Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday, we went to Leed's Farm. Leed's grows lots of pumpkins, and rather than have you wander through their 20 acres of fields to find the perfect pumpkin, they pick them for you and lay them out on pallets where you can easily find the perfect one (or three) for your front stoop.



In addition to pumpkins, Leed's has lots and lots of fun rides and farm-type enjoyment for the kiddos (and some for adults too). They have two barns...one with lots of hay to jump in and slides that go into the hay, and the other with barn animals and a corn sandbox. They have zip lines, tractor rides, a pumpkin jumpy thing, and a little train-like ride pulled by a tractor, called the Banana Boat.


Avery was in quite a mood on Sunday (and by quite a mood, I mean she was in a really crabby, sassy kind of mood. In her defense, we discovered last night that she has an ear infection, so maybe this was starting on Sunday and we just didn't know it. Yeah, we'll go with that). From the get-go, she was very clingy, wanting to be carried the entire time, and didn't want to participate in any of the activities (particularly in the barn). The place was absolutely mobbed with people, so it may have been that she was just overwhelmed by the crowds. The one thing she did want to ride was the banana boat. Here she is at the front of the train, right behind the tractor.

When the ride stopped, I tried to get her to smile so I could take her picture. She sat in that car for a good two minutes looking as far away from me as she could, so I couldn't take her picture, until her dad got her out. Stubborn, I tell ya.

As the time passed, and after about six more banana boat rides, Avery's mood seemed to lift a little bit. We went up to the pumpkin jump with Nate and Holly and their kids. Avery appeared to be interested in jumping too, so Abe went on with her. As you can see from the picture, this was a no-go, and they got off right away. Those are Nate and Holly's kids in the background jumping and having fun.

Then I tried to get a nice picture with Abe, Avery and a pumpkin. Avery was not interested.

As we made our way to the car to leave, Avery spotted the painted animals where you can take photos as a cow, horse, etc. The crowds were starting to disappear, so she seemed a bit more comfortable with the place at this point. She ran over with Grace, who always seems to be able to cheer her up. And I finally got a decent picture. Wait....hold on a minute.....is that a...smile?

Another Layout

Here's the second layout I started at the crop, and just finished today. It's based on this sketch:

This photo is of me and my sister Tricia, at Easter this past year. PP is all Jillibean Soup Lentil Soup line. I painted a Bazzill paper flower, which was a bright pink color, with MM paint (Cranberry, I think). The alphas are the new Jillibean Soup corrugated letters (LOVE these!), and painted them with the same MM paint. Ribbon is Jillibean Soup as well.

What? A Layout?

It has been FOREVER since I have done a scrapbook layout...maybe five months or so, I'm not even sure. When we put our house on the market I wasn't scrapping because I didn't want to mess up the room - had to be "show ready"! Then between the time we were in contract and the actual closing I just lost my mojo. After the move there was a lot to do to get this house in order, and I still hadn't got my mojo back.

Well, I'm not sure that I have it back quite yet, but it was definitely good to go to a crop the other night with some friends. We of course talked the majority of the time, so I got very little done. In fact, only one layout is complete so far. Others are still in process.

This layout was a lift from Kelly Goree. I used all Basic Grey on this one, but I can't seem to remember the line off the top of my head. The pictures are from our visit to Kings Island this summer with my family:

It's Apple Picking Time!

I love Fall! There are just so many things about it - the changing leaves, and cooler temperatures (of course we're not there yet...still 80 degrees outside), college football, pumpkins, Halloween, bonfires, and of course...apple picking! We go every year to Lynd's Fruit Farm to pick our own bag of apples. It's a bit more of a drive for us now from our new house, but well worth the memories!

Last year was the first year we brought Avery, and she seemed to enjoy herself, but didn't really "get" what we were doing (she had just turned 1 then). This year, she had a lot of fun, and thought it was pretty cool to pick the apples off the tree. She took her job very seriously.

She enjoyed eating the apples even more, plopping herself down on the ground and taking a break from all the hard labor we were forcing her to do :)

Isn't she just a cute little thing walking down the orchard path?

Love this picture of her...

And the real reason we go apple picking every year? It's an excuse to make this...

Mmmmmm! What else we gonna do with all them apples?

Avery's 2nd Birthday Party

I'm a bit late in posting this, but better late than never, I guess. We had Avery's 2nd Birthday party last Sunday, and I just wanted to post a few pictures from the day.

I made giant cupcake as her main cake, with a doctored up Devils Food cake mix recipe called "Too Much Chocolate Cake." It was good, but very very rich.

Then I made those yellow cupcakes that I posted about a few weeks back.

Here's a picture of Avery opening her presents. This was the first gift she opened, and we quickly learned that we should have saved it for last. It was a Fur Real Pup, that she just absolutely adored. She unfortunately didn't have much interest in the rest of her presents after that. But she got a lot of great stuff and has been playing with ALL of it since :)



A picture of her blowing out the candles. Next year I'll be sure to put her on a chair on her own while we sing to her and have her blow out the candles so I can get some better pictures :)



And finally, a pic of her swinging with her friend Grace.


We had a great day, and got lucky with some great weather. Thanks to all of our family who drove a few hours to come to the party. We really appreciate it!!!

I Made the Marinated Flank Steak

And it was good! I thought I had soy sauce in my cabinet, but it turns out...not so much. I did have three packets of soy sauce from our last Chinese takeout night though, so I used those. But that left me more than 1/4 cup short. So, I substituted with Worchestershire sauce. Is that an adequate substitution? I don't know, but it was in my cabinet, and it's the same color, and I know it's often paired with soy sauce in other recipes. So I went for it. And it actually turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself :)

I grilled the steak, for about four minutes or so on each side. It turned out a little more pink inside than Abe and I prefer, so next time I make it I'll be sure to cook it for just a bit longer. Oh, and I did boil the marinade in a pot while the steak was cooking on the grill, as Ree suggested doing, and I really think this is a must. Really, really good.

Avery likes to dip her food, any kind of food really, so this was a hit with her. She would dip, and then say "Mmmmm."

Pioneer Woman Recipes

Lately I've been getting a little more into cooking. It's not always something I want to do (OK, sometimes I just flat out DREAD it), but if I'm gonna do it, I like to do it from scratch. I can't remember who first pointed me to the Pioneer Woman blog , but they mentioned it as a great site for photography tips. This is true, but what I've found that I really love about her site is the Cooking section.

My favorite part about the recipes that Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman) puts on her blog, is that she lays out the whole thing step by step, with pictures! I LOVE that. I like to see what each step is supposed to look like so I know if I'm doing things right. Her pictures are beautiful too, which makes you want to eat the stuff even more (don't you hate cookbooks that don't have pictures? What's the point?). She also uses really good ingredients, like heavy cream and butter...right up my alley.

So I've been on quite the kick lately making a bunch of her dishes. I may just try to make it through all of her recipes. Like that movie "Julie and Julia"...instead it's "Jamie and Ree." Hmmm...doesn't have the same ring to it, huh?

This is her Ranch Style Chicken recipe, along with Fresh Green Beans, One Way . The green beans have the best flavor of any green bean side dish I've ever had, and the chicken is really juicy and I really like the marinade on this one (I left out the bacon this time because I forgot to buy it at the grocery store...oops). Also, this picture was taken before I got the great tip on her website to never use the flash when photographing food. I've found that this is so true...a flash really makes the food look unnatural, or something.

This is her Fettuccine Alfredo recipe. TO DIE FOR!!!! This was so good, I couldn't stop eating it. Very simple recipe too, the way fettuccine alfredo is supposed to be. Not good for the waistline though...probably shouldn't make this one too often.


These Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing are what I'm making for Avery's birthday party this weekend. I had to practice before the big day to make sure they were up to par, of course :) Let me tell you, I'm not really a fan of icing...I usually take it off and just eat the cake...but this icing is GOOOOD.

Last night I was feeling like a casserole for dinner, so I decided to make this one , and it did not dissapoint. It was creamy and had just a touch of spiciness. I think next time I might add a few more veggies...maybe some peas or some carrots. I used one of those whole roasted chickens you can get at the grocery store, which made it really easy to put this together. I think this recipe's a keeper!

The next one I'm going to try is Marinated Flank Steak - got the steak in the fridge right now ready for me to stick it in the marinade. I'll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, I beg you to take a look at her site and try out a few recipes for yourself (and then tell me which one you made and if I should put it next on my list!).