and they're off!

I love Autumn.

I love the fall colours, the cool nights and green grass.

I love going to the apple orchard.

I love getting out the hot chocolate after dinner and having it outside because the mosquitoes are gone.

But of all my favourite fall stuff. I love the return to school. Starting this week I will have 4 hours to myself.

Each. And. Every. Week. Until June.

WOOHOO!

I found these wonderful back to school signs at Blonde Designs Blog

mits for me

I love my new mittens. Really, really love them. The pattern was so well written, easy to follow and the fit is perfect. You can get this pattern for free at sublinialrabbit.
Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to winter just so I can try them out.

paper and such

I originally happened upon Paper Source because of the wonderful paper suitcases and calendars they carry.. but that is not all.. no that is not all. As you can see above, they have the most amusing selection of childrens toys and all sorts of fabulous finds that will help make gift giving fun. Happy shopping.

fairy garden party

Fairy Garden Cupcakes with butter cream icing, fondant flowers and butterflies

Greetings!
You are invited to a special gathering of fairies to help E celebrate her 5th birthday! The games and festivities will be held at Saunders Farm on [insert address here] From 11am till 1:30pm on [insert date here]. Please RSVP the head gardener [insert name here] at 555-555-1111 or by email [insert here]. We really hope you can make it!
A copy of the invite sent out this year

As you can imagine I was quite happy E consented to a Fairy Garden Party instead of the indoor gym. It was a perfect day for the farm and the kids had a great time.

As each guest arrived they received wings and a wand. They played for quite a while in a barn type play structure before heading off on a wagon ride, and when they returned they were greeted by their Garden Fairy Host.


She led them to a very charming party room to have pizza and cupcakes. The kids were also quite happy to get a visit by the resident kittens and everyone got to pat Hocus before we headed off to find the pirate park and the 'big' slide.

Inside the Garden Fairy Party room

After sliding and playing at the park we retired to the ice cream stand and from there all the little fairies returned home.

I was pretty happy with how my Garden Cupcakes turned out and they were pretty tasty too. I made white and chocolate cupcakes and bought a Wilton icing tip that created the 'grass' look with green butter cream icing, then I made butterflies and flowers from coloured fondant and layered the flowers for fun!

We gave out giant lollipops as loot as I am trying to reduce our carbon footprint and I find most loot bags full of BPA filled plastics and single use toys that go straight to the landfill.

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old! It's been an amazing five years and I want to cram as much fun in as I can before she heads back to school in a few weeks!

harvest

We had a small garden this year, so the kids could learn about the growing of food.

We have several herbs, the carrots I posted a while back, some peppers and lots and lots of tomatoes. It was really fun and we hope to make the garden even bigger next year and grow zuchini, cucumbers, potatoes and loads of peppers. Here's a shot of our cherry tomatoes.

hat for J

Of course it needed to be robots for the little man. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. I only wish the pattern were a little smaller. This hat will fit him in about 2 years. Sigh.

spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

These cupcakes are decidedly the best cupcakes that have come out of my kitchen thus far. The cream cheese frosting was, (yes was, they are all long gone) not too sweet and very light so it complemented the spice cake cupcakes perfectly.

The recipe is so simple too!

1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup icing sugar

Use mixer on medium till smooth. Yum!

remember me?

Its been a jam-packed fun and busy month. Which is why we haven't spoken. Sorry about that.

Getting back into the swing of things probably won't happen till school begins in a few weeks but here is a 'back-to-school' idea that I'm loving.

The always wonderful and incredibly organized Wendy of Wendolonia has planned all your lunches, recommends lunch boxes and provides examples of great packed lunches. If you check her out you are bound to love her as much as I do.