Still loving Autumn!

So, this past weekend was a LOT of fun!
I went with Alex's girl scout troop to Carter's Mountain in Charlottesville to pick apples. I havent picked apples since I was about Alex's age, so it was SO much fun! I had no idea this place existed! Carter's Mountain is HUGE! They have acres and acres of every kind of apple you can think of and they also have a gigantic vineyard. They make their own apple cider, apple cider donuts, apple pie, apple butter...well, you get the idea. Apple everything! I am SO going to come here every year to go apple picking!




Check out those Red Delicious!!!


But the favorite of the day was Golden Delicious!


I also have another dilemma. My little Aron.
Problem #1 - He has grown out of his bouncy seat (obviously), but isn't 100% sitting up on his own, yet. He will fall over after a while of just sitting there.

Problem #2 - His hair. It is out of control! Should I cut it? Alex was two years old when she got her first hair cut! I just feel so bad cutting it while he is so small :(


His hair reminds me of something....oh yea....THIS:


There are some people in our neighborhood that go ALL OUT for Halloween. Take a look at this house.....check out the eyes in the window!

Some of my new favorite things...

I just HAD to share with you some of my recent "finds".
Okay, first....
Wendy's Frosties are the BEST! I went there today to get a baked potato and saw on the menu that you can buy 10 Frosty coupons for just ONE DOLLAR! What a deal! Not to mention your dollar goes to charity :)



Next, are two of my new favorite teas. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride and Gingerbread Spice. I LOVE Celestial Seasonings and these flavors are to die for!!!



Lastly, Fig Newton Crisps. Ahhhh....I love sitting down at night, catching up on some of my favorite tv shows, while sipping on my Sugar Cookie Sleigh ride tea and eating some of these Fig Newton Crisps. Also, they are only 100 calories per pack! WAAAYYY better than those chincy "100 calorie packs" we all get suckered into buying! And besides, you had a Wendy's Frosty earlier today, so easy on the calories!!!!

You MUST watch this!!! AND, pass it along!!!!

A little slow on the posts here....

It has been FOREVER it seems, since I blogged!
Let's see, to catch up, my parents were in town last week and we had a lot of fun :)
We just walked around one of the malls here, went and grabbed something to eat and just enjoyed each other's company.
They were shocked to see how big little Aron is!


This past week was a bit crazy as I picked up some extra shifts at work. I did, however, manage to fit in making thumbprint cookies and caramel apples with Alex. YUM!!!!
Aron has also kept us busy as he is already getting one of his top front teeth!!! You can barely see it, but I guess that would explain all of his fussiness :(

On Friday night, the family headed off to Tom Leonards. This is an October tradition for our family. They are a fresh produce marketplace here in town and during the month of October on Friday nights, they have free movie night. Let me set the scene for you....It's an outdoor event and the movie is on a big screen. Everyone sits on the provided hay bails surrounded by hundreds of pumpkins. We all sip on our hot apple cider, popcorn, hot chocolate, hot dogs and go on hay rides. Not to mention, it's all totally complimentary! The movie this past Friday was a Backyardigans Halloween movie. It was terrible, but we are looking forward to the Spongebob Squarepants Halloween movie coming up! It's all about the atmosphere anyways!!!

Also, guess who is coming to the RIC today??


That's right! I have tickets to go see her, BUT, since there were so many people requesting tickets, they ended up changing the time to later in the day, when of course, I can't go. So, my sister in law is going to go for me and taking tons of pictures. Do me proud, Sonia!!!

Well, I'm off to make my grocery list and go shopping!

Six month check up and some yummy Gazpacho

Today Aron had his 6 month check up. He now officially weighs 21.10 pounds! I was also surprised to find out he has pink eye! I didn't even know he had it! His eye isn't pink or red, but he has had some gunky stuff....ugh....just another day in my wonderful life!
The weather was sooooo nice out today, I had all of the windows open and I wanted to serve something cold for dinner (sounds yummy, right? j/k). But really, I just LOVE this time of year!
When I would travel everywhere, I had many different versions of Gazpacho soup. This is a vegetable soup that is served cold. It is realllly good! Well, I decided to make my own today and it is DELICIOUS! I will definitely be making it again! I tailored it more to fit my taste (and time)- I bought store cooked shrimp and used that. Here is a picture my creation and the recipe is below.




This recipe is actually a Rachael Ray recipe, so I really can't take credit for it!

1/4 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1 7-ounce jar Piquillo peppers in water (I didn't use these)
1 jalapeño pepper, cut lengthwise and seeded
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
A splash of tomato or vegetable juice
1 28-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 slice white bread, crusts trimmed and torn into large pieces
1 handful cilantro leaves, removed from stems
Salt and ground black pepper
Hot sauce, to taste
Zest and juice of 3 limes, divided
1 pound large to jumbo shrimp
1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika (I didn't use this)

In a food processor, add the cucumber, onion, peppers, garlic and juice to the processor bowl and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the tomatoes, torn bread, cilantro, salt and pepper, a few dashes of hot sauce, and the juice of 2 limes. Pulse just a few times, not to grind it up too much, but just so it is a nice chunky consistency. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a large bowl, toss shrimp with a drizzle of EVOO, sweet smoked paprika, lime zest, a few dashes of hot sauce, salt and ground black pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon EVOO, about 1 turn of the pan. When the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp until cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. When the shrimp are finished cooking, turn the heat off and add the juice of 1 lime. Toss to coat.
Serve the Fire-Roasted Gazpacho in a shallow bowl with the shrimp on top.
I also garnished with cilantro!