The Closet Under the Stairs

While we were cleaning out the hall closet yesterday, Brielle came across our bag of winter hats and gloves.  She took a shine to one of the hats and insisted that I put it on.  She then proceeded to dance around with her new hat for the next 1/2 hour.

At least we can have some idea as to what she'll look like when her hair finally grows out.  Although multi-colored braids aren't really what I had in mind...

You Don't Have to Be Old To Make Great Pie

The title of this post comes from a comment that Mark made to me:  "I thought you had to be old to make great pies."  He made the comment after I made this:

One super delicious homemade apple rhubarb pie.  See, I'm hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year, and really wanted to make the pies from scratch.  I found an easy-looking pie crust recipe and decided to give it a shot.  I love to cook, but was worried that a pie may be just a bit more than I could handle.  It turned out great!  The crust was flaky and yummy, and it really was easy.  Here's the recipe:

Basic Pie Pastry
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp. shortening
6 to 7 Tbsp. lemon-lime soda, chilled

In a food processor, combine flour and salt.  Add shortening; cover and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  While processing, gradually add soda until dough forms a ball.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

For two single crust pies, on a slightly damp surface, lay down some plastic wrap.  Roll out half of the pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate (be sure to lightly flour your rolling pin).  Transfer pastry to pie plate (I just pick up the saran wrap and flip it upside down into the pie plate).  Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges.  Repeat with remining pastry.  Fill or bake according to recipe directions.

For a double crust pie, divide dough in half so that one portion is slightly larger than the other.   On the plastic wrap, roll out the larger portion to fit a 9-in. pie plate.  Transfer pastry to pie plate.  Trim pastry to 1 in. beyond the edge of plate.  Add filling.

Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling.  Trim, seal and flute edges.  Cut slits in pastry.  Bake according to recipe directions.

The food processor made this recipe a cinch!  If y'all ever try this, be sure to let me know how you liked it.

Halloween Happenings

We've been having a blast gearing up for Halloween!  Here's a list of the fun things we've done the past couple of days:

Toddler Walk:  Our neighborhood puts on a Halloween toddler walk every year.  It's always a fun thing for the little ones to get dressed up in their costumes.  We walk around the block and end up at one of the houses for cookies and punch.  Brielle had a blast with all of her little friends (we have pretty much all girls here in our neighborhood!) and the cookies at the end were, of course, worth it!

Brielle in the witch costume that Mom made

Daddy and Brielle at the Toddler Walk

Fall Festival:  Our community put on a Fall Festival this year, which was a BLAST!  They had a pumpkin patch, carnival rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, costume contest, rock climbing, bounce houses, and a chili cook off.  So fun!  We had a great time, and Brielle couldn't get enough of the animals and the airplane carnival ride.

 So happy with her airplane!

I'm loving the huge smile on her face.  Apparently, the sun was to bright for her to look at the camera.

Trunk or Treat:  Sadly, no pictures for this one, but we had a great time.  Brielle was introduced to the joys of trick-or-treating.  She learned that you can just steal candy from the other kids' buckets.  Easy Peasy, right?

Pumpkin Patch

Brielle and I took a trip to a pumpkin patch in old downtown Humble that was put on by the Methodist church.  It was a blast!  Our friends Emily and Brayden joined us for the fun.  The kids had a blast moving the pumpkins from one pallet to another and decorating the pumpkins they got to take home with stickers.  Brielle was so proud of her sticker jack-o-lanterns that she couldn't wait to show them to Daddy as soon as he got home!

One of Those Days

 Yes, this fits the situation to a T.  Brielle decided to forgo all morning naps this week.  What did I do?  I adapted.  We went to playgroup for the first time in months.  We hit up library story time.  We went to the park.  I was quite proud of myself.  Then things started piling up.  Yesterday, I lost my keys in the process of loading up the car.  I looked for them for 10 frantic minutes, and found them... in my hand.  I pushed for one nap today, only to have Brielle wake up 1/2 hour after she went down.  I think I may just be losing my ever-living mind...  One day at a time, right?

Birthday Extravaganza

We are now officially parents of a one-year-old.  It's hard to believe that a year has flown by!  Since Brielle's birthday was on Sunday this year, we took Saturday and played with her.  We went to the Downtown Aquarium to look at the fish and ride some rides.  It was a really fun place.  They even have a train ride that takes you through the middle of a shark tank.  Here are some highlights of our outing:

 

Outside the Aquarium

Looking at the fish

 The Diver's Mask

 White Tigers.  Yeah.  At at an aquarium.  Weird...

 On the Shark Train

 In the Shark Tank

 On the Carousel - Brielle's favorite ride

 On the Ferris Wheel

Back the the Carousel for one more ride

Sunday was full of presents and cake:

 Showing off her poodle and BYU cheerleader outfit

Sorry the video is a little long, but the dance at the end is worth it!

Singing Happy Birthday.  Notice how NOT impressed she is.

 Digging into her cupcake

 Loving the mess!

 Hi Mom!  My cupcake was delicious!!

Brielle also had her 12 month checkup today.  Her stats are as follows:

Height:  31 inches (95%)

Weight:  23 lbs. (80%)

At 12 months, Brielle can do LOTS of new things!  She says mama and daddy, often walks around the house calling for Daddy when he's at work.  She can understand when you ask her to bring you a ball, stuffed animal, diaper, or most anything else, usually with a big "Ohhhhhh" while she goes in pursuit of whatever you asked for.  She loves to dance, and we often find her dancing to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or her new farm toy.  She loves to be pretty, and puts her stacking rings on her arm as bracelets.  She also loves to carry her purse around the house.

We love our little Briellie Bellie, and are SO glad that she came to us!  Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!!

Labor Day

Instead of traveling on Labor Day weekend, we decided to actually labor.  Our kitchen went from this (focus on the walls, not the people):

to this:

I have some decorating to do, but I think I like the color.

Mark also did some yard work while Brielle watched from the window.  She can watch her daddy mow the whole back yard without moving from the window once!  Here she is waving from the window.