my blessed life

The perfect treat for a Fall breakfast Pumpkin Pancakes (from Kellie at There Is No Place Like Home ) 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp. brown sugar 1 tbsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. ginger 1/4 tsp. cloves 1-3/4 cups milk 1/2 cup canned pumpkin 1 egg 2 tsp. vegetable oil ***** Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. Combine the milk, pumpkin, egg and oil in a small bowl; add to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Batter may be lumpy. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with oil or butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to form and then turn. Cook 1-2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with maple syrup!

Our very-busy-weekend is in full swing here! It's really been a great week and I'm looking forward to lots of fun this weekend. We are staying right on track with school so far~yea! On Tuesday we took a little (much-needed for me) break and visited a pumpkin farm . The kids were so excited to pick out their pumpkins! We ended up carving them on Thursday, aka * Pumpkin Day *:) Lots of pure family fun that day! In other school news, Mr. B finished up his first handwriting book, Getty-Dubay Italics A, this week. He has cruised right through that~he loves it! So now I need to order book B, but in the meantime he is practicing with this wonderful handwriting book I picked up last Spring at the homeschool convention. I really love it! It's put out by the Center for Essential Education . They had them for a couple of different handwriting styles, Italics included, and several skill levels, too. I have one waiting for The Princess as soon as she finis

Pumpkin carving is a big deal in our family! The kids love it and, frankly, so do Vince and I. It's funny, too, because I had never carved a pumpkin in my life until I met Vince. Now we have so much fun choosing and planning our designs. You can read more about our past pumpkin carving adventures here and here . This year was no different. Tuesday we headed to the pumpkin farm to make our choices and Thursday was dubbed *Pumpkin Day* at our house. We carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds , made pumpkin cupcakes and baked pumpkin cookies! So much fun! So with no further ado...our family pumpkins for 2010: The Princess': She was totally undecided until the last minute, finally choosing to recreate a face she saw on Mr. B's pumpkin t-shirt:) Mr. B's: He had his planned for days, maybe weeks. He's like that:) He was very specific: triangle eyes, square nose, one tooth. Vince's: He got his design from my latest issue of Martha Stewart Li

Well, we're busy carving up those pumpkins we bought the other day! It's officially been dubbed *Pumpkin Day* around here. More pumpkin activities will be blogged soon, but I wanted to share some roasted pumpkins seeds with you...or rather share the recipe with you:) They're yummy! Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Mennonite Country-Style Recipes) 1-1/2 tbsp. butter, melted 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. seasoned salt 1/8 tsp. garlic powder 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 cups unwashed pumpkin seeds ***** Mix all thoroughly. Spread on a baking sheet. Bake at 275F for 1 hour or until seeds are browned and crunchy. Enjoy!

Yesterday we took the day off from school and drove to a pumpkin patch. It was a much-needed *down* day for me and the weather was so fall-perfect. I've been looking for a great pumpkin patch/farm since we moved back to Arkansas. I have to admit I've really missed the farm we would always go to while we lived in Alabama. I haven't found anything to compare at all. I did find one on in the town of Clarksville, AR that I thought might be fun though, so we headed over. It was a nice drive and they did have a better selection of pumpkins, but it was not the total farm experience I was looking for. However, we found the fattest, fuzziest caterpillar that we've ever seen:) They had a lots of silly fall/halloween fun around, so we had to enjoy that:) I love this shot of the kids as Frankenstein and his bride~not that the kiddos have any idea of who these characters are... haha I could spend tons of money on pumpkins every year. I love all of the different varieties. I refrai

We've been eating more beans lately for protein. Since I've started buying healthier meats for our family (organic, grass-fed, no hormones, no antibiotics), we've actually cut back on eating as much because the healthy meat is so expensive. But I would rather cut back some and eat the good stuff, than expose my family to the hormones and other junk in the regular meats. Since cutting back on meat I'm trying to find different ways to incorporate more beans into our diet other than our usual pinto beans and cornbread. And last night I found a winner: Red Beans and Rice! The whole family liked it! I'm a huge fan of Cajun food anyway, so I was really hoping that I had found a great recipe--and this one is definitely a keeper! Red Beans and Rice ( American Home Cooking cookbook ) 1 lb. dried red beans or small kidney beans 1-1/2 lbs. smoked ham hocks, cut into 1" thick slices 2 medium onions, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 3/4 cup celery, chopped 2-4

(taken at Lake Fort Smith State Park, AR) 0321. the improvement in Vince's back 0322. my aunt's smooth recovery following surgery last Friday 0323. healing words 0324. knowing you can trust God even when you have no idea what He's up to 0325. getting to do a little shopping....alone:) 0326. being able to rely on God for His much-needed wisdom 0327. hugs from my sweet boy 0328. watching my sweet girl curled up reading for hours 0329. sneaking in a few chapters in a good book myself 0330. family lunches on Sundays 0528ba71-4143-48d9-96e4-6d639ad16b46 1.03.01

Ahh....a fresh week. I'm ready for it! Last week was a bit rough~seemed like there was a lot going on that had my emotions all over the place. Sunday was a good start to a new week though and I'm looking forward to having a great one! I didn't actually make all of the meals on my menu plan last week, but there was one stand out dinner: the cornflake-crusted tilapia with scalloped potato casserole . I just had to share the recipes with you. Cornflake-Crusted Tilapia (Rachel Ray Yum-O, the family cookbook) 2 cups cornflake crumbs 1 tsp. dry mustard 1/2 tbsp. ground coriander 1/2 tbsp. paprika (I used smoked) 4 tilapia fillets salt & pepper 2 tbsp. olive oil ***** In a shallow dish combine the cornflake crumbs, dry mustard, coriander and paprika. Season the tilapia fillets with salt and pepper, then coat them thoroughly in the seasoned cornflake crumbs. Preheat a large nonstick skillet with the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to ripple, add the

It's been a couple of week since I've done a *weekly wrap-up*, so brace yourself: this is one photo-heavy post! It's been a full and somewhat exhausting two weeks around here. There have been lots of activities, but my husband has also been recovering from throwing out his back. So along with all of the usual duties, I've been a nurse, too. And honestly, I'm just not a very good nurse. I'm impatient and sort of short on mercy...just confessing my sins, y'all. But I've tried really hard this past week and a half to be better. He's been in such pain, it wasn't hard to have mercy on him. But I'm so glad that he's beginning to feel better and life around here is getting back to normal. So here are some highlights from these past two weeks: We've been having lots of *monster cereal* for breakfast all month long. I made the kiddos wait until October 1st before eating any so it's been sort of a big deal for them:) Last w