Good News and Not-so-good News

Good News: Sarah is on day 5 of wearing big girl panties! Only a few accidents, but overall, she is doing great!!! She is still in that stage where she just gets so busy that she "forgets" and that is okay. We've been trying to potty train for several months, but life gets busy and I'll forget or Bob will forget and it just wasn't working. SO, we made the commitment that over Christmas break, we'd nip this problem in the bud, be diligent and get the job done! And really...she is doing great! She's not 100% yet- she's not at the point where she'll take herself to the potty when she needs to go...but we're getting there. One day at a time! I really, really, really want her 100% potty-trained (including naptime) by May so she can go "upstairs" in daycare and spend the summer in the same class as Beth.


Not-so-good News: After a few days of watching our labrador retriever, Bailey, hobble around, I took her to the vet yesterday. $225 later for X-rays, pain meds, a cordizone shot and more, it was determined that she has bone spurs on her backbone and some kind of degenerative disease in the spaces between her backbone disks. (thankfully, nothing wrong with her hips, as Labs are very prone to!) She is super hypoallergenic to all kinds of things, so it really limits how we treat her. Pretty much, our only option is pain medication. The vet said that a lot of times these things fix themselves, so we're taking a wait-and-see approach. Pain meds everyday for 3 weeks, then on an as-need basis. She will be 9 years old tomorrow - New Years Eve. She's our Y-2K baby - born Dec. 31, 1999. She DID seem to be moving better this morning - but does appear to still be in some sort of medicine fog! (been there, done that!)

A few Christmas pictures

All dressed up for the party at my mom and dad's house on Dec. 23:

Family picture:

Christmas Eve morning at my mom and dad's house:

Christmas Eve at Bob's mom and stepdad's house:

Bob reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve before bedtime...a yearly tradition:

Christmas morning- checking out what Santa brought:

After reading Santa's note that he had to leave something in the backyard because it was too big to get down the chimney - the trampoline reveal!

Bob's gift to Beth - a music/jewelry box - she is SOOO taken with it!

Bob's gift to Sarah - a new sleeping bag to match the one her sister already has!

Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast- powdered donuts!

Testing out the trampoline Christmas day!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

I'll post pictures later! We've had a great Christmas so far! The girls have loved all their gifts, with the exception of a few...and have already been out jumping on the trampoline this morning! Both are sleeping right now thankfully! Its been a long 2 days!! Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice calm day of playing outside (supposed to be 68 here!), watching new Disney movies (Tinkerbelle & Sleeping Beauty) and playing quietly with new toys!

Hope you had a great Christmas, too!

Breakfast with Santa & other things...

We took the girls to a Breakfast with Santa on Saturday. Good times and good food! Both girls cooperated nicely for a picture with Santa and they loved opening their stockings that Santa gave them! After it was all over and done, Sarah just plopped right down by our table (which happened to be by a fireplace), broke open her new crayons and coloing book and tuned out the world and colored happily for a while! I think these are HER first crayons...that belong to only HER...and she is still being a little protective of them!

So, its Christmas week and our plans are in full swing. Bob and I work today and 1/2 day tomorrow. We kick-off the festivities with the big fancy family dinner at mom and dad's house Tuesday evening, Christmas Eve morning back at mom and dad's house to open "immediate" family gifts, Christmas Eve at Bob's mom's house and finally...Christmas morning/day at OUR HOUSE! I LOVE the chaos of running to house to house to house....seeing as much family as possible. Yes, I probably complain about it, but honestly, that is what makes this time of year so fun! The family fun, festivities, craziness and chaos! :-) It wouldn't be Christmas without it.... In fact, last year on Christmas Day, it was super quiet at our house because mom and dad went to Florida on Christmas Day and it was just a "blah" day...no craziness! It didn't feel like Christmas....I'm hoping for more FUN this year! Oh course, with the trampoline making its appearance on Christmas morning, I'm sure it will be a very active day!

We are still tossing around the idea of heading to Destin this weekend and staying through Jan. 3rd or so. Bob has to work next Monday and Tuesday, so IF it all falls into place, I'll go down with the girls, my parents and maybe my brother on Friday or Saturday and Bob will drive down on New Year's Eve to spend 3-4 days with us down there, too. I'm still holding out to see what the weather down there will be next week. I'm also a little concerned on how the girls will do with no water to play in. They CAN play on the beach, but both my girls have a "sand" limit and can only take so much. They can also only take so much of the malls and I'm unsure how else to entertain them at the beach in the dead of winter (60's or so down there, as opposed to 30's and 40's here). PLUS, I feel a little guilty about giving them such a big Christmas gift (trampoline) and then taking them away from it for a week! I'm just not sure what we are doing yet.....Stay tuned!

Wise Woman

Beth was a "wisewoman" is her Kindergarten's little Christmas pageant today. She did so great!

Snow...err...Ice Day

We had an "ice day" yesterday -no school - the result of about 3/4 inch-1 inch of ice that fell Monday night. It was yucky and slick. Beth spent the morning with mom making a gingerbread house and "sledding" down their driveway. Both girls had fun in our own driveway just "ice skating" and enjoying being outside. Schools ran an hour late today, so we still had a somewhat lazy morning and Beth got to enjoy hot chocolate for B'fast two days in a row!


Sarah "skating" in our flower bed!


Beth jumping in the big pile of ice!

I'm a Single Mom (at least for a week!)

Bob is off to different parts of the country for business from now until next Friday (with a brief stop at home for Sunday night). I'm looking for creative things to do with the girls. Last weekend we made cookies and clay ornaments. I'm not opposed to more cookies, but I need other ideas....Tonight is movie night - which means Beth gets to pick out a movie at Blockbuster and we snuggle up in my bed after Sarah goes to bed and watch it. BUT, I need other ideas to keep them (and me) from being stir-crazy and bored on Saturday & Sunday. Next week won't be too bad, as it will be business as usual with school & work and I'll just have to fill an hour or so each night. I may drive them around looking at Christmas lights one night, but that is really a "Family" tradition and I hate to do it without Bob. Any other fun Christmas things I can do with them? My brain is overloaded and I can't think.......

Maybe our Christmas Card picture?

I'm thinking I might use this picture for the "From Our Castle to Yours" idea.... What do you think?

Cookies & Truffles & Clay

After an afternoon of baking, here are the two finished products:

Oreo Truffles (recipe below)

and Cinnamon Polar Bear Cookies (recipe not on my computer)

OREO BALLS OR OREO TRUFFLES

Yields 36-40 balls/truffles

Ingredients

1 package regular size Oreo cookies, crushed

1 (8 ounces) package cream cheese, softened

1 package white almond bark

1 package chocolate almond bark

Directions

1. Empty Oreos into large plastic bag (ziploc, etc). With a hammer or mallet, crush the oreos into tiny pieces. (I use the big end of an ice pick).

2. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
3. Roll into walnut size balls.
4. Chill for an hour.
5. Melt approximately 3/4 package of white or chocolate almond bark.
6. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white or chocolate almond bark.
7. Allow to harden on wax paper - Takes about 15 min.
8. While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of white or chocolate almond bark.
9. When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with drizzles of chocolate or white almond bark. Store in refrigerator.
**I just use a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner to drizzle the almond bark.

I also made Baker's Clay and cut out a few ornaments for the girls to paint tonight. They are always a fun project, but definitely at least an all afternoon project or a 2-day project.

Baker's Clay
Great for Homemade Christmas Ornaments!

This recipe yield about 10-12 "normal" size cookie cutter ornaments

1/3 Cup water (more if too dry)

1/2 Cup salt

1 Cup flour

Mix all ingredients until a dough forms.
Add more water if too dry.
Separate and add food color if desired.
If you'd like to keep your creations & make ornaments, roll dough out with rolling pin and use your favorite cookie cutter shapes to cut ornaments...repeat until all dough is gone. Its easiest to use a drinking straw and poke a hole (for a ribbon or hook) into the top of the ornament before baking!

Bake at 275 degrees, for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Paint & Varnish, if desired, once cooled.

These are from Beth's Special Day last year and they were painted/decorated by the 4 year olds.....but at least you get the picture:

Is this a cheesy idea for a Christmas card?

I'm thinking about letting the girls get all dressed up in their princess dress-up stuff and then taking their picture by the Tree and doing a card that says something like "From Our Castle to Yours"......cheesy??? I'm just trying to find ways that would make the girls cooperate to actually get their picture made!

Clueless...

I'm clueless about what Christmas gifts to get a few people on my list. I need some ideas!

1. Bob's Sister (Sister-in-law #1) - works a lot, in school, married with two kids, travels a lot, not very girly
2. Bryan (my brother) - newly married, new house, young, attorney (and ALL he has told me is that he wants a Lowe's gift card...that isn't fun!)
3. 5-year old little Angel Tree boy - no specific requests? Whats a good idea?
4. My almost 87 year old grandmother....??????

Weekend Update & Recipe

We had a great weekend! Turkey day was hectic, but it always is when I host. Lots of people to feed...lots of house to clean....lots of things to prepare/cook....I'm kinda glad its over. We made it through Thankgiving Day ALMOST drama-free. Things always turn ugly when politics come into the conversation, don't they? Ugh! The girls stayed up LATE, but slept till 8 a.m. on Friday morning! WOO HOO! Here is some of our Thanksgiving crew:

Friday I decorated the house and put up the tree and lights. We had dinner at mom and dad's house - Italian - a nice change from Turkey & dressing. The girls stayed up LATE again, but slept until 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. DOUBLE WOO HOO!

Saturday was kinda lazy. The girls and I put the ornaments on the tree and they spent the better part of the morning playing dress-up and dancing to Christmas music! I spent a while at Church preparing for teaching Sunday school. Then we got dressed and headed to one of the local state parks for dinner with Bob's family - a yearly tradition. I usually love all the photo ops with all their wonderfully decorated Christmas trees, but this year, they only had ONE and it wasn't even that great....bummer.....The girls were less than cooperative, so I didn't get that "Christmas Card shot" I wanted....I'll try again some day at our own house.

After dinner and the drive home, we headed back to mom and dad's house to say hi to a friend of the family and for the girls to get their new "fur" capes and muffs that mom bought them. The girls stayed up LATE again, but didn't sleep till 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning....everyone had to get up for Church.

I helped mom make Wildcat Bourbon Balls (recipe below if you are so inclined to try them - they taste MUCH better than a drink!) all day Sunday afternoon. Sarah went to bed on time...Beth watched Tinkerbell till 8:30. Then bedtime....Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. was awfully hard for all of us!

Thus begins December and a month full of busy weekends and weekdays!

Wildcat Bourbon Balls

You will need 2 large mixing bowls, 2-3 cookie sheets, toothpicks and a double boiler, as well as tin’s in which you will “season” the finish product.

1 stick of real butter
2 - one pound boxes of confectioners sugar (Powdered sugar)
2/3 cup of 100 proof Kentucky Bourbon (a scant 2/3 cup or it will be too gooey)
1 – eight ounce box of unsweet Baking Chocolate Squares (I use Baker’s)
3-4 squares (3 or 4 oz.) of semi-sweet Baking Chocolate Squares
1½ ounces of paraffin (I use Gulfwax)
About 2 cups of pecan halves – not pieces

In bowl #1 cut the butter into a box of confectioners sugar until it is grainy. In bowl #2 mix the bourbon with a box of confectioners sugar.

Now dump the ingredients of Bowl #1 into Bowl #2 and mix. It’s best to mix it a little and then just use your hands to mix and kneed the mixture until it is smooth. Now refrigerate the mixture until it is hard but still pliable. (A few hours)

Remove from the refrigerator and roll into 1 inch balls. Place balls on wax paper, which is on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate until firm.

Dipping
When the balls are firm, they are ready to dip. In a double boiler, mix the unsweet chocolate, the semi sweet chocolate, and the paraffin and stir until melted and blended. Stick a tooth pick into a ball, dip it in the chocolate and then gently twirl the toothpick over the mixture so it will drip back into the pan. Now, twirl and drop the covered ball onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and immediately press a pecan half on the top to cover up the toothpick hole. Do not let the finished products touch until they are hardened. Place cookie sheets back in the refrigerator until the Bourbon Balls are hard. Now, place them in a single layer in tins. If you must stack them, add a layer of cardboard between the layers. Place tins in your refrigerator for about a month. Then, enjoy sparingly!

TIPS
As you begin dipping the balls, be certain they dry to a satin finish. If not, add more paraffin. You may use the same toothpick until it gets messy. If the balls fall off the toothpick before you twirl them, then put them back into the refrigerator to firm up some more. If you’re in a hurry, you can stick the balls into a freezer to firm up quickly.

Do NOT drink - um, eat - and drive!

Busy week & Holiday TV

I've been busy guys...sorry...plus our desktop computer at home died and I refuse to write blog entries on the laptop. I just HATE laptop keyboards.....

Beth's school T'Giving play/feast/cake auction is tomorrow, so tomorrow will be busy! Plus, I just found out that Sarah's class will have their Thanksgiving "feast" on Wednesday....oh goodie...

I still have a few things that need to be done for MY Thanksgiving feast Thursday...I'm still trying to decide whether to go with the fancy china/silver or just go with paper plates/plastic utensils and be done with ith. Something inside of me just doesn't think paper/plastic is a good idea, so I think I'll be polishing silver this week, too...and putting the dining room table leafs in, setting the table and then figureing out where I'm going to put 22 people in my house?? WOWZA!

Beth has already asked me about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...so I did a little research and found the guide to ALL of this year's Holiday TV programs - week by week:
http://television.aol.com/insidetv/2008/11/20/holiday-tv-schedule/

I just printed it out and its hanging on the frig. Most of it is ABC Family's Christmas programming, but there is other good stuff, too. Bob and I watched Christmas With the Cranks on Friday night...I love that movie!! A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on this Tuesday night, but check your LOCAL listings....our 7 p.m. programming always gets preempted for the Tennessee Titans football show...bummer! I also remember ABC & FOX having movie specials on T'Giving night, too, but they aren't showing up on the above guide, so not sure if they will be on this year or not.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!!

Brrrrr.....

It was a VERY cold weekend in Lexington. Thank goodness we decided to NOT take the kids!

We attended the pitiful UK v. VMI Basketball game on Friday night. We played badly. We lost. (We is UK)

We shopped all day Saturday at Fayette Mall - I didn't really get anything of any importance. I bought one Christmas gift for a family member. We DID eat lunch at P.F. Changs!! YUMMY!

We bundled up and "tailgated" at Columbi Steakhouse! It was raining and cold outside, so no tailgating in the parking lot this trip! We sat down in our seats right at kick-off and it FINALLY stopped raining! However, it was getting colder (it was about 39 degrees when we got there - 32 with the windchill...and dropping...). Brrr......

The Wildcats lost in a long, cold game to Vandy. Not good. (sorry the picture looks weird - my beloved Canon Poweshot is dying...I'm hoping for a new one for Christmas!) Oh- we woke up to SNOW on our cars and the rooftops in Lexington. Brrr.....

When I got home yesterday, Bob went to pick up the girls in Murray, so I kinda cleaned a little, did some toy-purging (which I can only do when the girls aren't home), cleaned the girls' closets and put the Halloween decorations and Beth's outgrown summer clothes in the attic. I cooked dinner and also had someone come by to look at/buy some bows. The girls and Bob breezed in about 6:00, so we ate and then the girls played a while and went to bed! I spent the night ironing and watching Desperate Housewives...woo hoo!

I was glad to be back in my own bed....

Love Puppies?

Check out this webcam of a litter of 6 puppies - somewhere in Canada & there IS sound to it, too. Nothing cuter than a little puppy bark!!! My girls are going to love watching them!
http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016

My Girls Night

Beth & Sarah spent the night with mom and dad last night. I had a Mom's group "meeting" at Starbuck at 7:00 & Bob is in North Carolina, so instead of just babysitting for a few hours, the girls just spent the night. I dropped them off around 4:30 and had 2 1/2 hours to kill...so what did I do in my glorious 2 1/2 hours of freedom, you ask? I shopped and bought a dishwasher!! Yeah, exciting, huh? Ours finally fizzled out and died sometime this summer, so we've been handwashing everything. Ick. With Thanksgiving on the horizon and the looming possibility of having 25 people to feed and clean up after, I just couldn't fathom the idea of washing that many dishes by hand! So, I finally caved and shopped the Veteran's Day sales and found what I liked at Lowes. Its a Bosch and supposed to be VERY quiet....its being installed Friday - which can't come soon enough, if you ask me!


I met the girls (mom's group) at Starbucks at 7:00 and left around 10:00 (and could have easily stayed longer!). We all have fun together just cutting up, talking, swapping stories, ideas and advice. Its nice to have girlfriends....

It was a STRANGE morning at my house - no girls to get up and get ready...just me! I actually got to watch 10 minutes of The Today Show instead of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Dora! WOW!
It was nice........

Somebody...Stop....Me......

I got this email this morning about a new special that Disney World is running....stay 7 nights and nights 5, 6 & 7 are FREE (park tickets & resort are free those 3 days!). THAT'S HUGE! PLUS, if you go by March 29, you get a free $200 gift card! (and that is more than enough for all the goodies you want to buy). However, no discount off the dining plan. Go see for yourself
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/offerDetail?id=FY09Q2ValueOfferPage&int_CMP=WDWHomeLeftPromoToQ2FY09ValueOffer

I'm really struggling with this because I SOOO want to go back and 7 days would be so much better than than 4 we did last time (won't ever do less than 7 again, unless only going to 1-2 parks) and the week of my birthday (late Feb) would be so fun - and thanks to Disney's OTHER new promotion- I'd get a gift card in the amount of my admission on my birthday! Sarah won't be 3 until April....I just don't know if its worth the hassle with her.....PLUS, I got on Southwest.com and Travelocity and couldn't find airfare for less than $250 a person!!! That's $1,000 just to get us there! Not happening! (we flew for less than $150 a person last time!) Maybe I'll check again tomorrow.....

Although its a HUGE discount once we are THERE, getting there isn't worth the cost. I'm REALLY REALLY trying to stick to our plan to wait to take Beth AND Sarah when she is 4 years old....so, its looking like 2010. Ho hum....not sure I'm gonna make it that long. Because Sarah is learning things about Disney/Princesses MUCH MUCH earlier than Beth did...well...because she has Beth...I'm sure she would LOVE it no matter what age she was....but I really want her to remember her first trip and I'm not sure she would if we took her before the age of
3 1/2 or 4. She would certainly be a pistol in the parks and at the resort at this age, though..... Maybe I need to just keep telling myself that....

Easy and Cheap Dinner

This recipe is one of my favorites #1) because it doesn't get much easier than this, #2) because it rivals any grocery's rotisserie chicken, and #3) because it makes enough for my family to eat for dinner, plus enough left-over to equal about 2 cups of shredded chicken to freeze for use in a casserole or soup another night. So, I get two dinners out of one $4.00 chicken! Its great!! I omit the spices we don't like and I usually don't do the onion. I've never really noticed that much of a taste difference when I do or don't do it. OH- you can also start with a partially frozen chicken, which helps, too! Its easy enough for even the most beginner chef!

CROCKPOT ROASTED CHICKEN

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (approximately three pounds)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried leaf thyme

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup chopped onion (optional)

Directions

Wash chicken inside & out (removing anything inside).

Sprinkle seasoning of your choice on the chicken.

Fill the cavity with the chopped onion.

Next put three balls of aluminum foil in the bottom of the slow cooker (this creates a rack so the chicken doesn’t soak in its own juices).

Place the chicken in, breast side down, and cook on low for six to eight hours.

Happy Birthday Dandaddy!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad! (and Dandaddy!)

Halloween Pictures

I don't have a lot of time for narratives for each picture, but here are the cute ones from yesterday! The first one was before school and the rest are before we went Trick-or-Treating. Beth changed her mind at the last moment and wanted to be a Ballerina....whatever....

I'm so glad its over....on to the REALLY FUN STUFF!! T'Giving and Christmas!

Yes...this one IS the BEST one I got them together in their costumes...

And my favorite from the night:

Our neighbor's dog was dressed up like a hotdog - how cute it that! Actually- its her daughter's dog...visiting for the weekend!

And my yearly tradition - Jack-O-Lantern pizzas for dinner! Beth helped me "design" their faces and put the cheese on:

Need Christmas Ideas??

Yeah, I know...its not even Halloween yet, but it takes me forever to plan Christmas for the girls. Bob and I have really been struggling regarding their "big" gifts this year. Nothing has come to mind...except a trampoline. (and Beth NEEDS a new Bike - we are thinking that may wait till her Bday in March) Bob is trying his hardest to convince me that the girls need a trampoline. Yes, they truly would LOVE LOVE LOVE it, but I can't get past the fact that not only is it $350, but I'm 99.9% sure someone (probably Sarah) WILL get hurt....I'm trying to get past my fears and consider it, though, because they would be so excited! I'm also thinking a few more "doll" accessories for Sarah (like diapers, clothes, etc) might be good because she loves playing with her baby dolls, but we don't need any new dolls. I'm still undecided on dress-up clothes. I think our dress-up boxes are just about as full as they are gonna get!

And now I've found the COOLEST online toy website-

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/

I also love http://www.hearthsong.com/, but it doesn't have as MANY cool things as the others do. So far, I'm in love with what I'm finding for both girls - Sarah & Beth!

Everything pictured is from http://www.fatbraintoys.com/ . I got tired of cutting-n-pasting pictures after the hundreds of cool things on fatbrain! Hearthsong is more "mainstream" toys and I actually have a catalog and I've earmarked a lot of things in it for both girls, too!

How cool are these - they are Dado Blocks:

And these are Wedgits:

And this caught my eye for Beth- a bead/lacing/necklace/bracelet making kit:

And these two things are a new spin on "paint by number." I think they are both GREAT for lots of "independent play," as is the bead kit above:

And Beth LOVES the Crayola Color Wonder sets- this one looks like its a new kind!

I ALMOST bought her one of the magnetic mosaics last year...I still think its very cool and great for her BRAIN!! (geez...there's a thought!)

And this looks like something that Beth might like making...

I want things the girls will actually PLAY WITH this year. SO many of they toys they have are forgotten about 1 week after Christmas or never played with at all (hence the Dora make-up table that Beth HAD to have last year...it now resides in Sarah's room because Beth NEVER ONCE played with the darn thing). She has requested the "wedding Barbie" on several occasions, but again..she doesn't really play with her Barbies. She is FAR MORE LIKELY to be coloring or playing with random household things! I'm sick to death of crappy toys that junk up their rooms and the entire house. I'm sure there will be a toys she just HAS TO HAVE, so I'll save a little room in the budget for that...depending on what it is. I feel like Santa needs to get her whatever is her "I HAVE to have it" item...I think that helps keep a little bit of the magic in Christmas!!

Oh, I can't wait for the "Holidays!" I love Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!! I'm so excited already...can I decorate on November 1st?? No?? Oh, okay...I'll wait a little bit longer....

It was a very busy weekend...for me, at least

*I* had a very busy weekend!! Saturday, the girls and I got up and went to a pancake breakfast and came home and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL DAY! We went for a walk to our favorite apple tree and picked about 30-35 apples...probably the last trip there. MANY of the apples were already on the ground and not many at all were left on the tree. Here are a few pictures from our walk and at the apple tree:

Friday night, I got this wild idea to make my own pumpkin puree (for breads, muffins, pie, etc) from a pie pumpkin. Well, it took well over 3 hours from start to finish to make it (for step-by-step instructions - go here). All in all, it only made THREE CUPS of pumpkin puree...not really worth my time, but the end product of what I am going to make with the puree will be the ultimate decision on whether to go through all that trouble again.

SOO...Saturday, while the girls napped, I made a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins (for Sunday's Welcome Breakfast at Church) and used the puree...and honestly...I couldn't really tell a difference in the taste. Not sure I'll ever attempt homeade pumpkin puree again!! It was truly a pain in the butt!! So, after I made the muffins, I roasted the pumpkin seeds from the pie pumpkin, while I chopped apples for an Dapple Apple cake...which went into the freezer for Beth's school's Cake Auction the week of Thanksgiving. I just thought I'd go ahead and get it out of the way while I had time, instead of making the darn thing the night before the auction! I also had a crockpot full of chili cooking this whole time, too. I was a busy bee in the kitchen, that is for sure!!

OH - Saturday I also managed to run through my Laity Sunday Message 2-3 times, just so I could say it out loud. I don't think I've mentioned that our minister asked me to give the Message on Laity Sunday this year. For those non-Methodist, once a year, the "lay people" of the church (your basic church member) run the service. He asked me to give the Message (i.e. the Sermon). AUGH!! I'm typically a pretty decent public speaker, so it was no biggie, but coming up with what to talk about was a little tricky! I utlimately decided on "What Gift Did God Give you"...and how to give it back to the Church. I talked for roughly 20 minutes. It was fun- I'd do it again!!

So, Sunday after Church, while the girls napped, I chopped up more apples and made Spiced Apple Bread - 1 big loaf and 3 mini-loaves. Not sure yet if I'm giving the mini-loaves away or freezing them for our own use later...But boy, is it good bread! The recipe is somewhere on this blog - in September maybe?? Then we played at a local park with the girls till around dinner time and then headed to our new Pizza Hut with Dandaddy (my dad).

Beth had another ROUGH night last night...not sure why...she had been doing VERY well. I think I'm convinced she is waking up so much at night and having such a hard time going back to sleep because there is entirely too much LIGHT in her room!! Her eyes/brain see all that light and think its time to get up and then she gets scared because the house is all dark and quiet. Her closet light is bright, especially with the closet doors OPEN and her nightlight puts off a fair amount of light, too. I told her that tonight, the closet doors would be CLOSED (they are slatted, so the light still shines through) and after she fell asleep, I'd be turning it off completely, which I haven't done since the nightmare incident. She has yet to recover...I can't wait for Halloween season to be OVER!!! This has been a bad year for her getting spooked so easily.....

Thank goodness today is Monday & I'm at work...I needed a break!!