What We Did Wednesday- Corn Maze

I have so many other things to post about that happened prior to our visit to the corn maze!

However, seeing as how today is the last day of October...

....also known as HALLOWEEN!

I felt that I must share our corn maze, hay rack ride, and pumpkin patch experience!

The day we travelled to the Gross Family Farms it was a bit warmer than your average North Carolinian fall day.

A bit overcast too.

I'm starting to understand how people can find corn mazes creepy.

We paid for entry into the maze, but opted not to pay the extra $1 for a maze map.

Bitsy was just along for the ride.

Eating her cereal bites, sipping on some milk, happy to see the sights.

Bud took charge, leading us down the twists and turns of the maze.

He was confident we didn't need a map.

"What was that"?

"Zombies"?!?!

We walked and walked and walked.

We passed creepy corn....

...and not so creepy corn.

Bud & I took turns pushing our happy camper.

All the while feeling confident with our decision not to spend $1 on a silly map.

Ooops.

A dead end.

Hmmmm.....maybe we should have gotten that map.

We turned back and found a check point.

It was there that Bud got a genius idea.

The check point shows you where you are on the map.

Well if you take a photo of the checkpoint map with your camera phone, you can use THAT as your map and totally justify the first 20 minutes of wandering as enjoyable sightseeing!

Once we neared the exit of the maze we heard the last call for the next hay rack ride.

We boogied over and hopped on.

Another 1st for Bitsy.

She approved.

Not only did she approve, she relished each moment.

She HAD to see everything!

Sitting still was not an option.

She was not only a ham to everyone else on the ride with us....

...but she insisted on waving to all the pumpkin patch pickers too!

The wind in her hair, people to coo over her, and free range of a 1 sq foot section of a hay bail, and this girl is experiencing hay rack ride bliss!

But don't take my word for it...

"What's that Mom"?!

"Someone else to wave at"!?!?

"Pumpkins are so cool, I have to have one....what are they"?!

Once our ride was finished we got a family portrait and then it was time to procure a wheel burrow and hit the pumpkin patch.

Bud took it upon himself to trek deep into the vined fields to find the perfect pumpkins for all of us.

This was the one he chose for Bitsy.

The coolest thing about her pumpkin is that once weighed we realized it weighed as much as Bitsy did when she was born!

A whopping 8 lbs and 4 oz!

I wish I could have taken all of these beauties home.

I was smitten with the green pumpkins....next year I might have to snag one and transform it into a witch pumpkin....

This year we stuck with traditional pumpkins.

This past Sunday we carved our pumpkins and this is what our pumpkin family looks like:

From Left to Right: Biz, Bud & Bitsy!
Wishing you a VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope that no matter where we are stationed next we will be able to find a pumpkin patch, hay rack ride, corn maze extravaganza!
It's these small things in life that create the lasting memories.
Do you have a Halloween tradition?

What are you going to be this year?
I  had hopes of making Bitsy's costume, but between all our moving and traveling it didn't happen.
So her costume is on hold until next year and this year we are fortunate enough to have a hand me down bunny costume.
(Picture for follow soon)
I have a BIG bucket of candy and we are ready for our trick or treaters!
Have fun and be safe!

Have a Blessed Wednesday!   

Blueberry/Peach Crisp

A few weeks back I had a house full of family!

My mother-in-law, her husband, and my youngest brother-in-law.

They had come to town to help celebrate Bitsy turning 1!

I wanted to serve a special breakfast treat so I looked around to see what I could whip up.

Bud had just been blessed by an airman with a gallon bag ziplock of blueberries & blackberries.

Since I already had some frozen peaches I knew a crisp was in order.

A warm, delicious, crisp!

Here Is What You'll Need:

- 2 cups of berries of your choice

- 2 cups of peaches cut into bites size pieces

- 2 Tablespoons sugar

- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

- 1/2 cup of flour

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 cup rolled oats

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

- Pinch of salt

- 6 Tablespoons of butter chilled and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375º.

Spray a 8" square pan with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl mix fruit, cornstarch, and white sugar.

Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt.

Cut in the butter.

Pour fruit into baking dish and cover with crumble topping.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

And as luck would have it, when you have a house full of hungry people...

a yummy crisp like this is sure to disappear before you can get a finished product photo.

So take my word that it was delicious.

If you doubt me I have a few other bellies that will chime in with their reviews, don't be afraid to ask!

Do you have a breakfast plan when people come to visit?

Do share!

I hope you have a Blessed Tuesday!

Low Country Boil- Crock Pot Style!

Hey Y'all!  

I'm back from vacation!

Yes I took a week off when we moved...

...and then I just kinda went MIA for nearly 2 weeks!

I didn't plan to go MIA, I planned to pre-write all my posts before we went on vacation for 9 days.

However, it didn't happen that way and so I opted to just take a step back.

I apologize for being gone, but for the first time since I started my blog I was feeling a bit burnt out.

Luckily, our vacation came at just the right time and I am now feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to take on the blog world again!

Thank you for hanging in there.

Since it is Monday and it's cold here, I've decided to share a recipe that makes me thing of warmer weather.

A Crock-Pot Low Country Boil!

Here Is What You'll Need 

-Zataran's Crab Boil Seasoning Packet

-4 celery stalks cut into approximately 1" pieces

- 1 onion diced

- 1 head of minced garlic

-2 lbs of red potatoes, cut into halves

- 4 pieces of corn or more if you have room

-1 lb of smoked sausage, sliced

- 2 lbs of medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

-enough water to cover.

Here is what you do...

Combine seasoning packet, celery, onions, garlic, and potatoes into your crock-pot.

Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Add corn and sausage to the crock-pot and cook on low 1 hour.

Finally, add shrimp and cook on low for 30 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.

This is not the kind of crock-pot meal you can just leave, but it is the kind that you'll be happy to have hovered over all day.

It's just the perfect taste of warm weather that'll bring visions of crashing waves and good times to your mind.

Use a slotted spoon to get out your food!

We sprayed ours with a little spray butter and had salt and pepper nearby for a little extra punch to the flavor buds.

I hope you can find an excuse to whip this up!

Have a Blessed Monday!

P.S. I will be posting about all our escapades over the last few weeks so keep checking back to get your fill!  We've been busy!

MIA....again

Hey blog friends!
So I am MIA again. I had it in my head that I could be in two places at once, figuratively speaking, however, I've quickly come to discover how impossible that actually is. So please excuse me for a buy while I tend to a few things that I desperately need to focus on. I promise to be back before Halloween!
Sorry to leave you hanging, just know that when I come back you will get te best version of me. The rested and relaxed and refocused Biz!!!

I hope you have a Blessed Wednesdsy!!

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Fall = cooler weather, good smelling candles, blankets, and FOOTBALL!

Taking the football portion into consideration, I have a recipe that's a perfect dish for any football gathering.

Here Is What You'll Need:

-1/2 a bottle of blue cheese dressing

-3/4 of a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce

-approx. 4 or 5 celery sticks

-1 red onion chopped

-3 to 4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

- pasta noodles of your choosing, we chose radiatore and we used the whole box.

1st you'll want to cut your celery into bite size pieces.

Next mix your blue cheese dressing and Frank's sauce together.

Chop up your onion.

Cook pasta according to box directions.
Upon completion rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process.

Add your onion, chicken, celery and sauce to cooked pasta and mix well.

Place in refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

We absolutely loved this dish and know you will as well!

The great thing is that you can add more blue cheese if it's too spicy for you OR more Frank's if it's not spicy enough.

What do you serve for football party gatherings?

I hope you have a Blessed Monday!

Spider Man Wears a Cape? A Tutorial!

So a little while back a friend of mine's little boy turned 4 years old.

What do you get a 4 year old you might ask?

Well I was thinking the same thing and then it hit me.

Little boys like capes.

Little boys also, typically like super heros.

So what better than a Super.Hero.Cape?!

I messaged said friend to ask what little man's favorite super hero was.

She replied, "Spiderman".

"Doh"!  Spiderman doesn't wear a cape.

Hmmm...

Oh well!

As previously stated little boys like capes, I can make it work.

So I made up a spiderman cape and thought that with Halloween a few weeks away I should share it.

This is a fairly easy project and it was my first time doing applique´

Here Is What You'll Need:

1 yard of costume satin preferably 1/2 of a yard of 2 different colors.

Coordinating thread

Coordinating 8x11 sheet of felt

Velcro (I did velcro because in the event your adventurous cape wearing friend decides to get caught on something, it'll tear away vs. something worse).

Since I was doing Spiderman I chose blue and red satin for my cape...

 ... and red and black felt for my emblem and

 I started by taking the largest bowl that would fit and tracing my circle on the red.

Then I cut it out.

I did all my tracing with a piece of gray sidewalk chalk that I keep in my sewing box.

Who wants to use the gray sidewalk chalk anyways?

 Next I found a spiderman-esque drawing on Google images and printed it out.

This took a little playing with to get the right size to properly fit my circle.

I cut the spider out of the paper, traced with the chalk and...

 VOILA!  I had a perfect pattern to cut a spider from.

 Here he is all cut out.

 After that I took a black permanent marker and drew my webbing.

I first drew a main center line and then added a few more on each side.

Then I added the horizontal web portion.

Most of this was just eye-balled.

Depending on your super hero you might get away with no drawing!

 My next step was a little scarier for me.

Appliqueing the spider to the 'web' and then the web to the cape.

Having never done applique before I watched a few videos and then just dove in.

My best advice is that you first sew straight lines to attach your spider to the web.

 Then you can come back and adjust your stitch direction and width.

I put mine in a medium zig-zag relatively close together.

 I then proceeded to carefully trace around my spider again making him permanently affixed to the web.

After completing that I was glad I could take a break from sewing for a minute, to cut fabric.

 When you make a cape you obviously need to make sure it is wider at the bottom than it is at the top.

Folding your 1/2 yard of fabric in half measure the width you'd like the cape to be and draw a chalk line, similar to the one pictured above.

 Now going to the toop of the cape measure from the fold to about 7" and draw a chalk line.

*I know mine was measured at 6-1/2", but just know that I am teaching you after learning my own mistakes!  :) 

 Now find a straight edge of some kind and connect your 2 lines.

This will be where you cut. 

 Next I found a bowl and used it to make the perfect 3/4 circle in my cape.

I only allowed myself a 1" strap, but I recommend you give yourself at least 1-1/2"

Chalk your line and cut the fabric.

 Once your cape is cut you can place your applique where you like.

Because I had the spider-web I sewed a black line down the center 'web' to hold my applique in place.

This isn't 100% necessary, but if you dont' want to use pins it's a nice alternative.

 Keeping my sewing machine on the same settings as earlier, I carefully traced along the outer rim of my circle with black thread, affixing it to the blue portion of my cape.

 Now, here is why you will be happy you gave yourself 1-1/2 to 2" of strap.

I did not and I had to fix this mistake by tediously cutting and adding fabric.

And, well, it was a pain so give your straps more than 1" because you need the seam allowance later.

 Affix your velcro to the cape.

Assure that you have the male and female portions of the velcro on the appropriate straps so that they meet up once sewn.

 Pin your cape together...shiny sides touching.

Proceed to sew 1/4" to 1/2" along your fabric.

I suggest 1/4" on your straps and 1/2" everywhere else.

Leave a 2-3" opening to turn your cape insdie out.

 The picture above is around the collar of your cape.

You will want to go in and cut small slits in the seam allowance so that when you turn this inside out it doesn't bunch up.

Once completed turn your cape right-side out and sew a single line along the bottom in a coordinating color thread.

Ta-da!

So what did my little 4 year old friend think of his Spiderman Cape?

Well...let me just say that it was the best reaction to a gift I have EVER seen!

There was a shriek and a squeal and the happiest smile I could have asked for.

I've since heard rumor that this Spiderman Cape has made a trip to the grocery store, because as his Mom stated, Everyone shops like that, right?!

So if you have a little friend in your life who has a special birthday coming up this is a great way to give them something personal and fun.

It's also great for this coming Halloween!

Maybe I need to make one for myself..... ;)

Will you dress up this year?

Trick-or-Treat or hand out candy?

I think we will hand out candy, after all it's our first time in a neighborhood with kids in YEARS and I'm excited to see all the little ones in costume!

I hope you have a Blessed Thursday!