"10"

I can't believe it...my grandson is now 10 years old!

We celebrated his birthday last Friday even though his birthday was actually this past Tuesday. I cooked a ham dinner and Uncle Steve baked a Bugs Bunny cake.

Here he is sporting his birthday hat just like the one that I made his Uncle Steve for his birthday!

    

He huffed and he puffed, and he blew the candle out!

Part of his birthday present was bedding and a rug to complete his Nascar bedroom. He can tell you the names of every Nascar driver...past and present.

Here he is happy as can be in his new "digs".

I know I have said it before, but I just love being a grandma!

Pumpkin Cookie recipe...

Fall is definitely in the air...

This morning was quite crisp when I walked my fur babies, but I actually prefer this time of year over the summer heat.

I just about have all my Halloween & Fall decorations out, but this past weekend, I decided I needed to crochet a pumpkin centerpiece from a pattern I fell in love with from one of the many catalogs I get everyday. I could wallpaper the town with all the catalogs I receive, but I just love looking through them for ideas. I plan to use my latest project right through Thanksgiving so I thought it would be worth the effort to crochet it.

When my project was finished, it looked kind of bare just sitting on my table. Not that I don't have a lot of decorations that I could have placed in the center, but to keep the Lawrence household happy, I decided I had to bake some pumpkin spice cookies using a recipe I found on Pinterest.

The recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen soft, cake-like cookies that are absolutely delicious. My family raved about them, however, I must say that they are still talking about the pumpkin coffee cake recipe I shared in my last blog. I might have to whip up another one this weekend.

However, even though they really liked the coffee cake, it looks like there is going to be a "fight" to get the last one of these cookies since they are just about gone.

The best part is that I only had to use half a small can of pumpkin for these cookies which leaves me with the other half to make a pumpkin bread recipe I found on Pinterest.

I love having a weekends-off diet!

If you would like the recipe for these melt-in-your-mouth cookies, click on the picture to be taken directly to the recipe from "The Recipe Critic".

Update on my Sabi Star Sahara Desert Gemini Rose...

So in May I ordered my plants from QVC and they are actually still alive! Yeah! The nights are getting colder so I decided it was time to bring them into my home under my Gro-Light.

According to the pamphlet enclosed with the plants, within 18 months they are supposed to look like this:

Here they are at 4 months:

Hmmm...18 months might be wishful thinking at this point, but they are growing. The one on the right is doing much better than the one on the left, but they were received with one doing better than the other.

Hopefully, being under the light will help them survive the winter months where sunlight is not always abundant here in upstate New York.

I am also pleased to report that the orchid plant my daughter gave me is still alive and sprouting new growth. It seems to be thriving in my kitchen most likely because of the humidity from cooking.

Just a couple more months before my daughter comes home to visit...stay strong little plant...stay strong!