Granola Bars...

If your family is like mine, they love to snack. I, as a mom and wife, want them to eat something healthy.  Store-bought granola bars are full of sugar and the healthiest part of them are the oats. These granola bars are packed full of the good stuff, but you don't have to tell the family that they are! This recipe is very adaptable.  Instead of putting in the oil, you can add peanut butter and a splash of oil.  You can add any kind of dried fruit, nut, or chips you want. I know your family will love these as much as mine do!  

Mama's Great Granola Bars

2 C. Rolled Oats
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. of Flax Meal
1 tsp. of Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Dried Tart Cherries
1/2 C. White Chocolate Chips
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 C. Oil ( I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/4 C. Agave Nector( If you don't have Agave, use honey instead-that would make 1/2 C. total of honey)
1/4 C. Honey
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13x9 pan with foil an spray with Pam.

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingrediants, including chips and cherries, together.  In a smaller bowl; mix together egg, oil, agave, honey, and vanilla.

Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix well.  Pour evenly into the 13x9 pan and press until firm.

Bake for 15-20 mins for chewy bars and 20-25 for crunchy bars.

Let cool completely and then pull bars, foil and all, out of the pan.  Cut into squares or rectangles, whatever tickles your fancy:) Enjoy!

McCall's Pumpkin Patch



Paul hunted far and wide for that Big Mama!

Yesterday, our family went to the pumpkin patch in Moriarty, NM.  For those of you who aren't from around these parts, that's about 1/2 hour outside of Albuquerque.  For those of you from around these parts, you know this is the BEST place to go for pumpkins and fun!  As you can see, Ryan picked his pumpkin as did Paul and Caroline.  We don't get trick or treaters around our house, so it's just for them to have fun with.We went with our friends the Hools, we had a blast. We, of course, went on the hayride and picked pumpkins!  The kids went through the Haunted Corn Maze(Notice I didn't say "we", Mama don't do mazes), the Haunted Barn, all the fun little kid attractions(because they are little kids in bigger kids bodies:)


Rob, Caroline, and Tatiana on the hayride



"Look at mine, Mom!"


 The boys were racing around in the wheelbarrow and we tried on some funny headbands in the store:)


On your marks, get set, GO!




Bahahahahaha!

 Me and my littlest boy:)

I love this kid!

Backyard Camping

                          How can you not love camping????  Especially when it's in the backyard!

                                                   The dogs got in on the action too!                                                           Have a great weekend!

Arrow of Light Ceremony

          Last night, Ryan graduated from Cub Scouts and became a Boy Scout.  What a great thing! 

He was so excited to move on in this direction.  Rob and I are so proud of him for all his hard work and sticking with it.  Just like any sport, Scouts takes a lot of commitment and there were times he didn't want to do it anymore.  Now he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The next goal is for him to become an Eagle Scout.  That will take a while, but he has a renewed spirit and ready for this next challenge.  After the ceremony, Ryan asked me if Rob had gotten his Arrow of Light and I told him "No".  He was so proud that he was the 1st one in our family(immediate family) to get it.  Ryan and Paul compete like brothers do and this is one thing that Ryan owns and his brother doesn't.  A real confidence booster for him!  Most of our NM family was there for the ceremony including Rob's grandparents, John and Dorothy.  They came all the way from Yucaipa, CA for a visit and wound up getting to share the special evening with us.  Uncle Steve was there too as was Papa Paul.  Grandma Pam was working that evening at the Balloon Fiesta-never fear we took plenty of pictures so she didn't feel too left out.

We love you Ryan, I'm so lucky God made me your Mama:)

Fall....

Awwwww, Fall is here!  The NM State Fair is now over and Balloon Fiesta will be here on Saturday.  The temps are getting cooler every evening so, the dogs are starting to sleep inside at night. Apple butter, pumpkin bread, and Chicken and Dumplings....  Yep, it's Fall.


Church is already getting this year's Harvest Festival organized and yep, Children's Worship is doing a booth. I told Peggy Darlington to suprise me with what we're doing, I might regret that I said that....Oh well, it's all for the Glory of God right? I'm good with that. My kids want to dress up this year, I told them they could be ghosts, they didn't think that was a good costume idea. I did! Cheap and creative, they didn't see that. Caroline wants to design her own costume, that scares me!  It could be any one of these:



 
                                     All I can say is YIKES!
 
I'd really prefer her to wear this:
 
Think she will???? Uh......NOPE!
 
I'll have to keep you all updated:)  Happy Monday!
 

Full Moon's A Rising

That song from CCR is so true in our house right now.  Yesterday, I had all 3 kiddos arguing and fighting with each other and with Rob and myself.  Let me tell you, I DO NOT want a repeat today.  Last night when the fur started flying, I didn't realize that there really is a full moon rising over the next couple of days, talk about crazy!  Sooooo, here's the breakdown of what the kids lost because of their behavior:

-No TV ( I removed the satellite box) until further notice.  Personally, I could care less about the TV, I never get to watch what I want to anyways!

-No computer for everyone under the age of 15 until further notice.

-Paul lost his cel phone for a week(shucks!)

-Ryan's IPod, Nintendo DS, and TV have a new home-the safe.  Boy, was he mad about that! Hehehehe

-Caroline is grounded( Best punishment for her, we all know what a Social Butterfly she is)

Besides all of that, Ryan had to scrub the kitchen floor(yep, on hands and knees) last night and vaccum the downstairs because his sassy mouth couldn't keep shut.  Gosh, I love being a parent!  It's all about power and control...Mahahahahahahaaaa!

Well, hope you all survive this full moon rising, I know I'm taking NO prisioners!  Have a great day!

Yep, We're Still Around....

Sorry guys, it's been way too long!  I looked at when I posted last and was appalled by my neglect of you all! Do you feel neglected?  Yes???  I feel like dirt, yes I do....I had such great hopes that I would be able to keep up this blog and so far, I'm not do so well.  I'll try harder. I promise!

Let's see....what have we been up to?  I think the better question is, what haven't we been up to?  The list is much shorter!  Rob and I have been busy working at our day jobs and at home.  Rob's been taking advantage of the nice, warm weather we've been having and has picked up extra work on the weekends.  The extra $$$ is nicer than this weather!  I've been running at Mach speed keeping up with work, the kids' stuff, the housework, and feeding my ravenous pack of wolves.  Who, by the way, are ALWAYS hungry! 

This picture makes me think of Fall here in New Mexico.  Happy 1st Day of Fall!

~Cheryl