Category Archives: Autumn

Weekends in the Word – Feast & Rejoice!

You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
~Deuteronomy 16: 13-14

We often believe it is indulgent to feast.  It is one of those “guilty pleasures” because surely we must be straight-laced and driven at all times.

But the Lord says, “FEAST!”

We are to celebrate His provision and the joy we have in Him.

During this season of the Feast of Booths, gather your family near, feast on the harvest and rejoice in the Lord!

{note: Today is the Day of Atonement for the Jewish people.  They often begin to build their “booth” after their fast is broken at sundown on this day.  Please take time to pray today for the Jewish unbelievers.}

Weekends in the Word is a ministry of Raising Arrows meant to offer a time of worship and encouragement specifically for those mommies who find themselves, due to circumstances beyond their control, unable to attend worship services with other believers. However, all are welcome here each weekend to feast on His Word.

A Smorgasborg of Autumn

The weather has cooled off considerably in my neck of the woods and so I thought I would give you a few of my favorite Autumn posts and links from days gone by…

A Bit of Autumn for My Emmy
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Open the Windows

Pumpkin Crumble

Simple Centerpieces for Fall

My “Enjoy” List

and a site I am working my way through (we’ve already made the fabric pumpkins!)
101 Festive Fall Tutorials

One Reason I Love Fall!

Every year, we choose a pumpkin patch to visit.  Every child (who is old enough) chooses a pumpkin to be their very own…

Every year, the littles beg to take turns riding with the pumpkins in the “pumpkin wagon”…

Every year, we take a group photo of the children…

Every year, we take the pumpkins and the memories home.  Once home, the children draw something on the pumpkins to be carved out…

Daddy is the official carver-of-pumpkins.  I get to sit and watch…and smile at all that is going on around me…

Once all the pumpkins have been carved, we put candles inside and light them on our back porch…

4 pumpkins for the 4 older children, 2 little pumpkins for the little boys, and one little pumpkin in honor of Emily, who also got to visit the pumpkin patch during her short life.
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Fall is a time when we breathe deep, laugh and love as a family, remember all the year’s past, and thank the Lord for His bountiful blessings in our lives.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Sometimes You Just Gotta Throw Healthy Out the Window

My mom was rifling through my pantry the other day looking for something for one of my little guys when I heard her gasp.  She smilingly chided me for having frosted fruity cereal in my pantry.  My answer?

I didn’t buy that!

I had to think back a bit, though.  Did I accidentally-on-purpose buy some yucky sugar-laden cereal in a fit of postpartum insanity?  No, I was pretty sure I had not done that.  Cereal is one of those areas I rarely give in on–even when feeling insane.  But, sure enough there was one rather out of place box of fruity cereal sitting amongst Kashi and granola land, otherwise known as the bottom shelf of my pantry.

Despite the fact that I am a stickler on cereal, I have some serious weaknesses in other areas.  And when it comes to seasonal treats…well, I am an all-out pushover.

Thus, the reason I bought a cake mix, frosting, and sprinkles at Aldi the other day during my monthly shopping trip.

I was thrilled to find they had sprinkles that didn’t have any ghosts or such in them.  My kids did ask why the packaging had spiderwebs and bats on it…sad when God’s creatures end up being associated with scary, creepy things.

Since I am not a cake fan, we decided to make cookies from the cake mix.  This is a very easy, fun project for kids because all it takes are 2 eggs and 1/3 cup oil and the cake mix (bake at 375° for about 10 mins).  You can do this with any cake mix.  In fact, I keep cake mixes on hand for this very purpose.  If I ever have to go to a function and need to make a quick snack to take, I can whip these up in no time.

No, they aren’t the least bit healthy, but when it comes to quick snacks and seasonal fun…

Sometimes you just gotta throw healthy out the window!

Don Your Aprons, Ladies! {and enter to win one!}

The winner is Sandy from The Daily Poop!  Congratulations, Sandy!

Autumn is upon us and in my house that means baking season is also here!  Remember, I pledged to make all things apple?  Well, Amy @ Amy’s Finer Things has a list of apple recipes that will keep me busy until NEXT Fall!

Now, with all this baking, I have to have my trusty kitchen sidekick…my purple apron!  This apron is actually a replacement for the very first apron I ever made.  That apron is tucked away in my sewing room with a note to my children attached to it.  It is an ugly, raggedy old thing.  As my first sewing project, it is embarrassingly hideous.  The hems are crooked and frayed, but I was so proud of that project.  It was the first thing I sewed on my own (and it shows!)  The note I left for my children is something I hope they find when I am gone from this earth.  I wanted them to realize that perfection isn’t what matters in life.  Often, it is the imperfections of this life that we end up cherishing the most.

So, don your aprons and let’s live this life!

With that, I’d like to introduce you to Debra.

Perhaps you’ve noticed her button in the sidebar of my blog?

Well, Debra is a young mom just starting out on this journey of homemaking and she shares that journey with her readers on her blog Happy To Be Home.  She has a passion to learn to be the woman God wants her to be, the helpmeet her husband, Mark, needs her to be, the mother her children need her to be, and a blessing to others along the way.  Her blog offers a rich and honest look at building a home and homemaking skills from the ground up.

Debra has offered to host a giveaway of one of her handmade aprons (which happens to be much better constructed than my shabby keepsake).

This lovely and whimsical apron is absolutely adorable and would look amazing on any one of you!  In fact, I am convinced aprons make for better cooking!  There is something about putting on an apron that just makes the food taste better!

Here’s how you can enter to win (each of these is equal to one entry):

* Leave a comment telling me your favorite Autumn treat and whether or not you wear an apron.

* Subscribe to Happy to Be Home via email or RSS feed. (you’ll see her cute little buttons in the top right sidebar of her blog)

* Join Happy to Be Home’s Facebook page.

* Follow Happy to Be Home on Twitter.

(please, leave a separate comment for each entry so the automated program I have in place won’t miss you!)

Giveaway ends Thursday, October 14th at midnight CST

My “Enjoy” List

Maybe it’s because I just had a scrumptious little baby.  Maybe it’s because I feel eternally behind right now.  Maybe it’s because I’m not quite to the point of having a well-ordered day.  Whatever the reason, I feel as though I am missing out on my favorite season of the year.

This is the time of year I wish everything would slow down so I could just drink it in, one apple-cider sip at a time.  It’s the time of year I want my whole world to smell of cinnamon and wood smoke.  I want everything to be painted red and orange and yellow and brown.  I want to just sit on my porch swing and breathe in the crispness of the season.

But, for some reason I am missing it.  For one, October is turning out to be a rather busy month for my husband.  And of course, Garin isn’t really old enough to be out and about much yet.  And honestly, I still have a killer back ache if I stand for too long.  But in an attempt to not let the entire season pass me by, I made an Enjoy List.

It’s just a simple To-Do list that doesn’t involve anything that even resembles work.  Things like:

Sit outside, wrapped in a blanket, sipping cider

and

Read The Pumpkin Patch Parableto my children

I want to make a blessing tree again this year.  I want to take a nature walk with the children.  I want to make caramel apples and fried apples and apple pie.

Perhaps I won’t get to everything on my Enjoy List, but that’s not really the point.  The point is that sometimes we get busy…too busy.  We forget to do even the simplest things…the things that make the most lasting memories. That’s what the Enjoy List is all about.  Making memories.

This post is linked to:

works for me wednesday at we are that family