2nd Annual Harvest Party

This past Sunday was our 2nd annual harvest party. There's only a couple of actual farmers in the bunch... but we are still celebrating the "harvest" - all the blessings that God has given us!

The menu was the same, and just as simple, as last year... chili, cornbread, buns, pickles, potato chips, and veggies with brownies and ice cream for dessert. (Give or take a few added bonuses!)


Our theme was "tools with a hint of fall"! (We held the shin dig in the garage!)

Instead of salt water taffy, we used peanuts as center pieces this year! And threw in a few chocolate pumpkins for the sugar lovers (aka children) in the bunch!

The pumpkin olympics are the main event at our harvest party - and this year we weren't let down! Jon managed to find what little grass we have available right now, and got out his spray paint to make the games happen! Ya'll ready for this?

Ladies and gentleman... LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!

Event #1 : Stairway to Pumpkin Heaven

The name of the game was to toss your pumpkin onto the highest stair... without going over to the land of doom

Event #2 : Shake, Rattle, and Roll, Roll, Roll

Roll to the highest point section... without meeting Mr. Frowny Face!


Event #3 : Pumpkin Curling (without the sweeper and all the yelling!)




Event #4 : Can It (which just so happened to be this years most popular event)
Stand behind the line and toss your pumpkin into the can... or if you're REALLY skilled, land it in the "hidden" basket BEHIND the can!

And if you're confused about the scoring... there's a handy dandy arrow to remind you!


Close, but no cigar! It's harder than it looks, folks!

We have a winner!!

Does Joe toss as good as his wife?

It appears so!!


Poor Jen TRIED tossing her pumpkin but it had taken quite a beating!

Event #5 : And for the grand finale... HEAVE HO!
Longest throw wins 25 points!




Pumpkin is a good fertilizer, right? :)


The neighbor cat sure didn't seem to mind!

I am so blessed to have friends that just hold my babe, without thinking twice, so that I can snap a few pics!! Thanks ladies!


Mike CLEARLY won for biggest pumpkin! And he got his workout for the evening having to toss that monster back and forth!

And there's just no way around it... there were some casualties!



Addie was quite concerned about this one!!

There's no age discrimination at this test of the best!



Our little family

And yup... Larren WAS trying to eat Alia's puff ball! We do feed our children, I promise!


Grand prize was a big ole' box of canned goods to be given, by the winner, to a family in need or to the winner's favorite charity!

Zach and Jen took home all the marbles YET AGAIN, this year! They are a force to be reconned with I tell ya!

Brad came in 2nd place... and received, much to his dismay, a brand new (cough, cough... "brand new"... cough...) parts weed whacker! He said he couldn't carry it home... since he was walking and all... but that's what a good neighbor is for, right!? We'll drop off his prize to him within 48 hours!

Alia and Addie making good use of the centerpieces!

Desert is served!


Relaxing after a hard game's work!



This years party was a bit smaller, maybe a bit more thrown together (shhhh!), and a bit less energetic than 2009... but that's why they are annual, right?! So you can just say... oh it will be better next year!

It was still lots of fun, and a wonderful way to celebrate our many blessings with friends!!

I Just Can't Get Enough of This Girl

Let's be real here - those first few months of her life were rough. Crying, and screaming, and screaming some more... not knowing what to do, only to repeat it again the next day. It was quite hard for me to connect with her... to say the least! It was hard for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hard for me to be thankful for where I was at in life.

But my what an amazing difference since we've gotten her allergies figured out! She's content. She's happy. She's healthy. And she's just oh so funny!

I am so GLAD (so GLAD!!) that God has completely restored those 5 months that were lost. He has given me more than I ever dreamed of! I feel so close to her now... so thankful for the time I have with her... so appreciative of the little snugly girl that we have been blessed with!

Yup, she still cries. And she still screams, at times... but I can happily say that it's mostly when she doesn't have enough Cheerios in front of her! :)

Cake Pop Central

I've just discovered Cake Pops... I know, call me old school... but WOW, they are SO SO good.

To make a long story short... I think they are just the yummiest things around!

And they are simple, yet to boot!

- Bake a 9 x 13 cake (either boxed or homemade... your choice)

- Lick the beater, the bowl, the scraper... whatever you can get your hands on, while the cake is baking!


- Cut the cake into 4 equal sections
- Crumble one of the sections into a bowl until very fine, then crumble a 2nd one. (Just 2... stop at 2, for now!)

(use either a fork or your fingers... I found that using my fingers produced finer crumbs)

- Add about 3/4 of a container of store bought frosting (or your own, if you so choose). I used a mixture of chocolate and vanilla because it was in my fridge and I wanted to use it up. And it was delightful!

- Mix and mix and mix.

- Stop and play "Ring around the Rosy" with your own little cake snatcher!


- Now, the key is NOT too much frosting.
"How can there ever be "too much" frosting?" you may ask. Good question... my thoughts exactly! But TRUST ME, there can be! With too much frosting the balls won't stay formed and they will be lumpy and frumpy and overall not that appealing to look at! So resist the urge to add cups upon cups of frosting! It's for the better!

- After you've mixed, sampled, mixed, and sampled some more... cover it and pop the batter into the fridge for awhile.

- Then form into small balls (I used the Pampered Chef small scoop and I think the size was very nice!).
- Melt several colors of chocolate candy coating

- Dip lollipop sticks about 1/2" into candy coating, and then into the formed balls. Put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes. (We don't want them frozen solid, so set the timer!)

- Then dip the cake pops into the chocolate! Dig deep into your inner artist here... be as creative as you want!!!




- There's a trick that Bakerella, the original inventor of Cake Pops, suggests call wrist tapping. It works quite well to get all the excess chocolate off!


And here's our finished product... we were going for the "clearly homemade" look!!!


Of course, there were some casualties along the way. But hey, just chalk it up as an "OH NO, darn, gee, too bad... I'll have to eat that one" moment!


And because these little suckers are so darn tempting... I decided to send some along with Jonathan to work! Upon sight of them his students asked if maybe, just maybe, his wife could make some for the class! So... leverage can be a good thing at times, right?!

And here is the biggest Cake Pop fan at our house...




Poor girl... we ran out of Cake Pops a few days ago, and she still hasn't recovered!!
(I've said it before, and I'll say it again... she's like me in more ways than one!)

Move Over Sista

I love that we have a big verandah. It satisfies our need for being outside... all without the dirt and the stains and the mess!! And that makes for one happy mama!

The girls just play happily and have no idea that Mommy is keeping them from all the joys of eating dirt and being covered from head to toe. (I do realize it's inevitable... but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes!)

Driving a car is so much easier on a smooth surface too... you see, Alia hasn't mastered her Fred Flinstone technique yet.

And with such "close" quarters... I prefer precision. (I still don't know why, with a 90 ft. verandah, they choose to play within the same 5 ft. square. Life's unanswered questions, eh?!)

But she's cautious... or at least trying to be!

Easy does it...


This little gal is hard to see in the rear view sometimes...

With Alia's driving confidence nearing an all time high - she decides it's a good time to pass a tip or two along to her sister

And her sister is THOROUGHLY impressed!!!!

A little too impressed...

There's no taking the wheel back now...


Alia's patient... for awhile, that is! Then she kindly gives Larren a hug... and asks me to go play with Larren somewhere else!

I think she just wanted more obstacles to maneuver through!