Recipe Share

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Preheat your over to 350 degrees.
Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix(I love the Triple Chocolate cake Mix)
1 can of pumpkin(the small can)
2 TBSP. of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips(2 Weight Watchers Points-you can always add more)

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix with the can of pumpkin. Use a fork to mix ingredients. It will seem weird without any water or oil.Keep mixing by hand. Once you have mixed the cake mix and pumpkin, add chocolate chips. Drop mixture into muffin tins( I use liners in mine). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Check center of muffin with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, they are done.

We have been calling these muffins, they are probably considered cupcakes. I think calling them muffins makes me feel better about eating them. Actually, I got this recipe at a Weight Watchers meeting a few years back, minus the added chocolate chips. I need to figure out the new Points Plus value. I thought I would share because we are really enjoying this treat right now. These are wonderful with a little bit of fat free Cool Whip and sliced strawberries plopped on top(once they have cooled off) or enjoy them warm with a glass of cold milk.

p.s. When I share this recipe, the common question is: "Can you taste the pumpkin?" The answer is "no!" My boys love these and they haven't said a word about them tasting funny or like pumpkin. I am happy to be sneaking some extra fiber into their diet! Enjoy!

W.I.W.S. What I Wore Sunday

Today's outfit is brought to you by Kohl's :-). Now, I don't normally shop at Kohl's. I was on the hunt for Easter shirts/ties/outfits for the boys. I always have a hard time finding ties for the little guys so I ended up at Kohl's. As I was heading to the check out, this fun, colorful dress caught my eye. I stopped. Looked at it. I held it up to me and thought it was super cute. I ended up putting it back on the rack. I went home with new Easter attire for everyone but myself. John even got a new Easter tie :-). The next day, I had found out that I had won 3rd place in the Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Contest. I knew the first thing I was going to buy with my winnings...that dress. I headed back to Kohl's and tried the dress on. It fit and I still loved it. It was mine. I was taking it home.

Dress: Jennifer Lopez for Kohl's - you can check out the rest of her collection here: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/ourbrands/jenniferlopez.jsp

Shoes: Payless Shoe Source( I needed inexpensive, nude heels)
Earings : Lane Bryant(years ago)


**Updated with a discount. A nice lady from Kohl's contacted me after reading my blog post and she shared a discount code with me that I get to share with my readers. Enter  UBLOG10 and
 it will get you a 10 percent discount until October 24th. Thank you, Julia!

the patch

Hands down, this is one of our favorite Fall traditions. We spent the early evening at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland. We picked a perfect day!  The temperature was perfect and there were no crowds. SCORE! The first thing we did was take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

After everyone found their perfect pumpkin. We went to pet and feed the farm animals. The older goats always chase the boys. The want those  ice creams cone..bad! It always makes me giggle!

Then the littles had to take a few turns to jump in the hay bounce. This makes me itchy just looking at it! They loved it!

Next up, the train ride. Brody insisted on riding it this year! I guess we'd be breaking tradition if we didn't let them take a spin on the train.

Keeping with tradition, we took a ton of photos with the BIG pumpkins...always a great prop and backdrop! We are missing Tanner (breaking tradition) in the photos! He decided to stay behind for basketball practice/try outs. That will not be a new, yearly tradition. We really missed having him there. We joked that our food bill that evening was only half of what it could have been had Tanner been there. Growing teenage boy = eating us out of house/home :-).

We enjoyed dinner on the farm. Hamburgers, nachos, garlic fries, and shaved ice. The boys loved it all. We let the boys burn off dinner by running around on the old train, on and through the tires and up and down the barn slide. It is exhausting just watching them :-). Before we headed home, everyone picked out a treat. The soft serve ice cream cones and the slices of fresh apple pie seemed to be the favorites. While we were enjoying our treats, we ran into our nephew/cousin, Ashton. That was a fun surprise! He was with the YW  from church, out for their Tuesday night activity!

We are already trying to plan/figure out if we can make it back to the patch before the season is over.

W.I.W.S. - What I Wore Sunday

So to be honest, I wasn't going to post my WIWS outfit. It is General Conference weekend for the members of our church. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, it basically means church in your jammies for all of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. General Conference happens twice a year, in April and October. It is a weekend filled with  inspiring  messages from the Prophet of our church and other church leaders that we can watch on TV. Before I share my "oh so cute and fancy" outfit for the day :-), I wanted to share one of the things that was announced this weekend at General Conference.  We learned that the ages have been changed for those who wish to serve a full time mission for our church. The Young  Men (Elders) used to have to wait until they were 19 years old to serve. Now, they can leave at the age of 18. The Young Women (Sisters) used to have to be 21 years old. They can now leave at the age of 19. I am freakin' out...just a little bit. That means that Tanner could potentially leave on his mission in 4 short years ( plus 2 months). EEEEEEKKKKKK! It really made me step back and wonder if we are teaching him EVERYTHING that he needs to know. I have a lot of work to do in the next 4 years. Big, big news this weekend!

Without further ado, here is today's WIWS outfit...my jammies. On General Conference Sunday, our family stays in our jammies, listens/watches conference, enjoys a yummy breakfast(breakfast Burritos made by Dad) and a yummy lunch(Scones, buttermilk syrup and fruit made by Mom). I stayed in my jammies ALL DAY long! Heavenly!

With the weight loss, I have had to re-buy everything, including my jammies.
I couldn't pass these grey/white stripe Calvin Klein jammies up. I found them at Ross. The tag said they were normally $68.00. Let me be the 1st to say that I would NEVER, EVER  pay that price for jammies...EVER. I was happy to see that the Ross price was $21.99...more my speed :-).

There you have it...this is What I Wore today, on Sunday!.
p.s. I don't normally tuck my jammies in but I did so you could see the cute draw string in the front. They are super comfy!

fun on the farm

I was feeling a little excited that it was the 1st day of October. So much so that I surprised Brody with a Brody-Mommy date to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm, just the two of us. I wanted to make a big deal out of the fact that it was October, my favorite month and season!

It was perfect. The timing was great, the place was pretty empty. All of the school, field trippers had already headed back to school. The weather wasn't too hot and made the visit that much more enjoyable. We spent most of our time checking out the farm animals. Brody loved feeding them and brushing them. See for yourself.

It was fun to spend some one on one time with him. I sure do miss him while he is away each day, off enjoying kindergarten and doing the big kid thing. We are already planning the adventure for the whole family and can't wait to head back!

p.s. these photos have already been scrapped for Green Tangerines (Kit of the Week). You can pick up a kit at the store for $8.00.

October tradition

Hands down...one of our favorite October traditions!

We wanted to kick the first day of October off with a little BOO for some friends. We were caught at the first house. It was funny having a 7 year old boy chase my boys down the street :-) and into our car. I was parked down and around the corner so they, and that 7 year old who chased them had quite a run. The second door bell ditch went off without a hitch. There was no chasing involved :-).

Happy October!!!

D.O.T.S. - Young Women In Excellence Style

***This file is no longer available! It died when my old laptop did.

We had a wonderful evening with the Young Women of our ward tonight! The theme for our Young Women In Excellence Program this year was Depend On The Savior. We had a DOT on the front door that simply told them where to go. They followed about 200 DOTS that we had sprinkled down the hallway for them to follow. This cute little table greeted them at the door.

Whether they had earned their Personal Progress award or not tonight, each girl had her very own DOT  that she shared with the group. If they were receiving their award, they shared with us what they had learned or loved about their Personal Progress journey. If they are still in the process of earning their award, they shared a project that they have completed and what they enjoyed/learned while completing it. We have some AMAZING Young Women in our ward. They NEVER cease to AMAZE me.

 After they read their DOT to the group, they placed it up on the chalkboard with the other DOTS.

WE had 3 Young Women earn their Personal Progress awards this evening. Bishop Brown spoke and likened the Young Women Personal Progress award to that of an Eagle Scout. These girls spend many hours working on Projects/learning new skills, bettering their lives and the lives of others. I am so very proud of Kylie, Hannah and Taylor(each one is one of my Laurels) for working so hard and earning their award this evening!

Each of the Young Women went home with their own picture of the Savior and a reminder of what we talked about this evening and what the D.OT.S. stood for.

Of course we can't have an activity without yummy treats. My friend, Amy made these darling, yummy (Dots if you will), mini bundt cakes with a cream cheese frosting! YUM!!!

Again, I am so proud of each one of these girls. They have strong testimonies. They know who they are. They have good standards that they uphold on a daily basis as they head out the door and  into the world each day! I am thankful for their sweet examples and kindness. I am so lucky for the simple fact that I get to rub shoulders with them on a weekly basis.

p.s. a HUGE shout out to my friend, Amanda who put a HUGE of time and energy to this wonderful evening! You ROCK, Amanda!