Farm.

Today we met some friends at Linder Farms to have some fall fun. We got there early, right as the farm opened, so the crowds weren't bad at all and it wasn't too warm out. We played in the hay maze, Ben climbed through the tire tunnels and posed for pictures.

Then all of us loaded up on the hay ride through the corn maze and out to the pumpkin patches. We had a lot of fun walking through the vines to look at all the different pumpkins, gourds and squashes. Finally, we picked our perfect three and loaded back up on the tractor.

After we weighed and paid for our finds, we were off to the petting zoo. Ben wasn't really that interested in feeding any of the animals (kangaroo! zebra! camel!) but he did like waving at them and yelling "hi". :)

Once we were through with the petting zoo, we went over to the pony ride. I wasn't sure how Ben would do - he loves animals but he seemed to get intimidated by them up close (at the zoo when we had him feed the giraffe, he threw the lettuce at the giraffe and refused to touch him), but he was a pro! He had such a good time riding and said "thank you" to the ladies helping out.

Next we did the barrel ride which looked like a lot of fun. Well, okay, I had a good time giggling at Nick stuffed in the barrel but Ben really did look like he was enjoying it. He kept saying "choo choo!"

After the barrel ride it was almost time to go home but we had extra tokens so we let Ben ride the pony again. We had to wait in line this time (it was starting to crowd up when we left) but he did really great at waiting (which is another thing that surprised me - Mr. Attitude was in a spectacular mood and I don't think he had one fit the whole time we were there).

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We haven't carved our pumpkins yet, probably later in the week. I wanted to do them today but Nick pointed out that it's still 2 weeks til Halloween and they might not last so I agreed we should wait a bit longer.

We've been taking lots of walks around our neighborhood and looking at all the "creepies" as Ben & I call them. I'll have to take pictures next time we're out - those will be fun memories to scrapbook. There's a house a few streets over that has gone all out (big time cemetery in their front yard with a skeleton boy riding a tricycle, skeleton ghoul guys carrying a coffin, etc) that Ben LOVES looking at.

Here's a little movie I took with Nick's phone of the pony ride. Sorry it's sideways - I've changed the orientation on youtube but it's been "processing" for 5 hours now...

Twofer.

Two recipes in one blog post - got yerself a twofer. :)

No pictures because I'm still mourning the loss of my camera lens. Don't shed too many tears, a lovely replacement is en route and should be here tomorrow (hopefully in time for our play date in the afternoon) and consider it a lesson learned to be more careful with my things (and the new case we got for it should help as well).

First up - last night I made pulled pork: yum. Normally when we've made it in the past, we just dump our pork shoulder in the crock pot, smother it in BBQ sauce and call it good til it's done. This time, I followed a recipe I found on Lil Blue Boo:

Southern Style Vinegar-Based Pork BBQ (Slow Cooked)

Ingredients:
4 lbs of pork roast
2 white or yellow onions
2 cups of apple cider vinegar
2 cups of apple juice
1 tsp of liquid smoke (I used Stubb's Hickory Liquid Smoke, found with the BBQ sauce)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 a bottle of regular/classic BBQ sauce (about 9 oz) (I used Stubb's Original BBQ)

1. Cut up both onions. Place half the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker or crock pot. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and top with the rest of the onions.
2. Place half the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker or crock pot. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and top with the rest of the onions.
3. Mix together 1 cup apple cider, 1 cup apple juice and 1 tsp of liquid smoke and pour over the roast and onions.
4. Set the slow cooker to cook on low for approximately 6 hours. The roast should be ready to fall apart when you stick a fork in it. Remove the roast and discard the remaining liquid and onions.
5. Shred the roast and add it back to the slow cooker.
6. Mix 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup apple juice, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, brown sugar and half a bottle of BBQ sauce in a bowl.
7. Pour over the shredded pork and cook on low for another 2 hours.

I served mine on Rhode's Dinner Rolls (I would have put it on hamburger buns but I didn't buy any, so the rolls worked) with corn on the cobb & baked beans. YUM. I thought the pork needed more sauce (but I always do) so I poured more BBQ sauce over mine when I served it.

* * *

Next up is a Ham & Lentil Soup I made tonight - this one I found on Cozi's Live Simply Recipes:

Ingredients
1 smoked ham bone (e.g., ham shank) or 2 small smoked ham hocks
1 lb lentils (about 2/12 cups), picked over and rinsed
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)
2 onions, chopped coarsely
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf

1. In a kettle or soup pot, add 8-10 cups water. Add ham bone and lentils and turn burner on high heat.
2. Chop mushrooms, onions, carrots and celery and add to soup pot. Bring to a boil.
3. Add cinnamon stick and bay leaf and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove ham bone or ham hock, remove meat and dice or shred the ham. Add meat to soup and stir.
5. Remove cinnamon and bay leaf, add salt to taste, and serve.

I omitted the cinnamon stick (I didn't have one on hand) and changed the two chopped onions to 4 tablespoons of onion powder (I had a terrible shopping list and didn't have enough onions on hand for this recipe). This was really good, but Ben disagreed. He refused to eat any of it but did chow on the corn bread I served with. I'll make this again but I'll halve the recipe for our family. I have loads of left over pork and now left over lentils.

Crock.

Well, it seems fall has hit our region quite quickly. We went from upper 80 degree weather to mid 50 degree weather over night. A part of me is totally loving the rain. I miss the rain (but not the chronic headaches that come with it) - the way it makes the earth smell, how fresh and clean it makes everything look, how quickly it greens up everything. As a mother, though... I'm hating the rain. My poor boy wants to go outside all the time. Usually I indulge. These last three days though, I blame it on the rain.... and now I have Milli Vanilli stuck in my head.

In any case, fall is here and this year I'm going to be putting my crock pot to work. It's simply too hard to try to prepare a meal with Ben underfoot. That child... I tell ya. He'll be off doing his own thing, but the moment I attempt to even begin doing anything even remotely related to food preparation, he comes running and insists on me picking him up. If it can't be assembled during nap time or thrown together during the 10-15 minutes Baby Einstein will hold his attention - it ain't getting made in this house lately.

So, the point of this post. I thought I'd share some of my favorite crock pot recipes. And perhaps solicit some of yours? Expand my repertoire perhaps? Share and share alike? And all that jazz...

Without any further ado:

1. Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken: this stuff is SO delicious. I serve it over plain white rice. Nick wrapped his in a corn tortilla and said it was equally as delicious.
2. Taco Soup: one of the yummiest soups I have ever made. Disclaimer: I've never actually made the crock pot version of this - it's pretty simple to throw together and is ready in 20 minutes if you do it stove top
3. Black Bean Soup: yum. absolutely yum. It looks pretty gross (at least, I think) but it's really delicious.
4. Chili: I don't really have a recipe for chili. I just throw all my stuff in and do my spices by taste. This is a pretty good one, if you want to follow a recipe.
5. Crock Pot BBQ Chicken: I actually make the chicken, shred it and serve it with extra sauce on a bun.
6. Slow Cooker Applesauce Chicken: Okay... to be honest... I didn't much care for this one. Nick really did though, so that's why I'm sharing it. I thought the chicken was way too dry. Probably cooked longer than it should have.
7. Stew: Again, no recipe. I just buy your standard stew ingredients and eyeball it as I make it.

I'm excited to try a crock pot lasagna next week. Hopefully it turns out well!

So, do share. What sorts of yummies do you cook up in your crock pot?

Birthday.

Oh my, I am in full planning mode. I have a board set up on Pinterest with loads of party ideas, but I've narrowed down and selected our theme (do you Pin? if not, you totally should. best idea in the world ever. no exaggeration. okay maybe a little cuz I think cars are pretty damn terrific, but I heart Pinterest). I wanted to do something this year that Ben was interested in, so I was choosing from trains, trucks/cars and Elmo. I gathered ideas on all of those themes before I decided to do Sesame Street. Not clever or unique at all but I know it's something he'll love. I saved my ideas on the trains and cars/trucks for future parties. :)

I'm having a hard time deciding my guest list this year. Last year I decided to keep it mostly family, low stress and simple. This year I thought it would be fun to invite more friends and have more of a traditional "party" with games, prizes, etc. The problem I'm having is most of the people I know with kids Ben's age aren't what I'd call close friends. I'd love to include them, but how do I do it in a way that isn't making them feel like I'm inviting them for another gift? I want to put the invite out there in a very casual, no stress, please-don't-RSVP-yes-because-you-think-you'll-hurt-my-feelings way. So save me a bit of headache here. If you're reading this and would like to come to Ben's party - please consider yourself invited and let me know that you want to come. Ha ha.

In other related news, this is the first year I've started Christmas shopping early. It started in Chicago where I picked up a few things along the way. It seems every time I go to the store, I find one or two items to toss in my basket. Last year was awful. Between buying/making decorations for Ben's party, I also had to buy presents for his birthday AND Christmas shop. It was a very tight month indeed and would have completely sucked if not for my super generous mama. Note to self: next time you think you want to have a baby, pay attention to what part of the year said baby will be born. NO. MORE. WINTER. BABIES.

I'm very excited for Ben's birthday. Last year he was sort of "uhhh... what?" with the whole thing. He wasn't super excited to rip the paper off of any presents, which totally bummed me out. He did love destroying his cake, so I'm interested to see how it goes this year. My sister in law tells the story of Connor's 2nd birthday where he asked for a napkin. Ha ha.

So there's the gist of my post: who do I invite and how do I tactfully include those acquaintances in a no pressure way? Any tips?

Discouraged.

Do you ever feel discouraged?

Like the world is closing in around you and you don't know how to dig out?

I've been feeling that way a lot recently.

I'm not depressed (I don't think) but I'm not exactly happy either.

Sigh.

These are the thoughts running through my head at any given moment:

I can't seem to keep on top of my housework... my laundry... myself.

I can't seem to find the patience needed for Ben

I'm not crafty enough.

I don't have enough friends.

I don't do enough

I do too much

I just... some times I just want to throw my hands up and say "I can't take this anymore".

There's never enough money.

Something else is going wrong.

Ben is throwing another fit.

I lost my temper again and spoke too harshly.

I'm not getting enough sleep.

I don't have enough "me" time (and then again, some times I feel like I take too much "me" time).

I'm not creative (I have to steal all my ideas).

I'm a terrible housekeeper unless some one is coming over.

I'm lazy.

I'm a procrastinator.

I can't find balance.

That's my biggest struggle this year: finding balance.

Every time I think I might be getting on the right track, something else happens that makes me lose that focus.

I long for balance. Not perfection, just balance.

A happy medium.

My house to be reasonably clean, my mommy time to be reasonably spread out, my alone time with Nick to be spent well and it's quality time, my finances to be comfortable.

Instead, we overindulge, put on blinders to the world and again and again are slapped in the face with reality.

When will this stop?

I know the answer. When I make it stop.

What will make me make a change?

I have no idea.