Leaves and Blueberries

Are you all enjoying these beautiful fall days as much as I am? Isn't it amazing how truly wonderful each season is that God has wonderfully created for us to enjoy? I mean... each season of its own, has such a matchless beauty to behold! Think about it... in regards to this time of year... He could have made all the leaves on trees to simply turn a shade of brown and fall off, but NO, He instead causes the leaves to turn "many" amazing, vibrant colors before falling off. For example, there is a tree at the end of our driveway that seriously looks like a yellowish/orange highlighter marker! It's glorious looking! His incredible beauty is so evident everywhere throughout His creation. I just adore His touch for detail. Don't you? His touch for detail is indescribable!!! I couldn't even put it into words if I wanted to.

Speaking of detail... when leaving Sarah's art class this afternoon there was a beautiful tree stretched out in front of our car... Sarah looked up and said, "Look Mommy". And, so... of course I said, "Yes dear". I thought she was referring to the many different colors of leaves, but no, she had spotted a tiny bird's nest perched up high in the tree and was so excited to point it out to me. This picture above shows the bird's nest really well, but it's because I zoomed way in with my camera before taking the picture. I seriously don't know how she spotted the nest. It took me a minute to find it as it was hidden so well amongst the abundance of colorful leaves. She must have an eye for detail. Both of her grandmothers have an immeasurable eye for detail so I won't be surprised if she inherits this gift as well.

I just LOVE to see what her art class is going to do next.
Today Ms. Jenny did a lesson on leaves - starting in the art gallery itself (which I love), and proceeding to the classroom. Here are a few pictures below. Ha! A little side note for you - Sarah may not appear in these pictures to look like an overly thrilled "pint-size picasso". The little girl next to her accidentally got some glue in her hair and she wasn't too thrilled, to say the least. :)







After art class we came home and looked for leaves from our yard. We brought them inside and traced around them on paper and colored them in. I think she really enjoyed continuing the "lesson" at home.

And... our day continues. We ended our afternoon by baking some homemade blueberry muffins. As most of you know, Sarah loves to cook in the kitchen, so needless to say I try to include her as much as I can with cooking and baking.

Here is the recipe we used as well as some pictures. I was encouraged to bake muffins due to the fact that I have recently discovered these wonderful frozen blueberries prepared by the company, Dole. Maybe they have been around for a while... I don't know, but I have just discovered them. I love how they are packaged - the blueberries are not all stuck together like other frozen berries are that I have purchased in the past. They are really fresh tasting and actually won a CHEFS BEST TASTE Award for 2008. They're great for eating straight out of the bag or for using in smoothies or for baking purposes. If you look closely, Sarah's lips are a little blue. She enjoyed eating a few frozen ones while I stirred the batter. :)

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup blueberries

3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients; mix with fork in a bowl. Combine melted butter, 3 beaten eggs, and milk. Add to flour mixture. Fold in berries. Spoon into tins. Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes.

Here is a picture of the packaging so you know what to look for.

The finished product ~

I know... I probably shouldn't post all these "food" pictures on here- kinda makes you hungry huh?..., maybe just a little? :) Sorry...

However..., I do recommend snacking on these while they're warm, with a tall glass of cold milk..., and on a fall day! :) Mmmmmm!


Gazing upon His beauty,
Until next time...