autumn vegetable soup

Celebrate the first day of fall with this colorful, nutrient packed, and soooo good soup. 

Check out Hoosier Cook (my food blog)to see how to boil up a pot of your own.

leaves are falling

Fall is so beautiful here in Bloomington.

My favorite season.

The grass stays green, the leaves are brilliant, the air gets crisp, and it warms my heart.

Playing in and collecting leaves has become a favorite past time this year.

presto

For you townies who didn't attend the Pumpkin Party at the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, remember it for next year. It was only a $1 to attend and just the type of small town celebration that I love, complete with a Jug Band, fresh cider and brats, pumpkin pie bake-off, a Magic Show, crafts, and a pumpkin launch. It was quaint and chill, but a fantastic display of fall goodness. I had stepped back in time.

I was fascinated with the jug band. Their music was toe-tapping great and I LOVED seeing them use the washboard and jug, wow.

the Lost Shoe String Band

Get a load of this magician, Jack the Top Hat. His magic was amateur, but he was so fun to watch with the kids, they loved him and I loved his Indiana accent. He was terrific!

karrie and the little peso

We love having visitors, and feel super spoiled that both Karrie and baby Cash came all the way from Utah to see us! Karrie truly is the ultimate hangout buddy and Cash is a dream baby. He is so snuggly, and happy - ALL THE TIME - (except for the time I tried to bathe him, oops!) We really wish she could have stayed longer. We were told that if Matthias sung the U's fight song to Chris over the phone, that he would let Karrie stay longer. Knowing Chris wasn't serious, Matthias didn't try, but if Chris were you better believe we ALL would have sung it. I really wanted Karrie to chill and relax, but she wouldn't let me cook without being at my side to help, nor keep her hands out of the dirty dish water. She was too sweet to us; she made it a vacation for me! We loved showing her around Bloomington, especially because the fall colors arrived during her stay. Oh how visitors are loved and the memories will be cherished! Thanks Karrie and Cash for coming, and to Chris for being willing to spend 10 days alone! We love you!

corn, hay & pumpkins

Today was the best Fall day I've had this year! Matthias & I took the boys to a farm about 15 min. away... Freeman Family Farms... to take a hay ride, explore a corn maze, play with farm animals, and pick pumpkins. I was going to take our fam pics today but I came down with a nasty cold, so I'm not looking picture worthy... but we did take a whopping 65 pictures of the event... here are a few, my favorites!

The greatest part of the whole trip was the hay ride, part of the ride required the tractor to pull us across and up a stream! The boys thought this was super exciting and it made me so happy to see them having such a good time. It has rained this whole week, so the ground was pretty muddy, resulting in some pretty muddy boys - as boys should be, right?