The Simple Mama: Fall Y'all

Showing posts with label Fall Y'all. Show all posts

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Costume Reveal

Welcome to my annual costume reveal! As you know, we forego homemade costumes this year. I have gone back and forth on how I feel about all this. But all in all, I call our store-bought costumes a success (except in the budget department).

Each year I take the children to fun places around our city for our Halloween photo shoot. They are totally into it because they feel like they get to "be" the character they are dressing up like, while I get to practice my amateur photography skills. It's a win-win all around.

So without further ado...I present Halloween 2016.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Hello Lovelies! It's Pumpkin Time. I've got your local Pumpkin Patch lowdown all in one place. Here are some of the best local pumpkin patches and all their deets (including my all-time favorite pumpkin patch!).

Halloween Costumes on a Budget

It's almost time for Halloween! If you've been following me for awhile, you know I love a good homemade or unique Halloween costume. And the hubs and I love getting in on the fun too. :)

I almost always make or put together our costumes in some form or fashion instead of buying them outright. It's easier on our budget and I love that our costumes are one of a kind or have a unique spin in some way. That is why you'll be surprised to hear my shocking confession...I bought the children's costumes this year. Sorry, I should've made sure you were sitting down for that one.

Ginger Muffins

Nothing says fall like ginger muffins. I stumbled upon this recipe last year from this cute blog called Back to the Cutting Board and knew it would be going in my recipe notebook after the first time I made it. It was a huge hit with my family!

I make mini muffins so they are perfect for my little ones and great for taking as a snack or on the go for a quick breakfast. But I have made regular sized muffins with this recipe too and they turned out just as good. Look how yummy...

Happy Halloween

Alice and Bowser. These were the Halloween choices this year. Alice in Wonderland: easy. Bowser: now that took some thinking. It's a good thing that I enjoy making the children's costumes because there were no Bowser costumes to be found except on Etsy for $40 and that was just not happening.

I've shared before how my mom always made our costumes when my sister and I were little. I think I enjoy doing that for my own children because it's one thing that reminds me so much of my childhood and the simpler days when you just didn't have all the choices and convenience we do now. Call me old fashioned, but I like that.

Thanksgiving Dressing

If you follow me on Instagram you saw that this happened this weekend:

Now I know what you're thinking...what about Thanksgiving??? Well, this also happened this week: our first snow dusting. :)

It just feels like Christmas already! But I love Thanksgiving too and I promise I haven't forgotten about this fun holiday. And I am extra excited about Thanksgiving this year because I get to be with both my mom and sister. This will be the first time we've spent a holiday all together in about 10 years. I. Can. Not. Wait.

So to celebrate all this excitement, I'm sharing my Thanksgiving Dressing recipe. I'm sure I am violating some kind of Texas rule by calling it dressing instead of stuffing. But I don't stuff it in anything (except my face) so dressing just seems like a better fit. This is the recipe that my mom always made when I was growing up and now I make it for my family. It's my kind of old-fashioned comfort food! (Be fully warned...this recipe is the very opposite of paleo cooking!!. But it is the holidays and I am ok with that!!) I've passed it along to some of my friends and let's just say that this dressing recipe is a favorite for sure!!

Mom's Thanksgiving Dressing

2 packages of white cornbread (Martha White is my favorite brand)

1/2 loaf of white bread

2 cups celery, chopped

2 cups onion, chopped

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

3 tsp sage

3 tsp poultry seasoning

2-4 cups chicken stock

1-2 cups turkey broth

2 eggs

Prepare cornbread in 8 x 8 pan according to package directions. Crumble when cooled completely. Toast bread on a baking sheet in a single layer at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes, turning over after 15 minutes. (You can also toast bread in the toaster to save time, but there's just something about doing it in the oven that makes this recipe taste so good!) Crumble into pea-sized pieces when cooled.

Saute celery and onion in butter until soft. Add sage and poultry seasoning to taste (or smell as my mom taught me.) In a large bowl, mix crumbled cornbread, toast, and celery/onion mixture. Add chicken stock and turkey broth until desired moistness. (You can use all chicken stock if you don't have turkey broth or don't want to mess with that. But use the broth from your turkey if you can. It makes a big difference!) Some people like dry dressing, some like it soupy. Keep adding stock/broth until it looks a little wetter than you prefer to eat because it will dry out some when cooking. Lastly, add 2 eggs and mix all together. Place dressing in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until a knife/toothpick comes out clean.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobble! :)

Friday, November 7, 2014

Flashback Friday: Halloween Edition

**Disclaimer: This is one of those selfish posts that is kinda just for me...and my family...and my precious friends who like to reminisce with me by looking at pictures of my children whom they have prayed for and loved since the beginning. And for my mom...who checks my blog everyday for new posts. Every. Single. Day. Love you, Mom! This one's for you!

Yes I know Halloween was last Friday, but we were just having too much fun for me to blog about it until this week. We love Halloween at our house. We do the same thing every year. Sonic corndogs for 50 cents while carving our jack-o-lantern on Halloween afternoon. Then it's off to our friends' house for trick or treating in the evening. Yes, I know. Some people disagree with celebrating Halloween. But for me, I feel like it's one time when my children can use their imaginations and enjoy being kids.

Butternut Squash Soup

I love homemade soup at this time of year...especially this one because it makes my whole house smell like Fall! And you are going to love the story of how I got this delicious recipe!

3 Frugal Ways I Updated My Fall Decor

I love my fall decorations. But even a quick trip to Hobby Lobby at this time of the year to get something totally NOT related to fall can get me itching to spend money on new fall decor. I don't need it. But oh, how I want it!

So this year I found a few quick, easy, inexpensive ways to update my current fall decorations without spending a fortune. And I think it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. :)

1. Use extra ribbon or fabric to update "old" things.

I worked at Bath & Body Works in college and I totally took advantage of the employee discount to stock up on seasonal goodies. I've had this jack-o-lantern tin for 5, 10, ok...nearly 15 years. Please stop doing the math. Each year I think I am tired of it and am going to get rid of it. But this year I decided to update it instead. So I used some leftover fabric to wrap up a plain candle and placed it inside. I love the way it turned out!! Now it sits in the children's bathroom and they love it too!!

Here's another example: Brad received this candle as a gift a few years back. I'm not a big brown fan. I'm just not. But this year I pulled out some leftover fall ribbon to tie around it and now I love this candle!!

2. Change out the photographs in your frames to fall pictures.

I actually started this tradition last year. I have some great photographs of my little ones but I don't do anything with them except put them in photo albums. I don't really have any true photography talent...I just take a LOT of pictures and I usually luck into a few good ones! So I started changing out my photos to my favorite seasonal ones and placing them throughout the house. (Keeping it real moment: these are all pictures from last year because I'm usually about a year behind on developing pictures. I know. I'm a slacker in that area.) But if you use the ones from the previous year you don't have to worry about rushing around to get good current fall pics! So really, I'm just being super efficient, right?!?

I love this cute chalkboard sign. I use it ALL the time. It's not technically a frame, but I use it to display pictures sometimes. Right now it hangs on the inside of our front door. :)

3. Move your decorations around.

This one was a little harder for me. I like predictability. I like knowing where I'm going to put everything. But sometimes, just sometimes, it's refreshing to change things up a bit. So this year I switched a few of my fall decorations to different places in the house and I like it. Nothing drastic but just enough to keep things interesting for this Simple Mama.

Originally, I had these mini pumpkins on our coffee table. I moved them up to the mantle the other day so some sweet Littles could have room to play. I liked the way they looked so much that I just kept them up there!

I would love to hear other ideas on how you update your fall decor too!!

And speaking of fall...I know you want to know who won the Fall Give-Away from Tracy's Crochet Store!! And the winner is:

Desaree!!!

Congratulations!! I will contact you about your adorable new custom hat!! And if you didn't win, don't be sad. Check out Tracy's shop on Amazon. There's still plenty of time for you to order your very own fabulousness before those colder temps settle in for good. :)

Friday, September 12, 2014

Flashback Friday: Fall Edition

The whisperings of Fall have finally arrived at our house. Our home is always decorated for Fall the minute that Labor Day is over (because it is by far my favorite season!!), but the "Fall-esque" temperatures usually come about a month or more later. So I am feeling very excited that the much-anticipated cold front arrived today and brought with it rain and cooler temperatures. Don't get me wrong...I'm sure we'll all be in shorts and flip flops again next week, but today I am enjoying this welcome change by celebrating with some of my favorite photographs of my sweet little ones from Fall past....because as you will see...these cuties LOVE Fall too!! :)

WARNING: You're about to see a whole lotta baby cuteness!
Fall Flashback: 2009

Channing & Mommy

Channing's First Pumpkin Patch: 10 months old

Where's the baby?

Hold this picture in your memory for a few minutes...

Fall Flashback: 2010

Channing: 21 months
Chaz: 2 weeks old

Chaz's 1st Pumpkin Patch

Smoooooch!

Tiny baby, big pumpkins!

New Big Sister!

Fall Flashback: 2011

Kiss Kiss!

Mom, I'll take this one!

A rare picture of me with my 2 littles!
Chaz: 1 year old
Channing: 2 years old

While at the Pumpkin Patch, the bags on the stroller outweighed
Chaz and he tipped over.
So what's the first thing I do? Grab my camera for a picture, naturally! ;)
That face!!!!