Busyness

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything and it will be a little longer before I can again. I the love Thanksgiving and Christmas season but along with it comes busyness! And I have definitely been busy! Baking, eating, shopping, running errands, eating, shopping some more, etc. Anyway, don't think I've forgotten about blogging - I just haven't had time! I promise that I will get caught up though and I will have several different things to blog about - baking, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday to name a few. So, I'll see ya a bit later with some updates on what's going on in my life!

Pie and Cookies

As mentioned on my previous post, it had been a while since I've baked anything so I decided to bake an apple pie while at my parents house on Monday. I didn't want to make a plain old apple pie (although they are yummy). I wanted to make something different. I remembered a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman's site a while back and knew it was the one I wanted to try. Scrumptious Apple Pie. And scrumptious it definitely is! It is my new favorite pie recipe. My parents and hubby are also huge fans of this pie so I know that I most definitely will make it again and again.

This is my sad, sad picture of a delectable, delicious dessert. If you want to see a better picture, check out Pioneer Woman's blog for this recipe. Her pictures are always fabulous!


Another dessert I made was Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies. Our Light Brigade/Glimmers class had a Thanksgiving celebration tonight. I volunteered to bring cookies. One of the other ladies was bringing her yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies so I needed to come up with another kid-friendly recipe. It took me a bit but I came across this recipe and thought it was cute and perfect for a kid's celebration. They're very easy to make, just a bit time consuming.

Aren't they cute? At first I thought they looked a little goofy but then I fell in love with their quirky, over-sized looks. Here they are in all their silliness.

Name Change

I decided to change the name of my blog because I thought it was more fitting (and more interesting) than Leah's Life. As you all know, I adore baking and I adore my family and they are both the treats and sweets of my life. What better way to share than through a blog? I hope you enjoy reading about and seeing the treats and sweets of my daily life!



PS
I just realized it's been over a week since I've baked anything! This non-baking streak can't continue so I guess I'd better find something to make today!

100th Post

Today I am celebrating my 100th blog post. 100 times I have shared stories, pictures, recipes, and thoughts. I love being part of the blogging world and hope to continue being part of it for many, many more posts.

Here's To 100 More,

JJ Cuteness

It's been a while since I've posted a bunch of pictures of JJ so I thought I'd get caught up and post some. Enjoy!

He had just woken up and was just sitting on the couch, still in a daze.


Still in a daze from just waking up he just stands there and stares at Bentley.


During our garage sale a week ago, Jorge came to visit on his lunch break. When it was time for him to leave, JJ took off after him.


As you can see, he was pretty sad to see his Daddy leave.


Such a sad little boy.


Much happier now!


Playing in the neighbor's yard.


Playing in Grandma and Grandpa's yard.


Digging holes in Grandma and Grandpa's yard.


The weather was absolutely beautiful a few days ago. JJ wanted to go outside but I wasn't feeling too well so I decided to put his pack and play on the porch and stick him in it. Here are some pictures from that day.


Love it!


Isn't he just so sweet?


His little pouty face.


I love my little JJ bug!


I think I've been fortunate to get some good pictures of him lately. I hope I can keep this up!

Forever Taking Pictures,

Operation Christmas Child

This year, our Sunday School class decided to participate in Operation Christmas Child rather than give each other gifts. It is such a simple thing to do yet it can really brighten a child's life. Basically, you fill a shoe box full of goodies (school supplies, candy, crayons, toothpaste, etc), decorate the shoe box, and spend $7 to have it shipped then take it to a local Mardels. From there, the shoe boxes are sent around the world to children who have very little. Can you imagine the joy a shoe box full of goodies will bring to these children? And the amazing part is that it is just so easy! I love to shop anyway so spending a little extra time filling a shoe box certainly wasn't much to ask. So our Sunday School class got together tonight so that we could decorate our shoe boxes and fellowship. I love any excuse to get together with friends! We also paid our $7 donation online so that we could get a bar code on our shoe box and have it tracked. That way, we'll get an e-mail telling us where our shoe box ended up! Pretty cool, huh? It was a great evening with great friends for a great cause. I can't wait to find out where our shoe box ends up!

JJ with our decorated shoe box.

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

Today is my 1 year blogiversary. I can't believe it has been 1 year already. I've written about anything and everything (mostly my son, JJ) and have read about anything and everything! I love reading others' blogs and getting a peek into their world. I also love being able to record events that happen in our lives. I know that if it weren't for my blog, I probably wouldn't remember half of the things that happened. I've never been good at keeping a journal or a diary but, for some reason, have no problems keeping up with a blog. I look forward to re-reading everything years from now. I hope this is the first of many blogiversaries for me!

Our Daw-Gees (as JJ would say...)

I just realized that I have never introduced our fur babies to you. Their names are Bentley and Brandi and they are both full-blooded Golden Retrievers. They are almost exactly 1 year apart in age and came from 2 different litters. They look almost identical!

Bentley is 3. I got him when he was only 9 weeks old. He is our laid-back, more-mature pet. JJ will poke, prod, pull, and ride and he will just lay there and take it. He's only 3 but he acts like an old man. ha!




Brandi is our spunky 2 year old. We got her when we found out I was pregnant with JJ. We didn't want Bentley to get lonely after the baby was born so we bought him a friend. She has calmed down quite a bit since we got her but she's still quite a hand-full!




The two of them are pretty inseparable and are best friends. I think Brandi keeps Bentley young!

I Missed It!

Well, darn it, I missed it! Pioneer Woman was here in Oklahoma City on her book tour signing and selling her cookbook. And I missed it! I planned on going, I really wanted to go. But I missed it. I didn't remember until that night that she was here and by then, it was too late. So I missed it. I am quite upset about this because I am a HUGE fan of her site and have gotten so many great recipes from her. I was really looking forward to having a signed PW Cookbook. But no, I missed it. So I'll just have to settle for an un-signed PW cookbook. Because I missed it.

Simply Thankful

It is November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner (can you believe it???). How appropriate is it for a Thankful post?

I have been blogging for almost a year now and I have read so many, many different blogs. MckMama is one I've read every single day since the beginning. Sweet Stellan has had heart problems since he was in his mother's womb. Yesterday he had a surgery that has made him SVT free! He's not out of the woods yet as he has a fever and a couple other problems.

I also have read the Williams Family Blog for quite a while now. They lost their first baby, Gabe, years ago to EB (a rare genetic skin disorder). Since then they had another baby boy, Jonah, who also has EB. Jonah is alive and well but every day is a struggle for them.

These women, and countless others, are amazing to me and they make me so very thankful for my healthy baby boy. Sometimes I forget to be thankful and start getting frustrated with daily life but then I read one of these blogs and am quickly slapped back into the reality of how fortunate I am. I am not grieving the loss of a precious child, I am not struggling to get through the routine of every day life, and I am not watching my baby get sick and fight for his life. By God's grace, I am the blessed mother of a perfectly healthy, happy 19 month old baby boy. And I am thankful. Simply thankful.

Getting Creative

Tonight I went to a scrapbooking/stamping party. I've seen things like this done before but have never participated. Give me a recipe and I can make it for you but when it comes to things like this, I thought I'd have a harder time with it. They look so much more complicated than they really are. It was so fun and easy! It was another fabulous night with the girls just relaxing and having fun. I can definitely say that I am hooked. I loved getting crafty and creating something pretty. We decided to get together once a month and make things together. We're getting together early next month to make Christmas cards. I'm so excited about it! I love all things Christmas so I am so anxious to make these cards! Here is what we made tonight. Aren't they so cute???

Garage Saling

No, I haven't been doing any shopping. I've been doing some selling. My parents had a garage sale and my brother and I brought our junk over to make one large sale. We've been blessed with beautiful garage sale weather so there have been a lot of people out shopping! Mom gave me the idea to try to sell some baked goods to see how well they went. I made Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Crispies, and Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting - yum! I was actually surprised at how many I've sold. One lady bought a muffin, left and then came back 5 minutes later and bought the rest! She also got my name and number so she could order a couple dozen more for Thanksgiving. I couldn't believe it! Tomorrow is our last day (thank goodness) and I'm hoping we're able to get rid of the little bit that is left. Now, I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with this extra money... ;)

Fall Decorations Update

Well, I bought some more fall decorations this weekend so I wanted to show you! I think it looks so much more fall-ish in here. The best part is that I got them on sale!

These are on top of my kitchen cabinets. The "Live, Laugh, Love" are always there. I like the pumpkins between them.


I got 2 packages of fall leaves for 40 cents each at Michael's. I also got the twine looking bows for 2.00. I like the rustic feel it adds!


This is our mantle. It's very simple (just like the rest of our decorations) but I'm a simple kind of girl so it suits me well!


I love the Give Thanks sign. I got it for only 3.50. Not too shabby, eh?


I love how a simple thing like a few leaves and twine can add so much!


As you can see, we don't have many decorations but I think we're well on our way to getting a decent collection. I can't wait to go shopping again once the fall items are on clearance!