Pumpkin Harvest Granola

Today, I have a recipe to share.
I figured it was worth sharing because my husband loves it, and he is not usually the granola-eating type. 
It also has a nice autumn flavor, thanks to the pumpkin pie spice.  
If you've never made your own granola before, you should really try.  It is SO easy, and so much less expensive than buying it.  And you don't have to be a hippie, either.  (No offense whatsoever to hippies.  I'm sure they make better granola than I do).
So, here we go:


Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas, optional)
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup canned pumpkin**
1 cup dried cranberries


*1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice is equal to:
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
I've used this mixture for years, and finally this month I bought regular old pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice.  Which is so much easier.  However, it's nice to know that I could survive without it too.


**You could also use cooked, pureed pumpkin as well.  It's all the same.

Stir the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, spice, and coconut - all of those.  In a small bowl, stir the brown sugar, pumpkin, and oil together.  Then add the pumpkin mixture into the oat mixture and stir well.  Drizzle the honey over the top of the mixture and stir again.  
Don't put the cranberries in yet.  I've done this before, and I do not recommend it.  They are already chewy enough without being baked for an extra hour. 
Spread the granola onto a large cookie sheet (with sides!) sprayed with Pam.  Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Check after 30 or 40 minutes and stir, then cook for the remaining time.
After removing from the oven, let the granola cool before placing it in a gallon-sized resealable bag.  Then add the cranberries, shake up the bag, and there you go.  Your own super-healthy, super-yummy granola!

A Birthday Present

Kids sure have a simple way of seeing things.
My oldest son is going to be turning the ripe old age of three in a few weeks.  In true mom fashion, I've been asking him what he wants for his birthday.  In true kid fashion, he started talking about grandma's house, airplanes, and building snowmen. In other words: I think that means he has no idea what a birthday present is.  
So, I started talking to him about what a birthday is, and what happens on a birthday - cake, candles, balloons, presents, sometimes a party.  He quickly latched onto the idea that he's going to get a toy on his birthday.  
What toy does he want?
A $4.99 plastic car that he saw at the grocery store.  
What do I want to get him?
Some of his favorite books (Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?), plus an age-appropriate remote control vehicle.  Considering the amount of time he spent this last weekend drooling over his uncle's RC truck, it is an excellent choice on my part.
Luckily, we have the funds to give him the gifts we have chosen, and also take him to the grocery store and let him choose a car on his birthday.  Wyatt's birthday is going to be lots of fun, and I hope he loves it in an amount equal or greater to the amount I am excited for it.  I hope he is so excited when he sees the gifts we have bought for him.
But now I've been wondering; how many times do I think just the same way when it comes to the blessings and gifts that Heavenly Father gives to me or wants to give to me?
How often am I looking forward to a five-dollar grocery store toy, when there is actually a gift worth ten times as much waiting for me?  
I'm afraid the answer is
FAR TOO OFTEN.
Going even further, I think sometimes the five-dollar car is withheld from me and I cry and rant and don't understand why I can't have it without even realizing that it's not because Heavenly Father doesn't want to give me a gift.  It's just because He wants to give me a gift that is so much better.
The longer I am a mother of toddlers, the more I realize that I am in many ways, a toddler myself.  

So . . . I made a skirt.

I don't know what I was thinking. 
I had one yard of fabric and I wanted to make myself a skirt with it.  Granted, I am small enough that technically, I could make a skirt from one yard of fabric, but it would have to be sewn like a pillowcase with both ends left open.  Which is not what I was going for.
After perusing the internets for ideas on how I should go about this, I saw a few different tutorials for skirts that were super cute . . . and all required about twice as much fabric as what I had.  So I thought, I'll just make it up .  . how hard could it be?
The answer?  While making up a skirt pattern is not actually hard, my skirt is never going to be worn by me.  Because one yard of fabric is simply not enough.
I traced myself a pattern piece from an existing skirt I own, cut two, both on the bias, and used the leftovers to make a ruffle at the bottom.  I finished with 1/4" elastic sewn directly to the waist.  It did turn out cute, if I say so myself.  But.
But. The waist is 18 inches.  It will be cute for a little girl, although I have no idea what girl's size that translates to.
Even so, I did learn something, and I will definitely be trying this again with a bigger cut.  When I do, I'll share some more detailed instructions.  I think this one gets filed in the "kind of worked" bin. 

Now. . . what to do with a girl's size (8? 10? I have no idea) skirt?