Four Favorite Things for October: What I've Been Up To

My goodness, when did it become October? The Forbes family has been BUSY! I thought I'd just share a four favorite things that we've been up to lately since I've been away (I have written another  post about moms at the park, but it's kind of mean so I need to do some serious editing before sharing. I might get hate mail if I don't! I'll do my best to get it up soon.).

Number 1: We have a new cousin/niece. My beautiful sister Hannah gave birth to her second child: Naomi, and let me tell you she is absolutely beautiful. Since she isn't my baby, I won't share pictures of the little cutie, but if you're my Facebook friend you can check her out on my page if you dig a little.

Number 2: The pumpkin patch! Our friends invited us to go to Walter's Pumpkin Patch in Burns last week, and we had a blast! We went on the trailer ride out to the actual pumpkin patch where, after a short lesson about types of pumpkins and how they grow, the girls got to choose their own pumpkins. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in their covered picnicking area, followed by lots of activity. I was amazed at how many activities they had including, playgrounds, jumping pillows, a petting zoo, race tracks, paddle boats, and so much more! I'm putting a link on here because I had a great time and would recommend this pumpkin patch over the others I have visited.

http://www.walterspumpkinpatch.com/

Here's a picture of the pumpkins my girls chose. I love that they ended up being equal to their sizes (J picked the biggest, K the medium sized one, and I got the little one for E). Being the good mother that I am, didn't bring the camera the pumpkin patch so this is all you get.

Number 3: We've been working our way out of debt (or at least reworking our plan). Dan and I needed a little motivational boost (because we are SO FLIPPING BROKE), so we went to see Dave Ramsey in Tulsa last weekend. Nothing  like a little DR to kick you into high gear and remind you that debt is lame. Here's a link to Dave for those of you who aren't familiar with him (no I'm not an affiliate with him or Walter's for that matter, just check him out).
 http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

Anyhow, part of our plan is for me to find ways to make some dough while being home with the kids (If you follow me, you'll remember I sucked it up majorly in my job interviews so I've got to work on plan B). This has been the main result of my posting hiatus (been hunting like a fool). Anyhow, I think I've established a plan so maybe you can help me :). I've found a contract job placing international students with host families. I've got 15 kids who need good homes. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested even slightly. Secondly, I'm tutoring elementary school aged children and hoping to find a few older people who need help with writing and editing. Again, let me know if you or someone you know is remotely interested. Finally, I'm hoping to get a gig with a professional blogging site. This means I may be posting here less often, but you'll be able to follow me there. Keep me in your prayers because getting paid to do something I love (writing) would be way too awesome!

Number 4: Cooking, and lots of it. We had a friend who had a baby recently, so I dabbled in quiche. I learned a few things for example, don't fill a quiche to the top with the egg and milk mixture. It will overflow.

 

My poor oven!

 

Luckily for us (and our friend) they turned out okay, and tasted even better. Nom nom nom!

 

Then we had Dan's birthday, for which he suggested I try my hand at a calzone. Check out this beauty that I made FROM SCRATCH, without a recipe. Yeah, I'm that awesome.

 

 

And, what's a birthday without a cake? The girls had tons of fun helping me mix the cake and make the whipped cream. They are quite good at decorating too! I'm not sure why Josie felt Dan needed a smurf girl in the middle of his cake.





Does anybody know how to make this rotate?

Daniel loved it!