a recipe for you

I feel compelled to preface this recipe by telling you that I can cook. In fact, I love to cook. I can make lasagna, cheesecake, chicken saltimboca. I make stir fry from scratch and NEVER buy bottled pasta sauce...I always make my own (my Mom taught me that!) I have an herb garden, year-round. I've hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas at my house. I can even make a souffle. I really can cook. Okay? Are you convinced?

The reason I mention all of this is because of the recipe I'm going to share. It's one of our favorites, but it's so stinkin' cheesy. I got it from an online scrapbooking message board that I used to frequent several years ago. There's nothing fancy, and it even calls for a box of cake mix. But trust me, it's so yummy!!! So here's to good eats. As Julia would say, Bon Appetit!

PUMPKIN CRUNCH CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix (w/0 pudding in the mix)
1 large can pumpkin (28 oz or so)
1 can evaporated milk (10 or 12 oz)
3 eggs
1 cup butter (HOW CAN THIS NOT BE GOOD?!?!?!)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (I used roasted, salted pecans)

I also add some ginger, cloves, nutmeg.... the usual pumpkin pie spices.

Melt butter and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Pour pumpkin mixture into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top. Pat down and sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle the butter over the top. Bake at 350 for one hour. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to set before turning out onto a platter. Let stand 2 hours or refrigerate before serving. Peel foil and slice.

Mmmmmm...

it fills me with dread OR "fall behind"

Ah yes. In high school, it meant one more hour of sleep. In college, it meant we had one more hour at the bars. But as a parent, it means only one thing: my child is going to start waking before 6 am. I maintain that the person who thought up daylight savings did not have a toddler.

Last year, the time change was disastrous for us. See my post from last year. It did not go very well. She regularly woke up at 5:15, 5:30, and on-the-joy-of-sleeping-in...6:00 am. Ugh. This year, I'm taking a more proactive approach. Starting last Sunday nite, I've been putting her to bed a few minutes early. As of tonite (partially because she blew off her nap today), she went down 1/2 hour early. We're going to keep this up until the time changes on Saturday nite. Then next week, she'll go to bed a bit later than the regular time (which will ultimately be the same time as this week...get it?) until she's back to her regular 8:00 pm bedtime.

Piece of cake, right?

i heart fall!

Fall is my favorite season of the year. The pumpkins, the leaves, college football, crisp weather, yummy treats, Halloween, Thanksgiving...the list goes on and on. So I tend to go a bit overboard, trying to cram as much into the season as possible. Wanna see?

Emerson has her own tiny rake and was excited to have the chance to use it. She's Papa's helper girl.

This year, Em was old enough to be mildly interested in pumpkin carving.

Here is our finished Jack-o-Lantern, before the squirrels ate his nose and mouth off.
We had a Halloween party at Gymboree on Friday nite, and Emerson debuted her M&M costume. Unfortunately, my camera was not cooperating and this is the best picture that I got.

We went to this pumpkin patch last year (it's the one my parents used to take me to as well), and had our picture taken by the scarecrow. This year, we're 3 feet tall!

She was so proud of herself when she was able to carry this heavy pumpkin.

I love this picture of the 3 of us at a local park. Jeff came up with the idea and we used the self-timer on the camera to get the shot. Too bad Emerson looks so tiny though.

Happy fall, everyone!

have you heard?

The Iowa Hawkeyes are 8-0!!!! It's great to be a Hawkeye!!!!!

sneek peak

We had a trial run last nite in the M&M costume. Here's a preview....

{Emerson is shouting "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" in the picture.}

Not too shabby, huh? And you thought we couldn't pull it off ;)

i get by with a little help from my mom...

So, last week, I told you that my mom was a Godsend in helping me keep Emerson entertained while I tried not to let me head explode. Thanks, Ma.

Throughout my whole life, I've concocted elaborate plans that I don't have the skills, patience, or resources to complete. And who do you think has been my bail-out for said projects? You guessed it. My mom. So when I decided to sew Emerson's Halloween costume this year (mind you, I don't own a sewing machine nor do I know how to use one), who do you think I envisioned as my helper? Enter my mom.

She was happy to come along to the fabric store, indulged my "vision" of what this costume would look like, didn't balk when I insisted to create it without a pattern, and even went on a recon mission of her own, surreptitiously taking pictures of patterns at Hobby Lobby with her phone. And after a few hours of debating over the proper size for a head opening, giggling at the cat who insisted on sitting on the project at all times, and teaching me about the basics of using a Singer, we DID it.

Here are a few pictures from along our journey. I apologize that they're all out of order...Blogger is not cooperating with me and I don't have the time to figure out why.

You'll have to wait for the weekend to see Emerson in full M&M regalia as we have a costume party coming up.

i am still alive

For the last week, I've been fighting a sinus infection. Being that I'm preggers, I was leery about taking antibiotics. And by Sunday, I was definitely on the mend. But I woke up in the middle of the night Monday with the most excruciating pain that I've ever experienced, childbirth included. My whole left cheek was pulsing, throbbing, stabbing. I chalked it up to a full sinus, hoped that shifting position would help, flushed it with the Neti Pot, and waited. And waited. By 10:00 am, I was literally nauseous from the pain, and caved and called the doc. When I went in, I was hoping that they would be able to give me a shot or something to ease the pain. Unfortunately, nothing is safe for pregnant moms, so they told me to take warm showers and wait it out. It seems that my sinus cavity is pressing on a nerve in my cheek. No wonder it hurt!Yesterday, the pain went from a 10 down to a 5, which was HUGE, but I was still in pretty bad shape. Today was much better, and although it still hurts a bit, I'm a totally new person. This brought a whole new meaning to the expression "mind-numbing pain."

Thank the Lord that my parents are close by, and were able to help me with Emerson. The little girl has had a fun week, regardless of the fact that Mama was out of commission.

Couple that with the fact that I have LITERALLY spent every moment that Emerson is sleeping working on training for my new job, and that's why I've been an absentee blogger.

Hope you've had a better week~

a real friend

Know what a makes a real friend? You can show up at their house with a wicked sinus infection, no makeup, hair undone, and your own box of kleenix, and the welcome you in with open arms.

I am so blessed.

how 'bout some pictures?

I've been up to my ears in training for my new gig lately, and literally have no spare time anymore. I'll tell you more about it soon.

Anyways, here are a few pics for your viewing enjoyment.

This is just silliness, but I couldn't resist.

A few weeks ago, we were cooped up during the rain when Emerson asked to play outside. After thinking for a minute, I thought "why not?" We have the gear. So we suited up and went out for a wagon ride in the rain. Needless to say, we received a few strange looks and snickers, but we had fun and that's all that matters.

We spent a day in the city, and she was mesmerized but the sheer size of it all.

We took her to her first bakery, and she could hardly speak from excitement. We let her pick whichever cookie she wanted, thinking she'd go for one of the big, frosted balls or smiley faces. But she chose a small, simple butter cookie with sprinkles. Pure bliss for this sweet-toothed girl.

Hope you're having a good week.

like mother, like daughter...

My mom tells me that for about the first 2 years of my life, my hair was soft, smooth, and free of tangles. Then one day, seemingly overnight, I woke up with a rat's nest, and the rest is history. Even now, it still tangles into wicked knots and I don't love letting anyone other than myself brush it.

I hadn't thought about that story in a long time. Until last week, that is.

Emerson's hair has always been quite easy to manage. While it's fine and thin like mine, she has some waviness from Jeff's side. I hoped that was enough to prevent the epic tangles that I grew up with. No such luck.

She woke up one day last week with big tangles. Odd, but manageable. But then the next day and the next after that, the tangles have gotten worse and worse. And not surprisingly, I'm now having to wrestle her to do her hair in the morning. Joy.

Sorry, kiddo. Add it to the list to gripe to the shrink about when you're older.

this made me laugh...

This morning, as Emerson and I were putting clothes into the dryer, she grabbed a bra and said "Those are boobs!"

I'm still giggling about that. Guess you know where my sense of humor is today...