Love This Man!

 These past weeks have seem to been flown by!  I was looking at our blog and it has been two weeks since our last, so I thought I would give you a little catch-up on our lives.

 Daniel is now in a new department at work so his hours changed.  No, weekends are still not LaFuze time :( but he is home by 4 during the week!  I, sadly, have class Mondays and Tuesdays and rarely am home by 7 Monday-Thursday.  So we have been taking turns cooking dinner and trying to spend at least an hour or two to do nothing but relax with each other when I get home. 

 We LOVE making homemade pizzas with Trader Joe's pizza dough.  One day I will conquer my fear and make my own, but for now this suffices.  Daniel was scheduled to make pizza one night I had school but the dough was not working right at all.  He dashed to the store to buy new dough before I got home, but I beat him by just a few minutes.  His efforts were amazing, though, and I couldn't believe he went through all that work.  Our pizza was de-lish! 

This past week has been very busy with functions and classes after work , so our time together has been extremely limited.  We have both felt the stress at home so our goal this week is to get as much done before and during work so that night times are our time.  I am one lucky girl to have his help at home with my schedule.  The nicest thing about having a long day is coming home to a wonderful man at home! 

 This is a good picture of what my weekends consist of.  Lesson plans, homework, and chores dominate Saturday and Sunday.  And, of course, Minnie has to be where the action is 24/7.  I think she is in love with paper.  No matter where I set down a book or piece of paper she has to be right on top of it!  It makes for a long process of getting homework done.

Good News:  Next weekend is major "LaFuze Time"!  Daniel was scheduled to have yesterday off, but his schedule changed :(  Next weekend my step-dad is having a retirement ceremony from the Navy, family will be in town, and Bates Nut Farm is our destination place on Sunday.  Can you believe that we have never been to a pumpkin patch together?!  Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Pumpkin Take 3

This little can of pumpkin was my best friend this past week!  It made not one, not two, but three recipes!  We are trying to watch money with meals, have been cooking a lot more at home, and I was in love with one can going a very long way.

Recipe #1: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones 

 

I found this recipe at my new favorite Blog Carrots n' Cake.  I LOVE all of her recipes, especially her baking ones.  These were super easy, but I overcooked them. :(  I will have to try them again soon.

Recipe #2: Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

When I told Daniel I was going to make this he laughed knowing I never make mac n cheese!  But, I found this recipe that I could not pass up.  It is adapted from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious and it has pumpkin puree and garbanzo bean puree as well.  One word sums it up: DELICIOUS!  You would never know it has these secret ingredients in it!  I even taste tested it on my brother-in-law and his wife and they goth gave it two thumbs up.

We are loving these sausage from Trader Joe's lately.  It helped recreated a kid version of hot dogs in mac n' cheese.

My stove top was busy!

Recipe #3: Pumpkin Pancakes

We have made these before and they were amazing!  I have officially turned Daniel into a pumpkin lover!

I never was a fan of pumpkin growing up because I only had it in pumpkin pie.  The texture definitely threw me off.  But, as my cooking has increased I am in love with the low cost and how fat it goes.  We had about 1/4 cup left and it may just have made its way into some of my oatmeal this week!

She's Gone Country!

We had a thoroughly fun time at the Rascal Flats concert last night!  I believe the last concert that Daniel and I attended was Brad Paisley three years ago!  Our weekend turned into more surprises than we ever imagined.  Our first included this guy:

 

I got a phone call last week that Nathan was coming home for the weekend.  Nathan lives in D.C. and you can find out more here. He is our greatest friend, like another one of the LaFuzes.  It has been one year since he has been home and we are hoping that his trip back to SD convinced him to return soon!  On our way to dinner with Nathan's family Daniel surprised me with the concert!  Samuel had an extra ticket so we just needed to buy one more, and Daniel was fortunate enough to get his schedule changed to allow us to go.

 

These boys are amazing and we always have fun whenever we get together with them!

 

The concert was so good and it brought me back to the good ol' days of my mom and I blasting Shania Twain in the car on our way home from soccer or dance.  I guess country is just in my roots!

 

We sat in the lawn section and despite the distance we were still able to see and hear everything just fine!  Kelly Pickler opened up and then Rascal Flats rocked the stage. 

 

By the end of the night we were heal clicking and dancing our way back to the car.

 Hillary, Nathan's sister, and I used to dance together when we were much younger..I love that girl! 

 The concert hooked Daniel and I!  We can't wait to go to another one.   But, more importantly The LaFuzes had fun on the weekend!  I have been reminded lately to look at life through the successes you make instead of all of the failures.  Even my to-do list felt impossible for today, spending quality time with my husband and living life jump started my day and I have almost everything done!