An Easy Treat!

Ahhh, this cooler weather and the beautiful colors of the leaves changing outside the windows have put me (and the kids) in the mood for some tasty pumpkin treats! Well, just getting back in town from a week at the beach and jumping right back into school volunteering, Cub Scout camping trips and Halloween planning...ummm, hasn't really given me a whole lot of time to bake.

But, thank Heaven for the internet, because this little (and I mean little) recipe has been floating around; so I wanted to try it! OK, get ready, want the ingredient list?!?!? Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix and a can of pumpkin! Yep, that's it!

I decided to bake them into mini muffins and I made a cinnamon and powdered sugar icing, but seriously, these little babies were so easy and are so yummy!



Go ahead try it! I think they might be even more delicious with some type of cream cheese icing! Hmmmmm....I may need to try that next!

Lip smackin' good~
Laurie

Bad Mommy!

Uh-huh, I did....

I can't believe that I failed to post pictures from Lily Clare's birthday! Our pretty girl turned six and had a "jumpy", princess party to celebrate!


Lots of pink!

Lots of giggles!


Lots of beautiful princesses!


And as always, big brother Sam was there to be her right-hand man! (I think he was hoping that she would accidentally get some Hot Wheels or Legos!)



Happy Birthday, sweet thing~
Laurie

If you look up the word "responsible" in the dictionary....

this is what you'd find:


Our very own Lily Clare was chosen as a Responsible kindergartener for the month!


Way to go, sweet girl! You're off to a great start!


Psst-I'm craving bar-be-que~
Laurie

Go Jump in the Lake!

And our other new addition ... "The Nest"!


If you're an original blog follower (anyone? crickets.....), you may remember that about three years ago we had a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. Well, we enjoyed it for three years, then started getting too busy to visit, so we decided to sell it. And luckily, it sold before the market went "Ker-plunk"! Well, as we've visited Lake Burton over the last couple of years, we've fallen in love with the area and with the market still "ker-plunking", we just so happened to find an incredible deal and jumped on it!

Here are some pics:


(No, that is not our excavator. Unfortunately, it broke down while they were working at our place and it's still sitting there.)

The beautiful lake view!

Remember in April, when Tuscaloosa was hit by that horrible tornado? Well, that same storm spawned a tornado that hit the Lake Burton area and did some damage to our "Nest". The damage was by no means as severe as Tuscaloosa, but locals say that they were very fortunate that the storm came through on a Thursday, because most of the homes that were demolished were weekend homes and luckily, no one was there. Unfortunately, one person lost his life.

Here are a couple of pictures from our lot. (These were taken the day we looked at the property. What can I say...we have the talent to see potential!)



The before:


After a little "TLC": (Next step--stainless steel appliances.)


A good view of the floors and cabinets after we spruced them up!


The master bedroom:

The kids room:


The "crows nest". This is 3 stories up and has an unbelievable view!


The guest room. (Would you like to spend a weekend with us?!?)

The 2nd bath:


We are so blessed to be able to have something like this to enjoy! With God's blessings, John's hard work and our penny pinching ways, good things have come! We still have more work to do -- some paint, some yard work, more decorating-- but I can foresee many happy family memories being made! It's already begun!

On lake time~
Laurie

And our family keeps growing!

Ha, I typed that title and laughed after I read it! Noooo, we do not have a baby on the way (thank goodness!) -- we just have added a furry friend to our little family of four. And I want to take this post to introduce you!

May I present "Zac"!





It's been a little over three months without our old love, Bear; and for me, it's been a daily barrage of questions like "Mom, when can we get a new dog?" and "Can we go to PetSmart and look at dogs?" and "Will we ever get another dog?". So, some research, some online hunting (yes, you can virtually dog shop!) and a day at some local adoptions and we now have a new pup!

Zac was rescued from a S.C. pound and lived in a foster home for 6 weeks. He's a boxer/pointer mix and is fitting in quite well. House trained, crate trained and good with kids -- not much more we could ask for!

Arf~
Laurie

Mr. Rogers says it best!

As we reflect on the horrible events of this day 10 years ago, look to these words from Mr. Rogers' mom...

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
— Fred Rogers

God bless all of the helpers~
Laurie

And in a flash...

they are gone!

Back to school time is a bittersweet time for me. I enjoy summer...I enjoy the laid back schedule and the family time that we have. So, when it comes time again to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and make lunches and do the minivan circuit, I got one word for ya -- BLAH!

But the worst part of it for this year was that Miss Lily Clare took off on the school bus, too!

What?!?!? This precious little nugget is old enough to to be swept away by a big yellow bus and not see her mother for 7 1/2 hours?!?!?


I guess so..........

**Happy at breakfast!

**Happy at the bus stop!

**See ya, Mom!!

**And they're gone...

(Amazing -- this shot didn't look quite this focused through my teary eyes!)


But I'm happy to report that they both came off the bus smiling and happy! (And I have had a lot of time to clean (not), organize (nope), oh yeah, to workout and shop! Oh well...)



Soon to have the cleanest, most organized house around~
Laurie