Ruby's Room (finally!)

So about a million years ago,

 (or 9 short months ago)

I told you about the room we were redoing for Ruby.

I had some paint colors and bedding picked out-

 

and we were working to give Ruby a big girl room 

as a surprise for her 3rd birthday, 

like we did for Walt when he turned 2.

So we cleared out the old office/spare bedroom -

and taped it off for painting.

We started with the accent color.

  I worked on a bump-out wall around the closet,

while Adam painted the ceiling.
 

Once that was done,

we started in on the main color, purple!

And remember this antique metal bed frame
I got for Ruby's big girl bed?

Well, we took it to an auto body shop and got it sandblasted
and painted a glossy white.

 It turned out beautiful!

 A bed fit for our little princess!

She was so surprised when she opened the door
and discovered her new room!

I have the most adorable video of it, but it's too big to post.
She jumped right into her bed and said "how did you do this?!"

 We painted during her naps and never let her see
any of it before the big day.
It was worth it to see her little face!

Here's a look at the rest of her room -

It was such a fun project and she's so proud to be in her big girl room downstairs next to Walt.

Lasagna Soup

We tried a new easy version of lasagna the other night -

Lasagna Soup!

It gives you the same taste of lasagna, 

but is much quicker for a weeknight meal.

First, brown hamburger and onion in a pan,

 

while you've got a pot of lasagna noodles boiling.

In a large pot, combine chicken broth with
the canned tomato ingredients, sugar and spices,
browned ground beef and sauteed garlic and onion. 

 Add cooked noodles and a cup of pasta water and simmer.

 

Grab your Ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses -

and mix together in a small bowl.

After simmering for about 20 minutes,
serve up a bowl of soup
with a large dollop of the cheese mixture on top.

It's lasagna in a bowl!

For sure a meal we'll be making again.

 Give this a try the next time you're craving lasagna,
but want to eat in less than an hour.

Lasagna Soup

1 lb lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
3 - 5 garlic cloves, to taste, minced
4 c. chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 lasagna noodles, broken into bite size pieces
1 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
8 oz ricotta cheese

 

Brown one pound of ground beef over medium heat, salt and pepper to taste. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft. Prepare lasagna noodles according to directions on package, reserving 1 cup pasta water before draining noodles.

In a large pot, combine chicken broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, thyme, sugar, parsley, the cooked ground beef, onion and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add cooked pasta to soup along with 1 cup pasta water. 

In a mixing bowl, using a fork, stir together mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta. Ladle soup into bowls, dollop with a large scoop of the cheese mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

How Fast Time Goes!

Here's Walt and my niece, Kaitlyn, at Halloween 3 years ago -

And this was Ruby that same year, for the record -
 
 This is what my little trick-or-treaters looked like this year -

Ruby borrowed Kailtyn's old candy corn witch costume 

and Walter was so pumped to be Spiderman!

Those fake muscles were hilarious.

Kaitlyn came by as the Wicked Witch to trick or treat with us.

First, we stopped by a trunk-or-treat at the church by our house.

And then we ran around the neighborhood while the kids tried 

to get as much candy as they could.

Check out this pile of cousins, Piper and Jett, joined up too!

 The only one not out was little Emily.

It was too cold for her, 

so she stayed snuggled inside,
celebrating with a pumpkin on her butt.

She's growing fast too!

 I had Emily's little pumpkin lit outside on the step

next to all the cute pumpkins Walter and Ruby decorated.

 I'm sure next year she'll be out there
trick-or-treating with the rest of them!

Celebrating Fall

Every year we gather at the farm for a day of fun.

This year was awesome!

The weather was awesome.

The activities were awesome.

The turnout was awesome.

We all piled into this trailer,

 

for tractor rides,

 

through beautiful fields.

 Later, we turned this pile of pumpkins -

 into these little beauties -

 The kids worked hard, 

painting, carving and sticking jewels on their masterpieces.

I got in on the action and decorated this little guy for Emily. 

She mostly hung inside with my Grandma

 who was happy to stay inside holding her.

 

The kids did some "trick-or-treating" around the campfire ring,

receiving various treats and prizes from the adults.

 But one of the most fun things to watch was the silly string fight!

 

 The kids LOVED it.

Friends,

 Family,

 

and of course,

FOOD!  

 

We had a "taco in a bag" assembly line.

Another successful year of fall farm fun is in the books!