I started my minimalist post today but didn’t get it finished because I got completely sidetracked at every turn. It’s because I have a serious head injury. Probably. 
It happened when I was attacked and knocked down very suddenly by a wild panda yesterday while I was out running. At least I assume it was a panda, or something else wild, because there is no way I tripped over a huge chunk of absolutely nothing on the sidewalk. It’s just not like me.

I hurt my shoulder and hit my head and was dazed and confused for a moment and had a headache for about a half hour and I’ve been successfully milking this one all day, using it as an excuse for anything and everything I’ve done that’s a little off today.

Like put up curtains. And decorating my kitchen walls.

Marty? What’s wrong with me? Am I going to die?

And on a completely unrelated note, guess what I found at Walmart?
Gloria Jean’s Butter Toffee Coffee, YEAH. Only the absolutely most amazing coffee EVER.

And then this:

Hello Awesomeness!
Seriously, people, I have GOT to have a Whoville-blue Christmas tree.
And a lavender one and a pink one for good measure.

Also, I bought a bag of cranberries today for the very first time ever.
DEE.SCUST.ING.

A holiday necessity for my BFTKC, Mama Squirrel.

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 and 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups softened butter
• 1/2 cup eggnog
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well. Set aside the flour mixture while you cream sugar and butter in a separate bowl. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. You’ll want to take a second here to check on Pops because he’s likely feeding his horse cherry popsicle because your freezer is at the bottom of your fridgidare and what smart mom decided that was a good idea?

Then, after you’ve cleaned the cherry stuff off of your couch, add your flour mixture and beat at low speed just until combined and be sure not to over mix. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto un-greased baking sheets 1” apart. Sprinkle tops lightly with nutmeg, then bake for 17 to 20 minutes at 300 in a pre-heated oven until edges start to turn brown and IMMEDIATELY transfer them to cool on a wax paper covered counter to cool because this is KEY to having an Egg Nogg Cookie that is not falling apart.

Also, there are a few flavored eggnogs that might taste good in these cookies. I think flavored coffee creamers might be tasty in these as an egg nogg substitue, as well.

Now I must go bake these.

The pumpkin – it’s the hitchhiker’s thumb symbol on the cover of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
And I have to say, people, that I’m quite disappointed in all of you and I’m willing to bet not one of you knows where your towel is.
How are any of you going to survive if our planet is demolished by a Vogon destructor fleet because earth is in the path of the planned intergalactic highway?
That’s right. You won’t. Because earth would be gone and you didn’t even know where your towel was.

Also, if you feel like a sofa, however improbable, it’s okay. It’ll pass momentarily.

Tuesday night, by the light of the deli section at the commissary our Thanksgiving plans completely derailed. We’d been so excited to go camping with some church family from the other side of the state and had headed out to the grocery store to get a start on our camp-day shopping but as we stood there waiting to order Rabbit’s Margherita hard salami for just $3 a pound, Rabbit wondered out loud if this was our best option. I thought he was talking about the salami and was going to suggest to him that $3 a pound for hard salami was pretty good considering the Genoa brand was more than $8 a pound but then he kept talking and I realized this conversation was not going to be about meat.

Some friends of ours who had originally planned to camp with us had some unforseen circumstances pop up and are now not able to make the trip, and our other friends were only going to be able to camp one night out of the four day weekend and as Rabbit and I stood there staring at the pressed meat, we realized that the money this trip was going to cost, and trying to scrape extra money together to buy the kids more appropriate tent camping gear was no longer worth it. Pair that with the surprise work load Rabbit was given even though he’d already had his leave approved…

We both felt crushed.

And while we continued through our shopping trip we became more and more convinced that this year’s camping trip was just not in the cards for our family. The rest of the our shopping trip felt very tired. I had to rethink my entire list on the less than 3 hours of sleep I had gotten the night before. I was so upset. But not with anybody, just with the situation.

But then…

Kait was talking to a friend of hers and it turns out that his family’s Thanksgiving plans had fallen through at the last minute and exactly when we were contemplating what we should do, they were doing the exact same thing. Kait and her friend decided that the best idea would be for us to have Thanksgiving together and so Rabbit called them and it was magical. Everything is working out perfectly.

Now, if I could just convince my other friend from the other side of the state to head this way with her family, too. And you know who you are, person, because I’ve sent you, like, a gazillion emails about it today. The only thing I’ll require from you is possibly some monkey bread and a little ghost slaying. If you don’t want to make monkey bread that’s fine, but I’m pretty firm on the ghost slaying. Just so you know. You may want to make sure your boys bring their gear.

My BFTKC told me that I should post more pictures of my kids on my blog. Let’s just ignore the fact that SHE hasn’t posted ANYTHING on her blog in like 3 months or something.

So, what’s up with that, best friend? Hmmm???

Still, she is right. I have been forgetting to post pictures of my kidlets again. Many months ago I said I would remember to do that daily and that was a fail, I guess.

So, here is Lucy. She’s 9 months old today. Her hair is still red. Her eyes are incredibly blue.  Against my darker Italian features she looks like a full-on Irish baby. 

One last thing before I jump off here -
I would like to shout out a happy birthday to my niece,  Sara,  who is 9 years old today! Happy Birthday, Sara! Eat all the cake!

I don’t like alliteration but I can’t find another way to say that I’m setting aside Monday for my minimalist whims without it sounding alliterated (can I say that?)

I know, Mondays are supposed to be Pinterest days but my computer only likes me about thismuch (I’m holding my fingers VERY close together) and a lot of my posts are now being written from my phone. This is also why I didn’t post my weekly wrap up on Saturday. Too many links to try to thumble through.  Thumble, because I type with my thumbs on my phone, get it?
I kill myself.
And while I AM typing this on my computer right now, I’m trying to create habits I can actually keep, not habits dependent upon my computer’s online temper. Or the temperature outside, where my laptop seems most happy.

Anyway, whatever.

I’ve been eating a more minimalist fare lately. It fits me and my desire to make everything simple. 

And let’s just not talk about how I ate two donuts at church yesterday.
But can I just tell you that they were SO VERY GOOD? At least until I got home and realized that I have taught my tummy to detest sugary, processed foods. This is a good thing, I guess, except that I have a carton of Heath Bar ice cream in the freezer that NEEDS me.

A minimalist diet doesn’t include things like ice cream, however. At least not on a regular basis. A minimalist diet, for me at least, includes single ingredient foods, fewer seasonings, and lots of onion.  I’m not kidding. I eat 1 two 2 onions a day, people. I don’t know what it is about them but they are so good to me lately.

Here is my favorite minimalist breakfast right now. And sometimes lunch - everything I add is as fresh as I can get it where we live and on our budget.

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped zucchini
1 whole onion – chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped (I admit to buying these already peeled)
olive oil
salt
1 slice of cheese (medium cheddar is my favorite right now)
1egg

On medium heat, in small pan, sautee the peppers, zucchini, onion, and garlic in a few teaspoons of olive oil until the onion is transparent. Add your salt, then your cheese, and after your cheese is melted toss your egg in there and make like you’re scrambling it. A minute or so later you have this:

It isn’t pretty, I know. But it’s basic and healthy and very, very good.
Besides, pretty food usually tastes like mildly flavored art.

Next week I’ll be writing about generosity with a minimalistic approach. I’m finding that deep down I’m still a greedy grinch. Gonna break this one wide open for you guys.

I win.

And if you don’t understand this post I’m so very sorry for you.

Also, I wonder what is wrong with you.

Today is Gabriel Robert’s eleventh birthday. It is also the first birthday of our family’s birthday season, which runs from November through June. I like birthday season.

So – about Gabe…

Gabe is happy about pretty much everything. The boy is always smiling or giggling about some silly nonsense or some joke floating around in his head.

And he can get very loud very fast. He’s easily excited by the smallest things.

Gabe loves the babies. Especially his little 9 month old sister. He’s smitten with her and likes to play with her and helps out whenever I need his assistance.

He’s very protective of his younger siblings. I know, should a bully ever come around, he’d have to get through Gabe first. And did I tell you that this boy is really strong when his testosterone gets pumping?

And he’s always concerned that I’m comfortable. Did I get enough sleep? Would I like him to watch the littles while I take a nap? Would I like him to get me some chocolate?

He’s also very affectionate, giving me quick hugs often and telling me he loves me.

There is so much more to say about Gabe but I think it’s time for some pictures.

[pictures to be inserted when the external drive stops giving my computer the silent treatment.]

Happy Birthday Bebo! I’m so proud of the strong and loving young man you are growing up to be and can’t wait to watch your future unfold.

Thanks for being your awesome self.

I love you!

These are my favorite pajamas. And, as it where, they also resemble Dr. Seuss character clothing. Very Whoville, don’t you think?

So I got an idea.

It was the end of the night so my hair was falling a little and the lighting was weird because my husband used one of those fandangled smart phone cameras. Everybody knew who I was except for this one person who thought I was from Blues Clues. When I corrected her and told her that I was a Dr. Seuss character from Whoville she responded with, I really should watch the Disney channel more to keep up with my characters.  I didn’t bother correcting her again.

And my pumpkin -

A brazillion dollars to the first person who gets it. Except Master J. because he just knows way too much.

We carved pumpkins last Saturday. I haven’t done this in years but it’s something that I loved doing before and now apparently the kids love carving pumpkins too.

It was really fun.

And really messy.

And Rabbit roasted the pumpkin seeds and they are SO very good.

I’m the resident artist, it’s sad really, but I ended up drawing most of the designs on the pumpkins for the kids to carve away at. Gabe and Joe had an Angry Bird. Kait carved an Aardvark, I carved a don’t panic thumb, and Rabbit carved a pair of golden wings. Not so golden, but turned out pretty close to the wings he earned when he became a pilot. Everything turned out really cute until the next day when the humidity hit our perfectly carved gourds and kind of melted them into themselves.

What a pitty.

And today we have friends visiting and it’s been a lot of laughing and a lot of fun. It’s really too bad that it’s been cool and windy because we haven’t had much luck making it down to the beach to look for shells. Good times are being had anyway and It’s always good to see friendly faces, yes?

And for the wrap up -

My friend Marty at Sam’s Family wrote a post on Complicated Simplicity that is says exactly what I would have said had I the articulation she has. It’s a good post and there is a recipe included. You’ll have to read…

Telling Dad dishes out pearls of wisdomabout parenting, answering questions like, “My toddler likes to play with her poop. Literally, she will cut it up with her toy knives and forks, put it on a plate and stick it in her toy microwave! HELP!”, and other things. If you have a child, or if you have a sense of humor and you would like to get it tickled you’ll want to read what this dad has to say.

Halloween happened. There is sugar everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And I’m not eating sugar right now because my allergies are awful and I’m way more tired than I should be. It’s like this sick cosmic joke because there are Tootsie Rolls everywhere I turn.
Oh, good grief, people. I mean actual Tootsie Rolls.
You’re all sick.

Kaity-Jane reviewed the book Zombie Church. It’s a book written about dead churches stuck in the rut of rituals and routines and how they need a wake up call and she didn’t appear to be too thrilled with it at all. And then the author commented on her less than sparkling review and it is all too interesting.

This past month, something I missed a few weeks ago when I did my first week in review, Savanah Montana wrote about her week with us. She’s one of Kait’s besties and they had a great time together. Lots of pictures. Good memories.

And camping is coming up soon! YAY! Every other year we camp over Thanksgiving with a bunch of friends. It’s a pretty ginormous affair and we’re so excited about seeing friends we haven’t connected with in a while.

And then there is desert ala Wesley. And Becky.

Portal Cake.

This is remarkably unfair.