Setting The Tone

I'm not afraid or ashamed to admit that I'm a pretty domineering person; not to be confused with controlling or demanding- two things I try very hard not to be.  It's just that I am pretty head strong on a lot of things and to his credit, Jim is pretty content to let me be and that's why we work so well.  It's no secret that most of the things we do: trips, shopping, going out to eat are planned by me and around my wants; so when Jim insisted that over the weekend we do things that he wanted, I had to really check myself.  I was thinking that planning and organizing is kinda my thing, so if I haven't figured everything out, it was pretty much bound to be terrible and I let him know it.

But I also let him know afterwards that I was completely wrong.  He planned a nice hayride for me and the boys.  He got the tickets and figured out where it was, he made sure that the boys were dressed and ready all despite my poor attitude.  I had pretty much set the tone that this was going to be a bust and that I was going to be pissy about it.

Despite of all the craziness I put out there, he really came through.  The boys had a blast; there was a real tractor with a farmer and a dog, there were balloon animals and spooky goings-ons all over.  Everyone was really happy- we weren't just phoning it in for the pictures... and despite Arden's momentary grumpiness, which I'm happy to have captured because it was so cute, we all had a really good time.

So thanks to my husband for making this hayride come together even though I was throwing out some major attitude about it; he was really proud of himself and now he has a something to throw up at me when I'm acting crazy next time.

Fall Photo Shoot 2013

For several years, we've taken the time to document our children outdoors during a beautiful time of year.  This year, we headed out to a chic landscaping store, because we had a gift card, and I happened to grab our nice camera; while it certainly didn't start off being our Fall Photo Shoot 2013 that's totally where it ended... and I'm thrilled.

And keep an eye out for Arden's blue car, which managed to sneak into quite a few pictures.

Front Yard Sports

There are times when I feel terribly guilty for not doing things for my children; already, I'm thinking that I should have signed Cullen up for fall Soccer, or T-Ball or some sort of sport and that now his life is not well-rounded because of my ineptitude.  Breathing.  Breathing.  Breathing.  Then I tell myself, there's nothing wrong with holding off until he's a little older and in the meantime, he can learn some of the fundamentals from us.

Here are some of the fundamentals I'm trying to teach him about playing soccer:
1. No pushing/shoving.
2. Don't fall down anytime some comes near you with the ball.  Physical comedy is kind of his jam right now.
3. Kicking is done with the feet, not the hands.

What I learned after watching about 20 minutes of the impromptu soccer game is that just because I didn't sign him up for organized sports doesn't mean that I should be selling him or us short; front yard sports are just as good as the real deal.  Actually, they might be more fun; no rules, no lines, just kids being kids.  And get this, he's kinda good.  He's certainly fearless about approaching someone for the ball and his confidence in his skills is awesome; to him and me, he's the world's greatest.

That's Ice Cream and a Pie

Recently, I've become a little obsessed with my DVR, which we didn't have until we moved (how did we live without it?) and The Pioneer Woman.  She's got some great recipes that seem to be family friendly and delicious, cue the Ice Cream Pie with homemade caramel sauce; that's right, the freakin' Ice Cream Pie.

It's a pretty simple, combine some melted ice cream with your favorite chocolate or candy delights, shovel it into a graham cracker pie crust and wha-lah, Ice Cream Pie.  I stuck with the basics, a gianormous Hershey's bar and KitKats, two things are crowd pleasers with all of the generations that enjoyed this delicious pie.

I started with the caramel sauce:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup half and half- I used whole milk and it turned out just fine
4 tablespoons butter
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract- I didn't have any, so I didn't use this

Prior to whisking, this is what the caramel sauce looks like.

Whisk the brown sugar, half and half, butter and salt for 5-7 minutes, then let it cool and thicken for about a minute.  If you're going to use the vanilla, add it now and then stir and let it thicken for another minute or two.  Pour into a jar or bowl and refrigerate until serving.

Here is the finished product.

Once I was finished, I started on the Ice Cream Pie; here's what you'll need:

Candy of your choice
A store bought graham cracker pie crust or a homemade one if you prefer
Vanilla ice cream, thawed for about 45 minutes

I started by chopping the candy into small pieces, as The Pioneer Woman said, the chunkier the better.

Pre-chop

Post-chop

Then I mixed the candy and melted ice cream together.  I used a gallon of ice cream and there was a little extra; WHOOPS, too much ice cream is kinda not a problem.

I dumped the ice cream and candy mixture into the graham cracker pie shell and boom: Ice Cream Pie.

So, the pie was delicious and the caramel sauce was a big hit too... like, lick your plate clean good.  We will definitely be making more Pioneer Woman recipes and you should probably check her out too.