The Cupcake is a Man

The Keigley kids love cupcakes.


I think it is because Kevin often tells them this silly made-up story about a time when he used to be an ankle-biting cupcake himself. That's right. I typed that correctly. Kevin was a cupcake. Who bit ankles.



London named his stories "The Cupcake Is A Man" and Kevin is currently working on illustrating a copy of his tales.



So we decided to make some cupcakes.






We made them from "scratch". (What does that even mean?) We used real cocoa and flour and all that great stuff. It's actually an infamous Polly Boone's Mom recipe that I have loved ever since Polly Boone shared said cupcakes in class oh-so-many years ago.






We made the icing from the same "scratch".



And then I let the kids color and frost the cupcakes all by themselves. Hmmm. See the results. Heavy on the icing, but tasty nonetheless.

Alexander and The Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Okay..... the title is overly dramatic. But then, I think I am overly dramatic. And I am pretty sure I have five children who are..............ummmmmmmmmmm............ overly dramatic.

What can I say?

Today, at the lodge, as I was standing within almost arm's reach of Bergen, I said, "Come on, son. It's time to go." And, amazingly enough, Bergen did not argue or say no. In complete obedience (what in the world??) Berg came running to me. The only problem was, between he and I stood the open tailgate of a truck.

Down goes Bergen. Hard.

Fortunately, the tailgate missed his eye......thank the Lord and he recovered within a few minutes. Jane cleaned up his eye - because I am bad with blood. (Thanks Jane.)

So that was today.

Sigh.

Ira Sleeps Over

Last weekend the Joersz family traveled in our direction to spend a few days with us.

We got really excited about company coming and we even cleaned the house ---- it lasted about a day. (sigh.)

Although we were sad Emma and Jon didn't arrive in time for Survivor and The Office viewing/bonding, we understood and were happy to see them Friday morning. We ate lunch and headed straight to our favorite orchard - Skytop. (I think I deserve some commission from those people. Or free apples. I'd take free apples.)

We picked apples, ate dougnuts...you know, the things you do on fall days at an orchard. Beckett and Piper enjoyed their backpack rides and Colton, London, Riley, Mosely and Bergen had fun picking and eating apples and playing on the playground. Bergen fell from the trapeze rings face first in the dirt after shouting to me, "Look at my flip Mommy!" This time it was only a bloody lip. Hmmmm.

After dinner we enjoyed a little campfire with s'mores - I don't think Cole likes chocolate. What in the world??

When kids crashed out (Beck and Piper shared a room - so cute) we watched the latest Indiana Jones flick. It was....exactly what you would expect.

Saturday we enjoyed the zoo, more apples as snacks and a tasty lunch at Copper Canyon Grill. Oh my --- spinach nachos were delicious. The kids all behaved well - and it's a good thing because we adults were terribly outnumbered!

Thanks Jon and Emma for spending two days with us...for enjoying our noisy wild house. Next time you come you may just get your own room, instead of having to sleep on the floor in the living room!!

Abe Lincoln Grows Up

Riley has been reading a book written by Carl Sandburg about Abraham Lincoln. (Yes, of course it is for school.)

Last weekend a Lincoln celebration was held at the home of Sandburg, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography about Lincoln.

Since Sandburg's home place is in nearby Flat Rock, Riley and I headed north for the good times. We listened to another Lincoln biographer talk about conspiracy theories concerning Booth and enjoyed a concert by a fiddler/banjo player creating Civil War time tunes. We checked out the goats and listened to a couple play their hammered dulcimers. The best part, however, was listening and watching an Abe Lincoln impersonator - John Mansfield. He was great. Very Abe Lincoln-ish!

Actually, one of the best parts may have been the incredibly delicious barbecue we ate after the celebration down at Flat Rock Village at Hubba Hubba's Barbecue. Oh My!!

My Side of the Mountain

Oh Hooray for Fall!

There really aren't any colorful leaves in South Carolina yet - is this late or normal? Who knows?

But the little crew here found some dead, nearly rotted leaves from many falls ago and grabbed multiple new leaves trying to thrive on our trees and made a tiny pile in the yard. The stated goal was to build a pile to jump in. The actual result was a "pile" that no one even looked at again because they began pushing one another down the hill in a large plastic container instead.

Curious George Visits the Zoo

Last Monday after we dropped Riley off at her co-op class, we headed to the Greenville Zoo.

First we played on the new playground at Cleveland Park - a very cool recycled playground.

After exhausting ourselves at the playground we headed for the zoo. The weather was beautiful and we strolled slowly, listening to the crazy monkeys waking up and visited our very favorite exhibit - Bob, the baby orangutan. He is only two years old and is the same size as Piper. He puts on quite a show and his mom even strolled right over to the window and stared so hard at London that London just began cracking up. Piper Finn did not like the orangutan coming so close to her and her tiny hands were shaking from fear. (I rescued her, of course.)

In the picture - the leopard was stalking back and forth behind his weak-looking glass enclosure. I didn't really care for him so much. But Flat Raven visited the zoo with us and she needed to have her picture taken with the scary leopard. (Flat Phelps boys had not yet arrived in the mail.)

Believe

Oh my - do I have so many new posts tonight.

Kevin was on a staff retreat and Look Up was a wee bit too still for us so the Keigley Girls & Hawkeye took off on a short road trip to Emma and Jon's house. (Riley always teases me because I say "Emma's house" and she insists that I include Jon in the home ownership as well.)

We had so much fun....once we arrived. For some reason I am directionally impaired when it comes to the Joersz house - and I always seem to lose my bearings.

We visited a park with Emma's neighbor - the babies were adorable together. You should really head to Emma's blog for cuter pictures and funnier stories. In fact, just stop reading this now and check it out.

The kids loved the playground and the new playroom at Cole and Beckett's house. London loved the tractor - and in fact was rather bossy in her commandeering of the vehicle. Bergen showed Cole that you can step on the top of his sandbox even though you are not supposed to. Piper gave Beck sweet kisses when she wasn't "patting" his head at full force. She also took at least EIGHT steps!! Riley ran a few miles in the neighborhood - ahhh, her dream is to live in a suburb with paved streets. She likes pavement. Mosely got a balloon at the grocery store and later actually let it fly out the car window - quite a big deal for the balloon-hording child that she is.

Thank you Emma and Jon for a fun day and a wonderful way to celebrate a Wednesday.

Easy Guitar

Piper Finnian loves when Daddy plays the guitar for her.

Of course her favorite song is her namesake...."Little Willow".

Everyone in the house knows the lyrics - even Bergen.

(These family moments made possible by Matt Casey. Thank you!!!)

The Lost Puppy

Dear Beckett,

Today I discovered that we have a dog. No one told me this before. I know you have a dog and that you are allowed to play with her when she comes inside.

I once think I saw this white hairy thing outside the window but I didn't know what it was.

Today I went outside and I touched the dog. She was soft. I liked her tongue and she let me put my whole hand in her mouth. That was so funny.

I wish this dog could sleep beside my crib. I think when I am big I will get my own dog.

I call this one "Bah".

Love,

Piper Finnian