Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) mini chocolate chips

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease thirty-six 2 1/2-inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups.

COMBINE all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Add pumpkin and oil; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until moistened. Stir in morsels. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove from pans.

Fall Festival Recap

We survived last week. It rained everyday. It was Spirit Week (which meant each day had a "dress-up" theme.) I was late the day I was supposed to be lunchroom mom. I put our Silent Auction basket together and turned it in, finally. And Friday night was our Fall Festival. It got moved inside b/c of rain, but was still pretty fun.
As I write this on Sunday afternoon, it is a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. As much as we have complained about the rain (12 straight days,) we really should be thankful. Thankful that we have clean water to drink and water to nourish the ground that grows crops. I'm sure those with flooded homes do not feel that way. Or the residents of Tent City (Nashville's homeless area downtown under the bridge next to the river.) Yes, rain is a blessing, but can also be a curse at times.
All I know for sure is that I am very glad to see the sun today!

Little Brother had to have a Lipscomb Bears t-shirt to match Big Brother. It is a little big!

Our finished basket. The grand total worth was $260. One of the smallest amounts there!

Will eating cherry Italian Ice

Ryan copying Will (even though he didn't have Italian Ice!) For some reason, he looks about 16 to me in this picture. How did he get so big?

This is hilarious! We have a little stream that forms in our side yard after lots of rain. So, the boys thought it would be fun to ride down into the water. They were soaking wet, but it does look pretty fun!

Coming soon: Whole-wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. I made some this afternoon and the boys have each eaten two! Delicious and healthy!

Random Rainy Day Ramblings

All apologies to my Aunt Emily, who is my most loyal reader! It has been quite a while since I have posted. Life is crazy. It has rained for a week straight here and it is making me quite crabby. I am sitting here drinking coffee having a rare quiet moment on this rainy Monday morning. I should be at the Y working out, or grocery shopping, or cleaning, or doing laundry, but instead I am just going to sit here and write.

An attempt to catch all 4 boys in their UT wear! I have never seen JW so happy after a UT loss as on Saturday after the FL game! We all got together at MeMe and John's for the game and grilled out steaks. The boys had a blast.

David and Will in some new pirate costumes from MeMe's new dress-up trunk!

Remember how Will knocked out his front tooth on the 4th of July? Well, it is still a huge gap. Bless his heart, he looks cute but I am beginning to wonder when that tooth is going to make an appearance.

Boys in their matching Halloween pajamas reading with Daddy before bed. They love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Jenni, Stacey, Ami, me

I went out with some friends for a belated birthday dinner last night. We ate at Catina Laredo, a new Mexican place here in Nashville. It was delicious. They make fresh guacamole at the table. I am never wearing this shirt again because I just realized how huge I look!! (maybe I really am that fat, but please oh please, just let it be the blousy shirt!!!)

Will is now loving school. This past week he told me the only thing he didn't like about school is when they go to computers on Friday. (I think they work on keyboarding skills and he thinks that is boring.) He also told me this morning that he wished it would quit raining so they could go outside during recess. I'm with you there, Will!

This week is Spirit Week and we will wrap it up with the big Fall Festival and Silent Auction on Friday night. Hopefully my room mom duties will slow down for a while.

Ryan still looks at me like I am breaking his heart when I drop him off at school. But, he always says he has had fun when I pick him up in the afternoon. He's just a momma's boy and would rather spend the day with me. I guess that is okay.

I am still teaching the young 2 year olds on Sunday mornings at church. I taught them all summer session and will continue on this entire school year. My friend Ami (in the above picture) is my co-teacher. I have really grown attached to this group of precious children. (Much more so than I expected to when I was asked to teach!) I have gotten to know the families, the personalities, and I now feel quite protective of my "babies." I am going to stay with them until they promote. It has been quite the unexpected blessing. I love how God works in small ways through a group of 2-year old children.

Labor Day Update

JW has taken the boys to his office for a little bit, so I will take this opportunity to update the blog. They know that Daddy works in a big building downtown and they always want to go see his office, so today (being Labor Day) was a great chance for JW to show them around his building. Not that big law firms EVER close, but maybe it will be a little slower!

Ryan is playing soccer this Fall. It is hilarious. He had his first practice this past week and he was so excited. He actually knew what to do and followed directions perfectly. I think he is going to have a lot of fun.

Will opted not to play any sports this Fall, which is fine with us. He is still adjusting to school, but he had a great day Friday and I am optimistic he is going to eventually love it. We had 2 little boys over one afternoon last week and they had a great time playing. I am glad he seems to be making friends easily. I have enjoyed getting to visit with the moms too! Guess I am making new friends as well!

I am still coming to grips with the fact that I have taken on the dauting task of being a Kindergarten Room Mom. I am only slightly exaggerating here, as it is a huge responsibility at our elementary school. One other mom and I are the room moms and we are both "New." We took it as a bad sign that the other "seasoned" Kindergarten moms snickered at us as we were writing our names down on the sign-up list. I left the meeting last week with information overload and we have another meeting this week too. We'll see how it goes...

We are all trying to stay well in the midst of the horrible Middle TN allergy season. I have already had one sinus infection and Will has been coughing for what seems like weeks. I am not looking forward to another Winter like we had last year. I plan to get us all flu shots and hear rumors about a vaccine for H1N1 too.

Our new minister, Josh Graves, started at Otter Creek yesterday. I am very excited to get to know him and his family. I think he is going to do great things for the church family at Otter Creek.

Tomorrow I turn 34 and I have realized I am now officially a "soccer mom," "room mom," and "lunchroom mom." All I need now is a minivan and my suburban life will be complete! Seriously, it is still strange to realize I am 34. I don't feel like I should be 34. I feel like I should just be in a perpetual state of mid-20s. Guess that's not how life works. As my Dad says, "there is only one alternative to getting older."

Happy September, Everyone!!

Ryan talking to some fellow teammates
Ryan running with the ball

Not sure what this move is...

JW and Bill

John Will had a great opportunity Saturday night. He attended the Jackson Day Dinner here in Nashville. A friend of his from work asked him to help out as a member of the advance team for Bill Clinton, who was the keynote speaker. JW had a great time and got to chat with Clinton, Gore and Ned Ray McWherter.