Into the New Year

We’re nearly to February, so I thought it might be a good time for a photo dump, since I just downloaded photos from December and January.  Yeesh!

Catchin’ up with the fam… I soooo wish I had taken more photos during Christmas.  Will I never learn?!

One sick kiddo… I’m thankful I was with my mom during Liam’s first bout with the flu.

A Midwest boy at heart… Playing with all the cool toys at Grandpa Feller’s store—definitely a highlight. 

LOVE this face…cracks me up every time.

A few photos from this afternoon.  I’m determined to learn how take better manual shots this year!

And just to mix it up, here are a few recent photos of our table décor.  I’m always a little stumped on how to decorate between the holidays and warmer weather, but I’m digging this simple arrangement—especially thanks to the cool wood serving board that my mother-in-law gifted me on my birthday. 

I’ll end with a few shots of Matt’s birthday cake.  Although we didn’t do a big shebang this year, I wanted to make a special cake for my mister.  He tends to like peanut butter and chocolate combos, so I slaved over whipped up this ditty.  Check out Annie’s Eats for the recipe.  By the way, Matt really enjoyed this cake, and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for something decadent.  The fluffy peanut butter frosting is delicious and would be a great addition to your favorite chocolate cake recipe.  You can totally see the imperfections in the photos, but I was happy with the overall turnout.  Another goal…learn how to frost a cake!

How is your 2013 going so far? 

Homemade Pumpkins

No, I am not writing about food made with pumpkin, although I have been craving pumpkin desserts like a nut lately!  And yes, this weekend I did make the.most.delicious.pumpkin.cream.cheese.muffins.ever.  I’ll even be nice (although I’m sure the calories are, um, not so nice) and share the recipe with you.  Check out Annie’s Eats—which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite blogs—and give her muffins a try.  Scrumptious, I tell you! 

But if you’re looking for a cheap and easy fall craft, these homemade paper pumpkins are right up your alley.

Seriously, I was listening to a podcast and messing around with some scrapbook paper, and within ten minutes both of these pumpkins magically appeared! 

Find the step by step instructions here.  You might notice that I made my pumpkins more petite, which makes them more portable for decorating.  I also used jute twine in place of ribbon, and I love how it stands up like a stem and has an organic feel to it (some of you know that I think the word “organic” is way overused, but it just seems to fit here…maybe that’s why it’s overused…people just think it fits everything…I digress).  One more look at the cute couple. 

Just for the record, I love Pinterest, and recently I’ve been trying to actually make some of the things I find on the site, as it’s so easy to pin and never do.  Ya know?  Speaking of, I think it’s time to get your Betty Crocker on and try your hand at those pumpkin cream cheese muffins—before you forget about them and move on to something else.  They’re just too good to miss.  Promise. 

I totally ended up writing about food made with pumpkin.  Such is blogging.    (Did you know these little guys are called “emoticons”?  What a crack up!)