The arrival of fall, a family milestone, and a persimmon pudding recipe.

Fall is here.

If I haven't told you before,

it's my favorite time of the year.

The leaves are just beginning to change.

In a week or two the hillsides will be bursting with color.

The Persimmon Festival has come to town this week.

Our little town will swell to at least twice its size.

It's the next best thing to Christmas around here.

Which means I can get the kids to do their chores without 

too much of an argument.

Like last night.

The boys did the dishes without one argument.

Not one.  

One of my hot chocolate mugs got broken.

But no arguments.

Impressive indeed.

One of my favorite treats this time of year is Persimmon Pudding.

If you're fortunate enough to get yourself some persimmons

here's a recipe.

It's the best.

2 cups persimmon pulp

2 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 stick butter, melted

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon soda

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Add sugar and pulp.  Add beaten eggs and mix well.

Add soda to buttermilk and stir until foaming stops.

Then add to pulp mixture. 

Sift dry ingredients together and add gradually to pulp mixture.

Add cream and butter

(which has been melted in a 9X13 baking pan, leaving enough to grease the bottom)

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

You're welcome.

Political Statement.

This is a political statement.

Josh has been telling me for weeks that his

church shoes were too small.

I kept telling him I'd get him a new pair this week.

Then I found this in the yard the other day.

I guess he's decided to take matters into his own hands.

You do know what this means?

He'll probably be barefoot at church on Sunday.

9-11 Remembered.

Today, and every day I am proud to be an American.

The kids and I spent the afternoon watching the stories of those

whose loved ones were lost on this tragec day 10 years ago.
  I remember some of the pictures and vidoes of that
day and they seemed just as real today as they were back then.

My kids were so young when it happened.
One wasn't even born yet.
They listened intently to my account of that morning.

I  learned of the attacks from my sister in law.
I had just finished a night shift at the hospital and as was going to bed.
She had been watching the morning news.

Both towers had already been hit. 
There were talks of it being an act of war.
But surely, I thought, it was some sort of accident.
Who would purposely do something so terrible as that?

Now, I can hardly believe the innocence of that thought.

How much our lives have changed since that day.


May this country never again know the sorrow of 9-11.

WWE Smackdown.

If your house is anything like mine

then you know that if you leave the camera laying around

the kids will find it.
And heaven only knows what you'll find.

They're photograpy and videography skills are a-mazing!

Sometimes I delete the silliness.
Sometimes I just file it away.
And when I'm feeling nostalgic
I look through it all
and ooh and ahh over my babies
and how much they've grown.



And then every once in awhile I come across
a sweet little treasure like this.
I found this video the other day
and laughed until I cried.

I know right?  Funny.
CL-A-SS-IC.

Don't worry too much about Olivia
she is the instigator.
Do you have one those?

Chorkie. Chorkie? Chorkie!

Sometimes as a parent I am a complete pushover.

And my kids know it.

Especially if they are of the blonde- hair -brown- eyed variety.

Or blue -eyed -brown- haired variety.
Doesn't really matter.
Because this post isn't really about parenting skills.

Which is exaclty why we now have one of these.

This is Daisy.

She's cute.

So is her rightful owner.

But she is a poop machine.

Sorry.  I wouldn't normally say that on here,

but it can't be helped.

If she wasn't so darned cute

I would be seriously mad at her.

She's a chorkie. 

Isn't that a funny word? 

Chorkie.


It took a few days for Josh to come up
with just the perfect name.


Call her Princess said one,
Charley said another.


Then it happened.  Just like that.
Daisy was her name.

Sweet little flower that she is.

She really ate one of the kids' homework papers last week.
Which may or may not have been before she had a name.

"I'm running away!"

Josh.  Being Josh.

Thats what my baby said,

Then he ran out the back door

leaving a trail of chaos behind him. 

I was fixing dinner

so I watched him from the kitchen window.

 I could tell by watching him that this was gonna

last awhile. Because he was seriously mad

and the older kids had been picking on him.  Again.

    He has a fiery temper that one.

Andy and Josh eating dinner while on vacacion July 2011

 

   Back under the apple tree

    Andy the goat, not the cousin, had joined him.

  Just a boy and his goat.

  There they sat for awhile,

    until Andy started chewing at Josh's hair.

                             When dinner was ready there was no coaxing him in.
                                                      Papaw couldn't even do it.
                                                           At least not at first.




                        Then I saw a blonde streak dart through the kitcen
                                                          and out the back door.
                                         There he was again under the apple tree
                                                           with his dinner plate.

4H Fair 2011

                                                                     
                                                      Pride before hunger.


                                             It must be so hard being the baby.



                                                    He turned 9 last week.

Who's the slacker?

It pains me to admit this

But I am a slacker.

My absence from blogging only

testifies to that fact.

 I've been hanging out in blog land

visiting all of my favorite blogs
and totally neglecting my own.

The good news though is that my long
absence this summer has provided me with

loads of stuff to chat it up about,

so stay tuned.

Do you wanna know some of

my favorite places to stalk visit?

First up is Traci @ Beneath My Heart.

She's from Kentucky (but we won't hold that against her ; )

She is a talented decorator and has a serious love affair with burlap. 

She and her family have moved recently,

so join her in the journey of making

this new house a home.

Next up is sweet Noelle from Because Nice Matters.
Noelle just had a sweet baby girl, Emily. 
Or Elimy as her sweet little niece "Trouble" likes to call her.
Emily just had surgery and should be going home soon.
Head on over for a visit.  You'll love
it there.

Serene is my name, not my life is where Serene shares
her humorous stories of motherhood.  And with 5 little ones
at home she's never short on stories.  Her wit and humor
make me laugh right out loud.  Mainly because I've been there.
Hang in there sister!  Go visit her.  Her kids are adorable.

Another person that I often visit is Becca.  She's a kindergarten teacher,
but shares her love of cooking, decorating, and gardening.   Her home
is beautiful.  And I want the shed in her back yard.



And lastly, well not really lastly, but if I shared all
of the blogs that I visit you'd be here all night.



Last is Teresa over at Meadowbrook Farm.
I love. love. love. love it there.
I don't know what I envy more
her to-die-for flower beds,
mad photography skills,
or her perfect country farmhouse?
Go visit her and let me know
what you're coveting.



Now go grab a Diet Coke, or a cup of coffee, or whatever else
 you need to snuggle up in front of the computer
and enjoy some of the best sites blogging has to offer.