Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe & Pumpkins for Charity

There is a church on our street that sells pumpkins every year. They donate the proceeds to a charity. This year, they are donating their proceeds to help feed the hungry. My husband, the little guy and I walked down to get a pumpkin. We left the stroller at home for the very first time. One of us held the little guy's hand as we walked down the sidewalk. He was quite content to stay on the sidewalk and did not even try to make a dash for the road.

We let our little guy help pick out a pumpkin. We also bought a miniature pumpkin just for him. I can't wait until we carve our jack-o-lantern and toast pumpkin seeds next week for Halloween.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2) Spread 2-3 Tablespoons of oil on a cookie sheet.
3) Remove pumpkin goo from seeds
4) Place pumpkin seeds on cookie sheet in a single layer
5) Sprinkle with Salt (Or sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon)
6) Cook in oven for 45 minutes. Flip pumpkin seeds with a spatula between trick-or-treaters, or at 5-10 minute intervals, until seeds are done. Seeds should be light, crisp, and golden brown in color when finished. The cooking time may vary depending on how many seeds you roast and the size of the seeds.

Enjoy!

Rag Rug - Two Colors Done

I have started crocheting a room size rag rug. I've got 2 colors done so far. I started with chain stitching 40, single crocheting the sides, and adding some extra single crochets around the corners. I go through a ball of "fabric yarn" pretty quickly. I have a whole bunch more ready to crochet in - over 15 more colors to go! See my previous post, Getting Started, to see a link for how to make your own fabric yarn. Check back in a few weeks for another progress update!
I haven't measured it with a yardstick yet, but I would estimate it to be 2.5 feet long so far.

Fabulous Fall Treasury

Fall is my favorite time of year. Below is a peek at a Treasury I made on Etsy featuring Fabulous Artist Moms of Etsy. Click HERE to be linked to the treasury. This link will work until Saturday night at 8:26 pm EST.

Apple Picking

We took the little guy apple picking last year. We went to Apple Hill Farm. Last year,the little guy sat in the baby backpack that my husband wore. This year, he ran around with an apple in each hand. There are some foods that taste 100 times better freshly picked and apples are one of them. We bought a huge bag of Galas and picked a bunch of Fujis. I plan to make apple crisp later this week. I might make this Apple Maple Cake instead ... we'll see. With a fridge full of apples, fall has definitely arrived.

A Walk in the Woods - Dave's Cabin

This weekend we went to Maine to visit my parents. My mom's sisters came over to visit while we were there, and we went for a walk in the woods. Our destination was the log cabin my father is building across the street from his home. It is a short hike through the woods and is situated upon a high river bank. My dad has been retired for over 10 years now. I always tell people that he is the busiest retired man that I know. He loves to be outside - whether it is fishing on a lake, cutting lumber from the wood lot that was his father's or building a log cabin as a playhouse for him and his five grandsons (no granddaughters yet). I had not been out to the cabin before. He has done a great job with it so far. He still needs to add windows, stairs and a door, but it is coming along nicely. I know that this family cabin will be the place where fond memories of "Dave" will be made. By the way, "Dave" is what the grandchildren call my father. They love to go to Grammy and Dave's house! I can't wait until my little guy is a bit older and can enjoy an afternoon fishing by the river and playing cribbage in the cabin. My little guy is leading the way in the picture below.

Fire Prevention Week October 5-11, 2008

It's Fire Prevention Week. Every year our city holds a Fire Safety Event for families at the beginning of Fire Prevention Week. This was the first year that I have attended. They have fire trucks for the kids to sit in, ambulances, demonstrations for how to use a fire extinguisher to put out a fire, and every little one's favorite, using a real fire hose to knock out the fire in the pretend house. (shown in the picture above) The Red Cross was also there handing out information about fire safety in the home. Here is a link to their site with some safety tips for your home. The police department was there as well. They gave out plastic red fire hat to the little ones. My little guy usually hates wearing hats, but he wore his red fire hat most of the time we were there. He also got a fireman's badge sticker which you can see in the photo below. We went to play on the playground after checking out the big trucks. On our way back to the car they started passing out red balloons, so the little guy got a balloon too. It was a fun and educational event.