The two tow-headed boys with their heads tilted toward each other and their arms entwined, giggled at each other’s gibberish only they could understand. A big brother zipped by pushing his Tonka truck past them and into the mud. A big sister called out, “That’s enough, boys!” 

A leaf fluttered by as a cool breeze picked up and a warm hand slid into mine as I strolled down the lane for a walk on the farm. I glanced down at my daughter’s questioning gaze. “Mama, is it fall yet?” She wondered.

 I held back a smile, “Yes, it is!” 

Lines in her forehead appeared while she considered my reply. “Well I thought so because it’s October but I thought the leaves were supposed to change?”

A chuckle escaped and I reminded her we live in a state with only two seasons: spring and summer. Unfortunately, we don’t get to experience the beautiful changing of the leaves as other states do but we can experience fall in our home! 

It really is awful a farmer’s child was unsure about the season we are in and I wanted her to feel like it’s fall. We pulled out fall decorations out of the shed and decorated our home with wheat straws, burnt orange, scarlet and gold garlands (on sale last year from Hobby Lobby for 90% off! Score!), Mason jar luminaries, and cute  free fall printables from Pinterest.

Once our fall decor was in place, we whipped up a special treat –Crowd-pleasing Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting. They’re quick, easy and great to throw together when your child doesn’t know if it’s fall or not and pumpkins=fall! 

 Crowd-pleasing Pumpkin Muffin 

1 spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Ignore directions on cake mix box. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix 30 seconds on low or until all ingredients have been moistened and then beat 2-3 minutes on medium speed until batter is smooth. Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners. 

Bake muffins 20-30 minutes or until tops are golden brown and spring back after lightly being touched. Cool on a wire rack before icing.

Optional: I’ve also used added chocolate chips to the batter and skipped the frosting. Or you could sprinkle struesel topping over the muffins before you bake them. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 8oz packages cream cheese, almost room temperature

1/2 cup butter, almost room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients. Beat well for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Pipe or frost muffins as desired after the muffins have cooled.