The Ghost of Dinner Past...

First and foremost, I feel like I'm in a blogging slump...what is interesting to report, eh? Lots, but also nothing. I've just been in a mode of reading everyone else's blogs, and finding old friends, and lots of people I've never even seen before- oh the beauty of the blogosphere.

Anyway, in an attempt to jump back on the horse, tonight I was on the watching out for anything. And here you have it folks, the Ghost of Dinner Past! (I love that she has a zombie like state going on in this picture...try not to focus on the nasty stains on the bib!)

C loves to try to feed herself with her baby spoon, and does a fairly good job of it, when she is truly hungry, and the substance is not super messy(like the yogurt beautifully displayed above), such as dry things!

She has also started to be fussier about what she is willing to eat, making my choices more desperate. The last few days we have tried more adult foods, which happen to be much, much, much messier. Like, ravioli, with sauce...really messy; yogurt...really messy; cottage cheese...lots of squishable pieces when thrown on the ground- and thank Heaven we don't have carpet since she has recently taken to throwing everything on the floor!

The other night, I was going to the temple with a friend from the ward, and we needed to head out before I could finish feeding C, and cleaning up after her...in came Mr. Wonderful. He helped rush me out the door and said he would finish feeding our little mess, clean up after her, bathe her and bed her. Wow!...what was even better was coming home to all the dishes done too! He truly earned a title of Mr. Wonderful in my book. Thanks Love! Truly, only a memory, or ghost, remained of our messy meal. Wish is was that way every day!

Let me hear you holler for some Challah!

Last night J was gone for a few hours, so I decided to put myself to good use, and what better to do than to bake great bread. Not only did I want to make yummy bread, but I was hoping to learn to make a traditional Jewish bread- challah. I found a great and decently easy recipe in my handy Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Three hours later, and a little bit of love, and "Voila!"

A Day at the Mill

After living in Michigan for over a year now, we finally decided that we should start visiting the local attractions, especially the ones involving good food!

This morning we headed out to Jenny's Farm Market, a nearby cider mill with pony rides, a petting farm, lots of jams and jellies, as well as the best freshly made pumpkin donuts! Mmmm Mmmm Good! We went with another couple and decided we had better split a dozen of them, but needed to end up buying 6 more! That is how good they were!

We also bought some fresh cider that was quickly consumed and thoroughly ( much harder to spell than you would first think! especially for us dumby college graduates!) enjoyed.

For your viewing pleasure, below are a few pictures documenting the most exciting part of the day for Caitlin.

She knows just what to do...say "Moo," which she did, with no adult prompting!


She even "clucked" at the hens, (not really!, she hasn't even begun to cluck!)


What a cutie...somwhat overwhelmed with all the fun animals.


She would walk right up to these little goats and even reach out for them- no fear baby.

True for the free hens too! She wanted to catch a chicken for dinner. Now Jason will just have to clean it up and we will be set for dinner! Who knows if we will even be hungry for dinner after so many donuts.

Fall in Michigan

Ann Arbor becomes a beautiful place with leaves changing colors and cool brisk air. Here are some recent pictures we've taken of Caitlin in the fall foliage.

Enjoy!

Thank you Duncan!

So, as if things weren't great already, currently I have a batch of almost guilt-free cookies baking! Let me tell you all about how they came to be... It all started.....

I love to blog and read other's blogs, mainly people I have never met nor will ever meet in my lifetime. As I was reading one moms blog, I saw that she had made pumpkin spice cookies, and reported they were beyond easy...good news.

As I looked at the recipe, it called for one 15 oz. can of pumpkin, and one box of spice cake mix, (chocolate chips if desired). Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. That's it! This means, no egg, no oil/butter, just the carbs and veggie!, and I even had the pumpkin already!!

Partners in guilt-free cookies...so happy together!

Here is where this story got complicated. Having only quickly glanced at the recipe, I couldn't remember what type of cake mix it called for, so after three trips to the store, returning home with three different cake mixes, I finally had the required one! I think I could have made the cookies with any cake mix, but let me tell you ladies...wait for the spice cake! It tastes just like pumpkin pie!

While C was being grumpy at my feet, I whipped up some beautiful (well, they are actually fairly ugly looking, but I think they are supposed to be so) cookies. I even gave her a bite of the dough which she loved, temporarily curing grumpy screeches.


Best news of all...one more recipe to add to a list of cookie dough without eggs, therefore consumable with no guilt during pregnancy...much needed by Aggen women!

"29"th Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 29 MONTH wedding anniversary. 2 years 5 months down... We like to celebrate our anniversary every month and today we wanted to share some photos of our wedding day. We realized today that we have a deeper love, stronger commitment, and are grateful for a special daughter who is now part of the clan. I think we've grown stronger together and we are grateful for this. We have a lot of fun and enjoy life. We are pretty lucky, that's for sure...

Plus we still like to smooch...

Here's to many more months and years of fun, love, and adventure...

Getting There...

I've just have to do one more border and then the top of my first quilt will be complete. Jason is extremely proud of me, despite the crooked line in the middle of the quilt that he found and pointed out. Ha! I know it's there, I was wondering if he would find it!