let the festivities commence . . .

It's BIRTHDAY weekend!!  Hip, hip!!  The fun started Thursday evening when I pulled up and there were two beautiful planters of my favorite fall flowers . . .

MUMS!  Aren't they pretty?  Todd knows me so well!

Friday we hit the lake around 11:30.  Even the fish must have known it was my birthday weekend! I actually pulled out my pole (Todd was catching them hand over fist, so to speak) and I did well. 

I caught about eight (to Todd's twenty, but who's counting?).  Mine were GOOD sized!

The heron even squawked out a birthday greeting.  ;)

Saturday I pulled out that cute glow-in-the-dark fabric I found a month or so ago, and put it to good use!  I made these darling, lined trick or treat bags for the local grandgirls.

Then I realized I needed them to be able to differentiate them, so I decided to embroider the each little girl's name on them.  I finished Edith's.  Whew!

Sunday was my actual birthday.  Fifty-nine, if you must know!  Todd and I headed to lunch at my folk's house after church, and then we headed to Joc's house for [cookie] cake and ice cream.  

Edith was very happy to help me unwrap presents!  I'm particularly pleased to have that 16.5" square ruler from Creative Grids!  Todd got my the 10.5" ruler. Yay!

This was Todd's first time to hold Ezra!  Ezra's middle name, Paul, honors in part Todd's dad, Paul. Isn't that sweet?

Not nearly as sweet as this darling boy!

Look at that gas smile! 

I got in a good birthday pic with the entire crew . . . 

I think this is a first with the whole gang!  It's not a very flattering photo of me, but who's looking at me with all those cute kiddos surrounding me??!

This one is a little nicer . . .

Taken Monday at work (secret:  I generally wear the same outfit to work Monday that I wear to church on Sunday).  The first full day of my sixtieth year!  

:)

stuffed pumpkin history . . .

Literally *and* figuratively!  I figured I'd done quite a number of crafty things featuring pumpkins to date, perhaps it was time to do a little baking/cooking.  So I did . . . not just one thing, but four!  Aren't we all lucky?!

First, I did a little research on the pumpkin.  Pumpkin pie is generally a favorite of mine, and one of my favorite Thanksgiving treats!  But seeing as how pie crust was not around during pre-colonial days, chances are pretty good that pumpkin pie was not on the menu.  At first, the early Pilgrim settlers turned their noses up at pumpkins, but as winter came on and they were hungry and dealing with scurvy, pumpkins started looking pretty good!  One dish they probably enjoyed (which later evolved into our pumpkin pie), was a custard type dish that was baked in a hollowed out pumpkin shell, then cooked in the cooking fire ashes!  I read about it here and here, and modified this set of instructions/recipe  and this recipe to come up with this . . .

Fun stuff!

Next up, I saw this recipe of Paula Deen's for Spice Caramel Corn.  But in my infinite wisdom (and quest to change every recipe/tutorial/set of instructions I come upon), I subbed out the cinnamon and added pumpkin pie spice instead . . .

May I just say YUMMY?!!

Then there were some sugar cookies.  No recipe, no link.  Just sugar cookies, frosted with orange tinted buttercream, sprinkled with autumn sugar sprinkles and topped with a candy corn stem . . .

And I had help!  Both in the making *and* the eating!

Sweet kiddos!

And finally, another favorite of the season.  No link or recipe, though.  Since I had to scoop out the pumpkin innards for the custard, I thought I might as well roast the pumpkin seeds!  I separate them from the 'mush' and rinse them thoroughly.

I then soak them in salted water (about 2 teaspoons per quart of water) for at least two hours.  After soaking, I pour off the water and pat them dry.  Add a tablespoon of cooking oil and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix well.  Lay them flat on a cookie sheet (rimmed, if possible) and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and crunchy!

I have a hard time allowing these to cool before grabbing a handful!!

In other news, my stash report for Week #42 is unchanged from last week. Not one iota.  Still holding strong at 19 yards net used.  I can't recall a time in my life since I started quilted when my purchase yardage was under 10.  Craziness!

And for my Slow Sunday Stitching, I thought I'd work on stitching together a few of my birthday chrysanthemums!

Although it seems kinda odd to have all these purples and blues in what's solidly an orange post!

Linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts today. And at some point I'll enjoy a cup of pumpkin spiced tea . . . and some pumpkin-y treats, too!  

:)

and this week . . .

It's the birthday pumpkin edition!  Yay!!  I've had a marvelous birthday weekend, so far, involving grandbabies, sleepovers, family, eating out, crafting, friends, touring Amish country, and Tate Farms, my favorite *pumpkin* place!!  

How can you worry about being a year older when all of these fun things are taking place?! It's been a totally 10/10 time! At Tate Farms, the favorite 'station' for all the grands was the corn crib. Oh. My. Goodness.  Even the littlest of the littles didn't want to get out! The big kids all wanted to be buried in it, though . . .

Sawyer wanted to try it first.

Ellie wanted to give it a go!

June's up for the challenge!

Olivia decided she'd lay on top of the corn!

Everley wanted to be on top too . . . on top of Ellie!!

It was such a fun afternoon -- I really do look forward to the Tate Farm visit most of all in the month of October -- each year the group enjoys it more and more!

Last week I gave a little pumpkin teaser about this week's pumpkin craft . . .

Are you ready for full disclosure?  Haha! 

It's a stuffed pumpkin, which is not really a 'new' idea -- not even to me (see this post) -- but I loved the look of these sweet little pumpkins crafted up by Martha Pullen Company, and went for a little re-creation!  I thought for sure I had a small spool of thread to top it off with (you know, from one of those little travel kits or something), but I didn't, so I settled for a cinnamon stick and the floral wire for twine.  I used a slip of wool with some embellishment for the little stem cap.  And of course the hand work I was doing in my sneak peek was the vine stitching on the pumpkin itself, which is a little hard to see!

For next week I'm already working on a cute and super fast and easy project . . .

Which is once again doubling up as my slow Sunday stitching!

My stash remains unchanged.  I used a little for the pumpkin, but not enough to justify a change! Maybe by next week?

I did get some darling *birthday chrysanthemums* in the mail from the gals in the Birthday Hexie Club!!  Just look at all this purple/teal gorgeousness -- there are 19 ladies in the club, so there are about 18 packets of chrysanthemums just waiting to be stitched!  

Well, 19, actually, because the darling blogger (Sarah, the Hexie Queen of sarah did it!) who so graciously allowed me to be a part of their local club, stitched up an extra set for me, *and* mailed them all, *and* sent along the darling green hexie napkins!!  I suppose I'll be doing some hand-stitching coming up soon with these (the chrysanthemums, not the hexie napkins)!  Ps...I didn't count the chrysanthemums in as stash because they came to me as "finished pieces".  

All righty then . . . I'm linking up today with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts. And I'm off to enjoy a post-birthday breakfast (which is pretty similar to my birthday breakfast, truth be told):

Happy Sunday!

:)