Quote of the Day...by Ashlynn

Our sweet little Ashlynn HATES washing her 'princess' hair (that's what she calls it). Well, the other day I was fighting with her to let me rinse the shampoo out of her hair. After swatting me away several times she yelled out...
"Daddy, Daddy says (she likes to repeat things twice),
'no wash hair!'." I told her that Daddy never said that. She then said...

"Jesus, Jesus says 'no wash hair'."

Somehow she knows Jesus has a higher priority! After an outburst of laughter from Ben and I, we reassured her Jesus never said she couldn't wash her princess hair. Nice try Ashlynn:)

The Swearing Cookies Recipe

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, vanilla and egg, blend well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in nuts. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

Brown Sugar Icing

3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, combine 3 TBSP butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for one minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Cool 10 minutes. Add milk and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in enough powdered sugar for desired consistency.

The Thanksgivingmobile

Has anyone ever seen a Thanksgivingmobile? Well, here it is. Created by the one and only...

...Luke. Can you see how proud he is of his creation?

Stand a Little Taller

Every day since the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, I have read from his book, Stand a Little Taller. The quote for today is this:

November 17, page 336

"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

"The kingdom of God is not a DEMOCRACY. Wickedness and righteousness are not legislated by majority vote. Right and wrong are not determined by polls or pundits, though many would have us believe otherwise. Evil never was happiness. Happiness lies in the power and the sweet simplicity of VIRTUE."

- President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Is this not the perfect quote to hear this morning? I really needed to hear it and be reminded of these powerful words from a prophet of God. May we all stand a little taller today because of it!

Pumpkin Fest

Ok, I have to admit...Luke is not the only pumpkin lover in the house. I don't sleep with pumpkins at night like he does, but I think I am a little obsessed with eating pumpkin stuff! Maybe I am deficient in Vitamin A or something:) I didn't grow up eating pumpkin treats as a tradition, so I am not sure where my addiction comes from. Every year I look forward to October and November mainly because I get to stuff my face with pumpkin: bars, cookies, bread & cheesecake.

I am still working at losing weight, but I do allow myself to bake a treat once a week-usually on a Sunday. Every Sunday for the last month I have made some sort of pumpkin treat and November is not finished yet. Yipee!!! December seems to be more of a chocolate fest for me, so I have to get in as much pumpkin stuff as I can! As long as I work really hard at exercising and eating the right food during the week, I am able to indulge in my weekly Pumpkin Fest with no problem. I even managed to lose 2.4 pounds the week of Halloween!

Eight years ago, one of my friends gave me a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies w/ Brown Sugar Icing. They should come with a caution sign because they will make you swear. I am not kidding. I won't tell you some of the things Ben's co-workers said when they ate them:) The funny thing is that I don't care that much for traditional pumpkin pie. I also don't add nutmeg or cloves to my pumpkin recipes. I only like pumpkin and cinnamon together. That's it. A match made in heaven!

Trick or Treating

The long awaited day had finally come. HALLOWEEN! Our little Batman and Princess were able to attend a carnival at my work and then they went to a 'trunk or treat' that evening. We also did some door to door trick or treating. They had so much fun! We have candy coming out our ears! I have to hide it before it destroys my diet! We hope you guys all had a great Halloween too!

Carving Pumpkins

Once again, this is not the order I wanted the photos. Oh-well. Check out Luke's 'scary eyes' face. He is very proud of it. Ashlynn is sporting some major 80's look with her hair and clothes. I love it.
This was the first year Ben and I didn't really care about Halloween. I can't believe I just said that! In the past we have both LOVED Halloween and we usually dress up and each carve a pumpkin. This year we only did 2 pumpkins. We can't seem to pull ourselves out of this slump. Our thoughts for the upcoming Holidays are the same way. What is wrong with us?
Thank goodness for children. They have forced us to still have some fun this year. Ashlynn took one look inside the pumpkin and saw the 'guts' inside and said, "EW, GROSS!!!". She ran to the front room and laid down on the couch and 'read' a Toys R Us magazine. She is such a little diva! I should have taken a photo of her laying there. She wanted nothing to do with the filthy pumpkin. Ashlynn cracks me up and I love her to bits.

Luke asked Ben to pose like the carved pumpkin. Ben, of course, couldn't refuse. Don't they all look alike? :)

Pumpkin Patch

This is not the order I put the photos on Blogger, but I think it is having problems lately. ANYWAY, here we are at the pumpkin patch. The kids love riding the tractor to get to the pumpkins.

Here are the kiddos cheesing it up.

Luke was just a LITTLE excited to be sitting in a field of pumpkins.

Ashlynn hated walking in the pumpkin patch. She started crying and saying, "EW, Gross" every few seconds. She is such a girly girl.

I love capturing moments like this...when they actually enjoy being with each other and no one is getting hurt.