I posted a video on the blog today. Fall is here! Are you ready?
Hugs, T
Tag Archives: fall
Pumpkin Cream CRY…I mean Pie!
I am an avid Pumpkin Lover. I cannot WAIT for the weather to cool off because it means I can start baking with pumpkin. I have never met a Pioneer Women recipe that I haven’t LOOOVED, so you can … Continue reading
Fall Family Work Day
I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving, surrounded by those you love most! Praying for safe travels for all of you as you head back home….. I for one, plan on being lazy by the fire in elastic waist pants all day, just vegging out with our Florida guests and playing games with the kids. 🙂
We were so blessed to have a warm Fall day recently, sun shining, a bit brisk, but a lovely day to be outside for sure! We all pitched in to help daddy tidy up the back part of the property, and while we were at it, set up a few spots for future photo shoots.
I am finding that the more I take photos for others, the less I am taking of my own family. It’s like that itchy Trigger Finger is being quieted, as I snap shots of others. The editing part is also a bit daunting and more photos means more work. However, it was really fun to get to take some of my kiddos and Dale today as we worked together.
Old red sheet metal we found makes a perfect backdrop!!!!
Wish this was on OUR side of the property line….OR that it wasn’t surrounded by thorns!!!
Thanks for letting me share!
Have a great one!
~T
Orange Cream Cheese Brownies
I LOVE the combo of dark chocolate with the fresh burst of orange. These brownies remind me of Fall, so I make ‘em every year!
Orange Cream Cheese Brownies
- 1 package Betty Crocker Supreme DARK Chocolate Brownie Mix
- ¼ cups Water
- ½ cups Oil
- 2 whole Eggs
- 4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 4 Tablespoons (or More) Orange Juice Concentrate, Thawed
- doTERRA Wild Orange Oil
- Sprinkles
Heat oven to 350*. Mix up brownie mix with water, eggs and oil as listed. Add 2-3 drops of wild orange oil, if using.
Spread into the bottom of a jelly roll or bar pan.
Bake 27-29 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool Completely.
While brownies cool, soften cream cheese and in a large bowl, stir until smooth, adding 3 cups powdered sugar, 4-6 T. thawed OJ judging how much based on frosting thickness. Add 1 drop doTERRA wild orange oil for an extra POP of orange goodness!!!
Decorate with fall sprinkles or drizzle melted chocolate over brownies before serving.
Happy Baking!
~T
This post shared with:
An Afternoon At the Pumpkin Patch
Thanks to the generosity of Harvest Farm and a special friend, we were blessed to spend a worry-free afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday.
This family friendly place offers hay rack rides, a zip line, giant sand box, farm themed playground, huge slide from the hay loft, trike race track, train rides, petting zoo, and so much more. All friendly Halloween-free fun!
Harvest Farms is famous for their PUNKINATOR!
(This made me grin because growing up my Daddy always called me his “Punkin”, which is now Destiny’s nickname.)
This pumpkin-shooting canon was mounted to an old fire truck. They were shooting pumpkins nearly half a mile with this puppy!
The kids were scared it was going to be loud, but they soon learned, it wasn’t….it was just TOTALLY COOL!
Here are the photos of our fun afternoon:
You know you are a mom of 4 when……
Your baby bites the dust, er, straw, and you choose to snap a couple of pictures before swooping in to his rescue.
Poor sweet baby Pax! 🙂
The water stations were really fun!
So were the Corn Cannons!
Paxton: “This corn canon is SO loud!”
(It really wasn’t, but in baby-land, maybe it is?!)
Hay Bale Maze, which was trampled a bit by the masses that came before us, but the kids had no complaints. They had a blast climbing and exploring:
This farm was just beautiful! Made Dale miss the farm days of his youth. I informed him that this City Girl was perfectly content on our 17 acres, 5 minutes from town: Half Country-Half City, perfect for us! 🙂
Pax having a snack & watching the kids do the Zip Line:
(which was their FAVORITE thing, by the way)
Farm Version of the Yo-yo and a super fun Hay-Loft Slide:
All that playing made the kids HUNGRY! Ham & Cheese sandwiches hit the spot.
HUGE sugar cookies were for dessert…..what a treat!
Paxton is a man of few words, like : Ball and Hot. But as he sat in this chair, he DISTINCTLY said over and over ‘Rock-rock, rock-rock, rock-rock’ in this precious sing-songy baby voice. He, of COURSE, refused to say it again when Dale came back.
“Hi guys!”
One last thing before we head home……
This CRAZY trike!
Dale was a SUPER crazy driver and about threw us a couple time with his sharp turns. Typical male driver, I tell ya!
Thank you to our “Mailbox Angels” for blessing us with the “Fun Funds” for a much-needed family day! And thanks again to Danielle of Turon Harvest Farm & Pumpkin Patch, for allowing us the special privilege of being their guests for the afternoon!
May the Lord richly bless you all for your generosity!
In Christ,
~Tonya for the Ferguson Family
That was fun, Momma! Lets come back again soon!
Florida Surprise & Fall Fest
Fall Fest was a success and my kids are in bed, happily sleeping off their sugar high…..
Avery likes sleeping with something special each night. Usually its a doll or stuffed animal, but nope, not this time. Her choice? A box of Milk Duds. I made her put it under her pillow and let me just say, they BETTER all still be in that box in the morning!
Besides Fall Fest, we had a weekend full of family fun! Some surprise company showed up clear from Florida! My brother, Chad and his girlfriend, Lauren decided to come for a short, spur of the moment visit. Mom and I were the only ones that knew about our special company, and even I wasn’t supposed to be privy to that info. Mom slipped up and told me, but I was glad to help plan for their stay! 🙂
They squeezed into the pantry and jumped out at Dale when I sent him for a bag of chips…..
Apparently, when your name is Dale and you’re super laid back, this is as surprised as you get!
Surprise! The view from the pantry.
We had the whole family out for a bonfire, complete with Hillbilly hotdogs and S’mores. (I’ll try to post the Hillbilly Hotdog recipe tomorrow, they were delish!) That evening we celebrated Chad and Grandpa’s birthdays, since they are only a day apart. Dessert choices? Triple Chocolate Cake, Baked Apples and an amaaaaazing cheesecake by Mark.
With desserts like that, how can a girl be expected to choose? I had no choice but to try a bit of each. I figure the first dessert was for Paxton, the next for me, and the 3rd, for us to share. 🙂
Chad put together a beautiful picture frame of he and Grandpa’s shared birthday parties over the years, the first being age 2 and 57, the last one taken for the 17th and 72nd birthday’s. A photo from the party will fill the empty slot representing their 26th and 81st birthdays! How special! 
Destiny had no school Thursday, Friday and Monday, for parent-teacher conferences. What a total God thing that Uncle Chad’s trip correlated with her time off!!!!! We had such a great time, just hanging out with them, and playing games till 2 am. Lauren and I kicked some butt at Tribond. Well, actually, the guys won, but only because we let them. 🙂 My only complaint was the weekend went too fast!
Here are some pictures from the weekend……
I am off to do laundry and make a menu & grocery list for November.
Guess, its back to real life again!
May your day be blessed with happy kids, who NEVER beg for the candy you stashed on top of the fridge, who have cavity free teeth, and who do not whine and fuss all day from an overly busy, super-duper exciting, sugar coma kinda weekend……and may you not be caught as you sneak the chocolate from the kids’ candy stash!
Happy Monday! 🙂
~T
- Bye, Chad and Lauren, come back soon.
Feeling “Fall-ish”
I am feeling “fall-ish” today! Maybe it’s because this is my view from my kitchen window.
Or maybe because our house was COLD this morning when we all got up, or because the kiddos requested slow-cooked cinnamon raisin oatmeal for breakfast, or that we recently went to the local fruit stand for their fresh apple cider. Maybe it’s because, even when it warms up in the afternoon, there is still crispness to the air. Whatever it is, I am loving fall and all it entails.
I feel so blessed to live in a place that allows me to see all 4 seasons, and even though I could do without January and February, it’s all worth it in the end when spring shows up again.
This is the time of the year where I start using my oven again, something I avoid as much as possible in spring and summer! Soups are sounding good, but I have yet to make any, so those recipes will come later. 
For now, we have been trying things with pumpkin or apples. The kids LOVE to help in the kitchen! I do try to limit their “helping” to non-dinner projects most of the time, since mom can barely get dinner done fast enough for hungry tummy’s without “helpers”!
Here are the links to our favorite fall recipes so far:
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies A delicious twist on the traditional oatmeal creme pie. Easy to make, looks professional, and has the perfect amount of pumpkin flavor without overpowering. The frosting is to die for! YUM!
Caramel Apple Bread This delicious combination of favorite flavors makes an out-of-this-world addition to breakfast or dessert! We made a cinnamon sugar butter to go along with this bread. I just ran the bread machine through the dough cycle, then baked it in our oven instead. The apples make it the bread stay moist for days!
Apple Skillet Cake Delicious! The iron skillet just makes it that much better. We used apples from our apple tree instead of the granny smith. Also, we made a homemade caramel sauce to drizzle over the cake and vanilla ice cream! Yum! It was a hit!
The next things I want to make are S’mores cups and Pumpkin Cream Cheese squares. Recipes to come after they get the Ferguson stamp of approval! 🙂 
Happy Fall!
~T
4 little Fergusons 