Pumpkin Decorating: kid friendly

Ribbon: http://digthisdesign.net/seasonal-design/fall/decorating-your-front-entryway-for-fall/

Jewels: http://formulamom.com/friday-five-5-halloween-pumpkin-whole-pumpkin-decorating-ideas/

Paint: http://www.inlieuofpreschool.com/a-fun-and-easy-way-to-paint-pumpkins/

Initals: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/0f/13/af/0f13afb92b7fe11e2201ed83b34ff3da.jpg

Buttons: http://www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/40-no-carve-pumpkin-ideas/

Eva Modeling - 20 months

Fall Fest 2014 - Aviano AB, Italy

ThE last couple of years we have been attending the Fall Fest on base. They have food booths, game booths, informational booths, bouncy houses, etc. They also hand out candy from the different booths. They do haunted houses and  cutesy house for the younger crowd. They also have beer and other things. To me, it's overrated but since my girls don't get to participate much in the Trunk or Treat that I host (because I'm too busy organizing and maintaining it), we take them any way. It is held in a parking lot and is very small. We were only there for about an hour. We got some candy, did a walk through sensory house, played with the pumpkins in the patch, and checked out all the costumes... aka people watched. We did eat, and my husband grabbed a beer.

The girls were obsessed with the ghost decor and insisted on kissing them :)

We also got a decent family picture!

Here's a few pictures from the evening.

A Modeling - 3.5 years

What I love most about the fall {in pictures}

The leaves changing colors.

The beautiful colors.

The fun and vibrant decor. 

Pinecones and berries, especially cranberries.

Raking leaves and watching the girls play in them.

All things pumpkin. Going to the pumpkin patch and decorating them.

The start of sweater and scarf weather!

What are your favorite things about Fall?

Recipe: Autumn Herbed Chicken with Squash and Fennel

This is such a great fall dish. It requires some prep and pre cooking in the beginning, but then it goes into the crock pot for the remaining of the cooking process. It is incredibly delicious and perfect for this time of year. We even enjoyed it as leftovers, and that is a rare occassion in this house. Mommy tested, and kid and husband approved, too!

Ingredients:3-4 lbs of boneless chicken thighs1/2 cup of all-purpose flour3 tsp of kosher salt1tsp of pepper2 tbsp of olive oil1 fennel bulb cut in thin slices1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4 inch cubes1 tsp thyme1/2 chicken broth1/2 cup apple juice or cider (I used juice.)1 tsp salt1/4 tsp pepper1/2 tsp rosemary

Directions:In a freezer bag, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Put the chicken in the bag and shake to coat. 
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown the chicken. 
Remove and place in the crock pot. Make sure the chicken is on the bottom. 
Add the fennel, onion, and squash. Combine the chicken broth, apple juice, thyme, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Pour over the veggies and chicken. 
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2.5-3 hours. (I cooked ours on low for 5-6 hours.)

You can also make this a freezer meal. To do so, place the chicken in a large freezer bag. In another large freezer bag, place the fennel, onion, squash, thym, broth, apple juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary. In a small freezer bag,  put the flour, salt, and pepper. On the cooking day, thaw the chicken and follow the directions above! That easy! 


The original recipe was found and adapted from here: Autumn Herbed Chicken with Squash and Fennel

Sweater Weather Tag

This tag is circling over on YouTube and since I only post more candid videos and videos my family like to see, I thought I would write out the tag instead.

So here is the Sweater Weather Tag.

And if you are reading this, I tag you!

 I would love to read your answers, so post a link to your post in the comments so I can go read your replies and see if we have anything in common with one another!

1. Favorite candle scent?
I love candles. If you know me, you know there are always candles lit in the house. Not just me, but my husband too. He is actually the one who got me hooked on candles. Some of my favorite scents for this time of year is the "Leaves"  from Bath and Body Works, "Fall Harvest" from Yankee Candle, and "Pumpkin Spice" from PartyLite. 

2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
Well, considering I just wrote a post on my new addiction to coffee I think you know the answer to this question. BUT I must say that on a late afternoon when I am feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, hot tea is a great relaxer for me. And hot chocolate is my favorite when watching Christmas movies with A. 

3. What's the best fall memory you have?
I have a lot of fall memories, but most of them are ones that we have created since starting our own family. My favorite is raking leaves. Not actually raking the leaves, but the after fun when you throw the kids in a pile of leaves or load of the wheel barrow with leaves and allow the kids to rid on top of them. When you bury the kids in them and only their little faces are showing. That's the memories I love. 

4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner?
I have really small eyes, so winged eyeliner is NOT for me. But a dark lip every once in a while is a nice touch. Especially for a dinner date night with the husband. Not to just go out to run errands.

5. Best fragrance for fall?
This is hard. I'm not sure I have a fragrance that I love. We do have the Glade mist canister thing, and my favorite scent is the gold one for the holidays. I also like the Apple Cinnamon. I wish I could remember the name of the gold one. But they are both holiday scents and are only out during this time of the year. 

6. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
My favorite Thanksgiving food is gumbo with rice or ham. I love, love, love a good ham. Our tradition as a family is to cook a chicken and sausage gumbo with rice. Sometimes we will also do potato salad and/or cornbread. I also love me some pumpkin bread. 

7. What is autumn weather like where you live?
To be honest, it changes every year. The trees are always so gorgeous, too. I would say that it is legit sweater weather most of the time. Last year, it was super cold by now. But right now we actually have the sun shining through and I haven't been wearing a jacket/coat/hoodie throughout the day. 

8. Most worn sweater?
I don't really have a most worn sweater, but I do have a favorite. It is a dark gray cable knit sweater from Old Navy. I haven't worn it the last couple of winters because I have been pregnant for them, but this winter I will probably wear it a lot. 

9. Must-have nail polish this fall?
I would say any dark color in the colors that you like. If you like blue, I would go with navy. For me, I really like burgundy and deep purples. 

10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?
Definitely jumping in leaf piles. Mr. Man would say the opposite, but I'm not a football girl. I just go with the flow when it comes to it, but I would choose just about any other activity other than that unless we were watching it in person at the stadium. 

11. Skinny jeans or leggings?
These days I am a leggings girl. They are super comfy, and I love that you can dress them up or down. 
12. Combat boots or Uggs?
As much as I love my man in his combat boots, I prefer Uggs on my feet! 

13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?
I'm not sure what this is referring to. I am assuming the flavor in the Starbucks coffee drink or any other drink for that matter. Pumpkin Spice is yummy in pumpkin pies... but not in my coffee or any other drink. 

14. Favorite fall TV show?
We don't have cable at our house. We don't watch TV. The girls get a limited time to watch a movie here and there, but other than that our TV is almost always off. So, I have no idea what even plays during the fall time to even choose something. 

15. What song really gets you into the fall spirit?
When the radio stations start playing Christmas music, that is when I start getting into this time of year. Because I know the Christmas is right around the corner. And Christmas is definitely a magical time of year!

Remember if you have read this, you are tagged. Be sure to leave your link in the comments so I can go read yours. I love to see how others feel about this time of year, and I love to get to know my fellow bloggers and vloggers!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! It's almost the weekend! :)

E's Fall / Winter Wardrobe

Here is the start of E's Fall / Winter wardrobe. This was before I made the latest Carter's order.

Let me know if you like videos as well as written posts with pictures. I always have the kids with me, so background noise is almost always avoidable. Sometimes videos are faster and easier for me to do than posts. But if this is a no go (because I sound a tad "slow"), then please let me know and I will go back to how I was doing things before.

Crazy 8 Haul

Another addition to shopping for Fall/Winter for A and E. Thesse are one of our first purchases. I didn't have many skirts for A, and most who know me knows that I like to have a variety of dresses, skirts, and pants. Of course long sleeve and short sleeve, as well as jackets. Here is my steal of a deal on skirts.

For A:

Anf for E for next summer: 

For $3, why not?

For all of this, I paid $35. This is also including the shipping. 

New Cater's Haul

I have  been shopping for Baby E since the weather has started to cool down. She really doesn't need much, but I definitely wanted to start preparing for the winter as well. Because she will need a lot when it comes if I don't start now. Carter's happens to have some sets on clearance right now, and they had doorbusters for their one pieces. Of course, I shopped the toddler side for Arianna because there was some things I wanted to get for her but couldn't convince myself to spend that kind of money on it since she is so rough on her clothes. Well, guess what... it was on clearance too. I thought I would share what I purchased.

For E:

For A:

I spent $65, and that included shipping :) Not too bad I would say.

Ice Pumpkin Cookies

During the Fall and Winter months it seems that I am always baking for different events, whether they are parties, cookie drives, or other volunteer opportunities, it seems I bake a lot. Each year I like to try new things, but I also have my favorites that end up carrying over every year. The last several years I made the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. I'm pretty sure I posted that recipe at some point because it is absolutely amazing.

This year, because we still did not have internet (recipes are shared/saved on pinterest), I started fresh. I used recipes from cookbooks in the house and magazines.

This one was a hit! I made it for the Thanksgiving Feast for Mr. Man's work.

Here's the recipe!

For the cookies:
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and softened  butter.
Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to that mixture.
Beat until creamy.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
Drop on cookie sheet in 1 inch balls, flatten slightly.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool the cookies before adding the icing.

To make the glaze:
Combine confectioner's sugar, milk, butter and vanilla extract.
Milk may need to be added as necessary to achieve the drizzling consistency.

This recipe came from one of my Parent's magazines. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Hope you enjoy! I know many others did! 

Fall Inspiration {Tutus}

As most of you know, I recently started up a page for all my creations. I have come across some adorable thoughts, so to google I go for images. I rarely use someone else's tutorial because I like to look at the pictures and get inspired with my own creativity and call it mine.

With Fall here and Halloween soon arriving, everything is covered in the fall colors, flowers, scents, and so forth. With that, I have thought of some adorable ideas for tutus (and other DIY's). I thought I would share some of the pictures here.

This post will be of things I could see putting Baby A or any other adorable little girl in for a pumpkin patch or fall pictures. I'll do another one of costumes I have thought of.

All pictures were found from google.

Scarecrow:

Turkey:

Pumpkins:

Candy Corns:

Fall Colors:

I can't wait to get moved in so I can start making more things!