Pumpkin Patch!

What a busy fall weekend we had!  Two pumpkin patches in two days!  We took our annual trip to "The Patch" in Niles, Michigan.  It sure didn't disappoint.  It was pretty chilly but the sun was shining and we had a great time!  Aunts Allison, Amanda and Katie were along for the trip and Mr. Meaty.  We all headed up to the Patch around 1pm and were there until close to 5!

We went through the corn maze! Erin had fun jumping out from behind the stalks to scare people as they walked by.

Erin posed for pictures at every available moment!

We took a hayride!

We picked out lots of pumpkins!

We ate apple crisp, apple cider, caramel apples, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies!

The girls got their faces painted!

Erin swang (swung? swinged?) on the tire swing

@ Yahoo! Video

We looked at lots of farm animals! (baby chicks, turkeys, hens, roosters, goats, horses, bunnies and kittens!)

@ Yahoo! Video

We had lots of fun!

Layla's First Birthday

Erin and I made the trip up to Grand Rapids for our friends' Amy and PJ's daughter's first birthday party.  We started at the pumpkin patch for a hayride and pumpkin picking fun! Erin really enjoyed picking out pumpkins.  She found two good ones and Mommy can make pumpkin cookies with them!

Erin found a green one! 

Erin knew exactly what to do with the cut out picture thing! (Honestly, she climbed up here and stuck her head through without any proding from me!  She even caused other people to try it out!)

After the patch we went back to Amy and PJ's house for snacks and a birthday celebration.  Erin LOVED playing with Lulu and Lucy.  They looked a lot like her puppies at home. 

Erin played with the other little girls, Ella, Emma and Layla.  They were so cute together!

Erin and her first goodie bag!

Erin checking out Ella

Erin found lots of things she would like to have at home! (This thing has balls popping out and they roll down the chute and it provides hours of entertainment)

Erin Playing @ Yahoo! Video

Erin and Riley reading a book

Helping Mommy Carve a Pumpkin

Cutest.Baby.Ever

Foodie Friday

New recipes this week:
Beer-butt chicken in a crock-pot! - I used the same idea but just put it in a crockpot for 8 hours on low.  Turned out pretty tasty minus the great crispy skin.  Completely fall-off-the bone tender though. Delish! This picture was pre-cooked. I forgot to take a picture after it was done. 

Hasselback Potatoes - were delicious! Super easy and were really nice looking.

Halloween Costume

Initially I had indicated that Erin would be a chicken for Halloween.  After much deliberation and deciding that you wouldn't be able to tell Erin was a girl in a chicken costume, I decided that Erin is going to be a pink flamingo instead!  I have purchased all of the supplies (pink feather boas, pink fabric, pink t-shirt, stuffing, googly eyes and pink craft foam) and have started on the most fabulous of Halloween costumes ever!

I took a long sleeved pink onesie and a short sleeved t-shirt and sewed the hems together.  Stuffed between the two shirts with stuffing.  I sewed the pink feather boas around the shirts and covered every square inch of fabric. 

I cut two hood shapes out of fabric and stiched them together. It will clasp under her chin with velcro.  I cut out two half circle shapes out of pink and black craft foam for the "beak" that I will attach to the hood.  I will also add more feather boas to the hood along with some googly eyes. 

I still have to cut out her "feet" out of more craft foam.  I haven't decided what color her legs should be.  Real flamingos have light pink legs but I though black might be cute too. 

So what do you think? Pink legs or black?  Pink legs may look like I'm trying to match the bright pink feathers and Erin doesn't have any bright pink pants that would match that well.  Plus the pink foam I have isn't super match-y either. So she'd have lots of different shades of pink on.  But if I went with black, black is black is black and it would match and wouldn't clash with the feathers.  But black isn't the natural color of flamingos legs. 

Puddle Jumping

Erin and I went to the Notre Dame Bookstore with my mom.  Erin picked out her very own pair of Notre Dame pants (pink of course!)  She had at least three pair in her possession at any given point while we were there.  It was a rainy night and I had grabbed an umbrella.  Erin insisted in carrying it herself.  She was too cute for words.  So cute, strangers stopped and asked to take her picture!

Library

Erin, Daddy and Mommy went to the library after work to pick out more books. As always, Erin had a wonderful time looking at all the books and picking out her favorites.  We also picked out two c.d.s to listen to in the car (one for Mommy's car and one for Daddy's.)  She couldn't wait to get in the car to try them out!

Notre Dame vs. Washington

As has been the routine for the last two home game weekends, we returned to my mom's for the Notre Dame/Washington game.  The day started out yucky/dreary/cold/icky/(insert any bad adjective here).  But the skies cleared just in time for us to get a small amount of tailgating in.  We went out with the largest group of tailgaters to-date (probably about 15 or so!) Melissa and Cory, Erin and Justin, Justin's sister and friends, Ryan, Bridget and Dave were among the tailgaters. 

We made it to one or two tailgates but didn't last too long. A bunch of our coworkers were supposed to be out at a carrier's tailgate. This is what the tailgate looked like when we arrived.  The party was hoppin'!

We attempted to find a number of other tailgates only to no avail.   We gave up and headed back to the house about an hour and a half prior to kickoff. Erin did not however cooperate and nap like she had done the past two home games. Well, she didn't until we were about to get back to Grandma's!  Then she napped in the garage for about an hour. 

Foodie Friday!

We tried a new recipe this week. It was a hit so I thought I'd share them with you. I'm always looking for new recipes so I want to share my successes with you and maybe you'll enjoy them as much as we did!

Tex Mex Calzones
Delicious! I made my own crust and that turned out fabulous. It is somewhat low calorie and tasted full fat. It was like a taco pouch!
Original recipe from Sparkrecipes.com but I used homemade dough (found here), ground beef, added corn and sprinkled the top with garlic pepper and parsley flakes just before baking.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t dark chili powder
1/2 c red bell pepper, finely chopped
3/4 c salsa verde
1/2 c corn
1 batch basic pizza dough
1 c Mexican blend cheese, shredded
1 egg, beaten
garlic pepper
parsley flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Adjust oven rack to upper third of the oven.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add onion and garlic; continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

Add spices and cook for 1 minute to bring out the flavors in the spices. Add chopped pepper and corn; continue to cook 1 minute.

Remove mixture from heat and stir in salsa.

Unroll dough and divide into 4 equal portions. Working with one rectangle at a time place, 1/2 cup of beef mixture on half of the dough then top with 2 tablespoons of cheese.

Using a pastry brush or fingers, brush the egg mixture on the border of the dough. Fold dough over turkey mixture and press with a fork to seal. If you prefer a crisp crust, brush some additional egg wash over the top of the calzone. Sprinkle with parsley and garlic pepper.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.