{Almost} Fall, Y’all!

 

The calendar is soooooo wrong this year.  Fall in the Bluegrass State started Labor Day weekend when the temp dropped like 40 degrees overnight.  This summer lovin’ girl wasn’t quite ready for the change.  I feel like I just put my boots away, and suddenly it’s time to break them out again.  Am I right in saying this is an El Nino-esque year?  I don’t remember if it is Nino or Nina, but whoever it is is supposed to be bringing us “lots of precipitation” this winter {read: SNOW}.  Grrr.  I’m partial to that white stuff only in December, particularly on Christmas, so I’d rather not have 6 months of it despite my Ugg boot fetish. 

I will say that I’m kinda enjoying our early fall.  Only kinda though.  And mostly because of spiced everything.  Spiced candles, cake and coffee are 12 kinds of up my ally. 

Exhibit A:

We’re Keurig-ers at our house (Father’s Day gift to B this past year), and I about died when I saw the fall sampler pack last night at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  {Yes, we’re totally Old School, and our dates now include trips to BB&B.}  Um, Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Apple Cider? YES, PUH-LEASE!

Us on our date with my sister, Chelsea and her hubs, Matt.  We had so much fun!  The only thing that would have made it better was if Aubs could’ve been there, too!

Exhibit B:

I couldn’t escape BB&B without a new Yankee Candle.  Also, I had about $5 more left to spend to use my coupon. Ha!  So, I went with Apple Cider.  It was a good, good choice.  She burned all day and made my house smell all kinds of fantastic.

Exhibit C:

Then, today, the pumpkin and I made chili, cornbread muffins, and the simplest and most delicious Apple Cider cake you ever did eat (credit: Chels for giving me the recipe, though you can find the deets HERE). 

I should have clarified, Captain Pumpkin.  Don’t ask.  I have no idea.

I forgot to add the powdered sugar to the pic, but you’ll need that, too, to make the glaze.  Other than that, this is everything you need for the cake and the glaze.

Shockingly, the cake batter is just the cake mix and 15 oz of pumpkin puree!  That’s it! And they look this beautiful when the emerge.  And your house will smell *ah-mazing.*

And the final product?  Oh. My. YUM.  It might be overkill, but I can promise you I will be eating a slice of this with my pumpkin spice latte in the morning :)

 

Have a fantastic week, bloggy friends!

OY.

I started writing this post about 2 hours ago while I was shopping at Kroger.  Mainly because I had to get my mind out of that grocery store, where no amount of consoling was calming down my screaming 3-year-old. 

We were having a bit of a throw-the-baby-pumpkin-on-the-ground issue, which resulted in losing the pumpkin beneath the shelves somewhere.  And then I refused to go get another one.  Hence the monster-sized meltdown.  No, seriously, he cried (tears and all) for the last 25 minutes we were in the store, and if we didn’t need food something awful, I would’ve left sooner.  I was already running through it at a Super Market Sweep pace, while occasionally getting a centimeter from Becks’ nose to calmly remind him to please be quiet mommy is going as fast as she can, whispered under my breath.

I’m pretty sure everyone in the store wanted to stare at us, but they couldn’t because they were probably on their phones dialing Child Protective Services to please save this poor child from the wrath of his non-pumpkin retrieving mother. 

Of course, all was right again when we passed the Halloween blow-ups and his mind was taken off of the baby pumpkin mishap.  Sheesh.

Once we got home, I played the whole let’s-see-how-many-plastic-grocery-bags-I-can-fit-on-my-arms game since B was at school and Becks’ is only good for carrying in a bag or two before he gets distracted by the soccer ball in the front yard.  Do y’all do that?  Temporarily risk loss of blood circulation in your arms just for the sake of taking one less trip to the car?  You know you do.

Seeeeeriously.  I need a weekend.  And a tall glass of reisling.  OY.

Well, TGtomorrowIF!

Then & Now

Becks is officially back to school  My word, it feel like we just did the first day of school for him last year.  Why does having a kiddo make life go at super speed?! 

The morning started with donuts and coffee and a big green star balloon.  Typical.  I kid.  It’s just milk.  All the sippies were dirty. Also, I loathe the day he can no longer wear footie jammie because he just looks so dang sweet in them.

Then, we took the standard front porch First Day of School pics.  He was a little more cooperative this year.

September 2010:

September 2011:

He’s such a ham!

Then, it was off to school where he played with Rescue Heroes and grilled me a hamburger.

As tradition goes, we hit up First Watch next.  Yummo,

Then, I forced B to take a pic of me and Becks because, seriously, it’s a rarity he and I are in the same frame.  Also, the matching kicks were not intentional. 

We stopped by the house briefly before we had to take Becks to a doctor’s appointment, and that child is all kinds of active.  I’m lucky that all the pics I take don’t look like the one below.

And, the good news is, the pumpkin doesn’t have to have surgery.  He has syndactyly on his tootsies (i.e. webbed toes), which are barely noticeable, but his pediatrician wanted us to be sure that his bone growth was on track. No fused bones, so we’re good!

And one more cute this-year-last-year comparison pic (to make up for my month long absence).

So stinkin’ big!  Love. This. Child.

Stop the World. We’re Alive.

 

Hi, y’all!!!!  Omiword, I feel like I’m reuniting with friends that I haven’t talked to in years.  My heart’s jumpin’ a little, and I am seriously *smiling* right now as I type!  I mean, it’s been a month.  Over a month, actually, since I’ve so much uttered a word on this poor, little neglected blog!  If you’re still reading, thank you!

{And now I can officially get my mom, my sister in Lex, and Dr. B off my back about updating!  Bonus!}

So, things have been cah-razy busy.  In a good way, though!  Life is going well and everything is just fine.  School started quickly and grad school started the very next week.  I love my new kididdles, but – of course – am already counting down the days until Fall Break.  Ha!

Becks is growing like mad.  He starts school tomorrow.  He’s ready.  Also, he thinks he’s a pirate.  And is really into…hmmm…little boy humor?  To put it kindly.  His imagination has absolutely erupted over the summer, and he’s always making up words, playing pretend, and entertaining us with his crazy stories.  Love him.

B starts carpentry school tomorrow! Yay!  It’s about time he put all that talent to use :)

Me?  I’m still thrifting, Targeting, blogging {at The Inspired Apple}, decorating, teaching, and seeking out an extra hour or two in the day to do it all.  I’ve still been visiting all of you on the sly, usually around 6am while I drink my first {of many} cup of coffee.   Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in bloggy world ;)

Happy Labor Day!