Happy Birthday NeNe!

NeNe, thank you for letting us celebrate your birthday with you a few days late! We love you!

My mom is a true choc-o-holic (and of course I blame her for my addiction) so for her birthday I tried to find the most chocolatey recipe out there! A Rich Chocolate Tart courtesy of Southern Living. Chris described it as 15 Hersheys bars at once! It was good but I am sending it out of this house tomorrow before we eat it all!

Yesterday

Yesterday I came home to an exhausted husband and an energized little girl. Mr. Nick had his first day of being "Mr. Nick" the shadowing teacher of a 4th grade class and the only strength he had left was to turn on the TV to watch football! Poor thing!

Caroline, on the other hand, was a little Energizer Bunny and I captured some of that here:

What a glorious day outside!

Yes, we are so glad that the horrific summer is over! We spent today bike riding to a new playground to make burritos in the play house. Welcome Fall!

Taco, Mommy?

Gitty Up!



Our little cowgirl with Clint Black shepparding!
He was in town for the county fair!

Cousin Norah is here!

"Skinny' Pumpkin Muffins

Did you see this recipe in the Parade magazine on Sunday? I knew it was a must for our family because 1) we love bread and 2) weird-picky, eater husband loves anything pumpkin for some strange reason! They are pretty tasty but not too pumpkin-y. They make me think fall is on the way!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
Sunflower seeds, optional (I stirred in pecans instead.)

 

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside. Fit a regular muffin pan with liners. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently fold in the pumpkin puree and the milk. Add the flour mixture and blend into batter.
3. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Bake until muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Four Stars

As part of my job recruiting potential employees to Memphis, I usually am asked the question at least once a week "what do you like about Memphis". Over the last couple of years since becoming a parent my response has changed a little bit but the core of it is the same: this city embraces its arts and culture. From music to the outdoors there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of and over the last week our family has had some free time to do just that.

I had been hearing about the Botantic Garden's My Big Backyard for a while now since it's opening last year and Caroline and I finally had the chance to meet sweet Rhodes and Emily there on Friday. The weather was perfect and the setting was amazing! Caroline's favorite area was "Playhouse Lane" where she was able to sample some sticks:


and make music...

and learn about birds...

We give the Big Backyard four stars, especially for it's price!

Last week we realized the summer was passing us by and we hadn't made it to a Redbird game yet so we headed out to the ball park. Sidenote: Caroline's favorite song right now is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" although if you sing any of the lyrics beyond the first line she gets mad. A night at the ballpark is always four stars especially if you have the BBQ nachos!

Have you ever seen a giraffe's tongue? It is literally the longest muscle ever and it can curl around and around! Last weekend we headed to the zoo to see the giraffes and their friends and as always had a four star experience. We have enjoyed our membership to the zoo over the last year thanks to a dear and generous friend.

We hope everyone has a four star weekend! Thanks for reading!