I Want This Job

This man's primary job was to make sure all the people swimming in the waterfall were having a good time. I wouldn't say he was there to lifeguard, but I think if someone was maybe drowning, he could have helped. I kinda would like to have a job where a hammock was my chair for the day!

I will be MIA for just a little while longer. Have some things keeping me really busy at home and won't be done for a couple more weeks. I know there are some that check in here everyday, and I apologize for the absence. I will be back to normal soon. Hopefully. Maybe. As soon as my sleep schedule goes back to not waking at 4 am everyday!

One Night in Bangkok

Or three.

You know when you are going through the airport and you see those nearly homeless looking people. The ones carrying large backpacks. The ones who look as if they haven't showered in days. Well.... that was me for the last eleven days. I have been that homeless looking backpack carrying traveler. And I loved it.

I did not wear makeup. I did not fix my hair. I did shower though, twice a day, though you would probably not be able to tell that.

I have spent the last week in Thailand. I walked city streets. I stayed in hostels. I hiked. I rode river rafts. I rode scooters. I swam. I rode elephants. I rode trains. I jumped in the back of pick up trucks that looked as though they should be carrying live stock. I para-sailed. I ate on the beach. I have bug bites. I have a sun burn and more freckles than I left with.

I have a new set of amazing memories and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them.

More to come as soon as I can.

Missing Already

It gets harder and harder every time and I do believe that this will be the last one for a while. The last trip for a while that I take without my baby. Now that he's older I miss him more and more when I go. I miss the banter. I miss the funny faces. I miss the amazement is his everyday world that makes my world so fun.

I will be MIA for a while. Not really reachable. When I get back, I will probably be MIA for a little while longer, though I will check in and out here and there. Like I've said to probably 100 people in the last few months..."what can I say, I lead a crazy, fun, busy life!"

A Dino Halloween

Tonight as we were driving along the highway to another neighborhood for tricks and treats the sun was glowing behind the trees. It was just like what I would imagine a Halloween story to begin with. The kind of light that silhouettes the trees so their now bare branches show and whistle and wave in the wind. It was perfectly orange. From the back seat I hear... "look mom, the sun knows it's Halloween too!...*in a softer whisper*..it's so beautiful." I smile.

As the sun was going down we were winding down and heading closer to home. Sugar high had hit and the spinning and whirling and crazed eyed little boy was about to hit bottom.

Yesterday he got to take a little walk on the Yellow Brick Road at my husband's office.

And hang out with with these two.

Dorothy.

The Cowardly Lion.. (you can't tell, but he's holding his tail.)

And he also got to have this for his pumpkin of the year. Props to my hubby, who year after year makes awesome jack-o-lanterns.

And he got to trick or treat with two of the cutest princess girls around.

Happy Halloween to all! Hope it was fun and safe for everyone!!!

White Walls

When you wake up to this...
And find out the whole city is shutting down.
You go back to bed and snuggle for a while.

And then...just for the heck of it... you turn your 4 post bed into a fort. An awesome white walled fort with a window and a view of the outside and it's white walls too.

Then you tickle and giggle and laugh.

And pretend to sleep...

And tickle and giggle some more.

And show off your bed head....

And then when you look outside, you thank God you are safe inside in your fort.

And pretend to count how many inches are right out the window.

All that counting makes me want to snuggle some more!!!

Little Happy Man

He was so busy. He was so happy. He SO loved the snow. I think he would have played in it until his fingers fell off. I can't believe how much he has grown this year. How much he has become a little boy-toddler fellow!

Jerk Broccoli

I came across this recipe by accident. I love accidents, at least when it comes to tasteful cooking!!! I added the key ingredient by chance and came to absolutely love it. I've served it over and over again to all kinds of different people, and everyone seems to like it... so I will share. I picked up my spices when I was traveling so I had to make sure you are able to get them on the net...and of course, the good ol' Internet pulled through for me!!!

Chili and Jerk Baked Broccoli

Ingredients:
1 head of fresh broccoli
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
1/2- 3/4 tablespoon Jamaican jerk seasoning (You can find it here)

Chop the broccoli into desired chunks. In large bowl mix together olive oil, chili powder, jerk seasoning and garlic. Throw in the broccoli and toss until each piece is coated. Let marinate for 10-15 minutes. Lay out on baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 30-40 minutes until broccoli is tender but not completely soft.

Latte For Big People

I'm a big fan of warm drinks this time of year. The time when you can still go outside and smell the fresh air, but taking along a hot drink is required to do so.

I'm also a big fan of Bailey's and coffee. Well, this little concoction is one step up from that. It's a Carrot Cake Latte... for adults only. When taken by itself it tastes just like carrot cake. When mixed with coffee it's just a mixture of all warm things.

For Shot:
Mix 2 parts Bailey's, 1 part Buttershots and 1 part Hot Damn.

Throw this into the bottom of a coffee mug along with coffee. You can make it as strong or as weak as you want. Top off with foam and a little cinnamon.

Enjoy!!!

Candy Corn Cookies

Lately, I've been looking for quick, fun, easy holiday projects and this one just happened to end up in my mail box the other day. Surpisingly, these are soooooooo easy to make and little ones can help you with them as well.

I found them here. She has a ton a little projects and updates almost daily. I find myself making lists of things I want to try and only getting half of them done....(you should see my over all list of things I want to try!!!)

I skipped a couple of steps and did not use a mixer. I also did not add the icing on the top... no need for it here!!!

The Other Little People

Most every little person has one.....that one other little person that makes them giggle with delight when they see one another. That other little person that they can jabber with, even though most of words are not found in the english language....that other little person knows exactly what they are trying to say. They get it. They just get one another.

Some of us keep our other little person throughout all our lives. Some of us loose touch with that other little person. I have a feeling these two will be buddies for a long time to come.

Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

Tonight I had a candle light dinner with my little short man. Candle light, with sticks, stones and tin cans. It was absolutely perfection.

We started off the afternoon with this project in mind. It sooo didn't work out. I had made my patterns too complicated and when the lights went off they were unrecognizable. So... we improvised. It was all team work and we both hummed the "Wonderpets" theme song as we worked. (For those non-parents..... it's a totally annoying, catchy song sung by talking school pets that save the world. ) We brought in all the "boy" elements and made them beautiful.
Then we ate dinner. A dinner of his favorite foods...acorn squash and biscuits with apple butter. In the candle light. Among the rocks and sticks.

Why may you ask, do I go to all this trouble.?
Because it's a random Tuesday.
A random Tuesday that needed spicing up. I got to look across to table to watch the light dance in his eyes that were already sparkling, which they almost always do anyway. I want him to realize that special days aren't always saved for holidays. That a random Tuesday can be so special and make someone more happy than all the holidays put together. I hope as he gets older he will make someone else's random Tuesday special. Find the beauty in the ordinary and make it less so.

And while we were lighting the candles... in pure PJ form....."mom did you make sure to spray for monsters before we eat?"

I already had.

All American

He has lofty aspirations of becoming a petroleum engineer. He's involved with all kinds of extracurricilar activities and he knows sign language. I told him he seemed to be an "all American" boy. His response... "what's that?!" I laughed, he doesn't seem that much younger to me, but I'm noticing things that make me old comparatively! He was a fun kid to get to know for a couple hours!

It Doesn't Matter

The other night my son came to me and hugged me. He kissed me on the cheek. Then he stood there quietly for a moment.


"Mom?" he said...."does it matter?"
"Does what matter?" I answered
"Does it matter if you're pretty?"
"What do you think?" I asked.
He stood for a minute.
"No.... it doesn't matter at all."

He ran off.....
He came back.

"Even if it doesn't matter... you're still beautiful."

Be still my heart. My kid makes me feel like a rock star everyday!

My Favorite Patch

Last night I looked out the window and became a little depressed. This is what I saw. Streetlights through dense fog. You know the kind of fog that you would imagine Humphrey Bogart walking in... with that hat. But it was the kind of scene I picture in December. Something pretty at Christmas time. Last night I just wished it away. I woke up this morning to the same fog. Thinking my plans for the day were completely ruined......

But the day progressed and every single inch of snow melted away. And we spent the afternoon here. And I'll be really honest....this place rivals Christmas in my world.

I don't really know when or why I fell so madly for fall. But as the years have progressed I have developed a passion for this time of year. This time of calm before the storm. This time to celebrate. To eat. To snuggle down. To walk on crisp leaves. To sip hot cider. To breath cool air before having to warm up inside. To live in glorious color.

This is the time of year where it's just us. It's our time. Our traditions. Not the ones I grew up with. The ones I made up instead. There is no pressure to get 50 people fed (as much as I love to do that, which I do!!) It's just calm.

This was the best I got out of him today. Try as I might. Somedays... even he, whom the camera loves, he doesn't love it. (Asked me if it started on fire if I could still take pictures with it on the way home.... that's his little way of telling me he didn't want any more pictures for the day!)

The pumpkin patch I visit is the Bartels place. There is no admission. You can go out and cut every single pumpkin yourself. I always go during the week when it's much less crowded and we have most of the place to our selves. There are animals. There is a corn maze. There is beauty!!! Turn at the pumpkin sign on the frontage road from wellington, past the soccer fields. There is only one sign, and no advertising else where that I can see.

Pumpkin Mousse Puffs

October and November are the only months of the year I eat or cook pumpkin, so I go a little crazy over pumpkin for a little while before I get tired of it. But it's OK to get tired of it, because I'll be craving it in another year!

Today I wanted something fluffy. I love fluffy food. Makes me feel light and happy. Like walking on sunshine!

I went the easy route today as well. I bought fluffy pastry dough instead of making it. Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets to be exact. These things look impressive, but are super duper easy to make.

Pumpkin Mousse Puffs

Ingredients:
2 Puff Pastry Sheets
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 package vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice seasoning

Butter for brushing

Instructions
De-thaw the puff pasty sheets for about 40 minutes. Cover in thin layer of flour on each side. Cut in 9 square sections. Cook on cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool completely

For filling:

Mix 2 cups of heavy whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Divide in half. Mix together pumpkin, pumpkin spice mix, pudding and 1 cup milk. Fold this into half of the whipped cream. (Don't mix, just fold)

For a little sweeter layer add a dash of powdered sugar to the other half of the whipped cream.

Cut a pastry square in half. Add a spoonful of the pumpkin mixture and then a spoonful of the whipped cream. You can double decker them, or them as single pastries.

Dusk

I love the word "dusk." I love how light it sounds and it's normally a word I would use in the summer months. After a hot day. When it's nearly dark but not quite. The calm.

Tonight though, twilight was cold.

And mysterious.

The leaves look cold, still hanging on the trees, covered in snow. Mother nature had not given them a chance to fall in the usual way.

But dusk was beautiful tonight. It was blue. The leaves were blue. The snow was blue. The sky was deep dark blue.

Sunflowerless Sunflower

As I said before, my kitchen was bustling yesterday. My brother in law has made it his mission to "live off the land" this fall even though we all have jobs and no farm and live in the city. (yes I consider Cheyenne the "city" of Wyoming even though it only has 50 thousand people) Our families were farmers, so it's natural for us to want to kind of see what it was like.
Regardless of living in the city, we all grown gardens. We all pool our food most of the time. And this year... he has started canning among other things.

One of the other things is to make sunflower seeds from GINORMOUS sunflowers. I mean they were huge and he grew them. So did we, but mine got taken out with the rubbish of the garden a couple weeks ago. To our surprise they were purple inside. The seeds were a deep dark purple as well.

I'll be cooking them today....I'll let you know how they turn out!

Had To Find Something...

pretty about this weekend. With 12 inches of snow laying on my font lawn and hanging on my still green trees. Needless to say... I'm not real happy about the snow. However, I get get to spend an entire day with my family and let me tell you, it was like Thanksgiving. That's what we do. We cook when there isn't anything else to do. Mind you I didn't partake in a whole lot of it, but I sure did enjoy it!

Another Double Take

I got to spend a little more time with the little twins I met last month. They were a little squirmy the first time around (which is totally expected) so we tried again for just a few more shots and this time they were a little more subdued. But this time they didn't have names on their shirts and I ended up calling them "this one" and "that one" because I couldn't tell them apart!!!! After their mom set me straight I finally got it by the time I left... and I even know which is which in this shot!

Caramel Apple Cider Crumble

Every once in a while, especially during the fall you have to throw caution to the wind (or here in Cheyenne, hazardous tornado conditions) and eat a little something that isn't quite good for you... but not regrettable because it so fantastically good!

We spent our last Saturday of the season at farmers market last week. We came home with some fantastic, not too sweet and not too sour apples. The perfect kind. My little one eats a couple apples a day, sometimes more..and I let him. Because he's tall and lanky and a few apple definitely aren't going to hurt him!

So today I experimented. Bringing all the elements of the season together. Carmel. Apples. Cider and the warm oven! And Viola! Carmel Apple Cider Crumble!!!!

7 whole Medium Green Apples
20 pieces Caramel
½ cans Evaporated Milk
3 cups Rolled Oates
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar
¾ cups Flour
¾ cups Butter, Cubed
1 dash(es) Nutmeg
1 dash(es) Cinnamon
1 dash(es) Salt
1 package Spiced Cider

In microwave safe bowl melt 20 caramels and 1/2 can of evaporated milk. Stir every 15 seconds until completely blended. Should be very liquidy. This can also be done with a double boiler on the stove top.Peel and chop all seven apples, set aside. Mix together: rolled oates, brown sugar, white sugar, flour, package of cider and butter. I do with my my fingers until it is crumbly.Press half of the rolled oat mixture onto a 9x12 pan (or whatever size you have that is closest.) Layer apples on top of that. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour caramel mixture over the top. Spread the rest of the rolled oat mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until apples are soft.