Fun with Pumpkins

Well, it's been about a month since I've posted anything. September is always a super busy time. But, fall has come and with it delicious comfort foods.

Tonight I made chicken soup. Browned some chicken breast the tore it into pieces, added carots, celery, onions. Green beans, bell peppers, tomatoes (all from the garden). Add garlic. Then more garlic. Add rosemary, oregano and basil (also from the garden). So yummy. It was really delicious. Perfect fall food.

Then I made my crustless pumpkin pies from scratch using one of the blue pumpkins that Joel grew in our garden. It was lots of fun. And, it turned out especially delicious.

So many people are on the organic food kick for the health benefits. I could care less about that. I like home grown food because it TASTES so much better. Really and truly, much better. Plus, it's fun to tend to the garden and bring the stuff in to cook. I love it.

Should be a book for adults, not just children...

I read The Giving Tree to G again tonight. Now, I've read this book no less than a hundred times but tonight I was really moved by the story. Perhaps it was because G was really understanding the concepts tonight.

I love the morals of this story:
1)You achieve happiness by doing things for others, by being selfless
2) Things don't make you happy, no matter how many of them you acquire
3) Happiness is simpler to maintain than we believe.

So many people now a days are on this quest, it seems, for the mythical grail of happiness. And they use the supposed lack of happiness as an excuse to unleash all kinds of damage in their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Even noticed though, that happy people tend to be happy regardless of their circumstances? Now, I certainly don't mean that people are all butterflies and puppy dogs when they have cancer or their lose their jobs. Obviously, even the happiest people experience moments of sadness. But they are just that.....moments. Whereas unhappy people seem to be unhappy no matter what happens to them. I believe, as apparently Shel Silverstein did, that we can only be happy when the focus is off of ourselves. If I am spending all of my time thinking of myself and how the goings on of life affect me then I am quite simply a selfish, self serving person and those kinds of people can never be happy.

If you aren't happy with your life or yourself, stop thinking of yourself and your desires. Start letting someone pick your apples, or use your branches to build something for themselves. Or perhaps, just be the stoop that someone can sit on, to rest and be thankful.

First picks of the patch.

Here are some pics of our first few pumpkins. It makes me so excited. I even put out all of our fall decorations today. I'm so ready. Also, snuck in a few pics of G.

Taking a brief rest.

Queen of all she surveys.

What a beauty.

Prepping for a toe touch.

Checking out the goods.

"Here are our pumpkins"

Sunday Blessings:

We went to the Rainforest Cafe today in celebration of my nephews 10th birthday. Time sure flies. Great day, great family, great fun. Thank you Lord.

Sunday Blessings:

• Friends, old and new.
• The opportunity to serve at church.
• A fun day/event with my daughter and mom.
• A fabulous evening with my hubby.
• Still enjoying my husband after 13+ years.
• Having family to rely on.
• A beautiful day today.
• My health.

Freeze Frame Friday

Have fun with this one.....I know I did.

Here we go Gianna, here we go!

Future cheerleader on my hands? Wrists need attention, but otherwise, not bad.