Autumn For Real

Technically speaking, it's still summer for another week and a half, but around here autumn starts when the kids are back in school and opening weekend arrives for the football season.  This was SB on Thursday for the first day of school.

And yesterday we trekked to the new Meadowlands stadium to catch the season opening game between the Jets and the Bills.  My longtime readers know that we're diehard Bills fans, and WD is a lunatic Jets fan.  It killed me to create his Jets themed bedroom, but he is my baby, no matter how big.

One of WD's gifts for his 16th birthday was a couple of tickets to the season opener.  He elected to bring a friend that he's known since kindergarten and the 2 of them had a blast on the long road trip, playing games in the car, tossing the ball around in the parking lot, and of course enjoying the game.

We met up with some friends who only had to drive across from Manhattan to tailgate before the game.  The  Jets green clad boys were the minority in our group, but there was very little blue in a sea of green once we got into the stadium.

While some people tailgate with an rv and pro style smoker, all you really need is a couple of coolers, a propane campstove, a table to put your food on, and good friends.

Speaking of autumn, nothing says autumn like fresh pressed Cider Mill cider.

Speaking of food, my theme for this weekend's tailgate was bacon.  I've shared my recipe for Drunken Bacon Wrapped Cheddar Brats before, but I also made Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins, and Sausage & Bacon stuffed mushrooms.

For dessert, I brought along some of the Chocolate Dipped Bacon that I shared last week, as well as football shaped brownies(recipe post coming soon.)

It was a beautiful day for a game, I only wish my team had played better.  There was far too much of this for my taste.

QB swallowed up by unblocked defenders, ball thrown nowhere near receivers, RB on the ground.

But as far as birthday gifts go, WD's team trouncing mine on a gorgeous end of summer day, couldn't have been planned better.  And after the game was over we were treated to a flyover.

It's time to clear away the summer decor(spring, really, we were gone so much this summer that I never got a chance to decorate,) and pull out the Autumn decor I created last year as well as craft some new items.

Thanks for popping in and welcoming autumn with me.

Whirling Dervish

This is my baby, my first born, the one I used to call Pooh Bear before he told me at the ripe old age of 5 that 'Pooh Bear is a baby name' and to please stop calling him that.

The former Pooh Bear, known to my readers as Whirling Dervish, will be turning 16 in 2 weeks.  I've felt this birthday coming on like a runaway train.  Most of his friends have already turned 16, and many of them already have their licenses.

This impending first adult privilege has had me panicking and counting down the moments left before he flies the nest.  There are only 2 Halloweens, a handful of Christmases, 2 Mother's Days, etc. before he's living somewhere else.  And that, my online friends, is why I've been MIA.  I've tried to eke out every last moment of this summer, because we only have 2 left before part of this family unit might leave.  Lucky for me, summer in NY doesn't end until Labor Day.  We've spent this summer up at the cottage,

down in Georgia,

up at the 1000 Islands,

and camping in the Catskills.

This stage of teenage life has WD annoyed at being forced into family time,

and taking the first chance to go off on his own.

Museums that delight SB,

have WD asking if we're done yet.

But this summer of living out of our luggage has found that elusive WD smile every now and again.

This past weekend, WD and I ran the Warrior Dash at Windham Mountain.  It was the first time in a long time that I've seen WD smile all day long.

It didn't hurt that he kicked my tail.  The course goes 1 mile up a ski slope before zig zagging around and back down, with some walls, ropes, and barbed wire thrown in.

Let's not forget the mud pits,

 and fire jumps.

There are no pics of us running together.  It turns out that WD is part billy goat, because he darted up that mountain faster than anyone else in our flight.  My pride hurt a little watching his backside bound up that mountain while my lungs were burning, but I couldn't be prouder of him.  And I finished towards the top of my age group, so I can't be too disappointed in my own performance.

The little boy that I used to love reading to, when he'd sit still for a moment,

can now school me on a race course.

But that's ok, because he's announced that he'd like for us to try to run all of the Warrior Dashes(there are 49 in the US, Canada, and Australia,) then try a few Tough Mudders and Spartans, too.  He may be planning on widening the gap between our finish times, but all I here is that he's making a multi-year commitment to hang out with his mom.

Summer's almost over and I'll be back to regular posting once the boys are back in school.  Thanks for popping in and listening to me prattle.

Life and Blogging

I've had a few e-mails wondering how I've been doing, since it's been a while since I've posted, and I'm happy to say that everything is going great around here.  It turns out that life has gotten in the way of blogging, which is such a better statement than blogging got in the way of life.  I'd much rather report that endless hours at the pool have put a crimp in my screen time, instead of telling my kids that "mommy just has to finish this post."

Along with lots of pool time, there's been some water balloon action,

and exhausted kids at the end of the day.

I haven't stopped baking or creating, but my camera hasn't captured the step-by-steps needed for a tutorial. I did snap a pic of this strawberry crepe cake that I made the other day.  It's made like my chocolate crepe cake, only without the cocoa powder, and using a strawberry mousse.

I hope to find time to share some projects, but I make no promises, because there's a finite number of summers available and the pool is calling.

Thanks for popping in and bearing with the sporadic posting.

Weekend Review

It was another busy weekend of fun in the sun.  SB had a baseball game Saturday, and for the first time this season, they had live pitching.  SB has been hitting well off the machine - batting 1000 until this week when he got his first out, hitting up the first base line.  Live pitching is a completely different animal.  The league consists of 6 & 7 yr olds with a few 8 yr olds.  The pitching is wild, and SB was hit with a pitch on his first at bat.  It turns out there is crying in baseball.  Lots of it.  But the tears were all dried up by the time we made it over to the little league fun day.

He may not be a future pitcher, but he dropped that kid in the dunk tank all the same.

We also attended the Princess's camp-out birthday party.  There was swimming, a bear hunt, s'mores, and of course a camping cake.

Speaking of parties, my big box from Oriental Trading Company arrived, and I'm getting ready for the 1st grade's End of Year party.  This year's theme is a beach luau.  I had WD blow up the beach balls last night, and it's a good thing I drive a van, because 50 beach balls take up a ton of room.  I can't wait to share more of the details next week after the party.

Thanks for popping in and sharing the weekend with us.

National GO Day

I like to celebrate the random national holidays, like National Donut Day(June 1st) and National Ice Cream Day(third Sunday in July.)  But today, I invite all my readers to take part in National Get Outdoors Day aka National GO Day.

GO - Dig in the Garden.

GO - Take in a Baseball Game

GO - Throw a Line in the Water

GO - Explore Nature

GO - Flip Rocks in a Creek

GO - Make a Splash

GO, now, turn off your screens, and GO

Thanks for popping in and Getting Outdoors with me.

Mulch Better

I didn't take any pictures last week during my wallowing, so I don't really have proper before photos for you of the never ending landscaping project that we've been working on.  Here's a very old picture that shows the area we've been working on.  Look how young SB and the Princess are!

Those shrubs up against the house blocked the view and had to go.  Plus the hill had crept up onto our house over the years with the dirt now 8" above our home's foundation.  Our yard needed regrading, and the weeds had gotten out of control.  Check out the craziness behind the hostas.

CG & WD spent countless man hours digging out our yard, one shovelful at a time, and built a new retaining wall using stone from our neighbor's yard that she wanted hauled away.

An afternoon was spent weeding(I cleaned up about 15 sq feet before the mosquitos chased me inside,) and  we picked up a couple of vans full of mulch.  We were lucky enough to find several busted open bags that were only $1.50 each.

And here's where it stands right now.  I found boxes of solar landscape lights clearanced at Lowe's, and they now light up the pathways.  We still need to seed our lawn, but we're getting there.

Thanks for popping in and working in the yard with us(mostly CG & WD, but I kept them well fed.)