Oktoberfest

Our first Oktoberfest party. A German party with German bier, food, Lederhosen and some college football thrown in. I learned some new recipes, Jeremy's brother brewed a special Oktoberfest beer for us and we invited our friends. It was a success, considering it was our first attempt, and this party omitted the annual Backyard Tailgate Party that we've hosted for years. I didn't get a lot of pictures taken. It's hard being the host, the chef and the photographer. We grilled German bratwurst along with dinner that I did not get a picture of.

the signage telling all about the German beer.

We ordered special mugs

this was the free mug to anyone who wore Lederhosen

our appetizer buffet. Not sure I got a picture with all the food on there

We wrote the menu in German. Gotta be as authentic as possible!

My niece Ellie, handmade her Lederhosen outfit that she wore. And yes, she got a mug

sausage balls

Bavarian like pretzels with German mustard for dipping

I followed an authentic German recipe for this dip. It actually used German beer in it. I fancied it up by displaying it in the cabbage. 

Audrey's favorite part of the evening was the punch

Apple Cider Punch. it ended up being too hot for Apple Cider so we opted for a sparkling punch instead

This was an early shot, before many people arrived. This was the first party in which we entertained using the new pergola we built in June.

Jeremy and his brother playing the this beer game. By the end of the night, all the guys were standing in a circle holding their mugs out to see who could hold it there the longest. 12 minutes was the winner. 

German potato salad is hot and vinegar based, not mayo based. 

German Chocolate Cake, which surprisingly originated in the United States, not Germany

Apple Pie Bars with cream cheese frosting

Homemade Caramel Corn

Allie. No, my children did not wear Lederhosen, but we may have to work on that for next year!

the invitation

Sarah

Pumpkin Patch

This morning we met some girlfriends at the pumpkin patch to play. Train rides, doughnuts, digging corn in the corn cribs, sliding down the huge "in ground" slide were all part of our morning.

As always, Audrey loved jumping on the giant pillow--and Allie tried, with stand-in-mommy JoAnn, since I am pregnant (21 weeks)  I didn't think trying to balance myself on the top of a moving pile of air was in my best interest.  It was too scary for Allie though, and we moved on to something else.

jumping on the giant pillow

Allie attempting to jump. Every time she'd let go of JoAnn's hand, she'd fall down.

The girls loved playing "house" and getting the mail in the market.

Lily, Audrey, Allie

climbing to the top of the straw tower. And she made it this time, a first for her. 

not wanting to pose for me. 

checking out the turkey

Allie loves animals

checking out the giant jack-o-lantern at the entrance

sweet Allie. 

Allie, Audrey, Lily

Sarah

PINK IT IS!

More tutus, hair bows and pink dryer lint for us come February. We think this is super SWEET news.

We found out today at our sonogram that we'll be adding another princess to our very pink castle. We are thrilled that she looks healthy and that the girls will have another playmate for dress-up, dolls, shopping and heart to heart conversations. Of course, that last one won't come for a few years, but I do pray they are close enough to confide in each other. The girls didn't seem phased one way or another, they went with us and saw their baby sister on the monitor today. Audrey had been wanting a boy-- "because we have two girls already." I always said if it was a girl, we'd have to have four. 

I thought for sure this baby was a boy. 

Jeremy, although royally outnumbered at this point, seems to be ok with being the only man in the house. 

Now, what to name her......stay with an A name or give her a completely different letter? Something to ponder over the next 20 weeks. 

Sarah

Puzzle Board

Jeremy made a puzzle board for the girls to do their puzzles in the family room since we've taken out our coffee table. It lives underneath the love seat.

Allie isn't much of a puzzle doer, Audrey loves them. So it will work great once Allie is a little older and doesn't spend all her time sitting on the board, messing up Audrey's puzzle she's working on. Or, taking pieces to Audrey's puzzles and running away laughing. Audrey does not think this is funny at all.

Before I left for a photo shoot this morning, I captured the puzzle board in use. 

All smiles this Saturday morning

Sarah

Homecoming Parade

We gathered with friends to watch our school's homecoming parade today. Even though we have no school colors to speak of in our closets (had it been pink, we'd been set), we went anyway, because with every parade, there's cavities candy, of course! And this one even had homemade chocolate chip cookies. Yum! They didn't pass those out, but the kind mom who let us watch the parade from her front yard was gracious enough to make us homemade cookies.

Audrey, Lily and some yummy chocolate chip cookies! 

Yum!

Watching the parade

candy!

Allie taking a little rest

Sarah