November Fun ('13 Edition)

It's November already! How on earth? Here's what we've been up to this month.

Crusty bread for Thanksgiving. I added cheese and garlic. Yum!

Also for Thanksgiving, cheesy broccoli and cauliflower. If my mom had made veggies like this when I was younger, I would have eaten quite a bit more veggies.

Final item for Thanksgiving, strawberry pretzel salad. So yummy!

My new favorite picture. Love these two.

Fish with tomatoes and parsley. New recipe that we'll tweak and try again later.

Henry looks so focused and mesmerized here. And intense. Wonder where he gets that from?

LEAVES. These leaves need to leave me alone... That was rough. But seriously, this was only the first round. There's another round out there that looks to be just as big waiting for our attention. Thanks, nature. Thanks so much.

September Fun ('13 Edition)

Here are some of the goings on around these parts for the last month.

Kramer kept on looking cute. I'm not sure what she was trying to convey with this expression, but I'm sure it has something to do with walks, treats, food, or scratches.

The first day the daily high temperature dropped below 80, Kramer decided it was time to start using her bed again. Typically she gets to spend the days in here in the winter, rather than her kennel. I think she was trying to move up the start date for the bathroom stays.

Drew and I went to the UCLA game. It was... a great first half! And beautiful weather.

Spotted at the game, this guy. In a full on red unitard. My dad said he saw him the previous week and he wasn't wearing the shirt. Also, I'm pretty sure it's a Power Rangers costume.

Chicken Pomadoro with tomatoes from the garden! Delicious!

Spaghetti using spaghetti squash instead of pasta. It was so tasty and we'll definitely be making it again. What a great low carb alternative!

It's Fall Baby!

While spring is my favorite season, fall is a close second. I think it has to do with seasons that get left behind with the arrival of spring and fall. I just get so tired of all the snow and all the heat so when the next season arrives, I am thrilled.

OK, fall is here. Like, legit here. I am enjoying this fall so much! It feels crisp in the morning, the colors are changing, the house has been open, and it's jeans weather! Here are some signs of fall these days that make me smile.

The maple tree in the backyard has these lovely orangy-red leaves. Soon they will all fall and the mower will have to get to work, but for now, I enjoy just looking out the window and seeing them.

The burning bush/maple tree combo is stunning.

Seriously, this is the burning bush. I can't remember the leaves being this red and mostly still on the bush for this long.

This is the strange picture: a Gerber daisy. We planted the (annual) plant in spring of 2011. The green stuck around through this year and suddenly it bloomed again. In October. After the first frost. Hopefully it will be back next year and bloom at a more appropriate time.



Kramer starts to turn into a camouflaged dog. She doesn't enjoy being in the leaves so much, she adopts a running hop if she has to walk through a pile of them.

We see big piles of leaves and utilize our yard hog thing to suck them up and mulch them into smaller pieces. Then we have to wait until December 1 to be able to throw them out with our trash. Also, the leaves in other yards are so colorful and lovely. Even our backyard is colorful when we rake them up. The ginormous oak in the front yard has this boring brown color. It's so much more fun to rake pretty leaves...

The mums burst forth and provide some beautiful color. Here's hoping these get bigger and bigger each year to add a pop of color to the front yard.

October Fun

Oh, October. The changing colors, the crisp air, and the excitement of the holidays around the corner. Here are the highlights from our house this month.

Beef. We grilled some steaks and I took a picture because they just looked so tasty. These rib eyes are from the cow we got earlier this year.

Drew and I went to the Wisconsin game and cheered the Huskers to a not-so-pretty win, but a win all the same.

My brother and his family just moved into a new home. Our gift to them, this lovely cow switch plate that the previous owners left in our house when I bought it years ago. I find this thing so ridiculous I don't even know what to say. I'll just say, "Happy Housewarming, Bro!"

The leaves started turning brilliant colors. This was a view on one of Kramer's walks.



We celebrated my mom's birthday with cupcakes from our favorite bakery.



It was a little chilly outside so we turned on the fire for the first time. Kramer was thrilled.

We celebrated my mother in-law's birthday with cupcakes from our favorite bakery. We really do enjoy the treats from that bakery!

Our niece, Miriam, sent Drew home with some flowers for me after he went over there for a visit. They're so cute!

Drew and Miriam had some fun outside. The joys of having a strong uncle! I love this picture.

Drew won tickets to a hockey game so we enjoyed that. I still don't understand all the penalties, but it was fun. And there were like 5 fights.

Tex-Mex Casserole. This was so tasty, so easy, AND it had a bunch of spinach in there!



Baby Shower

My friend Michaela (we've known each other since high school) is expecting a new little bundle of joy next month. I am so excited for her and was thrilled to host a baby shower earlier this month. They found out they are having a little boy and they (and we!) are so excited to meet this little guy.

I thought this tie onesie was just too cute to pass up. Can you just picture a little boy decked out in this? Be still my heart!

Cupcakes! I made some delicious chocolate cupcakes, frosted them with some blue butter cream frosting, and topped them with a sour cherry gummy ball for a kick of color. When I set about decorating these treats, I loaded my frosting in a Ziploc bag with a decorating tip and realized that my frosting was too thick. How did I realize that? Well, I had to squeeze the bag really hard and the seams popped. Good times. So, I just kind of slathered the frosting on and called it good.



I added a little fall decor for the party courtesy of Trader Joe's flowers and gourds. I really do enjoy fall decorating!

One of the ongoing things with Michaela and me is a joy of poking fun at some of the ridiculous names people choose for their babies. So, as an added bonus to the shower I came up with the name Helix Snapper for the new guy. She laughed, but I don't think she'll be changing the name they have picked out anytime soon. Which is probably a good thing!