The adventures of Susan and Maxwell continued yesterday with a visit to the local cookie factory!  Did you know Birmingham has it’s own cookie manufacturing company?  Neither did I!  Bud’s Best makes all kinds of cookies right here in the Ham!  They also do tours of their factory for kids where they get to drive around the factory on a little tram learning how the cookies are made.  How fun!  Susan and Maxwell signed up and went off for an adventure…

Protective hair-nets required!

Apparently they make about 1 million cookies per hour in this factory!  whoa!

They were supposed to be on the tour with a small school group but the school ended up canceling at the last minute so it was just Susan and Maxwell…and a National Guard serviceman who happened to stop in to buy some cookies and decided to do the tour with them!!  too funny!

This is the robot that packs all the cookies.  They named her Lucy after a few mis-haps at the beginning!  Ethel is on the other side!  🙂

Maxwell LOVED getting some Vanilla Wafers fresh off the rack.  Of course, I think he would love getting some Vanilla Wafers from just about anywhere!

When they got home, I was cracking up at them in their hair nets.  These two sure do have fun together!!

Fun times in Birmingham!!

Happy Tuesday!

FYI, when getting ready to go play in the “lallow dirt” aka sand, it’s important to wear the right gear…

Hardhat, goggles…you can’t be too protected!

Playing trucks is serious business and “Safety First!” is the motto to follow!

Once you’re all geared up, you can play…

and play…

and play the day away!

Right, Maxwell?

Right.

I’m ready for the weekend.  I have a few more nesting projects that I want to get done like cleaning out the hall closet and buying all new makeup (both very important things to do before having a new baby!).  Thankfully, I think both Maxwell and I are on the tail end of our colds.  He took a 3.5 hour nap yesterday and I know that did him good.  It also gave me a chance to lie down for 45 minutes which definitely did me good!

A little something different for you on this Friday…  Here are 43 interesting Sesame Street facts in honor of the 43rd season of Sesame Street.  We sure do love us some Sesame Street around here!  Did you know that Cookie Monster’s first name was Sid before he started eating cookies?  Learn something new every day…

And now to leave you with a little laugh hopefully – when we got the Fire Chief outfit at Bed, Bath & Beyond last weekend, I also got Maxwell this Construction Worker outfit…

He got it out yesterday and put it on and those glasses were cracking me up!!

Safety first!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Yes, I sometimes call Maxwell my little pumpkin…of course it’s more like pun’kin.  🙂  That’s partly because I LOVE all things pumpkin.  Now that fall is starting to creep in, I’ve been upping my pumpkin intake!  That means making pumpkin bread of course!

Last year and many years before, I made this pumpkin bread.  So delicious but not exactly healthy.  I decided to go with a slightly more nutritious recipe this year and found one that tastes just as good but is made with whole wheat flour and honey instead of white sugar.  It makes me feel just a little better giving it to Maxwell…and he loves it!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread (click title for the link)

 Ingredients
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour)
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup oil
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (from the flour down to the salt). Make a well (hole) in the center and throw in the eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla. Stir together thoroughly with a fork, but do not overmix. Fold in the pumpkin puree and nuts (if using). Generously grease a large loaf pan or put muffin liners in a muffin pan and then pour in the batter. For a loaf bake for approximately 30 – 40 minutes and for muffins bake for approximately 18 – 22 minutes. Check for doneness by making sure a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I’ve been making mini muffins because they’re great to put in Maxwell’s lunch for school.  yum!  By the way, love this girl’s site where the recipe came from – 100 Days of Real Food.  She’s really made me be more conscious about reading labels and trying to make smarter choices!

One pumpkin thing I don’t like?  Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks.  I’m a big Starbucks fan but these just don’t taste right to me.  I know people go crazy over them but I tried one and just wasn’t sold.  I’ll stick with my mocha or chai tea latte please!

The one pumpkin I can never do without?  This little pumpkin of course!!  🙂

Any other good pumpkin recipes I need to know about? Would love your ideas!