Fall Recipes

I have been in a fall-ish baking/cooking mood. I made these EASY pumpkin muffins last week, and Bryson and I have had them for breakfast every morning since. (Brandon prefers good ol' cold cereal)

Easy Pumpkin Muffins (from www.ourbestbites.com)
2 boxes of spiced cake mix
2 cans (medium) of pumpkin puree
1 bag of chocolate chips

Mix the cake mix and pumpkin together. Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a spoon (these don't bake to look very pretty- they keep the same shape you start with) fill the muffin tins.
Bake for 22 minutes at 350 degrees.

This recipe made about 40 muffins, and our best bites reports that these are 1 WW point.


Something about fall makes me love casseroles. And having people over for supper. This recipe makes a TON of food- and its addicting, so share with friends :)

Potato Casserole (from my mom)
2 lb bag of frozen hash browns
1 pint of sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tbsp minced onion

topping:
crushed corn flakes
1/4 cup melted butter

Thaw the potatoes. Mix all (non-topping) ingredients together- and put into a greased 9x13 pan. Your pan will be FULL. Sprinkle the corn flakes on top and cover with melted butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Enjoy!

13 Months

Bryson's now 13 months old. That seems strange to type. When I was in college, I remember people at church saying 'oh, he's 15 months old' and I'd think why don't they just say he's a 1 year old? It all makes sense to me now!

Not too much has changed this past month, but here's some of the highlights:

Shoes: size 5

Clothing: 12-18 months

Interests: Elmo, cars/trucks/trains, books, opening and closing doors

Words: dada, a form of 'I did it!' and 'all done'

Bryson had his second ear surgery this past week. His old tubes were removed, and new tubes were placed that are supposed to last longer. He also had his adenoids removed. He seems to be doing quite well. It appears that he can hear more- we will have his hearing re-checked by an audiologist in October. I'm praying that this new set of tubes will reduce the infections and we'll have a healthy winter.

Fall Cleaning

I never really get into the spring cleaning craze. I'm so ready to get outside and work in the flowerbeds, that I'd rather put it off until the fall!

I've been struggling with how to organize and keep track of Bryson's toys. They started taking over the downstairs. We toyed with the idea of using the game/media room for its true purpose, but we didn't have a couch for Brandon and I to hang out on.

Our neighborhood garage sale was this past weekend, and our neighbor decided to sell us her NICE, white couch for $75!! So, that kicked my playroom idea into high gear. We spent all afternoon Sunday installing these shelves in the game room closet- total cost: $112 from Lowes.

Floor/1st shelf: Bryson's toys and puzzles

2nd shelf: sensory tubs (rice, beans and noodles), Lincoln logs and speech therapy toys/manipulative's

3rd shelf: my scrapbooking stuff

top wooden shelf: speech therapy games, printing papers, folders and assorted scrapbooking stuff.

I love the way this all came together. Bryson only have a few toys left downstairs now, and we spend more time up here at as family now that we have a couch to hang out on......And, what would a post be without a Bryson photo? He seems to be enjoying the game room now too!

Great Garage Sale Weekend!

I had some amazing finds this weekend out garage sale-ing. I found this tool bench, with all the parts and batteries included for $20 at this AMAZING garage sale on Friday morning. I ended up spending $44 there- half on this workbench and the rest on 13 items of clothing (all for $1 each), 2 wooden games and a bag of musical toys. My parents neighborhood had their annual garage sale, so my neighbor Amanda and I went late Friday night to just scope it out and see who was setting up. I got these bristle blocks for $4......

and this Schwinn tricycle for $18!! I googled it when I got home, and it retails for $120! Bryson already loves it- he just figured out how to ring the bell this evening :) I can't wait for him to be able to ride it around.

I'm going to keep the trike and the workbench in the attic and pull them back out around Christmas....... This next weekend is our neighborhood's annual garage sale, so we'll see what other goodies I find!!

12 Months- better late than never

I realized that I never posted Bryson's 12 month photos! It was very difficult to get him to sit still in his rocking chair- thank goodness my friend Lauri took some professional photos for us!

Milestones:
*Bryson's now walking!
*Completely off the bottle, taking whole milk and water through a sippy cup.
*He moved up to the next room at school! Now, he only has one nap a day.
*He eats whatever we eat- and we rarely find a food he doesn't like.
*Bryson weights 27 lbs, and is 30 1/4 inches tall. (90th %iles)
*He's a HUGE thumb sucker- speech therapy, here we come! :)
*He really enjoys playing with other kiddos- we caught Bryson and our neighbor, Lauren, playing peek-a-boo the other night with each other.