Pumpkin Bread

Lee is finally home from California, and I felt like I actually accomplished something today. We stayed indoors because Hudson isn't feeling well and it is COLD and VERY WINDY here. Time to break out the boys' new winter coats we got last week. I had a list of things to get done and this was one of them:

Halloween Tags

Pumpkin Bread...yummy!

add a little halloween ribbon and viola!

I don't usually come up with creative things, but when I see something fairly easy and cute, I will surely try to recreate it! I saw this cute little pumpkin bread tin idea on a blog that I read. This Mom is super creative and she bakes ALL the time. She also has a class that she teaches to "little chefs" and makes fun kid friendly goodies and crafts. I get TONS of great ideas from her!
I didn't spend much, just purchased the pumpkin (because I only had a small can), and the mini-tins at Walmart for $1.50.
Here is the recipe for the Pumpkin Bread... hopefully the neighbors, Carter's teachers and Lee's co-workers like it!!

Pumpkin Bread

2 1/2 c flour

2 t soda

1 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 t cloves

1/2 t allspice

2 c nuts (optional)

1 lg. can pumpkin

3 c sugar

4 eggs

1 c oil

Mix dry ingred. in a large bowl. Add wet ingred. Blend well. Grease 3 loaf pans. ( or I made 8 mini tins.) Pour batter into them and bake at 350 for about 1 hour, until done.

Enjoy!

Little Animals...

Lee's sister's family came to visit this past weekend and we planned to take the boys to Nighteyes at the Zoo. It was a super nice night Saturday, so we got the boys got all dressed up in their costumes and trekked around the zoo for some treats.

The boys....

Hudson the Lion, Carter the Dinosaur and Collin the Monkey

When we got there, the line to the entrance was all the way into the parking lot. We all were bummed at the thought of waiting forever to get in with 3 little kiddos. BUT...my very smart husband, ordered tickets online, so we got to totally skip the long line and go in another door. Woo hoo!

Free Haircuts....

Ever since 2nd Grade I have wanted to cut hair. I always loved curling, braiding, and yes even cutting my sisters and Moms hair. Some trims, not so good, others okay. I even did a cool up-do to my sister Rachel's hair for a dance when she was in high school.
Now, having boys is a different story. I HAVE trimmed up Lee's hair once in a while when he was in dire need of a haircut, but usually he won't let me come within 10 feet of his precious hair. (NO ONE can compare to TED... that's a whole different story).
Anyway, since my new thing is trying to save $$$, and Carter has school pictures on Tuesday, I thought I'd give it a try. Lee has clippers with different guards and even some sheers. We took Carter outside and I did my best!
Here is the finished product....

As you can see, Carter didn't want me to take his picture...he just wanted to eat the chocolate treat in his hand for holding still!

Couponing!

I have recently been introduced to a new way of shopping.... couponing! I have always used coupons, but not like this!
Here are two great websites that I frequent:
thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com
mommysnacks.blogspot.com
They can tell you how to get started and what deals are hot for the week. I have started doing Walgreens and Walmart because we don't have any of the other stores here in Des Moines.
Here is all the great stuff I purchased for $6.35 OOP (out of pocket) at Walgreens this week!
Good Luck!

Prayer Requests

I have three prayer requests...

Lee's Great-Aunt is very ill. She had a stroke a month ago and is not doing well.

Lee's Cousin's wife is have some major complications with her second pregnancy. Please pray for her health and that of her baby girl.

A friend of mine from church, her husband is very ill. He has been in the hospital for over 10 days now, and the doctors are unsure what is wrong with him. Please pray that they find some answers and for her and their four kids that they are managing at home while he is in the hospital.

Your prayers are much appreciated!

Busy week ahead...

This is going to be a busy week!
Tomorrow morning is Hudson's 15 month check up. I can't believe my 'baby' is 15 months old. He is so much a little boy more than a baby. Speaking of babies... he loves them. We have several Mom's at preschool that have little ones in baby carriers and Hudson loves to peak at them and touch their toes and make them smile!! AND he loves to flirt with the other Mom's too! One in particular that lets him crawl right up on her lap!
Thursday morning we are headed to the pumpkin patch with Carter's preschool class. This should be fun and interesting. I am trying to figure out how I am going to manage. I just picture trying to chase after two boys that go opposite directions, and cart around pumpkins, while trying to carry on conversations with other parents!
Friday we have a carnival at our MOPS meeting at church. I am really excited to see what they have in store for us! Hudson is going through some major separation anxiety, and Carter has been acting up lately (at preschool and church), so dropping them off while I go to the meetings, has been a little tougher (on me) than normal.
We are expecting company this weekend and almost all of next week. Lee's sister Karen and her husband Pete and little guy Collin are coming. It will be nice to have the boys play with their cousin. Then Monday, Lee leaves for a whole week in Los Angeles, California. Lucky guy! My parents are coming to stay and help me out while he is away! Yeah! Now hopefully I can get my house cleaning done with everything that is going on... did I mention that Lee taking online classes too. Do you think our family could get any busier?? The days of wondering "what should I do today?" are LONG gone!

Fun Saturday

Since last weekend I was in bed all day on Saturday with the flu, I was so excited to have something partially FREE and FUN to do this morning. Lee saw that Earl May was having a Pumpkin Festival at all locations. We have one super close to our house, so we got ready and headed there. They had face painting, pumpkin painting, popcorn, free ice cream from Schwan's, a castle jump tent and of course LOTS of photo ops for me to go crazy with my camera. Hy-Vee was also there with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks for lunch.
Next we headed to Toys R Us for Thomas the Train day. The boys got a whistle (great.. more noise at our house), coloring book and colors. I got to shop while Lee and the boys looked at the train set and found a great deal. They had little boy's slippers on clearance. I found a cute pair for Carter and then looked at the price.... $1.00. Yeah!!! So I looked a little further and found a pair for Huddy too.. $1.00 as well!! I scanned them just to make sure it was true and they rang in at .70 cents!!! Two pairs of slippers for those cold winter mornings for $1.48!!!
I love good deals!!

Boys Town

We made a quick trip this week to Omaha for some appointments at Boy's Town. Boy's Town is internationally recognized for the study and treatment of childhood deafness and related communication disorders. Our ENT recommended that we go there for Hudson and we had our first initial appointment this summer.
Our main issue is that Hudson is hearing everything he should be to aid in speech development. We also HOPE to get some answers as to why his hearing loss occurred. The doctor we saw this summer referred us to the Genetics Clinic and that is where our appointments were this past Wednesday.
We first met with an Audiologist to do some repeat hearing tests and also to have his aids checked too. Lee asked a question that we both have been wondering.... at times Hudson acts like he can hear normally without his aids in. Lee will put a song on TV that Hudson loves and Hudson will come running. The Audiologist explained that not all frequencies are checked during the ABR test and that he may be able to hear normally in some frequencies and not normally in others. A really simple answer that cleared up ALOT for Lee and I. The next appointment was for Vestibular testing which checks for balance. They put Lee and Huddy in a dark, little room with probes on his head and a camera on his cute little face. Then they spin and rock the chair back and forth and watch for Hudson's eyes to go side to side. We were not concerned with balance because he is walking (almost running) and does fine! He passed with flying colors. Second to last we met with Dr. Lutz and his entourage of professionals. He explained there are two types of hearing loss they look at... syndromatic and non-syndromatic hearing loss. Meaning that there may be a syndrome associated with the loss. He DOES NOT think this is the case with Hudson. He looked him over really good and said he is very healthy. Now we are just waiting for one blood test to be ran from his newborn blood spot card, collected in the hospital at birth. This may take a couple of weeks, but we MAY have some initial answers... YEAH!
Lastly, we met with the ENT and he said Hudson looked good as well. We were at Boys Town for 4 hours, but it really didn't seem like it. They had so many toys and Grandma Helen was there to help chase after and occupy Hudson while Lee and I talked to the doctors. Grandpa Ron stayed back at Aunt Val's house with Carter and played
all morning!! A big THANKS to my Dad, Mom and sister for everything! The day wouldn't have gone as well as it did with out your help!!!

My little helpers

Carter has always liked to help in the kitchen. Instead of getting upset at him for being in the way while baking or cooking, I figured I would keep his little hands busy. Since Hudson has come along, most of the time they are occupying each other with toys or chasing after one another while I am cooking. This morning they were both under foot, so I enlisted their help once again. We are going to have an awesome dinner tonight! Pork Shoulder Roast in the crock pot and Orange Dreamsicle Dessert.





Here's the recipe for the jello. It's one of our favorites...

Orange Dreamsicle Dessert
1 small pkg. orange sugar free (SF) Jello
1 small pkg. vanilla SF pudding
1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1 container fat free cool whip

Mix jello in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 cup cold water. Using a whisk add vanilla pudding mix to jello. Let set in the fridge for one hour until thick. Fold in container of cool whip. Add in mandarin oranges. Let set in fridge for a couple hours. Enjoy!
Tip: I chop the oranges before adding to make more small pieces.

Firetruck

Saturday morning Lee took Carter to Home Depot for some fun Father/Son bonding time. They had a free kids expo making firetrucks with a whistle. Cool! Carter was telling me all about it this morning. He said "Daddy let me hammer a nail and put the wheels on, then I blew the whistle LOUD, LOUD!"