Fall 2017

Fall in the south does not feel like fall up north.  90 degree days with random cooler days needing a long sleeve.  Even with the hot days, we are always on the hunt to do some fall activities.

Luckily, there have been a few activities for the girls to enjoy.  Picking out our pumpkins to hay rides.  These are the days I want to remember and hopefully will continue on the family tradition.  

Among the mix, we celebrated BK's birthday.  We celebrated by going to our church pumpkin patch, out to lunch and dinner.  Nothing fancy, just a nice family day.  Those are the best days.

 

Leafing Around

Fall.  What's not to love about this season?  Cooler weather, long sleeves, warm drinks and leaves.

At our previous home (our first home purchase), we had only pine trees.  Boo.  I really hate pine trees, simply because of the needles. This home has great trees producing awesome fallen leaves.

B had to rake the yard and made a large pile of leaves for Vivian to play, jump, have a grand ole time.  Amazing how the simplest things bring the biggest smile on a child's face.  I wish (pray) she keeps her innocence and always find happiness in simple things in life.

Here's to the first time jumping in a pile of leaves and definitely won't be the last :)

  

^^ loves blowing bubbles

^^ I can already tell she's going to be the sweetest and kindest little girl

^^  Daddy swinging Vivian into the leaves

 ^^ where did Vivian go?

  

^^  here she is!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Spice Muffins With Glaze

     I've been a fall pinning nut lately on Pinterest.  From decor, photography, clothes and food.  Definitely love this time of year.  I knew I wanted to make pumpkin muffins for Vivy and I to nibble on for the next several days.  Tired of giving her the same ole snacks and figured I make something a little nutritious and delicious at the same time.  

We made our way to Whole Foods to pick up a few ingredients I was missing in my pantry yesterday.  While we were there, my child decided to knock down a corner display of crackers.  Yep.  She removed the plastic clear shelf and they came tumbling down.  Awesome!  I put it back together as best as I could while praying no one would see us.  Wish I had my phone on me so I could have taken a picture.  I hate grocery shopping with her.  She hates riding in the cart and insists on walking and pulling things off the shelves.  Hope she outgrows this phase quickly!!

This morning we woke up to rainy, chilly, gloomy day.  What a great time to make our muffins for our morning snack!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Spice Muffins via here

MUFFINS:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup pumpkin puree (unsweetened)

GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) softened cream cheese
dash of ground cinnamon
dash of milk (to thin out)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray- be sure to spray the top of the pan too since the muffins will bake over the side of each tin.

2. Prepare the muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. In another larger bowl, use electric mixer to cream butter and sugar together. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk/cream. Add pumpkin puree last and mix just until incorporated (don't over mix).

3. Divide batter between 12 muffin tins. They'll be quite full with batter- that's okay. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tin for about 15 minutes, then gently move muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients. Drizzle glaze over muffins. 

These muffins are so good!  I scarffed down two :)  I didn't add the glaze to Vivian's because I didn't want her to have the extra sugar. But me, I went for extra glaze :)

Pumpkin Patch

What a beautiful day to pick out our pumpkins at our church.

The weather was cool, the sun was out, it was our first real fall day.

Amazing what a difference a year makes!

  Not only the size, but mobility and more aware of her surroundings.  Poor child was terrified of the bail of hay.  She wanted no part of taking her picture on it alone.  However, she loved the scarecrow!  We had a great time and we each picked out our own pumpkins.

Outfit: Bottoms , Top , Shoes

Excuse my appearance.  I had just woken up from a nap with Vivian :)

Vivian made a little friend named Lucy.  Vivy is one day older than her, but you wouldn't guess by the size :)

I'm sure even next year will be even more fun!

Happy fall y'all!!!