First Soup of the Season

The last two years I've had a tradition of making soup about once a week from mid October-February and I never make the same soup twice in a season. To start the tradition this year I decided to use a white chili recipe I recently found in a magazine. (If you interested in trying it yourself, you can find it here http://www.parenting.com/recipes-gallery/Recipes/One-Dish-Wonders-1000016903?cid=enews090809)

To get things started off the right way, I invited some family over to kick off our season of soups and try my new recipe. I served it with corn bread and then we made smores in the backyard for dessert.

Next week I'm thinking about making chicken and dumplings. I have a superb recipe for that!

Dairy Farm Field Trip

Yesterday the boys and I joined our Mommy & Me group for a tour of a local dairy farm. The weather was beautiful and it ended up being a perfect day for this type of event.

We started our tour out by sitting on hay bails and learning about what cows eat, how they feed the babies, etc. Then we went on a hay-ride around the dairy.

The next part of our trip was going to the petting zoo area to feed and touch the animals.

Deklan spent all but 45 minutes of our day in the stroller and was perfectly content to sit back and watch the animals and kids.

At the end of our tour we sat down at picnic tables and ate the lunch that we brought. We also had ice cream that was made right at the farm. Grafton had Cotton Candy flavored ice cream and Deklan and I shared Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream. It was delicious!

After lunch everyone but us and one other family left. We ended up staying for another hour so that Grafton & his friend could pet and feed the animals without all of the other kids in his way.

It was a wonderful day!

Learning to Compromise

This evening Vince and I took the boys to the mall to have dinner and get a little Fall clothes shopping done. One item on our list was sneakers for both of the boys.

I prefer simple black or navy blue shoes so that that they match most of their jeans and shirts, no matter the color or pattern. However, my strong-minded and not easily persuaded three-year-old fell in love with the most gaudy Transformers shoes that even light up when he walks.

I'm taking my Mom's advice in "choosing my battles" and decided if these are the shoes he loves, who am I to make him wear a nice, boring pair. Not to mention the fact that Vince also encouraged me to let Grafton get the pair he picked out.

I knew this was the right decision when were leaving the store and Grafton said he wanted to go to his cousin Levi's house and show him his new shoes. He is very proud of this new addition to his wardrobe.

I just hope I can talk him out of wearing these to church!

Fall Festivites

I think I've mentioned this before, but Vince and I host a group from church called YAC+ (Young Adult Families + Kids). We meet once a month at our house, and once a month for some type of activity.

On Friday we had our 4th Annual Chili, Cornbread, and Smores night. It was a beautiful evening and we were able to spend most of our time outside. We had 52 people at our house that night.

Grafton had a lot of fun playing in the yard with his friends.

Deklan filled himself on cornbread muffins while sitting on his Uncle Tony's lap.

I ate the hottest bowl of chili ever and it literally caused me to have blisters on the back of my throat! (There had been some girls with me at the table prior to this picture.)

The best part of the evening was definitely making & eating the smores!

A Little Color = A Big Difference

In our living room/playroom, we have a wall that has a beautiful Eiffel Tower picture on it, but the black & white picture looked really boring hanging on our bland wall. One day Vince & I were discussing this, and spontaneously decided to paint the wall a color that would stand out and be so bold that it could only be used on one wall.

We never took a before picture, but I scrounged this one up from the Super Bowl Party we had in January.

We made this a family project and Grafton was even able to help his Dad paint the primer.

Here's the finished project...

I think it looks much better now!

If you were looking at this wall and turned around you would see a train table, play diner, bookshelf with baskets for toys, rocking horse, and a row of toys along the wall. As a result, this is my little space of bliss in an otherwise kid-invaded room.

What Every Sunday Afternoon Should Look Like

After a busy morning of rushing to get ready, going to church, and having lunch, this is the perfect way to spend the remainder of the day...

As if the Mall was Not Great Enough Already

Now they have a train that you can ride in and tour the first floor.

My Mother-In-Law called and told me about it last week, so we got up early Saturday morning to meet them for breakfast, let the kids ride the train, and we finished up with Starbuck's and a little shopping.

Problem is, now every time we go we'll be paying $3/person for this two minute ride. At least the kids love it!