first Halloweens, then sharing with his brother on one of his first Halloweens!

I love this costume!

 From Wolverine to Batman!

 But like I said earlier...who can deny the cuteness of these cuties dressed as a baby monkey and a shark!  Love them!

Can't wait to see what they have chosen this year!

I hate to say it, but we all know it.  My nephews are amazing!  The absolute cutest!

Happy cute baby day!

Cubby Goes to the Pumpkin Patch!

**Another Cubby post...Sorry to all the baby-haters out there.**

Coleman's first fall had to include a trip to his first pumpkin patch!

Neet Ney had to soak up all the time she good get with her Cubbybear.

He loved holding all the pumpkins and of course using the small ones as chew toys.

So of course he had to just jump right in to the center of all the big piles of pumpkins.

Coleman loved the pumpkin wagon.

Cutest 10 month old around after an exciting fall day!

I love fall!  And babies with pumpkins just make it all the better.

I chose a blue pumpkin and two apple gourds.  Aren't they the cutest?!

Doesn't that look just like an apple?

My blue pumpkin!  In this house, every season has to pay homage to the color blue.

If you notice that my pumpkins have a nice sheen to them, you are right!  I added a little lacquer to pretty up the blah.  Like this one...

Which runs approximately $4-6.  However, my Mom found a can for $1.  One dollar.  So after a very quick and random application my gourds and pumpkins are all shiny.  I happen to be a girl who likes shiny things and I am not afraid to admit it.

Wonderful Weekends

Now that I am a working woman...Woohoo!...I love my weekends!  And this happened to be a fabulous one!  

Friday... Dinner with friends we haven't seen in a while which included nursery talks with our beautiful prego friend, one bouncy baby girl, a bonfire, s'mores, and lots of fabulous friend time.

Saturday... Paisley woke up at 5:30 despite the fact she always sleeps until at least 6 if not later.  So my gorgeous husband took her out while I slept in...did I mention how amazing my husband is?  

Then we watched college game day and made pancakes.  With Chocolate Chips! 

I was a little low on syrup though so I decided to make my own.  YUM!...if I do say so myself.  It was so easy.  Here is the recipe I used...

1 1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)

3/4 c. water

1 tbsp. butter

Dash of salt

1/2 tsp. maple flavoring

Mix brown sugar, water, butter, and salt in saucepan.  Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in maple flavoring.  Serve warm.  

Be care not to overcook.  I think I cooked it too long because after it cooled all the way, it was more like thick honey than syrup.  But it was very good and it was great on the pancakes.

I totally recommend trying in it.

In the afternoon, we finally got around to picking our sweet potatoes.  Boy was that fun!  No really...it was like digging for gold!  They were huge!

We are so excited about them!  As you can see we also had 2 baby watermelons left.

Sunday was a spirit filled day as we celebrated our 3 year birthday with our church.  The way God moved was truly indescribleable as we were moved to awe watching God move his people to give to Charity Water and be baptized.  You can celebrate with us at www.awakenamovement.com.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend as well!  Try some homemade maple syrup!  Visit awakenamovement.com!  Make your Monday feel like the weekend!

9 Whole Days

You heard me correctly, a week and two days of quality time with the beautiful Candace, my beloved sister and long-time roommate, and her wiggly giggly 10 month old, my Cubs!

It was so amazing!  One of the reasons I have been a bit behind in my blogging.  I was trying to soak up the memories in the present rather than living them out through my blog.  However, I will go back and start at the beginning of this week of fun!

Cubs came to spend the night!

Two things Cubby likes at his Uncle B and Aunt Neet-ney's house:  Baby pumpkins as a teething toy and Paisley, the puppy.

Big C loves his Little C.

Cubs loves his tent that JaJa got him!

Cubby also loves the bath and his yellow duckies!

Well it is better said that Cubby loves to chew on his rubber duckies!  What 10 month old doesn't?!

Coleman's #1 favorite thing about JaJa and Big C's house...his new 4-wheeler!

It was so cute!  He loved riding it and even figured out how to push the buttons himself.

Last but nothing is ever least when it comes to Cubby...
The cutest video ever of the little wiggle worm being the cutest scene maker at JaJa's birthday dinner!
(Sorry its a little dark...Demos' loves "mood" lighting...And forgive our crazy aunt voices and antics.)

Isn't his bye-bye wave adorable?  I love it.

More updates from Candace and Coleman's visit soon!

Snap Its Cold!

Wooo!  It got cold folks! Well it comes and goes, but its all starting!  Guess what that means...  Time for soup!  All kinds of soups!  My favorite time of the year for food.  Well...every season of food is my favorite but I really love this season of soups and football foods.  I've already made white chicken chili, vegetable beef, and potato soup.  Was September too early??  Cringe.  Maybe.  But I don't care.  I LOVE SOUP!  

The big question really is....What kind should I make next?  Broccoli Cheese, Traditional Chili, Chicken and Rice, Lentil and Sausage...the possibilities are endless.

One of my favorite ones from last year is Rachael Ray's Veg-Head Three-Bean Chili, so I'm planning on making it this week for friends.  I am so far from a vegetarian, but I LOVE this chili!  Who am I kidding? I love ALL types of chili!

Here is the amazing and easy recipe!
Its in the 30 minute meals cook book...so it has to be right.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil (who measures?  not me. just wing it)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 cup of pale bear or vegetable stock/broth
1 (32-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14-oz) can black beans
1 (14-oz) can dark red kidney beans
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cayenne hot pepper sauce (a few drops)
1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans

Toppings:
8 oz (2 cups shredded) spicy monterey jack or smoked cheddar
(whatev just use your favorite shredded cheese)
Chopped scallions, white and greens
Diced fresh seeded plum tomatoes
Blue and red corn tortilla chips or black bean tortilla chips, for dipping

Directions:
Over moderate heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, and garlic.  Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables.  Deglaze pan with beer or broth, add tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and stirring to combine.

Season with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt.  Thicken chili by stirring in refried beans.  Simmer over low heat about 5 to 10 minutes longer, then serve up bowls of chili and top with shredded cheese, scallions and tomatoes (or so Rachael says).

It really is easy!  It is a nice spin on original chili!  And I would like to think, its healthy!

Hope you are enjoying our yo-yoing weather with your favorite soups on the downswings!

Total Brag Post!

I can't help it.

If you were me, you wouldn't be able to help it either.

I absolutely must brag about how cute my nephews are! I just can't pass up a moment to share their cutest with the blog world. They are getting so big and soon enough I'm sure they will ban me from posting about them or at least not allow it unless I recruit some tween readers. But for now... I must show them off!

I want to scream they are so cute!

Caden is now 6 and in first grade! Can you believe it? He can read! I know that is normal for a 6 year-old but I am still in awe. I think of him like this...

And now he is practically a teenager. Exaggeration totally, but look at him. Isn't he so cute!?!

I can already tell the he is going to be one of the ladies' favorites!

Copelan is 3 and he is in pre-school. Total charmer.

The pictures are so good! They are my Paducah photographer, Darling by Design, obviously from the design on the photos. My sister-in-law, Whitni, has used this photographer before and the pictures are always darling! Any photographer who can wrangle two boys into not only looking at the camera but smiling at the same time...and not only smiling, but striking the most adorable poses...Wins my vote! You can find them on facebook here and their fabulous website here.

Hope all this cuteness warms your day! I know it has mine.

Unorganized Organization

So today started out with no specific goals in mind, but after going upstairs to find one fall decoration, off on a tangent I went.  Reorganize my craft room and everything I find in the process!  Is that how it goes for you?  One tasks leads to a tornado of chaos which hopefully leads to organization in the end.  It always is with me.

So off I went creating chaos...

A big giant mess is always the best way to start a reorganization project.

First thing I found in the process...Old Christmas Cards.

A big pile from the last 4 years.  Please...that's awful.  I want to always remember what year they were from so I can watch the babes grow.  

So I whipped up a few tags ...

to make adorable bundles organized by year!  Voila...

Cute and organized!  I totally suggest this method.  Although I have heard of people who put them in photo albums which sounds nice, but too much work honestly.  Come January when I actually take down my decorations, I am so over it that I don't want to spend the extra 10 minutes to make the book.  So pretty bundles it is.

Oh and by the way...I made my husband help me make our Christmas card list in the process.  He was a good sport despite the fact that it is October 1st.  He knows I love planning ahead!

2nd thing I found...all of my random gift bags, tissue paper, and ribbons.  I was semi-organized in an old plastic comforter bag, but I just couldn't keep it organized easily the way I wanted.  So I pulled it all out.  Made a mess.  And started over.

All the small bags organized by size placed in a less important bag...just in case...wouldn't want to rip your favorite bag.

All the bigger bags placed in another unimportant bag with all the folded tissue paper by color. 

Now I know this isn't the most amazing organization you have ever seen but it works and it was free!

Third things I found to spend way to long organizing...Tulle and Ribbon!

In the process of organizing all of my recycled gift bags, I found spare ribbons attached to bags, stuffed between bags... everywhere.  So I decided to something needed to be done.  I upcycled some old toilet paper rolls to tidy up my tulle.  I rolled up all the ribbon using pins to keep it rolled.  Then used paint brushes to stack them up to avoid wasted space.  I put all the un-rollable or small pieces of ribbon in a glass container.

I tidied up my sewing area with all the piles of fabrics and fabric scraps by rolling my fabrics and displaying them in vintage metal kitchen canisters.  Aren't they so cute!

All in all, I never found what I was really looking for...frustration!  But...I really reorganized upstairs and got really excited about Christmas when I organized the boxes in our little attic closet.  I know its far to early to talk Christmas, but soon!  What are some of your organization tricks?  I love all the tips and tricks I find on pinterest, but I haven't actually employed any of them yet.

Oh well, here's to fun fall cleaning!