Pumpkin Farm!

We were late getting pumpkin patch pictures. I would have loved a trip to the Arboretum, but it's ridiculous how crowded it gets. And then you inevitably end up with someone photo-bombing your pictures. There's a new farm, here in town, called The Blase Family Farm. It's new and tiny, but I LOVE IT. We all had so much fun. The owners are super sweet and just down-to-earth people. The farm itself has a petting zoo, hayrides, pumpkin patch, blueberry farm, and great places for photo ops. For $7 each, we got four cups of feed, a hayride, and we all got to choose a pumpkin to take home. (We let the boys pick out the four pumpkins we were able to take home.) It was a beautiful day and we got our prized "Pictures with Pumpkins" taken care of today. Can't wait to go back in June for blueberry picking!

Side note: Caden would not feed the animals. He said it smelled too much to even try. If you'll notice in the last picture, he spent a good chunk of his time holding his nose while we were around the animals.

Trick-or-Treat on the Square

Tonight, we met some very good friends for our annual Trick-or-Treat around the Rockwall downtown square. Basically, the stores hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters. There are face painters, hayrides, and local companies giving out coupons, samples, etc. It's a lot of fun and, with Halloween falling on a Monday night this year, it gave the kids the opportunity to have their celebration a little earlier. This year, the boys picked out their own costumes- Spiderman for Ethan and Batman for Caden. They are really into Superheroes right now. They looked adorable! Afterwards, we invited everyone back to our house for some good food, great conversation, and play time for lots of noisy, active children. The boys are exhausted, of course, but their annual Halloween Festivus 2011 was a complete success.

10 Reasons I Love Central Market-A Love Note to Thee

Last weekend, Brian and I went and did our week's grocery shopping at Central Market. I have always loved me some Central Market, but as we shopped, I realized that I don't just love it... I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT! Great googly, that place is the bomb!

1. In the produce section, they have a Kid's Table. Kids can put a quarter in the piggy bank and take a piece of fruit. It's basically a kid's sized produce stand set up so that kid's can pay and take a piece of fruit. It truly gives them a sense of independence and gives them the opportunity to make healthy choices. It's 0.25 for a lesson to last a lifetime.

2. Miles of Chocolate- Um, yeeeah. Is it a brownie or is it a piece of fudge? Not sure but it's the cherry on top of the kicky-sundae in a bowl of awesome!

3. The Bakery- White chocolate apricot bread-they have this in muffin form and loaf form. Use the loaf form to make French Toast. You will not be disappointed! The bakery has perfected my favorite cookie ever called "The Kitchen Sink"-I can't even begin to tell you what's in it...just trust me. And with that, the bakery also has homemade flour tortillas and corn tortillas.

4. Honeycrisp Apples- I have never tasted a Honeycrisp like the ones at CM. I would live in the apple bin if I could.

5. Chef's case, Grab 'n Go, Dinners for Two, and I'm in Heaven- yeah, it's like it sounds. The most delectable foods, prepared, ready to take home and eat. NOM.

6. The Olive Bar!- I don't eat olives. At all. Ever. They're gross. But, the husband? Yeah, he's obsessed with blue cheese stuffed olives. They're kinda pricey, but he doesn't ever ask for much. Leaving CM without them is like leaving a vacation destination without a souvenir.

7. Fancy!- Got a recipe that calls for something fancy that you've never heard of before? Have no fear...CM probably "gots" it. Yep. I went looking for some super fancy chocolate to make the NY Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe---Whole Foods didn't have it...and neither did Kroger...know who did? Central Market! Need some random fresh herb you have a hard time locating? Yep. They got it.

8. Fresh coffee- You can grind it up right there OR take it home whole bean. I hate coffee, but after I hang out around the coffee, I make a promise to start drinking it. I will...someday...

9. I hated grocery shopping until Central Market made me love it. Yes, I love a grocery store.

10. The wine and beer selections.

I love taking my kids with us when we go. I love that they get excited about picking out healthy foods for our family. Mostly, I love that they are able to see what a grocery store should be. Tonight, while hanging out with some friends, I was given the gift of all gifts. H.E.B. has purchased a parcel of land close to our house. I'm hoping this means we'll be getting a Central Market of our own. And for the record, this place makes Walmart look like Chernobyl.

By George, I think we've mastered the art of State Fairing!

Yes, you read that heading correctly. It was awesoooooooooooooome! I am going to write a guide on How-To Easily Master the State Fair of Texas. Parking-breeze. Cost of Admission for 6 people-FREE! We went on our Fair Day Holiday (Wednesday) which meant that the fair was not that crowded and we actually ran into quite a few people we knew...for the most part. We took in the Dog Show-which the kids all loved, grabbed free ice cream and looked around the car show. The drawback? The Midway games were a racket. You have buy a card with cash and it gives you "credits" which the people then scanned as you played. Basically, we paid $20 for two stuffed animals. I will say that Ethan has got a pitching arm on him. Dude kept chunking the ball like he was in a fast-pitch contest. Both boys were big enough to ride the Midway rides which was so much fun to watch. They are thrill-seekers (very unlike me) and feel the need for speed. We tried lots of different foods that we wouldn't normally eat. The strangest was the fried bubblegum. I couldn't even stomach the thought of even trying it so I left that up to the boys. I did eat some black walnut taffy that was outstanding! And of course, we snarfed a Fletcher's corn dog. So good. For some reason, I had a moment where I started to miss my aunt like crazy. The first memory I have of The Midway at the Fair was with her. If she were still alive, she would have argued with the game people the cost and stupidity of the game card idea all while paying for the boys to get the biggest stuffed animals they had while stuffing their mouths with cotton candy. :) She was just like that. The only regret I have is not getting on the ferris wheel with the boys because we ran out of time.
We had a great time. The most fun, for me, was watching my boys enjoying every moment and hearing them screech and giggle with their friends.












































Getchur Hands UP!






Exhausted.