Weekend Snapshots and Ramblings

We were finally able to light our first fire of the season this weekend. It wasn't extremely cold out, but the girls were so excited to help build the fire and since I came down with an ugly cold at the end of last week, including fever, the chills I kept experiencing couldn't wait to get near the warmth of the fire. My sweet hubby helped the kids get the logs in and had the fire all warm and toasty before he headed out with the boys to watch a high school football game. While they were gone, the girls and me just hung out on the couch with our feet up and watched The Grinch, one of our favorite movies.






Sunday morning, after a long night of coughing and, well....misery, I went into the kitchen to make up some homemade chicken soup. I didn't use any measurements, I just added some water to my pot, tossed in a handful of lentils and barley, some carrots and diced chicken breasts, along with some sauteed onion and celery. I was looking for a cure or at least a big dose of relief and this soup did wonders for my throat and voice - or lack of voice I should say. As I think back, just the aroma of the onions and celery being sauteed together may be the key to a curing chicken soup....it is just heavenly and penetrates even the stuffiest of heads. It was so good and I ate (or drank) lots of it. The hot liquid really soothed my throat and made me feel so much better.





The first weekend of November is behind us now along with several things that I wanted to do but wasn't well enough to go out and do. Mobile's Greek Fest was this weekend and I really wanted to go again this year for some more Spanakopita and Baklava among other yummy foods, my dearest cousin sister had a party that I had to pass on after looking forward to it all week, and a nearby neighborhood was having their annual yard sale that I wanted to browse through again this year since I seriously racked up on barely used "mall clothing" last year....jackets and all!

Anyhoo....I guess the up side would be that I am fairly well rested (thanks to nyquil), I had some time to finish reading a book that I've had on loan from the library for way too long, I read a bit more of another book that I've had on my bookshelf, I wrote in my journal, I stayed up late at night, I drank hot cocoa by the fire, I read books to my girls - even with my scratchy voice, I had some quiet time to myself to think in that mindful way, and we progressed a little more with my boys' math books in spite of my cold...we're so close to finished!


All in all - it was a very good, blessed weekend. I'm really hoping that this week will be the same. I'm also praying that Ms. Ida does some serious fizzling out in the Gulf of Mexico before she rears her ugly head around here! :(

A hurricane warning on the 9th of November? Craziness, I tell ya!

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Coffee, Anyone?

I'm just sharing a mosaic I made for Things I Love Thursday over at Flickr.
What is it about these coffee images that is so inviting and makes me fave them
every time they pop up in my contacts?

The warmth, the intimate moments of conversation between friends,
the quiet morning brew for one, the little moments of reflection
that often accompany these cups of coffee or tea - yes, I think
all these reasons are why I love them so much.




Now, for a little fun with our coffee.....



"Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee,
I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever." ~David Letterman



"Behind every successful woman
is a substantial amount of coffee." ~Stephanie Piro



"I don't have a problem with caffeine.
I have a problem without caffeine!" ~Author Unknown



"In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread
a sewing machine while it's running." ~Jeff Bezos



"COFFEE.SYS Not Found: User startup disabled."
~Author Unknown







and, finally...


"I'd stop drinking coffee, but I'm no quitter." ~Author Unknown








credits here:

1. Morning Coffee, 2. Coffee-ing and sketching, 3. I don't really like coffee, she said.., 4. coffee bokeh, 5. coffee & art, 6. Coffee's hot, fresh and ready . . . ., 7. coffee for You making with all my love, 8. coffee + apron, 9. Saturday morning coffee on the patio, 10. S T A R B U C K S . A T . H O M E, 11. coffee, 12. Coffee love iart, 13. I <3 Coffee, 14. Untitled, 15. Mornings - coffee+journals, 16. Good Morning, 17. coffee and tangerines., 18. Black Coffee No Sugar Please Oh And A Little Bit Of Milk, 19. coffee with baileys, 20. A cup of bokeh

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

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Sweet Potato Muffins

I had to share this recipe, although many of you avid Pioneer Woman readers have probably already seen it. This may be the best muffin recipe ever! They were SO moist and yummy, but in all seriousness, how can you go wrong with autumn spices and cream cheese? Anyway, her recipe is labeled as Pumpkin Muffins, but I had a serious excess of sweet potatoes last week and decided to do something a little different with them. Since sweet potatoes and pumpkin can taste similar when combined with these spices, I thought I'd give them a try in this recipe. I just mashed them and added them in place of the pumpkin. After they cooled, I used her recipe for cream cheese frosting and well....oh my! They are definitely on the menu for Thanksgiving!

So if you have a craving for something sweet and autumn-ish, give these a whirl...you'll be glad you did!

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Halloween Recap

Here's a little photo recap of our Halloween! Our weekend was absolutely great - full of fun times and wonderful family and friends. We had a blast getting all dressed up and being silly for a couple of hours. We seem to enjoy doing this more and more as the years go by and everyone participates just a little bit more every year. We have our huge weenie roast, homemade chili, chips and dip, cupcakes, candy, tons of prizes to collect along the scavenger hunt for the kids, and our big hay ride finale. SO much fun!


















































After the party, the cousins came home with my kiddos to spend the night. They still had plenty of energy to spend, so bowling in the hallway, chasing each other with sticky ghouls, eating more candy, and laughing together into the early morning hours is what they did while I sat back and watched them make some really awesome childhood memories. We ended up with a living room FULL of mattresses and six super tired, snoring kids. Who knew little ones could snore so loud?! Funny!

So, that's it....the big bash is over and the only thing that remains is the mountain of candy. If all works out well, I'll go grab the little hidden stashes this morning and go through them, putting away the large majority and bring out just a little at a time.

Now why do I feel like the Christmas holidays just made a startling appearance? Seriously! There are only 52 days until Christmas....Oh My! I almost feel the urge to get the decorations out of the attic and I actually wrote the words "Christmas gifts" on my shopping list for this week. Time flies - it really does. So much to do, so little time ;)


Happy Monday!

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Passing It On...

Just passing on to you a few of the beautiful images that I've been fave-ing over at Flickr. Just one more reason for me to absolutely love fall.



credits here:
1. fleeting, 2. Last from the garden, 3. acornokeh, 4. pumpkins, 5. pretty autumn, 6. Loner, 7. pumpkins in a basket, 8. ..., 9. variety, 10. pumpkins, 11. 289/365: Bittersweet October, 12. Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus, 13. handful of autumn, 14. dangle, 15. Untitled, 16. Autumn dance, 17. champagne : 355.365 gratitude, 18. wishes with wings : gratitude 363.365, 19. Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it..., 20. plume

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Happy Fall Ya'll!

Fall is a happy time of year don't you think? Everything is so vibrant, the leaves are dancing, the light is perfect, the afternoon shadows seem to have a life of their own. I love this time of year and so many times I wish that our southern autumns were just a little more colorful and cool. We bounce back and forth between hot and humid to downright cold. We wear shorts one day and coats the next. Our fall isn't a steady stream of loveliness by any means, but when things seem to line up and the weather is ideal, it is mighty fine.

The kids had a blast the other day making our back porch scarecrow. An old pair of overalls, a flannel shirt, a straw hat, along with some hay and burlap, and they made a really cute back door fellow :) It's always so much fun to create these scarecrows!

Halloween is this weekend and my kids absolutely cannot wait. We always have a big bonfire with hotdogs, homemade chili, plenty of desserts and of course, candy. All the family and our really close neighbors come over, dress up, and have a great night of fun. This year my kiddos are going to be Ariel the mermaid (Claire), a scary masked man (Ethan), an old troll....SO cute (Isaac), my hubby will pick an old mask from the dress up box - probably the bearded wizard, and Emma and me are going to be just a little witchy this year. I can't wait....it's going to be so much fun :)

We usually take the kids on a hay ride down our little dirt road through the neighborhood and they stop at a few neighbors' houses. This year, I'm planning a Halloween Scavenger Hunt for my kiddos and a few of the cousins that will be joining us. I did this last year for my kids and they had the best time. I used the general ideas from this website, changing just a few things to meet our needs. I've got treats planned for each clue and I'm hoping that the weather won't be too cool to have a scavenger-hunt-finale of bobbing for apples. That is fun to do and to watch - those apples are hard to get!








Happy Fall Ya'll!

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Simplicity

The simple things in life:

quiet mornings
a good cup of coffee
mornings spent teaching my children
afternoon conversations
sunlight streaming in the windows
gentle breezes
line-dried clothes
the sound of happy children
smiling faces
wholesome foods
dinner at the table
playing Clue with the family
a clean kitchen at the end of the day
clean sheets
a good night's sleep


these are the daily, simple things that make life so grand.
the little things that add up to be the biggest thing of all.....My Life.
i love my full, busy, happy, and simple life.

********************************







This is my entry for last week's Lens.Us.Together. theme, Simplicity.




Last week went by in the blink of an eye! I really don't know where time is going anymore. October is basically over and Christmas catalogs are filling the mailbox everyday. Ack! Sometimes I really wish I could slow down those hands of time just a little. I can't seem to find time for anything lately. My poor camera keeps calling my name, Flickr is patiently waiting for the occasional upload, I'd love to join in with Self Portrait Challenge for November (but am wondering how I'll fit it in), oh - and that's not to mention my beloved blog(s).

I think that because we opted to school all summer so that we could take our break this winter instead, it has put us at our "end of the year crunch." We have just a little left to do, but that little is filling our days entirely with lots of work and review. We should completely wrap things
up by the third week of November, conveniently in time for Thanksgiving, Christmas
and hunting season ;) They can't wait and neither can I!

I am really looking forward to our break, the free time at the holidays, the slower pace because of it, the time my boys get to spend with their dad doing their most favorite thing in the world - hunting, extra kitchen time and holiday planning with my girls. Fun times ahead...if we can just make it through these next few weeks!

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