Things I'm Loving

 Aspen leaves turning golden yellow

 Morning hikes with JP while the kids are in school

Picking apples and making baked good with the kids.

 Seasonal brews.

 Fall crafts. Hippie Acorn heads!

 Nature walks with the boys and anything made out of what we find

 Halloween crafts like goblin faces...

and salt dough figures.

Watching my little guy learn to read

Hot chocolate and warm coffee on chilly mornings


Breaking out the woolen hats again

Chef Wars: Round 2

Round two of the Daddy teaches Patrick to cook.

Here's the Swedish Chef of the Animas Dorm.

Kung Pao Chicken was so delicious. Thank you Patrick for another spectacular meal!

Who's out there, anyway?

So I've been thinking and wondering. Does anyone else find it weird that I am the only contributor to this blog of sisters or is it me?

I'm just sayin' maybe I should start posting to something more me instead of under the assumption of a group of people.

Does anyone ever read this except my mother?

Anyway, I'm gonna post away since I don't have another blog (yet) to distract me from this one. But I will happily post to something else if you ladies think it's just not happening here...

Pantry Soup

We got back home from a week out of town for Zeb's wedding and just as usual, I'm faced with the whole "What's for Dinner" task. The pantry is empty so you use what you have. Here's a recipe for Marinara soup that I fond this week to be a lifesaver. Hannah, you're gonna love this one!

Easy Marinara Soup

1 chopped onion

3 large chopped carrots

1 crushed garlic clove

1 can Great Northern beans (or what ever you have) drained and rinsed

1 jar of marinara

2-4 cups of broth

1 cup of small sized pasta, shells, penne, macaroni, orchette. I used a combo.

Saute the onion, carrots and garlic in oil until soft, add the beans, marinara, broth and cooked pasta. Heat through. That's it! Whip up some of Nina's famous drop biscuits and you are all set.

Cheap. Fast. Vegetarian.

Every Father's Dream

Teaching your kids to shoot. OK. SO maybe the McBrayer Dad's dream. We walked in to good old Wally World to a mass of camo to buy bullets this past weekend and I realized just how long it had been since we had done it. I think we may have to go shoot some skeet sometime soon to get a fix.

Aeneas actually shoots just like this. Smiling, letting them rip just as fast as he can pull the trigger while smiling at the camera. I'm glad Daddy is looking in the right direction!

Patrick is beginning to learn how to aim.

One Easy Way to Ruin the Day

No pictures Mom, I'm moping.

Bummer, Dude.

I've never seen a kid so excited about going to school. It's finally Aeneas's turn to begin doing things that he has had to watch his big brother do in the past. The night before, both kids put out their clothes for the next day and went to bed with smiling faces, especially Aeneas. And since he was sick his real first day and already starting a full 2 weeks after the excitement of Patrick's first day it was extra exciting for him.

So I woke up early to pack Patrick's lunch and Aeneas came out all smiles, ready for the day. He asked if I was fixing him a lunch too. I said no. Not this time. And that was the utter ruin of the morning. Thank goodness he perked back up once we actually got to school.

Now that's more like it!

Lasagna...the easy way.

Cook lasagna noodles.

Cut a couple of pints of cherry tomatoes in half and a couple of zucchini into half moons. Saute in olive oil the zucchini for a few minutes and add the tomatoes and garlic with 2 minced cloves of garlic. Season with oregano, salt and pepper.

When they are soft, layer cooked lasagna noodles + ricotta + veggies alternating twice. Top with a noodle, a dollop of ricotta a basil leaf and sprinkle with Parmesan!

Deliciously fresh summer fare.