october roads

fall day.

an annual family tradition.

we carve pumpkins.

sit around a fire.

drink beer.

eat homemade donuts and

lots and lots of other food.

 

normally we have it at my parent's or my aunt mickie's.

this year, since our house was finally ready and

we have enough land to have some fun, i decided to host it myself.

as you know, everything fell through last minute and

i herded the whole shebang to my parent's.

i was disappointed but it's such a chill day

that it didn't spoil any of the festivities.

ronnie missed out since he was

busy working on our septic system, so that sucked,

but the rest of us had some fall family fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the shit show

family fall day was really cute, but first

let me tell you all about our very own

shit show that is now playing at my house.

friday night ronnie heard our bathroom sink gurgling.

greeaaaat.

he checked our basement drain and yep,

it's clogged.

thank god there was no actual poopy water in the basement,

but we were definitely close.

ronnie said he would try snaking it in the morning, which

i was praying would work since we had

all my relatives headed our way the next day.

it. did. not. work.

of course not.

so last minute, we had a change of location for family fall day and

we had to try to figure out what to do with the house.

there was good news though.

ronnie's best friend, jason, had the company excavator at his house.

um, yes please.

he brought it over and the two of them spend the rest of the day

digging up the septic system and figuring out the problems.

the bad news?

we have major issues.

enough where we had to pack our bags and head to

my parent's house for a week.

ronnie and jason bought supplies and ordered

two dump trucks full of gravel to be delivered.

the plan is to be back in our house by friday.

f i n g e r s  c r o s s e d

 

ham and apple quiche

i finally made the quiche that i meant to make last week.

it took me a few days to talk myself into making pie but

like always, it's totally worth it.

i used this pie crust recipe, but i'm sure

you could buy pie dough and go from there.

i combined two different recipes i found and

kind of did my own version:

 

i cut up a small apple, 1/4 of an onion and 1 cup of ham.

i sautéed the onion in butter and added the apple and ham.

i also sprinkled in some fennel.

(i don't think i've ever used fennel, but the recipe

called for it, so i just added a bit. i was nervous.)

in another bowel, i cracked four eggs and a cup of half and half.

the recipe called for milk, but i thought half and half would

be better and i already had it in the fridge.

i also added some salt and pepper.

i dumped the ham/apple mixture into my uncooked pie dough and

added 3/4 cup shredded cheese on top.

i poured in my egg mixture and sprinkled another 1/4 cup of cheese.

baked it at 400 for 45 minutes.

and done. 

both kids ate it - whoop whoop!

but ronnie said he prefers breakfast casserole - whatevs.

 

at least it was something different to try AND all our ham is gone now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ps- can i just say that trying to do this while two kids were running around was super hard and a little frustrating.  i mean, both girls were crying at one point and i'm all like - please, can i just make dinner?!  and ronnie wonders why i don't cook more...

 

october days

september is for the apple orchard, which

means october is made for the pumpkin patch.

we normally travel out to johnson's farm with the fam, but

brette's class had a fieldtrip planned to faulkner's ranch.

(which is 30 minutes closer to our house and just as cute.)

they allowed siblings to come, so reid and i met brette and

her class last wednesday for some good old fashion fall time fun.

they had story time in the hay.

crawled through a blow-up caterpillar.

went for a hayride.

made friends with the barnyard animals.

had duck races.

found their way through a corn-maze.

and picked out their very own pumpkins in the patch.

the weather was on point and i liked that i was finally

able to meet some of the other parents and kiddos in B's class.

brette's favorite part?

the bus ride.

of course.

 (reid wanted to be part of the class.)

 

ronnie missed out but i think we're going to skip

going again as a family.

we have homecoming, family fall day

and finally, halloween.

our calendar is full.

but that's just the way fall was meant to be.

 

i'm actually hosting family fall day this year.

i'm pretty excited just because it will be so much

easier on the girls.

tired? i can haul them upstairs, no problems.

i've decorated my house and been making a list of

things i need to grab at the store.

that's on my to-do list for tomorrow.

it's supposed to be kind of hot, which

bums me out, but hopefully we have a super fun day.

can't wait.

 

 

 

 

 

window dressings

i feel like curtains are THE THING

that make a room feel finished.

in my last house, i always meant to hang curtains,

but i only managed to get it done in the dining room and the office.

it bugged me for years.

in this house i've made a point to finish up a room with curtains.

first, brette and reid's.

and now, my room and the dining room.

(master bedroom)

(dining room)

i want to buy four more panels for the two windows 

on either side of the fireplace in the living room.

i think it will tie it to the dining room.

i bought these from target, but they didn't have anymore in lee's summit,

so i'm going to try another town and hope it can scrounge up enough.

(if you see them, let me know)

the only other window in the house i'm 

thinking of adding one to is the laundry room.

i think the curtain i used in our old office would 

actually work really well, but i need to resize it first.

the finishing touches are my favorite.

he's getting older

remember back in the day when 

ronnie broke his back?

it's one of my favorite stories to tell

because i always end up crying-laughing.

it's just my memory of his legging slithering across the floor,

trying to get to bed, while i ignore him because i was on the phone, gets me every time.

(i'm the worst.)

so you can imagine the laugh i had when i came 

home sunday to find ronnie on the couch watching tv - - back broken.

for some people, sitting on the couch watching television 

might be pretty normal, but in my house,

it's cause for concern.

he said he had been out spreading lime on our yard 

(80 lb bags) and then he went to start his chainsaw.

it was too much.

he went down and had to basically crawl back to the house.

he stayed on the couch for a few hours so by the time

we tried to get him up he was so 

stiff and his back completely seized up.

(i might have laughed some trying to get him up.)

it took us forever. 

there was a lot of cries out in pain, followed by giggles.

and i might have tried recording him to have video, but he yelled at me.

he's no fun.

basically, he ended up using my head as a crutch.

i left him propped up in the doorway and went to find

something in the basement he could use as a cane.

i found his fly rod case.

perfect.

he had to stand for most of the rest of the day because

sitting hurt so much.

he took off work the next day and went to urgent care for 

some pain medicine and made an appointment with 

rockhill orthopedic for friday so he can get another epidural shot.

i've spent this week doing most everything.

he can't pick up the kids, he can't bend over to get anything,

he can't put on his own socks, he can't get out of the tub after soaking his back. (ew)

although, he did go back to work?

i'm not sure how helpful he is, but there's

no way ronnie could have sat around here all week.

it would have killed both of us.

i'm like a live-in nurse. 

i really hate life.

he really hates life.

so anyway, i really can't wait for friday.

i need ronnie back in working order. 

but it HAS been nice to watch tv together.

i have to take advantage while i can.

backstory

here are a few tidbits about this week:

1- i made two new dishes this week.

crack chicken and

ham&cheese macaroni.

i think both of them were really easy and 

everyone at it well.  

(not brette, but i don't count her because she 

really doesn't eat meals anymore.  good times.)

i used thighs instead of breasts in the chicken dish

and cut the tomatoes in half in the ham dish,

both were good modifications for us.

i have a recipe for ham and apple quiche that 

i'm going to try over the weekend.

(ronnie thawed out a 10 lb ham like we

were having freaking easter dinner, so 

i've been trying to come up with ways to use it.)

2- i was doing laundry on tuesday and when 

i was bent over getting clothes out of the washer,

the lid fell on my face.

literally, landed right on the bridge of my nose.

i would never survive any sort of attack.

the instant someone comes at my nose, i'm out.

it was the worst freaking pain. 

i'm assuming its comparable to getting punched in the face, 

only you can't fight back so it just leaves you 

super pissed with watery eyes.

for real, i still can't touch it its so tender. 

3- i dropped brette off at school on wednesday and

the teacher asked me if brette talked at home.

saaaaay what?

my child?

the one that never shuts up?

apparently my kid doesn't talk at school.

this just goes to show that you never actually 

know your kids like you think you do.

i was sure brette was a little social butterfly.

here i was worried that she was overusing the word "booty"

when in fact, she isn't saying hardly anything at all.

the teacher said she will only speak when asked a direct question

and even then, she only whispers.

my little freak.

4- in other brette news,

she is getting worse at night.

she is now refusing to sleep in her room at all.

since i'm not down to share my bed, she 

is currently spending her nights in the hallway.

i still cannot believe this is brette,

my little super sleeper.

she never gave me any troubles and now i can't even

keep her in her room.

ronnie and i decided to buy her a new bed.

we're thinking/hoping she's outgrown her crib.

i'm praying that once we get a new bed in there she

finds a new love for her room and her bed.

5- i'm recommending an author.

Liane Moriarty

i've read four of her books recently and loved them all.

seriously.  if you're a reader and looking for

something good, check her out.

6- i'm on a curtain kick.

curtains for the dining room, 

curtains for the living room,

curtains for the master bedroom.

i'll post pictures when i have them all hung.

right now, the only ones we have up are in the dining room.

i love the finishing affect curtains have on a room.

7- lastly, here are the girls from this week looking

extra adorable and sweet.

i'm done.

let's just go ahead and start the weekend.