Wacky & Wild Wallace Weekend

To be perfectly honest, the Wallaces are neither wacky nor wild, but we are pretty fun to be around. These are truly some of my favorite people in the whole world and to have an entire weekend together was very special. We spent a lot of time singing, laughing with and at each other, eating delicious food and remembering Grandpa Tom, who passed away 5 years ago on October 16. When we gather together it still feels so strange to not have him with us, but it is wonderful to share stories about this man we miss so much.

Playing Catch Up

A few highlights from the past 3 weeks...

Pumpkin carving party at the Kapadias. Zeke and Taylor picking out their homegrown pumpkins - straight from the garden!

A trip to the Arboretum

O stayed in her stroller the entire time and even napped in it! That was a first.

Playing in the rain at Uncle Sam's football game. What an exciting game - and the good guys won!

Isn't this picture scary?

Lots of cold weather meant plenty of opportunities to wear a hat. He couldn't quite figure out how to get it on, though.

O's first haircut! Kari said we could do pigtails. Jeff said it looked like a reverse rat tail. We all agree it looks much better now.

We did, We didn't

Today we did:

Create three artistic masterpieces
Stay within a 1 block radius of our home
Try to keep Olive from putting everything in her mouth
Set up the coolest train track in our living room
Rearrange the furniture in our dining room and kitchen
Try to listen to and have patience with one another
Play Super Cape

Today we didn't:
Change out of our pajamas or brush our teeth until after 4 pm
Fold the laundry that has been on the couch since Sunday
Totally succeed in listening, being patient or keeping things out of O's mouth
Listen to Rent once (...we listened to it twice)
Continue our three week streak of being absentee bloggers

Summoning Jackson Pollock in the front yard

Masterpiece #1

I am getting really good at building these. Seriously thinking about asking for some more tracks for Christmas...if I just had a few more of those double joining pieces I could do SO much more!!

And it's still on the couch.

Masterpiece #2 - the first Christmas tree of the season! And just to the right of it you'll notice Zeke's contribution - "Monster. Have ears. Have nose. Have shooting gun. Shooting people." Fabulous.

Masterpiece #3 - I'm better at building train tracks than painting portraits, but Z liked it.

Pumpkin Muffins

Since returning from our weekend in the cold and cozy mountains, I have definitely been feeling fallish. The display of canned pumpkin at Trader Joe's was also inspiring, but it was really the rain on Monday that sealed the deal. It was high time for some autumnal baked goods. After an exhausting trip to Henry's I found myself stocked up on the necessary ingredients and ready to welcome fall into my kitchen.


(And, yes, he did wear his pajamas and rain boots to the grocery store. And he did, in fact, discover this overpriced bag of marshmallows on the bulk spices aisle and then proceed to carry it around the entire store. And, finally, he did manage to find the display of fresh baked french bread and tear off a hunk then quickly shove it in his mouth. Thankfully, the Henry's employee graciously took the remnants of the loaf to the back of the store while I quickly paid for my groceries and got the heck out of there.)

But, I have to say, it was worth the trouble. They are pretty delicious, especially with a cup of coffee and the sound of rain on my roof.

Here is the recipe, just in case you are also in the mood for a little fall treat.

(If you're not into the whole wheat flour/oat thing, you can find another version of the recipe here)

Pumpkin Muffins
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Equipment: a muffin pan (preferably nonstick) with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter muffin pan if not nonstick.

Whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool.

Retreating

We had so much fun in Big Bear this weekend hanging out with our church family! We are so sad the weekend is over.