alphabet soup

"Come with me! Come with me! I want to play Alphabet Soup with you!"

The in-laws are here, and we've had a fantastic weekend. The boys are in their glory, and have been calling everyone into the living room (hands extended) to play 'Alphabet Soup', a game that Phillip made up. It involves everyone taking their places, and switching spots when names are called. It's so cute.

And tomorrow, back to the usual routine.

so, so, so, so happy it's friday!

I first posted this recipe last fall, but it is definitely worth a re-post. It's a delicious, moist, perfect fall cake. With a blop of whipped cream, it's the ideal comforting dessert. You can find the original post here. Let me know how you like it!

We have company coming this weekend, and the boys are very excited. It's the grandparents from away, which also means that Adam and I will get to sleep in. YES!

I often find that by the time I sit down to write a post, it's the end of the day and I'm not feeling up to getting really into it, you know? Delving into all of the ins and outs of life. This little blog of mine tends to be a lighter space, which is just fine. But I do want to share a podcast that I've been really enjoying, and I think you might, too. It's Erin Goodman's Behind the Blog, and she chats with different women from around the internets about their businesses, families and lives. I listened to her most recent one with Eileen from Little Acorn Learning yesterday, and really, really enjoyed it. They chat (amongst other things) about the state of education and making decisions that fit for their family, even if it's not what they'd always dreamed of... it's real life.

While I'm sleeping in this weekend, I hope that you're having a lovely time doing things that you enjoy. And now, I'm off to work. Happy Friday!

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

I was genuinely surprised when I used the search bar on my blog (it's right up there on the top left of your screen, if you're reading this directly and not through a blog reader) to find this recipe to link to, and I found that I have never posted it! So now's the time. I've been making these for years, and they are right up there with Snickerdoodles on my 'favourite cookies' list.

These are soft, perfect cookies. My Mom used to send squash and chocolate chip cookies to school with me, and they're very similar. They're not super sweet, despite both the amount of sugar and the chocolate chips. Oh, and you'll probably have to restrain yourself - they're the kind of cookies that you can eat 6 of, easily.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour (you can do half and half with whole wheat, if you're feeling virtuous)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I like semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix pumpkin, sugar, melted butter, and egg. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in another bowl, then add to wet ingredients. When it's beautiful and uniform, fold in chocolate chips.

Plop by the spoonful onto greased baking sheets (or not, if you're lazy - they usually come off just fine). The length of time in the oven will depend on the size of the cookie - I like generous ones, and they take about 14-15 minutes. You know they're done when they're light brown, and firm-ish when you press the middle.

Bonus: your house will smell AMAZING! These freeze well, too - I usually freeze them baked, then they can thaw in a snack bag or lunch box. Enjoy!

yesterday

A couple from yesterday. (No, the living room walls aren't really that colour. But look at T's cute little legs!)