My bro

Got some time with this guy on my nephew's bday in Sept. It was too quick but still had a wonderful time. He is my only sibling and having his friendship through my life is not something I take for granted. I'm so proud of him - he puts bad guys behind bars for the government and he is an awesome dad, husband, friend, son uncle and brother. It's his bday and I am just so thankful to have known this guy my whole life.

(Disclaimer - he has crazy spiked hair because we both had to run out to our cars in the pouring rain...:))

Parcel Post

Love this girl, her blog and her new business venture. Pure hand-crafted preciousness.
(Ok, I don't know her, but I feel like I do - her blog is full of lovely photos of her sweet family, her CUTE little house and a wealth of God-honoring words and wisdom.)

Check out her Etsy shop and order a monthly subscription to receive a box of handmade good each month - I love it! And check out her blog post about Parcel Post and enter to win a month's subscription!

Shabby chic packages

Little boy packages

Little girl packages

Little Buddies

These two are just killing me lately. They are sweet little beans who are doing SO much together and are seeming so similar in looks too. Just loved some of these moments that I captured quick on my ipod. Just trying to soak these days into my memory and my heart. Though tiring, they are precious days that I never want to forget.

Made this recently and it was Delish. I was in the middle of a cold and it hit the spot and was super easy. Why don't I use my crock pot more?!

Slow-Cooker Harvest Chicken & Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 pound  boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons  flour
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
• 1/4 teaspoon  black pepper
• 12 ounces  small new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
• 2 cups  baby carrots, cut into thirds
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 4 ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon  dried sage
• 1 cup  low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon  unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. In a medium-size bowl, stir together chicken, 2 tablespoons of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper; add to slow cooker. Stir in potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme, the sage and broth. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 6 hours.

2. In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 tablespoon flour and the butter until a paste forms. Push the chicken and veggies to one side and whisk paste, remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and thyme into slow cooker bowl. Cook 1 more hour or until thickened.

Headbands

How cute are these headbands?! 

I finally ordered one, had been waiting for the fall colors to arrive. See info below if you want one!

Twinners!

Am in love with this little shop, oh, sweet joy! And love this gal's blog - you should check it out!

oh, sweet joy blog   oh, sweet joy shop

Rigatoni Morel

Ummm this was Amazing.
I guess anything involving heavy cream, butter, and pasta should be....

Anyways - I just bought fresh cremini mushrooms, I did not have time to look for dried mushrooms - no idea where to look, if I'd find them or how much they would cost......
I accidentally bought scallions instead of shallots.....
So I just went for it anyway - adding more butter and skipping the steps with the soaking and using that water since my mushrooms weren't dried.....
It was easy even doing it my own way with different mushrooms and onions and it was DELISH. Definitely try it - like the recipe or in your own way. Also think you should add shredded beef or chicken if you want. A perfect fall meal - enjoy!

Rigatoni Morel

Makes 4 servings

1.75 oz. dried morels or a mixture of dried mushrooms
1 large shallot, diced
3½ tbsp. butter
1 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb. rigatoni
Salt
Pepper 

1. In a bowl, soak mushrooms in enough warm water to cover for at least 1 hour. Drain mushrooms, reserving soaking water. 

2. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat butter over medium-high heat and sauté mushrooms and shallots until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add white wine and cook until wine evaporates, 5 to 6 minutes. Add soaking water and cook until water evaporates, about 8 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Pour in cream and cook until sauce has thickened and is light brown in color, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Meanwhile, prepare rigatoni according to package directions. Drain and pour into a serving bowl. Mix in sauce and serve.



Recipe & photo from here

She won the tickets!!

Thanks to anyone who voted for my friend - she is very excited! :) :)

Help my friend win JT tickets ASAP

OK so I wouldn't usually do this BUT my good friend loves Justin Timberlake and is VERY close to winning. First and second place win and she is BARELY in second place.....AND this ends tonight at 6 p.m.!

Go to this link:

http://PlatinumNights.com/login?ReferingUser=501954163

Sign in with facebook hit the skip button if you don't want it posted on your facebook page. Then do the memphis blues challenge. The first answer is 11 and the second is arrowhead.

That's it!

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

Pumpkin decorating ideas

Love these ideas - want to try some if I can figure out when and how :) :)















All ideas & photos from Country Living Magazine 

PW's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

Yes Please!


Going to try this soup ASAP!










All recipes and photos here:

Pasta Bakes

Got a Kraft e-mail with all these pasta bakes included. They look amazing & planning on trying some or all SOON - well, as soon as it's not in the 80's anymore!!

Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna



Tomato Basil Pasta Bake




Harvest Pasta Bake (I have made this one before and really liked it!)




Chicken-Penne Florentine Bake

Wisconsin Dells

I found an awesome deal for Sept/Oct at Chula Vista Resort at the Wisconsin Dells, so we headed up there for 3 days/2 nights and had a blast!! Waterpark was fun, our condo was amazing and SO big! Kids each had their own room (OK....Noah was in a large bathroom but same thing) we had a huge comfortable bed, a hot tub, kitchen, 3 TVs, and the package we got came with 2 free meals. Sweet!!
So thankful we could get away for a few days since that didn't really happen this summer. Had a really special time together, all 4 of us!  Here's some pics:

both photos above are from here

Our condo:

The ride to the dells: 

(Lucy almost made it but when we were 30-40 mins away she was OUT)