My Favorite Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Another item on our Fall To Do list is to make pumpkin bread.  It's a tradition that really kicks off the fall season, my mom made it while I was growing up and I started making it back in college.  Each year I make at least one batch (it makes three large loaves) because it freezes beautifully and nothing is better to snack on on chilly fall afternoons with a cup of tea.
My college roommate, Amy, even did a taste test for her nutrition class using the recipe and for that reason, I now make substitutes to make it a bit healthier (you really can't tell a difference!).  Enjoy!

3 1/2 c flour (can do half all purpose, half whole wheat however I don't recommend doing the full amount whole wheat, the bread will be very dense and heavy)
3 c sugar (sorry, no substitutes here!)
1 c oil (I substitute 1 c apple sauce)
4 eggs, beaten (Egg Beaters work great!)
2 c pumpkin (canned)
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
1 t allspice
1/2 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
2/3 c water (trust me!)

Combine sugar, oil (apple sauce), and eggs.  Add pumpkin.  Sift dry ingredients (measure before sifting) and add to pumpkin mixture.  Add water.  Combine.  Pour into loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Yum!

So True

A few little decorations

I usually decorate for fall in mid September, but for some reason this year I just wasn't ready.  Maybe it was because the temperatures were still almost hitting 100, maybe it was because I am completely swamped at work and trying to juggle being a great teacher and a great mommy to two boys.  Maybe I'm just tired!  Anyways, I decided to get down to business about a week ago when I was home with both boys (our home got hit HARD by a tummy bug and I had to take practically a week off from work!).  Ultimately, decorating the house was good for me and I remembered how much I enjoy the season and promised myself to take time to do the fun activities, even when I'm exhausted.  Jacob was so terribly excited about the decorations, it was more proof of how important something as small as a fun decoration can be to a four year old.  I remember vividly coming home from school to find fall decorations up and my mom icing the pumpkin sugar cookies.  I hope to create these memories with my boys even though I'm a working mom!

Our Halloween mantle (Jacob added the Jack-o-Lantern bucket for good measure!)

Spooky sign and light up haunted house above the TV

One of Jacob's favs: the Halloween tree

Now if only we used this room...

Trick or treat, smell my feet...

Pumpkin Pie Playdough Trial #1: FAIL

One of the items on our Fall To Do List was to make pumpkin playdough.  I did some research online and decided I wanted to make the edible version (especially because I already had all of the ingredients).  Well, that was a mistake.  The recipe called for canned pumpkin, honey, flour, powdered milk and pumpkin pie spice.  I had to add so much extra flour and powdered milk to make the consistency more "bread dough like" that it became, in fact, inedible.  It was an gooey mess, but Jacob still had fun playing with it for a little while.  I will definitely try making the other (more popular, I might add) version that you cook on the stove.  I'll just need to add cream of tartar to my grocery list!
Off to clean up the colossal mess...

5 Months Old!!!

T-ball Time!

Jacob had his first t-ball game this evening (and another one tomorrow morning at 8am, ugh).  He looked so stinkin' cute in his Rangers uniform and after a slow start, ended up really getting into the game!  It's really so fun to see him experience new things and learn how to play on a team.  I'm so glad we have the video below, I can just picture us watching it when he's all grown and up and say, "Remember your first t-ball game?"  (Cue the tears).

Before the game begins (his pants are still white!)

Cereal!

We got the okay to start Jonah on solids at his four month appointment several weeks ago (two months before Jacob I might add).  Unfortunately, I went back to work later that week and things got crazy.  So, here we are, just a few days away from his 5 month birthday and we finally gave it a whirl!  My mom made fun of me because I wanted to buy new bowls and spoons (bibs too, but that's a no brainer) along with the Happy Bellies cereal we loved with Jacob.  Jonah definitely gagged at first, but got the hang of it and was even opening up for bites!  He didn't eat very much (I was a bit surprised, we always joke that he would totally eat adult food if we'd let him!) but I'm sure it was just because it was his first time. 

Going in...

Not bad!

Gag reflex!