Weekend.

We took a very impromptu trip to the mountains this past weekend - and it was really wonderful to get away from some of the stress that has been building here lately. David has been very busy with graduate school applications, the GRE, and his usual workaholic busy schedule. The kids and I miss him, and we are still trying to find our rhythm after being shut-ins for nearly two months.

We ate, and lounged, and felt like we watched the leaves changing before our very eyes. It was peaceful, and relaxing, and fun.

 
At the local Farmer's Market - such a neat place.

 Looking at pumpkins

 My little Damon-boo riding a tractor - I think this one was from 1938.

 Dmitri on the tractor

Damon was scared of a man that walked up. It was pretty hilarious.

leaves.

 This kid loves BBQ.

 He love cones.

and coffee. There's always coffee.

Back to real, messy, life. I wonder how I can make every day feel more like this weekend....

Swing, swing, swing from the tangles of...

Our pecan tree.

I swapped for this swing:

Gave it a little spray paint, and now it the beginnings of our pecan tree playground.

I hope to add a tree swing, tire swing & climbing ladder soon.


And did I mention, the weather is perfect here in Georgia?!

Mascarpone Pumpkin Pie

I love pumpkin pie, and I have spent several years trying different recipes, altering recipes, and trying to make a perfect pumpkin pie. I have made five already this year, and I am loving my current recipe, so I wanted to share it with you. The husband doesn't even like pumpkin pie, but he still manages to eat half of this one. ; )

Mascarpone Pumpkin Pie
 
Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) container of mascarpone cheese (available at Whole Foods, Earthfare, or Trader Joes)
• 2 cups of cooked pumpkin, pureed (directions on how to cook a fresh pumpkin below)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 pie crust or pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To prepare pumpkin:

Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds (you can save them for toasting- a delicious snack!). Place in a medium or large saucepan depending on size, face down, with about 2 inches of water in the bottom. Cook on medium heat, covered, until soft (about 30-40 minutes). Keep an eye on it and add more water if necessary. Allow to cool, then scoop out pumpkin/remove peeling. Puree the pumpkin with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender until smooth. This can be done ahead of time to make pie baking go faster on the day of! You will probably have left over pumpkin. You can make this into a second pie, or add it to your coffee cream for a homemade pumpkin spice latte! 

To make crust pie:

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color. Don't skip the pie weights! Otherwise your crust will puff up.

Assembling the pie:

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.
Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. After about 30 minutes, either place a pie crust shield, or a piece of foil that is cut out in the shape of the edge of your pan around the pie to avoid crust from burning or getting too brown.

Enjoy! And if you are like my family, you might need to make two if you want one of them to last until Thanksgiving!

Fall.

I cannot begin to say how much I have missed blogging and reading all of my favorite blogs over the past several weeks. But sometimes priorities and sacrifices have to be made. While I've been incredibly busy with classes, I have felt that I need to spend the remainder of my time with my little ones and focus on sharing each day with them. I've realized as a parent how quickly time passes, and I want to hold onto each moment and be present (not just physically!) with my little ones. Additionally, since Damon has exited the dreamy newborn stage, having two little ones, two and under has made it increasingly difficult to do anything outside of giving one (or both) of them attention. So, I just had to take a break.

I am looking forward to returning to blogging regularly, and I must say, ever since I've started blogging, it is nearly impossible for me to not "think" in blog posts. I am pretty sure that is how I process my entire life at this point.

So what have I been up to the last month or so?

I love every season (ok, except winter), but I especially enjoy Fall. And we have been taking full advantage of some of our favorite fall activities...

 Picking pumpkins

 At the pumpkin patch

 And making a homemade pumpkin pie...or five (and it's just the beginning of November!)

 Smores...with homemade marshmallows & graham crackers. (And a bonfire of course!)

We visited a beautiful local homestead/farm. It was a lot of fun for Dmitri and it was inspirational for David & I as we explore what steps we want to take towards homesteading ourselves.

 Dmitri found an egg!

 Moo.

 

I love goats.

 I would have taken him home with me.

 Brushing the goats

Cluck. Cluck

 And it's the season for family photos...

It also means that I took graduation photos! But I'll save those for a little while. I do not want to jinx anything...

The cooler weather gave me an excuse for a DIY to hang by the door and catch our coats:

Total Cost: $16 (hooks from Anthropologie, wood and supplies from our scrap pile).

Other random thoughts & happenings:

-I am nearly finished with a big project that has been dragging on for nearly a year...and it may or may not start with an "S" and end with cuddling up to read a book under a quilt with my littles on a sofa!
-Graduation. Less than six weeks away. 
-Scheming about the holidays...my holiday projects, that is. And trying to figure out how to see our ever-growing sprawled-out family, get some much needed rest, and work on some major DIYs all at the same time.
-We are thoughtfully considering growing our family. By adding some members of the fur and feather variety. More on that as it develops.


What's new with you? I have really missed reading some of my favorite blogs and look forward to catching up with everyone.

Fall is in the air & on my mantle

Fall is here! At least, it feels like it. And I couldn't be more excited.I'm ready for apple cider, bonfires, chili, pumpkins, leaves....

I've been adding little pieces of fall to my mantle.

Have you seen any cute fall decorating ideas? 

Sources:
Small pumpkins: Wal-mart (8 for $6)
Large pumpkin: Target ($10)
Fall Berries: Target ($10)
Acorn: Hobby Lobby ($2)
Vase: Anthropologie (already owned)
Frames: Target (already owned)
Mirror: Hobby Lobby (already owned)

* Where's Waldo:


Can you tell the difference between the first photo and the second? I made a quick change after seeing how it looked in the photos! 

A Wreath

I am so excited for fall...hurry up and get here already! Maybe, if I start decorating, mother nature will get the hint and feel welcome to usher fall into the South.

Fall would not be complete without wreaths. So, I created this wreath from yarn, felt, and ribbon:

I like how simple it is. 

I used a hideous straw wreath; I wrapped yarn around it, hot-gluing along the way, and then made felt flowers by cutting out odd shapes and sewing them together (with a button in the middle!). It was that simple. Although, I will say, straw wreaths are a pain in the ass. SERIOUSLY. I would recommend using some other round wreath. I went with straw because it was $2. What a mess!

I linked up @ Get Your Craft on Tuesdays!

Have you started decorating for fall?

*In other news, my blog looks disgustingly disjointed. Do not despair! It is under going a makeover, and is in the bruised up stages. Really, it just needs to be wrapped up with gauze until it heals. But ya know, web-based surgical gauze is hard to come by. *