Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

6:30 am is too early to be awakened by the sound of a kazoo on a Saturday morning. Especially when it is followed by a screaming, hitting fight over the kazoo... promptly followed by crying and hugging. All of this after a night of little elbows and knees in my back does not a good morning make. So I decided to make my morning a little sweeter by baking some pumpkin nutella muffins. I found and adapted the recipe from the Pumpkin Nutella Bread recipe on one of my favorite cooking sites, Two Peas and Their Pod. The combination of the pumpkin and nutella is out of this world! I wasn't crazy about the actual pumpkin bread recipe itself, but any recipe would do. Please let me know if you have a rockin' pumpkin bread recipe. I tried googling the pumpkin muffin recipe from The Corner Bakery, but I had no luck. I had all the ingredients for this one except the hazelnut extract. I texted or text (Anyone know the past tense of text?) Ben that I had them in the oven and before I took them out he had already stopped by to try one. He agreed about the pumpkin bread and suggested I add more nutella next time. I concur, the more nutella the merrier! The recipe made about a dozen regular size muffins and then I used the rest of the batter to make a dozen mini chocolate chip pumpkin muffins for the boys. They gave them two thumbs up!

Go Panola!

Our last soccer game was quite exciting! The game started with the other team trash talking ours as they were lining up on the field to kick off. It was actually hilarious because these kids are only six years old at the most. During the game one of our players got in a kicking fight with a player from the opposing team. It might have been the trash-talker, but I'm not sure. I was just thankful that it wasn't my child. After that, one our players scores a goal for the other team. We won by a point or two, nonetheless. But the highlight of the game for me was Davis kicking the ball down the field and scoring a goal. The week prior he scored a goal too, but I think it was more by chance because there were group of players all kicking the ball in front of the goal at the same time and his kick just happened to push it in. He was so proud of himself. When the team lined up to kickoff again, Davis had this look on his face like he was ready to kill!

Part of the Panola Co. team before the game. They were sporting their new LSU colored uniforms.

Playing hard!

I took this shot as Davis was running the ball down the field about to score his goal. I didn't get the actual shot of him kicking in it, because I was too busy screaming and jumping up and down.

Please notice Davis's "ready to kill " face after he scored his goal.

He was so pumped!

A Little Bit of Chicken Fried

This afternoon I was driving with the boys to Lake Bruin Grocery to pick up their dinner and Davis asked me to play his favorite song "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band. I obliged and he began belting out the words like he wrote it. After replaying it a few times he tells me, "Mom, I like the part where it says "see the love in my woman's eyes". Next, I hear him tell Wilson "Hey Wilson, you hear that? He said precious child. That's what we are, precious childs". Later he says, "Hey Mom, it's Friday night just like in the song. Daddy needs to drink a cold beer on a Friday night and put on a pair of jeans that fit just right when he gets home." They both continued to sing it after we got home so I was able to get a short video of their performances. In the first one Davis is acting like a brat because I let Wilson go first, and the second one is both of them together. They are both pretty funny! I think they inherited their singing from Ben.

We Won!

Davis's team won their first soccer game today. I believe the score was 7-4. They really don't keep score, but I do. Our team is only 4 to 6 year olds, but my competitive nature gets the best of me. I'm all for having fun, but who's having fun if you're losing? I HATE to lose! Last year I might have been a little too hard on Davis resulting in him almost not playing this year. I talked him into it by telling him his coach was a police officer ,which he is semi-obsessed with at the moment. He calls him Officer Rob instead of Coach Rob. Last year Davis pretty much just ran behind the crowd or stood by and watched the players run down the field. He is doing a little better this year about getting in there after the ball, and he actually scored a goal today. But really, I think he could care less.

The girls on his team out number the boys, but we've got some little all-stars. Even though I'm a mother of boys, nothing excites me more than to watch little athletic girls outplay the boys...only if they're on our team of course. Ella and Paxton ,thanks for leading us to a victory girls, even if you did make my son look like a sissy! No really, Davis isn't a sissy, but I don't think there is a World Cup in our future.

Davis and his new buddy Morgan

Huddled up getting the gameplan

Wilson, cheering on his brother

Throwing in the ball

Playing hard

FYI, our uniforms are green/blue and have Lakeside Ford on the front this week only because the guy messed up our uniforms. Next week we will be sporting our real sponsor's shirts Panola Co. in the beautiful LSU colors of purple and gold!

Dove Day

Saturday was opening day for dove season. Every year on this day Panola hosts a dove hunt where friends and family meet at the barn on Hwy 128 for a cookout then head out to the field to hunt doves. This year Davis and Wilson got to go hunting with Ben. Sometime during the early morning the boys sneaked into bed with us and before daylight broke I heard Davis tell Ben, "I'm so glad I'm going hunting with you today Daddy!" So it made for a long morning trying to explain to Davis that it didn't open until 12 noon. Davis brought his toy shotgun to the hunt, but I don't think that is going to satisfy him for too much longer. He is already asking for a real one.
Here are some shots I took at the cookout and the dove field.

Davis with his friend Philip. He looks like an elf standing next to him.

Bailey and Wilson

Thanks Bailey for being so sweet to my boys!

The three handsome Guthrie brothers. I'm kinda partial to the one in the middle.

Davis and PopPop

It was supposed to be a picture with both of my boys, but Wilson always acts like a jackass when I try to take a picture. He either refuses to smile or jumps around like an idiot. I usually try to bribe him. You can see his head at the bottom of the picture.

Wilson was still acting like a jackass in this picture, but I got what I wanted.

Thanks for being a good sport Pop Pop!

Me and Bay Bay

I'm so glad Bailey came in with John David again this year. I got to spend a lot of time catching up with her.

Ben and Wilsie Boo

Davis and Wilson had fun retrieving doves for the men.

The boys in the cotton field helping Rob look for a dove.

Ben and his hunting buddies with their kill.

Ben, Rob Green, and Felix Soileau...they look like they are posing for Charlie's Angels.

Ben had two friends from LSU come in to hunt. Ben lived with Rob for a couple of years in Baton Rouge. Rob lives in Shreveport now, and Felix lives in Eunice.

Brett and Davis

Brett is Mrs. Beth's nephew Robbie's son. Mrs. Beth's family from Franklin came in to hunt so we went over there to visit. Davis and Wilson both followed Brett around like his little shadows.

Sir WIlson

I want to share a story about my sweet Wilson. Tonight he was dressed up as a knight in shining armor and I was his princess. He insisted on going dressed this way to bed as well. As I was laying him down to go night night I told him " I love you Sir Wilson" and he said "I love you too my sweet princess". Two good things about having little boys 1) they love their momma and 2) I always get to be the princess!

More Art

Sorry for another art picture, but it's all I have of late. We actually had our first soccer practice today, but I completely forgot to take pictures. I know the wait is killing you, but the thrilling soccer practice photos will have to hold off until next week. Anyway back to art...The picture displayed below is a drawing of a cardinal that Davis drew in art class today with oil pastels. They are studying John James Audubon so they have been painting/drawing different birds.

These are the actual drawings that they were supposed to be imitating. Davis's was the only bird that was drawn the opposite way. I really don't know what this means. My friend Ginny said it could mean he is a genius, but I think he's just a backwards bird drawer. Regardless, I thought his bird was pretty cute and I plan to frame it and hang it in his room.