Pumpkin Time

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins. This year Max did his all by himself. Riley's always look cute and scary at the same time. I don't know how he does that....Two more days and we will head out trick or treating with cousins. Happy Halloween!

Butternut Squash Casserole

It's officially Fall, we have picked out our pumpkins, gone to the apple orchard, and had a Pumkin Spice latte (PSL). Since the weather is cooler I don't mind heating up the kitchen with a delicious casserole or hot dish. One of our family's favorites is Butternut Squash Casserole. This recipe is easy and even your kids will ask for seconds. 

Butternut Squash Casserole

Ingredients

4 pounds butternut squash

¼ pound butter (melted)

1 cup  real mayonnaise

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon white sugar

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1 (6 ounce) can French fried onions

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add cubed squash; cook until tender but still firm. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Add butter, mayonnaise, egg, and sugar to a large bowl and mix well. Drain and add hot squash to the mixture coating completely.

4. Sprinkle ½ breadcrumbs on the bottom of six-quart casserole dish. Pour squash mixture on top and sprinkle with remaining breadcrumbs and cheese.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, then top with fried onions and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Trip to the Apple Orchard

Wilson's Apple Orchard is close to Iowa City so on a beautiful fall day like today, you just have to pick up the kids from school and head out there. It doesn't hurt that it was doughnut day! They had delicious fresh pumpkin and apple cider doughnuts, hot coffee, and frozen apple cider slushies. After our snack we had the energy to walk out to the rows to pick some apples.

It was a wonderful year for apples in Iowa. We had lots of rain to start the spring and then it has been pretty dry which has made the trees just full of apples. The boys picked two baskets full, so it was a good thing Dad was there to carry them back to the car. They also had pumpkins and all sorts of fall squash. Fall is my favorite season and I love all the harvest veggies and fruits. I think an Apple Crisp is in our future. 

Halloween Banner -DIY

 Halloween is one of my favorite holidays basically because hey, free chocolate! I also like the Halloween decorations because they are bright and fun and orange. This year I decided to make a Halloween banner for my kitchen nook. I didn't want to go buy a bunch of supplies so I just used what I had in my craft stash with a few sheets of computer paper printed with some graphic designs.

First cut your paper into 2.5 inch strips and tape them end to end so you have one long 24 inch strip of paper. I just used clear scotch tape on both sides.  Then accordion fold the paper, back and forth, so that you have quarter inch pleats. 

Tape the two edges together so that you form a doughnut and then flatten by gently pushing the middle down and making a disk.

I used hot glue in the center of the disk to hold it in place and to glue the letters for the banner on. For my banner I used the phrase "Trick or Treat" in Western font. 

You will need to hold the letter in place until the glue hardens so that the disk does not pop up and come apart. Once it is cool they will lay flat. To string my banner I used baking twine and a needle, poking two holes across the top of each medallion. I had some vintage cat cards in my scrap collection that I added in to break up the words.

The folding was the hardest part of this project, and it was nice to make something out of materials I already had on hand. Do you know what your going to be for this Halloween?

Cuboree 2013

 All day Saturday, Jered and Max went to the 2013 Iowa Cuboree at Kent State Park. This is a super fun day for all the parents and boys and they do all sorts of out door events. They kicked it off with a flag cermony. This  year they had engineers with science gear in to demonstrate different light and sound experiments. They even had a "monkey bridge" that the boys got to try to cross.

Everyone got a chance to do out door sports too, like fishing and practice shooting b-b-guns. They also did a navigation course with maps and compasses. 

The build this year was bridges with tooth picks and gum drops. Max's bridge held 55 lbs! They ended the night with a bonfire and ceremony. The Boy Scouts get to camp over night at the park, but the Cub Scouts head home to their beds. 

Max's 3rd Grade School Photo

Max got his 3rd grade school photos back today. Much better than last years' photo! I'm still on the fence about if I like school photos. In some ways it's a tradition and there are those charts you can put each year in so you see how your children change and grow. But in other ways they don't really capture their personality like photos I take of them. Still this ones a keeper. Think some of these prints are going to the Grandparents.