The Corn Maize

This past weekend we headed to Kersey Valley for some fall family fun! We went with my brother and his family to test out the "Maize Adventure", despite my absolute fear of corn fields. There's just something so creepy about them! But it was daylight and I had my two boys to keep me safe, so I pushed through it.

Ryan, Zoe and Hayden at the Maize.

We started our journey at the beginning after a briefing from the guide. We were to follow the maze to find check points, and to play a corn-themed game of Clue to find out who took Farmer Joe!

We had a good time running around and finding the right way to go...facilitated by Jay's navigational skills (and the picture of the map he took with his cell phone).

Family photo in the Maize!

Ryan being silly with his corn.

After the Maize, we headed over to the "giant pillow" for the kids to jump. Erin took Ryan & Zoe and Jay took Hayden for a round of jumping, and they had a blast! After a few minutes, Hayden felt comfortable enough to jump on his own. Probably my favorite picture of the day is of Jay and Hayden, after Hayden fell down but Jay kept jumping :-)

Carving pumpkins

This year we decided Hayden was old enough to enjoy and appreciate the family art of carving pumpkins. I of course serve as the photographer for events like this since I've a) never ACTUALLY carved a pumpkin myself; b) don't like to get my hands dirty; and c) If I don't serve as the photog, Jay either won't, or he'll take all the pics in "action" mode. No thank you.

He was so excited to help daddy with the tools!

While he was terribly curious about what was in there and what daddy was doing, he had NO interest in helping when he realized he would get his hands dirty. That kid is all boy until he gets his hands dirty and then he turns into his mother. Upside? He LOVES to wash his hands.

Helping daddy "finish" up. Aka, he did a lot of wandering around the deck while Jay carved.

Our spooky jack-o-lantern, lit up and ready for Halloween!

Happy 7th Birthday, Ryan!

I can't believe he's 7! Ryan celebrated his birthday at Safari Nation with friends, family, a zip line, tons of presents and a basketball cake & cupcakes. Hayden had an absolute blast and it was hard to tear him away from the guns that shot the Nerf balls. The grown ups had a pretty good time, too!

This cake was awesome!

He had the best time gathering and shooting.

Make a wish!

I was really surprised at this, because it involved getting his hands dirty but he really enjoyed it!

He was a champ at opening the presents.

What was great about Safari Nation was that after the party, we could still stay and jump. Hayden jumped and played forever, and we only convinced him to leave by telling him we'd go play at Ryan and Zoe's house. He loves his cousins :-)

Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese

I make two versions of mac 'n cheese in the crock pot, but this is the one I did yesterday. It requires zero maintenance and the other needs a stir here and there so I tossed it in before we left for the corn maze.

16 oz elbows, cooked and drained.

Spray a crock pot (mine is 4.5 qt) with cooking spray. Add cooked macaroni, plus one half stick of butter (chopped) and 2 cups shredded cheddar, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

To the crock pot add (but don't stir) 2 beaten eggs, 1 large can evaporated milk, 2 cups of milk. Don't stir! Sprinkle with 1 more cup of cheese (seriously Val, sorry!) and cook on low for 2 hours. Perfect for a family gathering with kids that won't eat anything else on the table.

Per request...

Some of my friends needs new recipes, so I promised to start posting anything fun, or even not fun but quick-and-easy, to mix it up!

FYI, these recipes go against everything Valerie blogs at "Busy Mom Gets Fit"...maybe my recipes will change after the baby is born and I try to regain some semblance of my old body :-)

Sausage Dip

1 lb sausage (hot for the spicy friends, I like extra sage)
2 8oz blocks cream cheese, softened
1 can Rotel (I use regular, you can adjust the spice for your crowd) (I also drain but leave some of the juice for spice)

Brown, crumble and drain sausage. Add softenened cream cheese and rotel, stir until combined. Serve with tortilla chips!

Book worm

Normally my Hayden posts are about his silly statements and sweet words. Today I'm having a pretty proud momma moment :-)

I usually drop him off at 7:15 at his daycare, in order to give me enough time to get to work. Today, I had a doctor's appointment at 8:45 so I was able to take him in just a bit later. Early time is a little crazy at school, because all the kids are in one room until all the teachers get there to take them to their respective rooms. Some mornings, he has a hard time with mom leaving and needs a few extra snuggles to get adjusted so early. Today, his teacher was there so we walked down to his classroom.

We walked in and it was reading time, so there were several books on the table for the kids to choose from. Hayden saw the books, and immediately dropped my hand and headed to a seat. He calmly picked a book, sat in his seat and opened the book to start "reading". He never even noticed that I was still there! Sometimes it's tricky, signing him in and dropping off his jacket before he can try to escape out the door with me. But today, he was just too excited to read to even notice. Such a great moment, I was always a reader growing up and hoped my kids would be too. Lately, he wants to sleep with a book and I can't find a good reason to discourage it. What a little man he's becoming!

Here comes the bride!

We had two weddings to attend this month, one of which was Hayden's very first! Typically I don't believe in kids under 5 at weddings, but this one was an outdoor event that was casual so we took him along. Sarah and Ben got married on October 1st in a beautiful country setting. It was all of a sudden chilly, but the sun was bright and the air was crisp, and of course the bride was beautiful! Hayden was excited to go to the "special farm" to see Sarah, and got really excited when he saw her walking down the aisle. He was very good during the ceremony and expectedly antsy at the reception but overall he did really well.

                  A quiet moment after the ceremony...so sweet!
The following weekend we traveled to Waynesville, NC sans Hayden for Ashley and Jason's wedding. Ashley (Watts) was one of my Salem friends and got married outside at the Waynesville Inn Country Club on a ceremonial green. We had a blast catching up with old Salem friends and with her family. And since we were childless (minus the one in my belly!) we got to relax and enjoy dinner (the food was great!) and dance and hang out without entertaining our wild toddler. It was a beautiful day in the North Carolina mountains that turned into a rather chilly evening but we had a great time. Jay was a hit on the dance floor and we grabbed a quick brunch with friends before heading back to Greensboro.

 They did it! Ashley and Jason walk back down the aisle as Mr. & Mrs. Bannister.

                               Salem C'04, Lily Godbold and baby-Rogers-to-be-named-later-C'34.