Fall Fest and more

This past Saturday was our Fall Fest gathering. We ended up having a beautiful sunny day to get ready and do the final preparations in the yard, set up tables and chairs, figure out where we wanted to put all the food, get the fire circles ready and argue with Matt over where he was going to put the giant goards that looked like boa constrictors (not even kidding). At one point he was using them as a centerpiece on the table (again, not kidding). All of this was in addition to the cooking and cleaning I was doing inside. Needless to say, the kids were a bit antsy all day and at one point Ella started crying because she wanted her friends to be here NOW. So I shipped them down to the basement to watch Ariel's Beginning's and all was well!

I made the roast beef that Crafty P recommended just to have something different and found that it tasted remarkably similar to the roast beef I made the year before, but I liked the Italian seasonings that added a slight kick (not spicy) to it, so it is definitely a keeper! I also made the corn chowder that I mentioned in my previous post. My Aunt Lynne left me a message the other day and told me that I should make the same thing and have it be a tradition - I think I'm going to run with that and make it easy on myself next year. In addition to that I also made a big pan of Mac-n-Cheese for the kids and a hot spinach artichoke dip. To go with the dip I sliced some pocketless pitas into wedges and lightly brushed them with olive oil, salted them and put them in the oven for about 10 minutes. They were so yummy - I only wish there was a way to keep them warmer longer - they are best fresh out of the oven! I have another bag left and I'm dreaming of what I can use them with. I may just eat them plain.

We had the grill going to cook brats and hotdogs, both of which were popular with both kids and adults. In addition we also had (provided by friends) a spicy pumpkin soup and a parmesan pancetta torte. Hungry yet?

Most people brought desserts and our dessert table was literally overflowing with baked goods. Pumpkin was the flavor of the night, we had pumpkin whoopie pies (Every time Matt ate one he remarked about the name and wondered if it meant he would be having a good night - again, not kidding.), pumpkin roll, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. Along with that were two apple crisps and the most delicious carmel apples and Snicker's surprise cookies. If you weren't hungry before, you have to be now!

It was a great night. Everyone ate and talked and mingled. The kids ran around non stop for 3 hours. It was cute to see how the guys matched up with each other and the girls did the same. Most of these kids didn't know each other too well and some of them were meeting for the first time but that didn't stop them from having a blast together. Of course I totally forgot about the bag of glow sticks that I had as well - it probably would have helped because it was so dark back by our swingset. Around 8:30 (people got there at 5) Ella started to meltdown. By 8:45 she was passed out in bed, which should tell how hard she had played because she is one who will stay up as late as we'll let her.

My favorite thing about Fall Fest is that we invite a ton of people from our various circles of friends and even though a lot of them don't know each other, everyone enjoys talking and hanging out for the evening. We missed having some of our good friends there, but had fun hanging out with some couples for the first time outside of more formal situations (church, mom's groups).

I know, you're waiting for the pictures. I'm sorry to say that I have none. I was so busy for the first hour or so, moving food down and directing people where to put their stuff that by the time I took a breath it was dark out. I can tell you that on the tables I put pumpkins with flowers in them, along with candles and little tiny tins with candy corn in it. Someone told me that the pumpkins were very Martha Stewart. I can't pretend that it was even close to something Martha would do. At the very least Martha would have washed the pumpkins so they were nice and shiny and not dirty BEFORE SHE PUT THEM ON A TABLE. Oh well, it was dark and no one seemed to notice.

So that was Fall Fest.

Other stuff going on this week;

I am tagging tagging tagging clothes to consign in a kid's sale this weekend. I am hoping to make some money to help with Christmas expenses this year. I have to tell you that I am having a hard time letting go of some of the clothing. There are certain outfits I can picture so clearly on both girls and I would rather pass them along to friend's than say good bye forever! Could all this reminiscing be the reason I went to bed the other night with the strongest desire to have another baby that I've had in years?

Ella has a playdate this Friday with a little boy from her class. First time she's gone to a boy's house from a playdate and I'm feeling a little nervous about it, even though I feel like I know the mom well enough since the kids were in class together last year. Ella told me that this boy is the nicest boy in class, even though Matt told me he was also the wildest. Ella doesn't usually like the wild boys (Pray that this stays true for all her life!! actually Matt may have been considered one of the wild boys at one point so perhaps I'll have to to amend that prayer at some time.) and she tells me that they play Prince and Princess on the playground. Should be interesting!

Finally, the girls are going away for a day and a night this weekend. Renee's mom is taking them Saturday morning and is going to entertain them with a day full of fun activities and then they'll sleep there and I'll see them in church on Sunday. I don't know what I'll do with myself for a whole day without kids. Matt will be busy demolitioning our bathroom, something I am glad not to be a part of. I know we'll go out to dinner that night, but any suggestions for the rest of the day?

Demolitioning our bathroom is one of a couple projects we have going on around here. I promise to put up pictures of the last project we were working on - it has proven to be a success and so far has made my life easier. The bathroom project coincides with getting rid of the closet in our room and passing my dresser along to Ella so we could have install a wall to wall warddrobe/closet combination. All my clothes have been piled on the ground for a few weeks now. I dig through a trash bag to find socks in the morning. I regularly see the girls wearing various items of clothing, usually lingerie, because how can they resist the big piles of dress up clothes!?

Ok, that's enough for now. I'm sure I've spilled way too much info and you need to take a break anyway!