Halloweekend

On Friday we attended Orem's Pumpkin Walk. We got to look at jack-o-lanterns that had been entered into a contest, so we got to see some pretty cool ones. James had so much fun running around the gardens and seeing all the other kids dressed up.

On Saturday we watched the first 4 Batman movies. We filled up the air mattress and put the couches up against it so it was like one huge couch. It was SO much fun. James loved it.  We are thinking of doing this for every movie night.  We didn't have any trick or treaters. Not one. So now we have a ton of candy which I wish we didn't.  We had such a great time though. We also got our pictures taken for our Christmas cards this weekends. I'll make sure to post them once I get them back.

Super Cape

Picking out a costume for Halloween for James has been tricky. He refuses, and I mean refuses to have anything on his head or face.  I saw this cute idea over at ServingPinkLemonade for super capes and pretty much made up my mind right there that I would be making one. I had a black dress that got half eaten by my mom's old washing machine before I had one of my own.  I had held onto it in hopes of salvaging it someday. Today that dress became a batman cape.

I'll just put him in black pants and long sleeves. To complete the costume I made a yellow belt from 18 cent scrap fabric at Walmart. I'll make sure to take pictures on Halloween!

I love my little batman :)

Autumn

Autumn has been particularly long this year. It has felt like California for over a month! I have loved every minute of it! However, as I write this there is snow headed my way :(

Before I got married I used to hop on political campaigns every year since I was 17 and couldn't even vote!  After I got married I became a poll worker. Last year was the first year that I was not involved with the election season and it was kind of depressing. In all fairness I had a new baby though. This year I was able to start up again thanks to my amazing sister, Roxanna. I really could not have done anything without her!  It isn't Fall  unless you're walking around with numb fingers dropping off campaign literature!  It felt really good to participate in some real grassroots efforts again. I really want to raise civilly minded children.  Of course, if you ask Paul, Fall isn't Fall unless football is on in the background 24/7 :)

We had a great weekend at home despite catching colds.  Paul and James carved pumpkins! It was so cute. James was so happy to 1: be up on the table without being reprimanded, and 2: squish slimy pumpkin with his fingers. I sorted the seeds from the pumpkin. I have one small baggy left (I made two huge cookie sheets worth!) Every year Paul goes to extra trouble to cut out big chunks of pumpkin for me to process and freeze. That way I don't have to buy canned pumpkin! This year I got about 4 big cans worth of pumpkin (at current prices, that's about $12 worth from a $5 pumpkin)!

Helping Dad gut the pumpkin.

Um, scary! Poor little baby pumpkin...

Playing with the pumpkin that's been sorted and ready to cook.

  In case you're wondering how to process your own pumpkin, it's easy!  Pie pumpkins are best, but not as cheap or fun to carve, so after I get all the pumpkin sorted, I put it in a pot and cook it on low until it's nice and soft. I add a little bit of raw or brown sugar since big pumpkins like these aren't very sweet. For a big pot like this I added 2 Tbs of raw sugar.  You don't have to add sugar though, you can adjust your recipe depending on the taste. Then I puree it, measure it and freeze it. See? Easy! You'll notice how much better your recipes will taste, too.

 I've been meaning to make a hanging wall organizer for a long time. It's been in the back of my mind every day when there's not place to put our keys...or the bills, or Paul's knick-knacks when he comes home.  I picked up a wooden organizer at DI for $1! It was brown and not so cute, but a little paint, fabric and modge podge fixed that!  I am working a back board with a cork board and wipe on wipe off that will fill the entire space and get rid of the ugly color of the side of the cabinet.  It might take me a while, but you'll be impressed :)  But that might have to wait. This week I'm focusing on getting better, aka sitting on the couch with my water bottle and box of tissue.

Fall Break

Paul had Fall break this weekend. He helped clean the apartment, changed all messy diapers, let me sleep in and even cooked dinner twice.  I feel like I was the one getting a break. I love that man.

My Boys

We decided to take James to Pumpkin Land at the Vineyard Garden Center in Orem. He had so much fun picking out a pumpkin and wandering around the corn maze. He loved being able to peek through the stalks and shout gibberish at unsuspecting strangers.  

Telling me all about the pumpkins

Picking the perfect pumpkin

One of the many beautiful sunsets on our nightly walk

We took James to several parks over the break. He loved running around Rock Canyon Park.  There is a little park at our apartment complex that is the perfect size for James. We go every day and he climbs the jungle gym by himself and slides down the big slide all by himself.  He's grown up so fast!

He grunted with every step up the hill at Rock Canyon Park

He loves going down the slide

"Weeeee!"

 I was also able to finish a project I've been meaning to do for a while now. Paul bought me a kitchen mat awhile back through his work. It's industrial grade so it's not as pretty as the more expensive gel mats. It has deep little grooves in it and holes throughout. Needless to say, it's a pain to clean. Rugs of it's size are just so expensive so I decided to make a cover for it.  I found a nice stain-resistant table cloth at Target for $6. I used an old sheet for the back side and made a slipcover. Such an improvement! It sweeps off easily and I don't have to take trips to the bathtub to scrub it off. :) When it's dirty I can just throw it in the wash. I also made hand towels to match. What do you think??

Before. You get the idea.

After! 

Oh yeah, and I made apple butter! 

Preserving and Crafting

I love Fall. This year we've had beautiful weather.  Some people think it's hot, but coming from Southern Cali, it's perfect!  the colors are changing, the nights are cool and the days are under 90 degrees for the most part :) I've been working on a few different projects getting my house all decorated for Fall. I am also realizing that certain measures have to be taken to protect said decorations from the resident toddler...so almost everything is up on high surfaces, but it's still there! 

 I made this adorable little table runner (smaller like a center piece runner). It really turned out great! Thanks to moda bake shop for the great idea!! I love it! I got the charm pack from Joann's. I just love the colors. I'm really loving aqua right now.    

I've always put off canning and preserving thinking that I would get around to it when I had a garden. But I couldn't wait any longer. We have 2 more years of apartment living before we buy a house and I don't get the slightest amount of sun on my patio to grow anything, so I have been scouring craigslist and ksl ads for free or cheap produce from local growers. Today I got all of this for just $5 (minus the toddler)! 

Last week my sister and I made cinnamon plum jam from the plums we got at the Red Barn and it turned out great! I'm playing around with the idea of making a sugar-free batch but am a little nervous.
I still have a ton of plums. I see fruit leather in their future.  I'll be making apple pie filling and dehydrating some apple slices (so much cheaper than buying apple chips!). 
The zucchini has already been shredded up and frozen and bread has been made, the corn is also going in the freezer and the pumpkin will be used promptly. I love making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin. It is so much better than canned. Seriously. 


Yep. I love Fall.

Fall Colors Tour Part I

Ok, so I can't take the credit because I got this idea from Nienie. We have so many beautiful canyons here in Utah and the Fall colors are starting to show up. Our first stop on the tour was in American Fork Canyon. We apparently should have turned right instead of left to get to the Alpine Loop, but that will just be for another day. It was absolutely beautiful.  As we headed back out of the canyon we decided to stop off and let James take a look at the river. He was soooo exited! He kept screaming "wow!" like he always does when he's just overcome with joy. He is so funny.

 

on Saturday we headed up to Squaw Peak in Provo Canyon.   After all this driving around looking at nature James needed some outdoor time. It was 90 degrees on Saturday so we took him to the new park in Spanish Fork and let him play in the water. He had sooo much fun. We had to drag him away when he turned purple, but he would have played til he turned blue.  

And the weekend wouldn't be the weekend without a stop off at the Red Barn. I will be doing some canning this week with all of the produce we got. Peaches, plums and blueberries, yum!  We mostly got the blueberries for James. He loves them so much he couldn't wait until we checked out. I think he ate over a cup before we even left!  

I'm Back and a James Update

School is back in session and so far so good!  Paul is ahead on all of his coursework.  Work is crazy for him right now so he's a little stressed, but I think he's doing alright.

I've been working on getting organized around the house. I have started my Fall cleaning, which is pretty much like Spring cleaning only a different time of year. In addition to deep cleaning the apartment, I have been going through clothes and toys and either craigslisting them or giving them away. I still have a lot to do, but I am well on my way.  I hit the caselot sale at Smith's today and stocked up my pantry. I'm cutting back on my monthly grocery bills by stocking the pantry really well about two or three times a year. In the long run it really saves money. I've reorganized both bathrooms, all the closets, and every cabinet in the kitchen so far.

I've also got a huge head start on Christmas.  Once we decided what James' big gifts were going to be for Christmas I started keeping my eyes open for a trike and basketball hoop.  At the beginning of the summer these items were priced at about $40-$60 a piece depending on brand.  I had a bunch of R Us cash and as soon as the basketball hoop went on sale I bought it. I only paid $5 out of pocket! I was a little nervous about finding a trike, but as luck would have it this little Radio Flyer was on sale at Wal-Mart for $20 and I had a gift card for the exact amount. I only paid tax. I am WAY ahead of schedule :)

Speaking of Christmas, I'm very excited for the holidays. The cooler weather we've been having has really got me psyched for Fall. I know it'll probably be 100 degrees tomorrow just because I said this, but the mountains are changing colors. It's coming!  Paul and I had such a fun Thanksgiving together last year that we've decided to go solo again this year. Christmas is going to be a total blast. James is at such a fun stage.  I'm planning on a few different projects for my decorations this year. I'm making new stockings, a wreath, tree skirt, and ornaments.  Here are a few ideas:

I love these little stars! Plus I don't have to worry if James rips them off the tree.

  

I don't think this will be going on my door, but I will be putting this in my house. I think it's so cute!

I can't make up my mind which stockings I like better. What do you think?

  

I've already got the stuff for this one. Only mine is going to be red and white. 

James is finally learning to sign. I started signing to him when he was about 8 or 9 months old.  I was just starting to think that he wasn't going to pick it up when he started communicating when he's hungry to me (he makes the sign for eat, only on MY face...so funny!). Pretty soon he was signing for lights, trees, flowers, thirsty and water (he made up his own for this one. He acts like he's splashing water with an open palm...which looks more like the sign for ball, but it's still cute).  I'm working on toilet, please and thank you.  It's really awesome to be able to communicate with him before he is really talking.  He is really good at getting me to notice what he's jibber jabbering about with pointing. Oh, and when he blows it means candle. Cute! I have a little border in his room that has lions and monkeys in it. He'll point to the lions and growl and say "oo oo" for the monkey. 

List of words James uses: wow, hi, no, yay, yeah, oh, mama (but never about me :(), kee kee (which generally means that he likes something), uh-oh, up, moo (ha ha ha, why I don't know), and why. 

He is in to everything now. I have found him on the dining room table trying to smell the flowers!  He dances to EVERYTHING. Commercials, his toys and sometimes the sound of Daddy's snoring. Anything that has a beat. He's recently started "conducting." The cutest was last week when we were watching Music and the Spoken Word and he started conducting MoTab.  He loves to spin in circles until he's so dizzy that he falls over.  He is a handful, but I wouldn't have it any other way.