Free Boots

Have you heard of Whooga Ugg Boots? I've been seeing badges on a few blogs for them. (See? I've added one in my sidebar too.) They have some cute boots. Seriously.

But even better than their adorable boots, you can win your own pair for free. All you have to do is add their badge to your blog. Then each month they draw a winner. As long as you still have the badge up on your site, you're still entered in the giveaways. Easy and rewarding, don't you think?

I know I'm never one to turn down free shoes. (As you know I've won some before.) So, what are you waiting for? Go get your badge now! I want to hear about all my friends winning boots.

They'd be so cute to wear this winter. Or maybe they'd even make a great Christmas present. It's a win/win in my book!

What I Like about Mondays

You know what I like about Mondays?

I like that if we sleep in a bit, I don't feel guilty about it. We can just chalk it up to a busy week and often a late Sunday night.

I like that my house is usually sparkling clean. We host a small group from church here each week (changing to every other week though) on Sunday evenings. So I always make sure the house is tidy, the toilet is scrubbed, and the floors are vacuumed before everyone comes. And it doesn't hurt that when I get up Monday morning my house is nice and clean.

I like a fresh start with a new week. What will this week hold? You never know on Monday how the week will end.

Is there anything that you like about Mondays?

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

Reposted from October 2007
Pumpkin Cookies

OK, who can resist that yummy goodness? I have made these cookies 3 times this month alone. I always crave them in the fall. Well, at least since I was pregnant anyway.

*****
Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
½ cup shortening
1 Tbs. grated orange peel (optional)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup nuts (opt) &/or ½ cup milk chocolate chips or ½ cup raisins (I always use Milk Chocolate chips & sometimes nuts)

Mix in order & bake at 375 8-10 minutes. Glaze.

Glaze
¼ cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. milk

Melt butter till brown. Add other ingredients. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

*****

Now that is my mom's recipe. Here's what I do differently. #1 Ialways double the recipe. Then it uses the whole can of pumpkin instead of half (a small can). #2 And I like it better with 1/2 cup of extra flour. My mom's tend to stay rounder, but mine flatten out a bit so they're more like cookies. #3 Forget the nuts and raisins, go with my mom's suggestion and always use milk chocolate chips. Yum! #4 Also don't bother with the orange zest, unless you already have some on hand. #5 These are still good without the glaze, but the glaze makes them lots better. #6 Also my mom always puts the sprinkles on top, and they are lots better with those too.

So run right out to the store. Go now, why are you waiting? Get the ingredients and make them. RIGHT. NOW! GO!

For your enjoyment, a few more pictures of these yummy delights.

Stay tuned for my mom's amazing caramel apple dip.

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe from the past. I know I spoke of a few other recipes, so if you need those too let me know and I'll post them.

I haven't made these yet this fall, but I have all the ingredients. I'm sure I'll make them soon, very soon. Maybe tomorrow. Mmm!

Doctor, doctor

Today Zachariah has a check up at the pediatrician's office. Not with the pediatrician, but with the nurse practitioner. The pediatricians (there are 3 in this office) are booking well-child check-ups in MID-November. Eek. Since we were already late for Zachariah's 3 year check-up (he's already 3 1/2), I opted for the nurse practitioner (who we've seen before and like), who got us in about a week after I called to schedule.

It's been so long since Zachariah has seen a doctor, that he really does not remember going. He's not sure what will go on there. So I've been trying to prepare him. I told him about the appointment a week ago, and we discuss it every now and then. The first time I told him, he said "They will look in my eyes, then I will get my new glasses." Uhh, not the EYE doctor, sweetie. (He must have seen this on Sesame Street or somewhere.) He also told Matt at one point, "I'm going to the doctor to get medicine." He's not, so I don't know where that came from.

It will be interesting to see how he handles things today. He's pretty easy going, so I don't expect any trouble. I'll just be interested in his reactions to things. I believe I've prepared him well enough by telling him what they will do and look at while we're there.

And yes, I know we are so lucky that I haven't had to take him to the doctor for illnesses. Other than well check-ups, Zachariah has not been to the doctor. There was one time when he was a newborn (and that was because he wasn't gaining weight...another story). Otherwise, he has never been to the doctor for being sick. This is one healthy child, and I'm so thankful!

Knittng, Crafts and Other Miscellany

I posted on Twitter the other day about my newest obsession. Well, I guess there's more to it actually. I've been crazy about knitting dish cloths lately, but truth be told I'm just nuts about knitting (and crocheting...whichever mood I'm in). I've had fun learning to do new things and trying new patterns.

I just love the dish cloths though. They are fun to do. They are small, so I can complete a full project quickly. Plus I have some knitted dish cloths in my own kitchen (from a bridal shower gift...9 1/2 years ago) that I love. To be fair I didn't use it for a long time, but I was missing out. I have two and now they are both being used all the time. (They make great cloths for washing my sons hands and face after meals.)

So, here are the dish cloths that I've knitted (since Jen wanted to see them). I think they are pretty cute, and I'm hoping to use them for Christmas presents (if I don't keep them all for myself). I have another color of yarn to make some different ones, and I also got some Christmas cotton yarn to make some Christmasy dish cloths.

I recently won a new toy for Zachariah. It came from FedEx today, and Zachariah (who is used to me getting packages) wanted to know what was in it right away. So much for saving it for Christmas. If it had been delivered during his nap time, like it usually is, then I would already have one Christmas gift for him. Oh well. He loved it so much, and we had fun playing with something new. (EDIT- It is a Play-Doh Coco-Nutty Monkey toy.)

So much fun going on around here. And not to leave Matt out. He's been working on replacing gutters, cleaning out a clogged drain pipe (outside), and other various projects. It's been fun....OK, so maybe 3 trips to the home improvement store in 3 days isn't fun. It is occupying his time, though. I'm sure he'd much rather be beating me at rummy or something.

Lastly, but not leastly, don't forget to check out my review blog. I have two giveaways going on right now, a great book and a movie hat & t-shirt (plus adorable pictures of Zachariah making a puppet), and a new review of Mabel's Labels (which are a fantastic product, I only wish I had some to giveaway).

And We're Off...

Well, not yet. But we will soon be getting ready to head out for the long weekend. We usually head up to my parents' house this weekend to enjoy the last nice days of summer. It's a great time to reconnect to family, relax, and play in the pond before it's too cold.

My dad came yesterday to get Zachariah. So he's already having a great time with Grandma & Grandpa. I talked to him on the phone for a while this morning, and he was telling me about all the fun things he did and was getting ready to do. He "showed" me his bucket full of buckeyes, acorns, and hickory nuts he's collecting. (My parents live on a big property on a small country road surrounded by all sorts of trees, animals, and plants.) And he got to pick out candy that he's taking to my grandparents' house (hi great-grandparents) this afternoon for him and his cousin Blake (actually my cousin's son). I'm sure he's having a great time. And we'll be there in a little while to spend the rest of the weekend with him.

I do miss him, but the break is good too. And it's great that he has such amazing grandparents who will invest so much time in him. I hope that someday he looks back and appreciates that so much. I know I'm thankful to have such wonderful parents that have invested (and still do) so much time into my life too.

I'm hoping to come back next week (or maybe sooner if I get the chance) with lots of photos to share. And I might even have some video. (I just got a new Vado pocket video camera that I haven't had the chance to try yet.) I know you'd get a kick out of watching my son, the fish, swim across my parents' pond.

What are your plans for this weekend? I hope that you enjoy the last of summer!

I still have my pajamas on

I'm still lazing around in my pajamas at almost 10:00AM. Go me! And actually my pajamas today is just a long sleeved t-shirt. Although I will admit that I don't mind just being home with nothing to do that involves leaving the house from time to time.

I can't stay home all day, because we are really low on groceries. My pantry looks bare, and I need to get a few things to hold us over for the rest of the week. I don't like when that happens, because I get panicky thinking "Oh my gosh, we don't have any food in the house." Which isn't entirely true. There are plenty of things in the deep freezer and also little bits of things in the fridge too. But still I think I need to get a few things today to piece enough together for meals.

Then we'll be headed out for the weekend. We usually spend Labor Day weekend at my parents house. We spend our time outside by the pond or in their big yard. If we're lucky some years, it's our last chance to swim and we enjoy that. But we've been having unseasonably cool temperatures, and it's getting really cold at nights. I have a feeling that pond is not warm anymore. But we can enjoy getting together with family and being outside or inside and playing games. Whatever we end up doing, we always have a good time there.

Things I need to do since fall weather seems to be here early...

1) Clean out Zachariah's closet- He needs old things that won't fit next year cleared out. And there is still a bag of things from our two trips to Old Navy that need to go in his closet. I also need to take stock of how many pairs of pants he has/needs and socks he has/needs. Someone has to keep this kid dressed for the weather or he'd wear his swim trunks every day (which he tried to go outside in yesterday morning when it was only 56 degrees outside!).

2) Help Matt get rid of extra things in the garage, since I didn't have a garage sale this summer. Long story, but our road is being worked on, so it's been closed all summer. I didn't think that was a great time to have a garage sale. Maybe with the help of Craig's List, Freecycle, and Goodwill donations we'll get everything cleared out that needs to be.

3) Figure out what I need/want to use to do preschool homeschooling this year. (More on that later.) Then I need to figure out how to organize all those things for easy access.

4) Finish cleaning/organizing the house. There are still so many things I need/want to do around here that I haven't gotten to this summer.

Add to all this the fact that fall-ish weather makes me want to bake bake bake. Which of course is mmmm yummy, but I don't need for my already plump figure.

And lastly I have plenty of things from this summer that I have yet to share with all of you. We had a lot of fun, and I have many pictures to share too. Maybe I'll do some summer-time flashbacks.

I guess today is the kind of day to reflect and think about everything that needs to be done. I will make a list and then get dressed. At least that much will help.