I stayed home from French Class this afternoon since I was up all last night with some......ahem.......tummy trouble.  I have been puttering around the house all day because I don't feel awful, I just need to be close to "my" bathroom.  Enough said.   I can take a make up class on Thursday so I won't fall behind.

Exciting news last night; Sophie lost her tooth.  This is big news in the Johnson family with my two very exciteable children.  (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree).   She didn't so much as lose it as her mother knocked it out.......again.  This was the second time I have done this.  Both times, we were in bed and she jumped when I went to hug her and "bam", it came out.    They know the drill now so they were all about "ok, let's write her a note",  "me too", "I want to write her a note", "can I ask for earrings".  We got them down for the night and were jarred awake at 6am by two kids barreling through the house, fairy dust (glitter) twinkling on their faces, "she came, she came"!  Max even got a special note telling him that the tooth fairy looked in his mouth last night and she is certain he will be loosing his teeth soon.  (Dan's idea).  You should have seen the look on his face.  He kind of cocked his head like a golden retriever.  Huh. 

I also wanted to share with ya'll the best pumpkin bread I have made in a long time.  Sophie loves anything pumpkin and it is so good for her and Max, I try and bake and cook with it as much as possible.  I am always trying new recipes for pumpkin bread and never totally sold.  Not today, I found a great recipe in a book I just finished.  It is a memoir about an Italian gal in her 40's and her many relationships with men.  The girl can cook.  I'm not so sure about her expertise in other areas of her life but I have tried a few of her recipes and they are fabulous.  I wanted to include her pumpkin bread which I "tweaked" a bit and have renamed "Pumpkiny Bread" after Sophie took her first bite and said "Oh Mom, this is so good, it's so pumpkiny".  Max loves anything and is always happy with what I put in front of him.....oh his lucky wife.

Pumpkiny Bread

1/2 C. butter (softened)
1 1/2 C. sugar (I know, it's a lot of sugar)
2 large eggs
1 C. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 C. walnuts, chopped (if you like, Sophie is a purist and doesn't like "little thingys" in her quick bread)
toss some flax seeds in if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP)
toss some wheat germ if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP, I am always trying to sneak some good stuff into their food)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray Pam into a 9-in loaf pan.  Beat butter and sugar with mixer until blended, add eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, baking soda and spices, add to pumpkin mixture.  Toss in flax seeds and wheat germ and walnuts.  Mix it all together, and pour batter into your pan.

Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes but check after 1 hour.  Make sure your tester comes out clean after poking it into the middle of your loaf.

Enjoy!  Great time of year for it!