Heidi's pumpkin party!

Every year my friend Heidi comes back to our neck of the woods from hers and her in laws host a huge pumpkin carving party on their farm. It is very fun and something we look forward to all year! This was Heidi's first meeting of Torin. 

I love Fall. 

Davis family farm

After we left the pumpkin patch yesterday we went to my friend Heidi's in-laws farm for pumpkin carving. It is a gorgeous piece of property with a 150? year old farm house, a few cows and creeks and amazing plants everywhere.

They had set up the barn with tables and carving tools.
Heidi and I.

The boys and G's punkie.

We had a fabulous time hanging out with our friends! Heidi used to live in our area, splitting time between here and AZ. We have boys the same age. We met through gdiapers and have been chatting on the internet almost daily since.

A few of the end products.

My fave. There was a giant spider too but it left before I could grab a pic.

I just hope Heidi and family visit again soon!

Goodbye dear friends.

Sometimes people come into your lives and they leave such a mark on your heart it's as if they take a piece of you with them when they leave. This family has done that to us. Jamie and her family lived next door until yesterday morning. Many memories made, many pantry staples shared and many hugs exchanged in the last 2.5 years. You will be deeply missed friends and my heart already breaks as I look at your empty house next door. :(

I wish you many wonderful blessings on your new adventure and hope that you love your new home and neighbors. (not as much as me though. hehe) Thank you for being there when I needed you most (when I found out about Jonathan) and for all the little things too. Love you dearly friend and pray the best for you!

Oh! And you spell your name wrong. :)

(The house next door is for sale: 4 bedrooms, office, bonus room, 3 full baths, 2500 sqr feet. granite counters, stainless appliances. upgrades and custom moldings galore. If you are interested, I promise I won't compare you to them... please email me for more info)

A wonderful day for friends.

Last weekend we went to Columbia Park with our friends Nick and Renee and Ada. We had such as great time, I wish we lived closer to us, especially now that we have tiny babes about the same age.
We had decided to do a picnic lunch so I took one of my favorite recipes that I have found lately.

Cowboy Caviar
1- 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed
1- 15 oz cans black eyed peas, rinsed
1- 17 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (or more) quinoa
1 large tomatoes, chopped
2 large avocado, diced
2/3 C green onions, chopped
2/3 C fresh cilantro, chopped

• Dressing
• 1/4 C red wine vinegar
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 t cumin
• 3/4t salt
• squirt of lime juice
  

Mix all ingredients together except avocado and lime juice which is to be added just before serving. Keep refrigerated.

We also had fruit salad and pasta. Delish. There is almost nothing I like more than good friends and good food! We met Nick when he first moved into his previous house next door to our previous house. We were neighbors for about 3 years before we moved. And then he (rudely) upped and moved to the EAST SIDE!

H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E!

Just kidding but we do miss them!

It is amazing to me just how alike my hubby and son's mannerisms are in this photo, right down to their crooked hats and stance.

I heart Hydrangeas!

Help for a friend

I posted the other night that my dear friend lost 2 of her 5 children in a house fire. I have connected with her over email and she has expressed that while their immediate needs are met (they won't starve or freeze) there is the costs and the fact that the family is spread out over a few states as they prepare the home they are in for the rest of the family to join them.

A fellow blogger, Clay, has started a fund for this family and I also have posted her Paypal donation button below if you would like to send a pp donation directly. If you would prefer a gift card or something you can send it to me or Clay and we can forward it on. Please email me at jsbuquet@gmail.com for more info on how you can help this wonderful family. (also, for what it is worth I do know this Mama in real life and she is amazing)

button is in the works- it's being a PIMA.... in the meantime, here is Dana's blog who has a working button! LOL

Grayson's 3!!! (and a half!)

When Zack and I decided to try to have a baby we talked about things we would like to have and not have. One of the things neither of us wanted for our children was to have a December or January birthdays because of the proximity of the holidays and everyone's vacations. Those birthday's just seem to get lost in the shuffle.

3 children with January birthdays later, something seems to have gotten lost in translation.

Since Grayson got a brother for his birthday (Jaxon was born 1-16, G is 1-13) we decided at the time to have a half birthday and have it at the park with some friends, doing something with just us as a family on his actual day.

Fast forward a few months and Spider-man has taken over our life, our house and our child!
It's not uncommon for Grayson to be in full SM gear. It wasn't hard to figure out what kind of party to throw.

We called it a super hero party so the other kids could wear whatever costume they wanted to.

Grayson couldn't decide on which super hero costume to wear, so he wore both!

The food! Mostly red and blue (I tried to keep the red (dye) #40 to a minimum.)

Sadly, that smile turned to a frown not long after when he was running by the picnic table and tripped on the cement. He smacked his eye/forehead so hard I heard it across the park. He cried a LOT and it ended up very swollen and purple. We ended up in Urgent Care the next day just to make sure it wasn't broken around the socket or anything.


The cupcakes I made. Did you know you can learn to frost cupcakes from YouTube? I did!

G loved them.

Helping bring the gifts over.

Ollie running around in his Super hero cape I made as the party favor.

These capes too a looong time! Pretty easy but I don't usually go easy on myself so instead of glue I sewed, All 20 capes and stars on the backs. I was up until the weeee hours of the night before the party.

Caitlyn in her Super baby diaper.

The kids, and Jax the moose!

I LOVE Josie's outfit! Her Mama and Grandma make the cutest stuff for her! Her mama is the local celeb Elle Zober, who does all of our amazing photos.

Grayson LOVED all of his fabulous gifts. He is still amazed when I pull something new out.
Thank you everyone who was able to make it. Thank you for all of his fun gifts. He loves everything and Spider-man has officially infiltrated EVERY single aspect of our lives. (he has spider-man: boo boo ice pack, kite, band aids, ball, books, coloring books, cars,
and last but not least a bicycle and helmet from his grandma and uncle.)

Nashville Needs help!

I have a bloggy friend who lives in Nashville. Were it not for her I would have NO idea what is going on there because it is not getting near the media coverage it should be. Please share this youtube link or this blog post to help get the word spreading that they need more help.

Crepes!

When I was a little girl, about 5 years old I enrolled in Daisy girls scouts. Our year was actually the first year of the Daisy level! In that group I met many of my kindergarten pals, a few I am still friends with now. Bonnie is one of them. She and I have managed to stay friends all this time, with few breaks in the connection. Even with her moving out of state when we were 14.

When we were in junior high together we were absolutely best friends, from twins day every Friday where we would wear matching outfits (cringe!) to spending most weekend nights at each others houses.

It was one of those sleep overs that I learned about Crepes and it was love at first bite! Her parents

photo by Bonnie Swenson

make fantastic crepes! I have had an infatuation with them since. Almost an obsession. When Belle (another friend from kindergarten) was in Seattle last spring I drove up and we wandered around Pike's Place Market. Tucked in the back at the tip top of the shops is this amazing little crepe shop.

We almost thought for a second that we had died and gone to Heaven! She loves crepes too!

Fast forward to last weekend. I randomly decided I was going to make crepes with the pan I was given 3... okay 4! years ago as a birthday gift. I emailed some friends and asked for recipes and was told about this one. Julia Child was a genius, "that's all I gotta say about that."

Let me just say YUM A LUM!! It only took me one try to get it right and then after Grayson and I ate 2-3 (or 6 but whose counting?!) a piece I made an additional 16 for the freezer!

Strawberry and Whip cream filled with powdered sugar on top! I seriously may gain back ALL- and then some- of the weight I lost!