Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. It couldn't have been more fall-like with its (finally!) clear skies, crisp air and turning leaves. The maples are really putting on a show this year, more so than the last two years. Being a prairie girl I am not used to seeing such variety in color. I must look like a kid when I go outside, as I'm always ooh-ing and ah-ing over the leaves and picking them up to press. Even My Favorite Boy has gotten over the thrill of finding colored maple leaves on our walk to school, but not his mummy! I turned my leaf bounty into a mantle garland, with very lovely results I think:

I found myself humming "O Canada" a lot while I was crafting away!

This year we were finally able to go apple picking. Myself and the kids have never been before, and it's been a very long time for Mr. Crafty World. It was great fun, and we will definitly do it again next year. We'll watch for the time when the Russets are ready, because those are our favorites. They are all gone at this point, but there were still many varieties to pick from.

I put what we picked in a basket in the family room. Perhaps not the most practical place, but they sure look and smell good.

The fresh air really put me in the mood to bake something. You would think it would have someting to do with apples right? Well, not that day! I made pumpkin pie, pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins, and I tried my hand at baked pumpkin doughnuts:

I can see there is room for improvement in the recipe, but no one around here complained.

While the kids were playing in the yard they found these caterpillars, named Fuzzy and Fluffy respectively:

My Favorite Girl kept hers overnight and then let him go in the morning to be with his family. While a noble idea, she cried until she turned all spotty because she misses Fuzzy so much. We have yet to come up with a crafty replacement for him.

Of course, we had our Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings, all cooked by Mr. Crafty World himself. It was deeeeeelicious.

It was a weekend full of things to be thankful for, that's for sure.