Fall Break Mission Two: Devil's Head

Last week, on glorious fall break, Callie's special mission was the Devils's Head Tower in southern Colorado to go for a hike.
I had been there in high school with our church youth group and I remember it being a fun and easy hike, but then again I was 16 and did not have a nine year old with me!

We had plan to go there a few years ago, but due to the weather we chickened out and went somewhere else, but this year we were feeling brave and up for a challenge.

Devil's head is an old look out tower on a top of a mountain that is used for spotting wild fires in the mountains. The look out tower is only accessible by a 3 mile hike and then a climb up some super spooky stairs ( I did not remember them being this high or scary back in 2000!

So after looking at some pictures and scouting the reviews and directions we had our day all mapped out!

If you plan to take this trip, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT  take road 507, unless of course you are a fan of being terrified by 80 degree inclines in which you are looking at the hood of your car, while driving 7 miles an hour on a one lane dirt road with sheer cliff sides on one side and jutted, rocky mountains on the other and what felt like hundreds of switchbacks and ruts ,while your poor car is doing everything in its power to not go sliding backwards, for 30 minutes. (THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION, I am being 100% serious)

There were points where I was sure that we were going to die, but what choice did we have?? It's not like we could have turned around!

When we finally arrived in the sandy parking lot, I wanted to kiss the level, solid ground, after I stopped shaking, but I did not, we had a hike to make!

It was almost worth the perilous journey up the mountain once we got to hiking...

It was just as beautiful as I remember and it was another perfecto fall day... The trees, the colors the fresh air! It is such a blessing to live in such an amazingly, beautiful place!!

The hike starts with a pretty spooky path into the mountains where a tornado last year took out most of the trees on the mountain side. It was a little eerie to see huge pine and aspen tree totally uprooted! Glad we weren't there that day!

Yipes!

After you get past the initial devastation, it is a a beautiful walk through the aspens!

She was in awe!

After a hike  rock climb through the aspens, this is the view...

Holy Rocky Mountains, batman!

A nice family snapped this pic for us! Thankfully all of the people we met on the trail were super nice and friendly, no creepy murderers today!

Aaaannnddd, we made it!!

After some contemplating of the steep climb up, and some educational reading, we braved the stairway to heaven, to the lookout tower!

The tower!

The Rocky Mountain side

Eastern Colorado side!

You can see over a 100 mile radius on both sides of the tower, it was just so beautiful!

We spent about an hour in the tower, reading all of the articles and looking at all of the pictures people have posted there and chatting with the family that lives there in the summer and marveling at the beauty that God created!

PS, you better believe that once we were at the top of that look out tower and I had cell service, I map quested a different route home, far, far away from the ridiculousness that is road 507!

It was such a wonderful adventure to share with Callie and I am so glad that were brave enough to make it up the road and up those ladders! Mission #Two was successful!

Fall Break Mission One: Zoo

Last week was a jam packed week of adventures on fall break and we had so much fun! Getting back in the swing of school and work has been hard! 

I let the kiddos choose a special thing that they wanted to do, Kellen's day was, you guessed it, the zoo! 

That kid has been talking about the zoo, since our visit last month. Maybe it has something to do with his obsession with the the show the Lion Guard??? He is always running around the house pretending that he is saving animals and protecting them from the hyenas in the pride lands. The other day he destroyed the couch to make his den in pride rock. You can't make this stuff up people!

On Monday it was a glorious day, super warm, we didn't even keep our jackets on for most of the morning! All of the creatures were out and I think we caught almost every show that there was to see! Yay!

We got to feed the giraffes!

Kellen loved the alligator, this was the only picture that he would actually smile for! Do you see the creepy gator lurking in the water??

Waiting for the elephant show! He was SO excited about this one!

Still waiting, that smile is fading a little...

and finally... the show! Yay! The only disappointment was that Groucho would not be tricked into swimming that morning, but it was a good show nonetheless!

He was very serious about driving the pretend car too. He said, "I can't take a picture now, mom, I am trying to drive this thing!"

Taking zoo pictures with kids is always a little tricky, they will not be distracted by your constant need to document them, while there are cool animals to look at!

Fall break mission one was a success. We ended up spending 6 hours, 6 long hours at the zoo! But we saw it all let me tell you, with no where to be and no one rushing us or being cranky, the zoo was quite the amazing trip and I left with 2 very happy and very tired little nuggets!

Brien's Green Chile

I promised this recipe last year and lost the recipe my darling husband had written down, but I was going through my cook books this week and lookie what I found!!!

We stocked up on green chilies at the pumpkin patch, I am talkin' a bushel, like 10 lbs of green chilies taking up my fridge. When we got home my mister immediately set to work making some green chile and it was so good! 

He refused to take pictures as he goes, like I do (I get made fun of relentlessly for stopping while I am cooking to snap pictures) but the finished product was just beautiful, the smell was literally mouth watering and I actually just ended up eating it with a spoon in a bowl, like soup!

You need to above ingredients. In case you can't read it...

You need:

4 cups of water

6 tsps of chicken bullion

1 7oz can of diced tomatoes, we use mild rotel

1/2 of a white onion chopped

1 lb of diced pork

4 large green chilies, chopped

1 tsp of minced garlic

2 Tbsp of flour

This year we doubled all of the ingredients and it was gone in 3 days flat. So the moral of the story is, make a big batch.

First bring the water and bullion to a boil in a large stock pot. Once it is rolling add in the tomatoes, onions, green chiles and garlic.

In a 12 inch pan, saute the diced pork until cooked through and then add in the flour to make a roux. 

Then add that into the broth and veggies. This year we also added some fresh diced jalapenos (totally optional) to have some extra heat.

Next let it simmer on low and let all those yummy flavors mix together. I think Brien simmered it for about an hour and then we couldn't stand it any longer and had to eat some! It was a little soupy last year so Brien added in a cornstarch/water mixture to thicken it up a titch. Just mix 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and a splash of water. Add it in until you have the desired texture! Be careful a little goes a long way!

It thickened up perfectly and ta-da!

I had never been introduced to the wonderful world of green chile before I met Brien and now it has become a fall staple! We had no idea what we were doing the first time we made it, so give it try, you will NOT be disappointed!

Adventures at the Patch

Last weekend, in the name of traditions, had to visit our favorite pumpkin patch! We went early to avoid the crowds and it was the PER-fecto, most beautiful, fall day! I heart the pumpkin patch!

This little gem showed up in my facebook feed this morning from 4 years ago... Those sweet little squishy cheeks, oh my precious girl!

This year there were 2 sweet squishy faces and they had so much fun!

The kids had a blast exploring and playing and Brien and I get to sit back and let them! 

Oy, the colors! What is not to love?

They have some sweet new cut outs this year. Kellen thought this was super fun because he is going to be a ghost this year for Halloween!

Our favorite old games!

Awesome things to climb on and get filthy!

The good old train..

I love that they have a place to wash up your pumpkin, and the kids always have fun splashing, 'cause let's be real, these pumpkins were not even that dirty!

Not much taller this year, but still my sweet little pumpkin!

We better believe we left that place with a boat load of pumpkins and  roasted green chiles and precious memories with our loves!

What I wore Wednesday

This week it has been yoga pants and comfy tees, but last week was all fall! Yay for the seasons changing, but not so much the getting cold part. I just know it's coming, but I am not quite ready! Kellen was narrating on the way home from somewhere last week and was very concerned about the leaves turning yellow and orange. I told him that it was fall and they would turn colors and fall off. He looked very sad while he was processing this and then came up with, " So the trees will be naked?" Yup kid. For the next 6 months nothing but naked sad trees!

Dress: Banana Republic, thrifted

Scarf: Gift from my sister in law

Flats: Target

Parent teacher conference night take 2!

Blouse: Old Navy, thrifted

Skirt: Target

Flats: JCrew

Last Saturday, I seriously had my cup filled visiting with my sweet co-worker from my old school! We spent all morning and well into the afternoon catching up and having breakfast and shopping! I miss that lady so much it hurts sometimes!

Tee: Gift from precious co-worker!

Vest: Target

Jeans: Target

Flip flops: Target

One chilly fall day in 2nd grade...

Top: Old Navy

Pants: Loft, thrifted

Flats: Target

Necklace: Target

I love how this came together. I was running out of ideas for what to wear last week!

Tee: Jane.com

Jeans: ?? Thrifted

Cardigan: Target

Booties: Target

Necklace: Jane.com

That's all for this week! More cool weather clothes comin' right up!

Life's Random Moments...

Remember back in the day when if you wanted to take a picture you needed a camera??

This weekend at the pumpkin patch I was laughing a little bit at myself and all of the other parents trying to document every little thing that happened to them and getting their children to pose for selfies.

However, without this ridiculous technology I would not have been able to capture the randomness that has occurred the last few days...

On a glorious day in the country, I snagged this random moment with my fella!

Kellen and his giant new gun!

The weirdest thing...Every day when we come home from school, we find the remote controls in random places scattered throughout the house. They are usually in one of Jake's dog beds. They are never chewed on, just randomly scattered. Well the other day I came into the house like usual and I heard voices talking, kids voices. I was immediately freaked out and made Callie wait in the garage while I investigated. This was the scene I walked into, just Jake, hanging out watching some cartoons. I guess he just wanted to watch a show and finally figured out the remote!

The other day while Callie and I were on our afternoon walk, we came across this creepy snake slithering across the trail to the grass! Glad she was watching!

So, I am new to this whole box tops thing. We never did that at my old school, but at my new one, they are all the rage! My students bring me huge bags full of these bad boys. I am not sure exactly what they do, but when I turn them into the office, people seem excited and I think my class is winning some kind of competition! 

Bacteria!! The 7th graders across the hall are working on a bacteria unit in science class. A few weeks ago they came in and swabbed some random places in my classroom and scurried off to grow it. I made them promise that they would bring back the results and voila! My room is sample 1, pretty clean if I do say so myself! The sample three is from a 3rd grade classroom bookshelf... EWWWW!

Kellen thinks these are just his size...he just wants to be big like daddy!

Let's be real, a random beautiful sunrise when I pulled into work?! So pretty! Couldn't have gotten this one without my handy dandy iphone!

The girl who used to a pink princess, refusing to pose in the pink princess cutout... She's getting too big for her britches, this one!

On Friday morning, Mr. Kellen snuck into the bathroom and was watching me put my make up on for school. Apparently this is my mascara face. He was fascinated about why I made that face every time. This boy...

So here's to capturing life's random moments. Carry on crazy iphone people and selfie taking parents. Get those memories locked down!

Zucchini Cake

 Due to an abundance of over sized zucchini I HAD to make this treat! Yummy-o! This was so delicious for Sunday dinner dessert a few weeks ago, I have been dreaming about ever since.

I realize that zucchini is not a fan favorite around my house, but it seems like when I put vegetables in dessert that I am somehow making it a little more healthy! Right?!?

So this recipe is pretty straight forward you need:

For the cake:
3 cups of flour
3 cups of white sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp of allspice
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 tsp of cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 cups of shredded zucchini

For the frosting
8 oz package of 1/3 fat cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of butter (softened)
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 tsps of cinnamon
3 tsps of Turbinado  sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

First shred up all the zucchini...

Wowza! My mama knows how to grow em!

Peel that bad boy!

Shred it right up using a cheese grater!

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and powder and spices) in a medium sized bowl and then all of the wet ingredients in a large bowl (oil, eggs, vanilla)

Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients. I used a good old wooden spoon for this step!

Next fold in the zucchini until combined. It's a weird texture with the cake mix and zucchini, but just go with it!

Grease up a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean!

Perfecto!The middle sank in just a titch, but it just made a deeper valley for all that delicious frosting to go in!

While the cake is cooking, whip up the frosting.

Cream together the cream cheese and butter in a mixer or using a hand mixer. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it's nice and thick! I like mine a bit more sweet and a little less cream cheese-y.                                                 

Frost the cooked cake and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar and cinnamon!

It was oh-so-good! The cake is really like a spice cake and the frosting is the perfect balance! A little sugar and cinnamon on top just adds a some fall flavor and crunch! It was a hit, even with all that zucchini!