Oh, yes, there's a part three.

At this point, I'm guessing some of you may have thought I was exaggerating about my love of fall. But rest assured, I was not! Especially when the fun fall gifts keep rolling into the Busbee home.

Earlier this week, we received this fabulous gift of fall goodies from Pops and Tula.

It's from Stonewall Kitchen and filled with all kinds of harvesty goodness! Pumpkin bread, maple pumpkin butter, pumpkin pancake mix, a loaf pan, a harvest orange spoonula, and a dish towel.

So, guess what we made this Friday afternoon...PUMPKIN BREAD. My first of the season, and boy is it good! The mix was very easy to make, so we popped it in the oven and went outside to play while the yummy bread baked.

We swang

And played in the dirt

Enough already, is the bread ready???

Aubie had the pleasure of pulling the bread out of the oven!

Sorry, but there is no picture of the bread. I was too busy eating it:)

And if that weren't enough, Kathryn received a most fun package from Nana and Papa yesterday. You may have noticed her cute Little Tiger Fan shirt in the previous picture, but she also received a pair of "Aubie" socks. Here she is smiling for the camera.

So, I'll end this post with some fun fall foliage. I was able to swing by Lowe's yesterday and pick these mums up for the front porch.

And in a moment of pure luck, I finally found some hedge apples. Tami had written about them on her blog, and once I found out they were in season, I had to have them!! Last Sunday afternoon we went for a quick visit to the zoo, and when we were leaving, what did I see...these glorious "balls" all piled up under a tree. Matt stopped the car, and I scooped up an arm full. Don't you just love them!

Happy Fall, Ya'll...Part Two

You can't talk about fall without mentioning college football! So in part two of "Happy Fall, Ya'll", I thought I would share with you the fun packages Kathryn and Walker received in the mail last week from Aunt Mak and Uncle Brad.



Isn't the wrapping adorable!?! I had to take pictures of the wrapping. Of course, Walker and Kathryn were all but crawling up my leg while I was doing so. They were so eager to open their packages.

And what was inside....an adorable Auburn pillow case dress for Kathryn and a football jersey for Walker. If you'll notice on Kathryn's package, there is also a cute hairbow attached and of course the pom poms were all a part of the fun!! Here are some fun pics of their game day wear!

You may have also seen Walker sporting some more of his Auburn gear....Here he is in his orange and white "Aubie" shirt from Nana and Papa.

And this is him sporting his smocked Auburn t-shirt that I purchased on E-bay!

We're obviously proud of our orange and blue, but what colors are you and your team sporting this football season? We'd love to hear from you!

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Instead of a stream of photos featuring kids stirring batter and licking spoons, I decided to change this week's post up a bit! Let's call it, "Happy Fall, Ya'll."

To begin, I decided to deviate from the cookies and brownies of previous weeks (mostly because I all but single handedly ate the entire batch of brownies from last week...probably won't be making dark chocolate brownies for a while!) and make cinnamon bread! Why, cinnamon bread, you might ask?

Well, while at the Kroger this week, I decided to stock up on one of my seasonal favorites--pumpkin bread mix. They have the easiest bread mix and it's delicious!! But, since I had a feeling Matt, Walker and Kathryn may not be too keen on the pumpkin bread, I opted for a even tastier option, the cinnamon bread!! (If you've never bought this mix at Kroger, go now! It's delicious. I bake it and give it as gifts all the time! I think it's better than from scratch!!).

So, in honor of fall (my favorite time of the year, BTW) and all of its wonderful colors, tastes and smells, I thought I would show you how fall has "fallen" at the Busbee house (oh, and a few pictures of kids stirring batter and licking spoons!!). Enjoy!!

The mantle

The living room

The foyer

The dining room



The kitchen

Kids stirring batter!

Eating candy pumpkins while waiting for the bread to bake!

Is this your favorite season? Has fall "fallen" at your house too? I would love to see pictures or read stories of your best of "Happy Fall, Ya'll!" Please feel free to join in the fun!

The Primates

On this visit to the zoo, we decided to visit the primates. The orangutans were sleeping at first, but we lingered a bit and they finally woke up and put on quite the show!

And we couldn't forget about the brand new baby giraffe!!

Our two little monkies taking a snack break!

Our favorite picture from this visit......

A little variation on the weekly favorite

This week, we decided to make brownies. After all, daddy's not too fond of oatmeal scotchies (he prefers chocolate...although I saw his hand in the cookie jar more than once this past week) and somebody has to eat our baked treats.

We made dark chocolate brownies. Yummm! If you aren't a fan of dark chocolate do not be afraid because I'm not either. But these brownies which I also added semisweet chocolate chips to are absolutely delicious. I would describe them as "rich" chocolate as opposed to "dark." You'll have to try some for yourself!

The ingredients

When's it going to be my turn to stir?

I'll share with you Walker.

But save a lick for me too!

The final product

Enjoying the final product!

And if those pictures weren't exciting enough, here's a little more of this week's baking action...

Happy Birthday, Pops!

Pops' birthday is September 11th. So in honor of his special day, here is Chef Kathryn singing her version of "Happy Birthday." You may need translation, so here you go....

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Blow out the candles. (Blow). (Scream).

A Fun Filled Saturday Morning

The weather this past Saturday was absolutely wonderful! We got out early that morning and headed to Oh Susanna's bakery for some pumpkin muffins. After all, what better way is there to kick off the new season than with pumpkin muffins!


Of course, a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks would certainly fit the bill too, but we'll save that for this coming weekend! Here are Walker and Kathryn outside of Oh Susanna's.




We settled on a blueberry muffin, a pumpkin muffin and a bran muffin. I thought the kiddos would eat the blueberry and the bran muffin, but as soon as I mentioned pumpkin, Kathryn wanted the pumpkin muffin (like mother like daughter). Of course, she didn't want to share. She wanted to hold the entire muffin.

Neeless to say, I did get my pumpkin muffin, but it was nibbled on first. Fortunately, Kathryn doesn't LOVE sweets and breads as much as her brother and I do, so she got bored with it very quickly. This is all while Walker finished off a blueberry muffin all on his own!

So, a quick stop at the playground was necessary to work off all of those muffin calories. Here are Kathryn and Walker on the swings.



The geese were also out at the playground. Here is a picture of just a few of them. I would bet there were close to 75 geese and duck gathered on the nearby ball field.


Once we got home, the fun was not over yet. We took a quick wagon ride around the neighborhood and then it was time to gear up for the Auburn game. Go, Tigers! It was truly a fun filled Saturday morning!

Perhaps the best ones yet!

Friday Cookie Day continues...This week we made oatmeal scotchie cookies from a Betty Crocker bag mix, and they just may have been the best ones yet! Needless to say, we gave up on "from scratch cookies" weeks ago!

We simply followed the recipe on the bag and added a cup of butterscotch chips to spruce them up a bit (and to have some ingredients for sampling...essential for keeping the kids interested! Well, that and licking the spoon!).

The ingredients

Who's going to stir first?

Walker's turn

Kathryn will take her turn eating some butterscotch chips!

Walker joins in

Dressing up like a princess sure passes the cooking time!

Voila! The finished product. They were yummy!