What Happened to Fall? (Part 1)

As the snow is seemingly ever-present these days, I'm wondering what happened to the last season that--I don't know about you, but...--just blew by me! I'm fairly certain fall happened. But in the dead of winter, it's hard to remember it. Just like it's hard to imagine it ever being H-O-T again. So I've decided to REWIND just a bit to record our fall activities, even though it's February. I figure it doesn't really matter how far behind I am as long as I eventually get around to it.

First, in honor of blogging for one year, I had my first giveaway. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was unexpectedly fun. Monica (who doesn't blog but sometimes reads them) was the winner.

Here were her prizes...

...all ready to go.

Then, despite my great concern over possibly missing the Pumpkin Patch this year, we did actually make it! But as I now shuffle through the massive file of Pumpkin Patch pictures on my hard drive, I am thinking I will not bombard you with that many pictures at one time. So...they'll be forthcoming, I promise. This post will merely be "Part 1" of two installments.

'K?

You'll thank me later.

Trust me.

Noah and his pal Nate went with their daddies to Magic Springs to celebrate Nate's birthday. They went on the very last day of the season--just in the nick of time to use our free passes. (Thanks to Summer Reading Club at CALS.)

Afterward, our families joined up and had pizza and cupcakes together. Such good times with such great friends!

Thanksgiving rolled around as well, and we had dinner at OUR house. Our first Thanksgiving to actually host. We did all the cooking, except for a surprise pan of dressing and some rolls Aunt Donna sent by way of Poppy. We had so much food. Sort of makes me sick just thinking about all that food. But it was so nice to be using the buffet like an ACTUAL buffet for once.

We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Waiting patiently...

A Messy Face Says it All

Some of us couldn't even stop chewing for a picture...

And even the baby cleaned his plate tray...

But even after all this face-stuffing, there were plenty of leftovers. Nothing too overwhelming, though. I just made new meals out of the stuff, instead of serving Thanksgiving over and over. (Because...yuck!)

Atticus is chowing down here on leftovers of Ina Garten's recipe for Grown-Up Mac & Cheese. It was Paul's idea to add this to our traditional Thanksgiving repertoire. It was a hit. In fact, I've been thinking of making it again sometime soon with some healthier modifications. I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay. That's Part 1. Not too bad.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

There will be pumpkins!