Snow

It's cold!

Sunday School Craft

A couple weeks ago, in Sunday School, the kids were learning about how God made the animalsl.  Here is the cute craft we made!

I was just going to draw the mouth and whiskers on with a sharpie, but Cadence had the idea of using pipe cleaners.  A much better idea!  A future crafter in our midst?  I hope so.:)

I just picked up the dusting mitts and copper kitchen sponges (for the ears) from the dollar store, and we had all the other materials on hand.

Doubles as a fun duster mitt.  The kids can use the lion's mane to help dust the house.

Hanging out

Here are some random pictures from moments throughout various days.

I love making crafts!

I'm a handsome guy!

I see Sea World through these goggles.

What?

I love chocolate chip cookies!

Swinging Time

Cadence loves to tie things into knots and onto things.  For example, she will tie her scarf into knots over and over again and then ask us to undo it.  Do you know how hard it is to get these little knots out?  Hard!  One day, we were trying to put Finn's sneakers on, but we could loosen them enough to get them onto his feet because Cadence had gotten a hold of them at some point and tied several knots in the shoelaces.  Uugh!  I suppose it's a good skill for her to be practicing... tieing that is.

So, one day, she got creative and tied her jump rope to the deck out back and then Brad added a stick at the bottom for her to sit on, like a swing.  It was working great, until the jump rope decided it was going to be a jump rope, not a swing, and was starting to unravel.  So what does one do in this type of situation?  Call Super Grandpa to the rescue!  I asked my dad if he could make a swing seat, last week, and one week later...

we have a swing!  What a guy!  He even put carpet padding on the wood and hung it for us.

Baby #4 Decor

So, here is the fabric inspiration for Baby #4's room decor.  Farm!  I love the more realistic drawings and animals.  My goal is to make a mobile with knit farm animals.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Right now I'm in the pattern finding stage.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

"Excuse me, I think I ordered the large cappuccino...Hello!  It's like Campbell's Cup 'O Ccino."

Now that fall is here that can only mean one thing...Pumpkin!  I love pumpkin flavored stuff, especially beverages.  Starbucks has a Pumpkin Spice Latte that is delicious, so I decided to save myself some money and try making my own home version.  I used some of the pumpkin puree I whipped up a couple weeks ago with the pumpkin we got from Farmer Ken at church.  I have a lot of frozen pumpkin puree, which means lots of pumpkin recipes (such as pie!) in our future.

Let's see how it turned out.

Taste test.  

And the verdict is....

Delicious!  It's a winner!  

A bit more work than ordering it at Starbuck's, but MUCH cheaper and more satisfying because I made it myself.

The perfect drink on a chilly fall day.

Pumpkin Spice Latte http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/beverage/diy-pumpkin-spice-latte-096277
makes 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (your choice)
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute - you can halve this amount
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don't have a blender, don't worry about it - just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Optional: Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

Women of Faith

This past weekend, my mom invited me to go to the Women of Faith Conference with her.  It was a great time!  The conference was very good, but the highlight of the weekend was hanging out with my mom.  I love her!  She is an amazing woman, mother and friend and Christ just radiates through her.  We went down Friday afternoon and then stayed the night at the Westen Hotel, on the 16th street mall.  It was a very nice hotel with comfy beds.  Too bad we couldn't enjoy it longer.

My mom had an extra ticket, so we invited my friend, Rachel, to join us.  She is a great lady and was a joy to be around.  I really do enjoy her and miss being able to see her more often.  We lived near each other in Lakewood.

There were several great speakers, my favorite being Marilyn Meberg, but the highlight of the actual conference was getting to see and listen to Amy Grant.  She gave a short concert Saturday afternoon, but I wished I could have heard more from her.  She seems to have a quiet, more subdued personality, especially compared to the other speakers, and that appeals to me.  Who knows if that is true, but that's what I like to imagine.  Seeing her brought back memories of me watering the brown patches of my dad's lawn while listening to Amy Grant cassette tapes on my walkman.  I like her more folksy/country sound.  She makes me think of Rich Mullins, who is another singer/personality I love.

In summary, a great weekend, a fun conference and two fabulous friends!