For the love of Fall....

I love Fall. I have made multiple loaves of pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup and Fall snack mix. I love the cooler weather and the changing leaves. I have yet to put a fire in my fireplace, but it will happen soon.  I love nature walks, snuggling my kiddos on the sofa and drinking hot chocolate. I want to savor each moment of this Fall because it's already passing to quickly, as are the days, the weeks and the years of my children being little.

That being said, I'm also going to take a hiatus from the blog.  Yes, there are so many ideas, recipes, crafts and DIY projects I'd love to post about, but it is just too difficult for me to find the time these days. I hope you understand. And, I hope you have a wonderful Fall, full of things to be thankful for.

Truth

I'm going to put this on my girl's bathroom vanity. What beautiful Truth to start the week!

Fall Snack Mix

I think I'm going to have to make this Fall snack mix for neighbors and friends. It's too cute not to distribute. Plus, I always love a good excuse to share some love with neighborhood folk.

Fall Wreath

I saw this cute wreath (well, kind of a wreath) and think it may just solve my blah door dilemma. I have a big "C" that has been used as decoration for every one of my middles birthday parties. I think it might just be time to graduate it to a new purpose.

Prayer Pail

I made one of these prayer pails to keep on our breakfast room table. It's such a good way to guide kid's prayers, without putting words in their mouths. Plus, it teaches them to pray for others on a consistent basis. What kind of things do you do to encourage your kids to grow spiritually?

Bring on the Pumpkin

Sorry for the absence of posts lately. My mom turned 70 and took my sister's family and ours to the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. I won't go on and on about how wonderful it was, but I will say this. If I have the means when my kids our grown, I'm definitely carrying on the same tradition.  My parents have taken us all on a trip for their 65th and now 70th birthdays and it has been a tremendous gift to us all. I am so thankful for their generosity and desire to be with us and our kids.  Truly special.

Now, onto pumpkin recipes. I love pumpkin treats and now that Fall is here, there are all kinds of great recipes out there. Here are a few I've found on pinterest. I've made the first one and it is as good as it is easy.  Enjoy....

You can go to my pinterest recipe page to get all the recipes. I will say there are soooo many out there that are probably far better than my selections, but I tried to stick with things that won't kill the waste line. I wait until December to do that! 

Freezer Meals, Part II

Get a load of this....I actually made a freezer meal that is good for you. I found this recipe on pinterest (slightly addicting) and it's really good. And, it makes whole lot which is great for eating some and freezing some. I love a good soup on a cool (at least not hot) Fall night.  It also happens to be a crock pot recipe which is very helpful to us on Soccer nights...tonight being one of them. 

If you make it, I'd love to know what you think. Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

(image via pinterest)

It's Fall, which means I'm starting my Christmas shopping. Yes, I start early. I do this because it keeps me from having to rush around and grab something that may not be perfect for the person in mind. I also do this so that December isn't quite such a huge hit to the wallet.  To keep track of gift giving this year, I'm using this Gift List. It's nothing fancy, but it does the job.

Have you started shopping yet?

Eating Right

As you can probably tell, I do my best to eat right and feed my family right. By "right" I do not mean it is always the most healthy. I'm sure you've also noticed that I love sweets and they are not taboo around here. My goal is to find a healthy balance between eating what benefits our bodies, while still enjoying what doesn't from time to time.  The tricky part comes in doing this, all while trying to stay within a pretty tight grocery budget.  I was fishing around for some budget friendly and healthy meal ideas and stumbled across some good information. Here is a good resource for budget friendly healthy foods. There are also so additional good links from the webpage.

Have a great weekend!

Freezer Meals, Part I

I mentioned a while ago having freezer meals on hand for those night when you have to get dinner ready in a pinch. So, I'm here with my first freezer meal recommendation.  You're going to kill me because it's cookies. I know, I know. This does not help you at all.  But wait, it just might. How great is it to have cookies in the freezer that you can pull out on whim?  Play dates, pop-in company, anew neighbor. All these things are made better by a warm batch of fresh cookies.  See, they can help. And these cookies are delicious, easy and freeze really well.

I promise that my next freezer meal post is going to be a real meal. I've already made them and they are good.  Enjoy today!!!