Thankful Thursday

I have not done a Thankful Thursday post in quite some time.  I believe I could do a post each day for something I'm thankful for.  The blessings that come each and every day, from the small things to the bigger things are truly wonderful.

I hope that I never take for granted things such as God, health, family, friends, livelihood, our home etc.  We are infinitely blessed!

I've noticed that a few people on Facebook are doing the 30 Days of Thankful posts.  I am enjoying these very much.

Today we can also be grateful for the freedom we enjoy in our country because of our veterans past and present.
I stepped outside to check on Jadyn earlier today.  She was on her tummy, on the driveway and coloring with sidewalk chalk.  She was lying right beneath the flag.  I thought it made a neat photo opportunity.

Last week, Lauryn, Jadyn, and I took a little day trip to Iowa to spend the day with Kaitlyn.  Kaitlyn and Chris live in Kansas City and so we decided to meet halfway between here and there.  We had a great time together, having lunch and hanging out at the mall.  I hadn't see Kaitlyn since June, and that was much too long.  Couldn't wait until Christmas for their visit, so we decided it was time to get together. I'm so glad we were able to spend time all together.  Here is a photo that someone took for us.

Lauryn, Kaitlyn, Laura, and Jadyn

I'm thankful for very simple moments too, such as these.....

Happiness is having a kitty who loves you....

a girl who surprises you with her silly antics...

a son who is not afraid to show his silly side...

and a girl who knows how to shop.  

 ~ ~ ~ Blessings to each of you, my friends! ~ ~ ~

Fun Fall Activities

Can you believe it's already November?  I'm so thankful that we've really had a nice fall.  We've had plenty of fun fall activities and generally nice weather to enjoy.  How wonderful!

I'm glad several of you have made the yummy pumpkin muffins from the previous post.  I've been pumpkin crazy this fall.  I think I've gone through 4 or 5 cans of it.  I can't seem to get enough of the stuff.  Pumpkin is really good for me anyway, right?

About a week and a half ago, Jadyn and I went to another pumpkin farm.She had the day off from school and so it was fun to get out for the afternoon. Jadyn fed hay to the cows, we walked through the corn maze, and we walked around in the pumpkin field for awhile and looked at all of the pumpkins.

She posed herself like this.  :)

We decided this one was NOT a keeper.

The farm owner let us pet her kitties in the barn.  Oh, how Jadyn loved this.  The black and white is the baby and the gray one is the mom.  Hard to tell the difference, isn't it?  She said the baby was about 11 weeks old.  It was a very small momma cat.  

We had a Halloween gathering on Friday night.  We had 24 kids here and 16 moms, all from our playgroup.  What a fun time we had.  Here is part of the group.

  I got a kick out of the way Monika chose to sit while having her snacks.  

Erin, helping Nancy feed Lily. 

On Saturday, I took Jadyn to her school's carnival.  She had a good time playing games, and making little crafts, etc.  She also had her hair painted.  I loved the polka dots.  

  

Here she is on Sunday night, all ready for trick or treating.  She enjoyed it a lot, but she's still not a fan of any porches with scary decorations.  That's still a bit much for her.  She's all about the candy and no scary stuff.

Easy Pumpkin-Cinnamon Muffins

A friend gave me the recipe for her pumpkin muffins.  I have been so anxious to bake them.  It's a super easy recipe and they are ready for the oven in no time.  Jadyn and I made some for breakfast this morning.  Oh, they are just heavenly when they come out of the oven.  We could hardly wait for them to cool enough to try one.  I'll share the recipe with you.

Oh, who can resist?!

Pumpkin-Cinnamon Muffins

1 yellow cake mix

1 can of pumpkin

1 bag Hershey's cinnamon chips - 10 oz.

1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients together.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and fill cups about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Makes about 18-19 regular size muffins.

• I did have to look in more than one store to find the cinnamon chips.  

Hello.  I'm surprised to see that so many days have passed since my last post.  We've been pretty busy for the last week or so.  We've been busy spending time with family and friends and as usual that makes me feel so happy.

I'm happy to report that all of us are feeling so much better.  Hopefully we'll stay healthy for a while now.  

I've been helping with a few things at Jadyn's school, which is fun for me.  It's sort of a novelty at this point.  Volunteering again at our child's elementary school.  Who would have thought?  Tonight I made a mega amount of soup for a teachers' dinner.  Making 3 batches all at once had me wondering what I'd gotten myself into.  :)  I got it all done though, and I hope they enjoyed it.

We've been loving the wonderful fall weather.  What a joy to have had such mild days.  About a week and a half ago, we went to a pumpkin farm with friends.  The weather that day was very warm.  Shorts weather is quite unusual for this time of year here in MN.  Photos of that will follow.
  

Alan and I will be having our 28th anniversary this weekend.  Yay!  Twenty-eight years makes me feel sort of old-ish, but I am oh so glad to have a fulfilling marriage with the one I love.  Happy anniversary, sweetie!

 
What's fun about this photo is that every one of these girls has a tooth missing.  What a fun age.
 
We went on a hayride, a very dusty hayride!

 
 
 
Look closely, and you will see a peacock in this picture.

Look closely, and you will see little girls going after the peacock.  One of the moms said that poor peacock would probably have dreams that night of being chased by little girls with black hair.  :)

 Our pumpkin.  This is her 5th fall with us and for this we are very, very glad!

 
 

A Fun Afternoon At The Park

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Jadyn and I decided to take advantage of the wonderful fall weather.  We went to the park.  She played, we went for a walk and then I took her for ice cream.  We had such a nice time.

Yes, that tiny figure is my daughter.  Don't worry, I stopped her at about that point.  :)  Do you ever wonder how far kids would run if you allowed them to?  Scary thought isn't it?

See ya, Mom!

Treasures

All of the squirrels were so busy, getting ready for winter.

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." 

                                                                                                 - Emily Bronte