Loving Fall

I think Fall is probably my favorite time of year.  In October the temps here in Phoenix finally drop below 100 degrees, and the nights actually get a little chilly.  In November we start sleeping with our windows open.  Love the crisp air and getting snuggled under the blankets at night!  I just can't sleep when it's hot, but when it's chilly I always sleep so much better and soundly.

Fall is also a time of sports activities.  Matthew plays football and Sara is playing soccer again.  This is Matthew's best year at football so far.  He has always been a good athlete, and Jeff (who usually coaches his teams) says that he is the most coachable kid.  He may not be the strongest or the fastest, but he listens, learns and applies the skills.  But this year in football he is becoming much more aggressive and really coming into his own.  It's so much fun to watch him play.  Their team is 4-2 on the regular season and next week starts the playoffs.  They have lost twice to the same team, so maybe in the playoffs they'll finally beat them.  That sure would be nice to stick it to 'em!  Anyways, here is a little video of Matthew's highlights from the last game.  It is only 1 minute long, so go ahead and watch it. 

Sara's team still has quite a few games to go, and they have only lost 1 so far.  She said the other night, though, that next year she wants to play football with the boys instead of playing the co-ed soccer.  lol.  But daddy said no.  He's afraid his girl (as tough and as strong as she is) might get hurt.  I would worry more about her hurting someone else!

Another thing I love about Fall is baking.  Twice last month I made my grandmother's apple spice cake, and it is DELICIOUS!!!!  Soooooooo moist.  I'm thinking about looking for recipe contests and entering it to see if it will win a prize.  I'm thinking about adding dried cranberries and chopped walnuts for a little more flare.  I'll have to try that and see how it tastes.  During the holidays I always bake cookies with the kids to take to the houses we visit.  We always make chocolate chip, oatmeal, sometimes molasses, sometimes peanut butter, or we might find something new to try.  The cake will be a great addition to what I usually make.  Do you want to know my secret for home made chocolate chip cookies?  I've got 2...First, after mixing up the batter as directed, add some extra flower to make the batter thicker.  Your cookies will get fatter and softer.  Second, UNDERbake your cookies by a minute or so.  While they are cooling on the rack they will continue to cook a bit in their own heat and will turn out perfect.

The  kids had fun with Halloween this year.  For the first time in quite a few years they carved pumpkins.  The pumpkins were on sale at Fry's for just $3.88, and they were good sized ones too!  Here are some pics...

Matthew didn't like the squishy pumpkin guts.

Sara embraced the squishy pumpkin guts.

So did Sami!

Sara was the best gut scraper of the 3.

Sami's finished work of art.

Sara's pumpkin with string hair.  Daddy helped a little.

And here are some Witchy Kisses!

Then of course the anticipation of the holidays is starting to build up.  I just love the winter holidays.  And this year is super sweet because today Jeff starts his job on a build out at Intel.  For those of you who don't know, he is an electrician with the union and commercial construction has been way down because of the economy.  He has only worked 3 months this whole year.  But the jobs out at Intel usually (knock on wood) last a while.  So this will (hopefully) be the first year in quite a few that he will be working through the holidays.  Even though he's going to start getting checks we will still have to live like paupers because since he was off for so long our savings got depleted paying the bills.  Now we have to put every penny we can back into savings to get that built up again for the next layoff.  In construction they pay you to build it, not watch the paint dry.  So as soon as a project is done you're laid off and go back down to the hall, put your name on the books, and wait for your number to get called for the next job.  When the economy was good he'd get laid off one day and within 2 days he'd be out at another job.  Right now it's 4-6 months between jobs.  I know, sucks, right?  I'm really hoping that this Intel job will last long enough to carry through to some better times. 

I'll leave you with this cute/funny pic.  Matthew is notorious for cleaning up everyone else's plate at dinner.  One of his favorites is wiping up the spaghetti sauce with garlic bread.  Here he is with not just his plate, but also Sami's plate AND Sara's plate.  Hey...they left sauce!  :)