What is there that a little Call Me Maybe can't fix . . .

Rough morning. Every person in this house woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Every.one.of.us. Maybe it was the chocolate cake a little too late last night. Or maybe it was the slight cold that some of us have. Or maybe it is just a case of the Mondays. But, whatever it was, it brought tears and cranky heads.

So, I did what any good homeschool mom would do.

Piled all the kids in the car and drove to the Bux. Got a nonfat Caramel Macchiato. Thankful to be feeling better enough that I can (occasionally) see the face of my favorite drive-thru barista again. (Love you, Carmel!)

Closed the books. Put away the pencils. And put on a little Carly Rae. And Jessica Simpson. And Katy Perry. Threw in a little old school Madonna for good measure. And we danced.

Turned on the oven. And mixed up some of Grammy Sue's pumpkin bars. With Gram-Gram Robyn's buttercream frosting.

Problem solved. Caffeinated mama. House smells like fall. Kids have smiles. This is the Monday the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

If you're looking for a yummy fall recipe, to fill your house with pumpkin smell, here you go. I know there is a cream cheese frosting recipe at the bottom of the pumpkin bar recipe card. We don't use it at our house. Not too many cream cheese frosting fans. So, we substitute in the buttercream recipe.