Monthly Archives: September 2012

Fall has Begun

Fall is finally here and we are already enjoying the changing colours of the leaves.  So much so we went out and picked a bunch of our favourite leaves from the ground and took them home.  I had seen on Pinterest how you can fold the leaves to make roses and got busy constructing my own.  Since Rose is my middle name (literally), I took photos to show you the Fall coloured roses.  You can see them displayed above and I have included a photo at the end of this blog post. 
My boys at the farmer’s market at the pumpkin patch. 
To celebrate the season we went to a farmer’s market and a Pumpkin patch.   My boys were so excited pick out their own pumpkins and gourds.  It will be fun to decorate this week for the Fall holidays.  With our wagons full, we left and headed over to Arthur, an Amish community.  We picked up a bag full of apples from the orchards and spices to make our own apple pies.  I have never made a pie before so it was a pretty big deal for me to try it this year.  Thanks to one of my friends for a yummy crust recipe, I got busy with slicing apples.  For those of you big on using coconut oil, I will let you in on a little baking secret.  Instead of using crisco in the crust, I substituted with coconut oil.  You just need to make sure it is in its liquid state, and not solid when you mix it with your ingredients.  Otherwise your dough will end up lumpy. Though my pies do not look as beautiful as professional pies, they were the best tasting ones I have ever had.  Proof that homemade is definitely more fun and more tasty! Hope you guys have fun trying your hands out at baking this Fall like we did.


My homemade Apple Pie, the first time making one.
With our left over apples we sliced them thinly and put them on a baking sheet.  After sprinkling them with a little splenda and apple pie spice, we put them into the oven to bake for an hour on each side. The result: Yummy home made apple crisps! Yummy! My son, Ronan, really enjoyed making these and my other son Maddox really loves eating them for a snack. 
My boys trying honey sticks at the Farmer’s market in Champaign, IL.

Ronan in his wagon at the Pumpkin Patch.
My sons had fun checking out all the interesting pumpkins and gourds at the Pumpkin Patch.  
Maddox at the Pumpkin Patch. 
Running through the maze at the pumpkin patch. 
This is one of my favourite photos that I took in Arthur, the Amish community. The breeze was making the laundry on the line dance and the sun was shining through the trees.  Just a very beautiful scene.
Passing a horse and buggy on the road in Arthur.
Fall Roses made from leaves that I constructed from the leaves my sons picked out.

Fun Foods for Kids!

With it being the final week of Summer I have favoured the last of warm weather to wear our shorts and summer tanks.  We are still unsure about when we are coming home to England so I have been finding things to keep our days fun.  What better to keep their interest than fun food!  Today I made them ‘Octopus Speghetti’ for lunch with Turkey hotdogs and whole wheat spegetti. It was pretty simple to make. First I cut each hotdog into four sections.  I wanted the octopus to have eight arms so I punctured the noodles into the center until the ‘arms’ were even on each side.  Once the water had boiled I put the Octopuses into the pot and as the noodles started to cook they sunk down far enough to cook evenly.  Once they were cooked and drained I covered it up with some leftover sauce and voilà!  It was definitely a huge hit with my boys.

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This week we started it off with a cookout with friends of the family at the park.  Another time for hot dogs, this time grilled over a fire pit.  My boys do not eat a lot of hotdogs, so they were much more excited about the dessert: S’mores!  We had fun roasting the marshmallows and trying not to catch them on fire.  Better yet pairing them with chocolate and putting them in between two graham crackers.  Its been a great week and I look forward to Fall starting tomorrow!

‘Octopus Spaghetti’ made from turkey hotdogs and whole wheat spaghetti.  
Before & After of the cooking process. 
Roasting hot dogs over the fire pit at the park. 

Roasting marshmallows for S’mores.
My S’more 
Here I am roasting a marshmallow for my sons’ s’mores. 
The boys playing with the Playmobil© toy lot found at a yard sale this last week. Its been a huge hit!

Instagram: thebonnierose

Maddox gets his Cast Off.

The boys got their very own library cards this week and we checked out quite a number of books.  It is really convenient being a short walk away and we will probably go at least once a week.  The boys found out about a new book series called ‘My Weird School’.  We are going to see how far we can get into the series because the library is having a party based on it.  Next month they will have a Scooby Doo party.  Its nice having things for the boys to look forward too while we are here.  One thing we have been looking forward to is having Maddox’s cast taken off.  Maddox got to keep his cast and we celebrated by having celebratory pancakes for breakfast afterwards.

Maddox before getting his cast taken off. 
At the Doctor’s after getting his cast off. 
Library finds!
Movie Date! 

Back to School

The boys went back to school this week and started our new journey: The Adventures of Home Education.  We are not sure when we are going back to England, so being able to home school will help keep us going through out this transition period.  The boys and I have already had a lot of fun and I look forward to the rest of the school year.  We started the week with taking our ‘Back to School’ photographs. Enjoy!