Here a pumpkin, there a pumpkin....

The boys had so much fun tonight carving pumpkins....I just love this time of the year and all of the fun traditions that we share as a family. Michael just wanted his to have a "cool face". Matthew chose a patriotic one, based on the upcoming election.

I bought these for them to stick inside of their pumpkins, instead of using candles they are much safer and WAY cooler!

I think both of their creations, with Daddy's help, turned out really cute :)

Here is one of my FAVORITE pumpkin recipes to make this time of the year:

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

*Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with fresh whipped cream.

YUMMY! YUMMY!

I wanted to end with a devotion that fits this week and my pumpkin post well.

I hope you enjoy it :)

How a Christian is like a Pumpkin

A lady recently being baptized was asked by a co-worker what it was like to be a Christian. She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin: God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

1. Take a pumpkin. "You aren't a pumpkin, but all of us are something like one. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins." Talk about how a pumpkin is like us: it has an outside and an inside. The outside is what people see. The inside is like our soul or our heart. A pumpkin left to itself will soon rot and die. We will die some day too."
2. Carve out eyes and a small "o" shaped mouth. As you make the holes and pull out the pieces of rind, ask people what they see inside (yucky stuff). "This is what we look like to others and what we are like when are hearts are not changed. The hearts of men are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live (Ecclesiastes 9:3). How can we get rid of this icky stuff?"
3. "God is the only one who can change our heart. But in order for God to change our heart we must become open to him." Carve an opening in the top of the pumpkin big enough to put your hand through. You might want to quote Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
4. Put in your hand and pull out the insides. "God scoops out all the yucky stuff inside of us. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, impurity, and greed." Talk about the cross and how Jesus was willing to become messy for us, so that we might be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25b-27).
5. "But if we leave a pumpkin with just the insides taken out, then it's just hollow. We need to have a light inside that will truly make us alive! Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' Add a light to the inside of the pumpkin. "When Jesus lives inside of you, you can glow! You will want to be kind and honest. You will want to please God, to help others, and to tell other people about your Friend and Lord."
6. At this point you might want to carve the mouth into a smile! "God carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

***P.S. Scroll down t o the bottom of my blog and "carve" your own pumpkin :)

Blessings,

Some like it "hot"...some cold

As promised, I am posting the chili recipe that I made for the Chili-Cook Off this weekend. I hope you enjoy it!

Fire Roasted Irish Chili

1 ½ lb sirloin about 1 inch thick (coat with chili powder, cumin and chipotle cook to medium, dice and set aside)

Brown 1 ½ lbs coarse chili beef with the following Ingredients:

½ cup chopped green onion

½ cup chopped red onion

½ tbsp chili powder

½ tbsp chipotle chili powder

½ tbsp ground cumin

Bring to boil 2 14.9 oz cans Guinness with the following ingredients:

2 tbsp Hungarian paprika (adds smoky flavor)

½ cup chopped red onion

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp chipotle chili powder 1

½ tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp granulated beef soup base

12 oz tomato paste

2 tbsp lt. brown sugar

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

*Make sure beef base is completely dissolved

Combine drained beef with the grilled sirloin and the Guinness base with 1 28oz can Fire Roasted Tomatoes Drain and rinse 2 cans black beans and 2 cans of red kidney beans in a strainer. Let dry.

1 hour before chili is served, add beans.

Cook on low heat for 3 hours.

This is the ice ream that that I talked about a few weeks ago....It is very yummy and perfect for this time of the year.

Since my post is about food today, I should tell you that I made this yummy recipe tonight and we loved it! Thanks Lisa for being such an inspiration, in so many ways....

Happy Monday!

Playing "catch up".....

We had a wonderful, but once again PACKED weekend! I am trying to catch up so this post will be brief....Hope you enjoy the pictures!

On Friday night we had a 1st club Mom's movie night, we watched Sex and the City. Had lots of yummy food, awesome drinks(Thanks Bob)and a great night with awesome Moms :) Thanks so much Bev for once again hosting an awesome party :)

Saturday we had lots of soccer....Michael had his last game and scored 6 goals!!! He was so excited and was strutting all over the field. I was very proud of my little kicker! Instead of a trophy, he got a really cute soccer picture frame for his room.

Matthew also had a game. They lost, but played so well. It was a beautiful crisp fall day.

On Saturday night, we went to a church Chili-Cook-Off. We had a great time, and ate lots of yummy chili. Yes, I submitted one, but did not win :(
Lot's of compliments though...I will try to post the recipe tomorrow. It was given to me by our friend Brent and it is AWESOME!

Today we celebrated my SMIL's(Step-mother-n-law)birthday and took some pics outdoors. Then we headed to our School & Church Harvest Party. The kids were able to come in costume, and do all kinds of things....there was a bounce house, pony rides, balloon animals, face painting and so much more. The kids had a wonderful time seeing all of their friends and their costumes. Then we grabbed pizza with our friends Dave, Denise & Delaney. The boys were so tired, but seemed to really enjoy the day! I once again feel so blessed to have weekends filled with my precious family and friends....

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening .

1 Chronicles 23:30

Today my best friend Natalie & I decided to take a "fun" trip to the mall.... as we always say: "define fun..." :) After being there for over 4 hours and with 4 kids under the age of 3, we were talking about how tired we were and laughing at the pictures that we took. I even joked about my post being "Tired Thursday", until I was on the way home and was thinking about how even though our trips together might be a little "busy/chaotic" with our kids, just how THANKFUL I am that the triplets are here. They were born at 28 weeks and very premature, and are truly three miracles from God! So even though we were pretty tired today,

I know we are even more thankful..........

Jacob Lee 2lbs 8oz

Sophia Michele 1lbs 11oz

Liana Marie 2lbs

The pictures from another truly blessed day with our precious children!

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!Psalms 113:9

Wednesday Words of Wisdom & More....

A few pictures of the boys, just having fun!

It was 6 months ago today that my Mom passed away, as my Dad said, some days it seems like forever, and others just like yesterday.
I miss you Mom!

My Dad sent this to me today, I am sure it is because when we were talking on the phone that maybe, just maybe I sounded a little stressed..... :)

*I chose my song today, because my Dad is always telling me to remember this song, especially during the "crazy" days....

Daily Guideposts
Inspiration

Years ago when I was a single parent of four, I had a number of unhappy, stressed-out, overworked days and weeks. But luckily I learned a wonderful truth from a friend. “Take time for yourself,” she encouraged. “Go to a movie, have your nails done, take a class, go to the library and read magazines. Be good to yourself and then you’ll be able to be good to your family, your boss and all the people who depend on you.”
So I learned that we humans were not created to spend every waking moment in the service of others. We are not meant to just be someone’s servant, husband, mother, caretaker, or employee twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We are meant to belong to ourselves and God and then become absolutely the best person God intended when He breathed life into us. Only then can we be good for others.
Say, isn’t it time for a break? How about a cup of tea and a good book? Your family will love the new you. Mine did.

Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.
Galatians 6:2 (TLB)

Yesterday was the last one of my 6 week Women's bible study: Victoriously Frazzled. Cindy, our leader shared with us, a NOOMA video entitled Shells . In it, Rob Bell explores how we use our time, what it means to be busy, and of course contrasts it to how Jesus approached time and goals and general focus. I promise you it WILL be worth the 1o minutes & 26 seconds! It is very powerful in so many ways!

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Matthew 6:33

I wish all of you a blessed week as you try to let go of some of your own "shells"....

Friday was a busy day filled with; breakfast with the 1st grade moms, playing with friends during A.R. testing at school, Matthew's soccer game and then dinner at Red Robin with awesome friends, and finally a sleepover at our house with Antonio :)

Saturday morning started with apple pancakes for the boys and a soccer game, then a yummy lunch from the church BBQ. Then we were off to the pumpkin patch to find the "perfect" pumpkin to carve. We went with our friends, Dave, Denise & Delaney..... Delaney and Matthew are in the same class and are great friends :) We had some much fun, riding the swings, the airplanes, watching the pig races, eating funnel cake & kettle corn, feeding the goats, screaming through the "haunted house", picking apples and pumpkins and soo much more! Afterwords we had a great Mexican dinner and watched the football game....
We came home, took quick showers, and all laid down to watch television and fell FAST asleep in less than 10 minutes at 9:00. I slept soundly, until this morning when Michael woke me up at 7:45 AM to whisper in my ear that he had went potty in his "pull-up"....
Guess what, there was NO PULL-UP :)



Soo Sunday was laundry(the sheets), church, more laundry and a very fun Halloween party at our friends Lori & Dave's house, with pizza, mummy hot dogs, pumpkin painting & more...It was the 1st time this year that the boys were able to wear their costumes.
Then Matthew was off to a play date while Michael & I ran a few errands, David was working on projects and watching the football game. Then tonight we went to our second small group bible study; we are still studying Fireproof, and once again really enjoyed ourselves. It is a wonderful group of people that Dave & I feel blessed to be learning more about God's Word with.....
I am so thankful for another wonderful & blessed weekend with my family & friends!

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7