fall faves

OK, it truly only felt like fall for a few days this week, but since tomorrow is the official first day of autumn for the year, I thought I'd share!

1) Check out this amazing pumpkin (or maybe these 3 amazing pumpkins?)!
Found it at Whole Foods this week. It's called a Fairytale pumpkin, and I think it's well deserving of it's name. I'm hoping that it will last through Thanksgiving, but we'll see... I just love having things in the house that just remind me of the creativity of the Father! I love places like Whole Foods and Central Market for the same reason. I was at CM a few days ago with super great SIL Sha, and was marveling at His creativity shown in a display of tomatoes - red, orange, and yellow all lined up in a row- and then in a display of cauliflower- purple and yellow (geaux tigers!) right next to a green coral variety. So fabulous!

2) Also am excited about whole wheat pastry flour - read about it in a magazine last week, and am using it as a substitution for all-purpose flour in recipes now. Have already tried it in these buttermilk waffles, and am even going to go for it in chocolate chip cookies. I'll try anything once!

cake balls....

So many jokes that I could make that I shouldn't even allude to...

Anyhoo, Dallas Morning News yesterday had a wonderful article (complete with recipes) on these cake balls, which are apparently all the rage these days! They're just so cute, and look like they should be fairly easy to make. The girls and I experimented today, and found that getting them coated with the almond bark in a pretty fashion is a bit tricky...but we'll definitely keep trying! Yum-o! I can't wait to try a yellow cake with chocolate frosting combo...

just shoulda stayed in bed?

I should have known when the simple task of making my morning oatmeal turned into almost setting my kitchen on fire that I just shoulda stayed in bed yesterday. Yes, ladies, yesterday was one of those days that absolutely convinces me that there is indeed an enemy of our souls, who will employ any tactic necessary to render us completely useless for the Kingdom.

In my life, it's not big stuff, like car wrecks or sickness or financial instability that renders me useless (although I'm sure if any of those were to happen, they would absolutely wreak havoc on my life). It's red crayons in the dryer with a load of whites, and red strawberry soda on the carpet that I JUST steamed cleaned last week. These are the things that just paralyze me....they just make me want to go running back to the safety of my big cozy bed, away from the demands of community and accountability, away from the opportunity of learning anything new from others' perspectives on the madness in my life. So I missed out yesterday. I was so overwhelmed by my morning that we were late to church, then I slept right through most of the season opener for my beloved Dallas Cowboys (honey joked that if I watched it from the beginning I might jinx their chances of winning), and I didn't even attempt to go to community group last night. Completely missed out on several opportunities that the Lord provided to redeem my day.

I'm thankful for chances at redemption...thankful that when my day completely overwhelms me, and I walk past opportunities for renewal, that the Lord continues to send them my way, even when all I deserve is to be sent to my room for a time-out. Thank you, Father, for your steadfast loyal love, and that your mercies are new every morning (and afternoon, and evening...).