Unsolvable Mazes and Unsuccessful Apple Dish

I just joined a cooking and book club online led by one of my friends that we made during our time in Columbia. This month we were to read The Maze Runner by James Dashner and make something using apples. Here is my entry below (beware there are a few spoilers since this was written for people to read that have already read the book):

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games then you will enjoy The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I must say that I found The Maze Runner to be captivating from cover to cover. I admit that I didn't read for very much detail even though James Dashner does a fabulous job of visually describing their world, but I simply couldn't slow down. I loved the opening line describing Thomas's arrival. "He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air." I was impressed by the determination of the runners. I have a hard time committing to my few miles each morning. :-) Would I run for 2 years from dawn to dusk looking for a pattern or a way out? The people of the Glade definitely needed the arrival of Teresa and the remembering serum from Tomas to get a hint. No way would they have ever figured out the clue in the maze otherwise. I also was impressed with the society established in such trying circumstances and all of the jobs with their creative titles. I wonder what job I would be assigned? What job would each of you be assigned? This book ends without satisfaction though so book 2 is on hold for me at the library and the final book in this trilogy releases this October so I am hoping closure for this well-written book is just around the corner.

I love to read and I am learning to love to cook. That being said I don't have a ton of tried and true recipes at my disposal. I found this recipe for apple-cinnamon baked french toast. We love breakfast at our house so I was excited to try this recipe. First, I omitted one of the 1/3 cups of sugar thinking it would be too sweet. Wrong-never leave out sugar. Save calories in your day someplace else. Second, I learned that I'm not a nutmeg person. I would reduce the amount of nutmeg to 1/4 tsp. Otherwise, I think this would be a delicious treat. It was certainly easy and it made the house smell wonderful. My husband was sure surprised/disappointed when he took a big bite. Oh well, I hope for more success on my next cooking adventure.

I took a picture after I had scooped out samples for all so it isn't beautiful but you get the idea. Enjoy!

Some videos for grandmas to adore

Joshua paying attention during Sunday school....

Animal sounds by Joshua

Joshua finds his eyes, nose, mouth, and head

Weekend Fun

We celebrated a 1st birthday with this sweet family. We met this family at a welcome picnic for the military and the moms and kids have been great company for each other while the husbands work so hard for us. Happy Birthday to a sweet little girl!

My sweet little boy pausing for literally 5 seconds at this birthday bash!

Matt had Labor Day off and wanted to get out of town. You know sometimes you just feel like you want to get in the car and drive away from the place that represents work so we explored Austin, TX. It was a cooler day overall in Texas but it is even a few degrees cooler in Austin than San Antonio. We loved walking around the grounds of the state house.

I liked that this was in a prominent place on the state house grounds.

"Which way should I go next?"

"I don't want to be in this stroller."

We went to the botanical gardens and enjoyed the shady views and a constant breeze.

Then we ended the Austin adventure with some waterfront BBQ. My hubby says he can't have Labor Day without some BBQ. It was delicious!

Finished the day with some outlet shopping, naps, and relaxing as a family.

Church Time

It was our second Sunday in a row that Matt was supposed to have to work that surprise we had him home! Yippee! We love going to church as a family.

Side note- you may notice a little bruising on my little man's face. The feet on the Halloween pajamas weren't as grippy as I previously thought. Oh my poor little guy!

Halloween is almost here...right?

I just had to get this sleeper from Children's Place during their big sale. It has rubber grippers on the feet and I LOVE these footie pajamas. I don't know what I'll do when Joshua thinks he is too big for these.