Five on Friday:

~My friend Becky sent me her recipe (and secret ingredient) for her delicious Empire Biscuits (cookies) pictured above. I made a batch to share with the CarpoolQueen today. You really can't eat these biscuits alone... you must be with a friend.

~Speaking of friends.... My lovely British friend Alison came bearing gifts on my birthday last week. She and her youngest girl, Esther brought me lovely gifts that remind me so much of them: English tea and homemade Lemon Curd.

If you could meet Esther you would love her immediately. She is cheerful and loving and just as cute as can be. If her sweet smile and golden braids weren't enough, her endearing inability to pronounce the hard-sound for"C" or "K" would certainly win you over. She uses a "T" sound instead.

She was so excited to give me her gift that she excitedly exclaimed in her English accent, "Tellie! We've made you some Lemon Turd!"

Oh! She is a glittering ray of happiness, she really is...

~On Tuesday evening The Mister and I  took the kids for a sunset hike. This is the suspension bridge that runs over the river. Its my favorite part of the hike...

~The Girl came home from Girl Scouts with this Loblolly Pine sapling. She is supposed to take care of it for a month.  I find it ironic. We live on an acre in the piney woods. We actually pull pine saplings like this out of the ground. They grow like weeds between brick walkways, and rocks. Last year The Mister even plucked some out of the gutters of our house. But we'll go ahead and transplant this one in the yard for the sake of the project. Maybe we could make it our Christmas tree...

~As i type I can feel the temperature dropping. My fingers are turning cold. Its predicted to be a wet and cold weekend. I don't have to worry though, my sweet husband gave me a super-soft Slanket for my birthday... so I will be warm, and cozy... and maybe even try a few Obi-Wan Jedi tricks.

Happy Friday!