What I like right now…

* My new breadmaker  I figured I deserved some kind of reward for surviving two moves in less than a month.  I scooped it up off Amazon on a Friday sale.  If only I could find our old breadmaker recipe book…I hope it’s in a box somewhere around here.

 

* Chocolate Chex  Mmmmm, so yummy.  Especially with a cup of coffee.  

 

* Roasted Red Pepper Pesto and Chicken Pizza  Take your pizza dough (see breadmaker above), spread it with the pesto (I bought mine pre-made at the store).  You can use any flavor pesto you like.  Top with mozzarella cheese and shredded chicken leftover from some other meal.  Bake in the oven and Ta Da!  

 

* Wild Blackberries  Most every evening we walk the perimeter of the mowed portion of our yard (we live on 10 acres now, but most of them are wooded) to pick the ripe blackberries.  The kids love them!

 

* Paper crafts  If there is one thing I love, it’s an excuse to make some sort of paper craft.  Invitations and announcements are among my favorites.  Some times I get all complicated with the layering of papers and vellum and doodads with those foamy dots.  Right now, I’m working on our moving announcements.  These are super simple-a purchased card with a “homey” design with all the info printed on the card in a fun font.  Back in TX, we had this nice, somewhat pricey, stationary store down the road.  A couple times a year they would have a big clear-out sale and put the cards down to 10-20 cents a piece.  If I was lucky enough to stumble in on the right day, I’d stock up on all kinds of cards.  They have come in handy for many a birthday or other special occasion.

 

* A stockpile of homemade waffles  I don’t generally make elaborate breakfasts for actual breakfast.  I will, however, make breakfast for dinner about every other week.  When I make waffles, I usually double or triple the recipe and freeze the leftovers.  I can pull out just what I need and toast them up.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all are having a wonderful celebration with family and friends.  We, of course, will be celebrating tomorrow since J is on call today.  The good thing is our city is holding it’s big celebration tomorrow as well.  J’s department is also having their welcome party for the incoming residents tomorrow, so we should be busy.

 

Here’s hoping Belle’s fever/headache bug leaves as quickly as it came…We also think Little Bear may have sprained his big toe in a fall yesterday.  So maybe you could say an extra prayer for us?  Thanks!

in case you ever wondered…

Yes!  It is true that you can kill a spider and have lots of tiny spiders come out and run all over the place.  

 

How do I know this, you ask?  Let’s just say, I’m glad Belle didn’t notice why I kept banging on the floor long after I’d killed that big sucker!  It still gives me the willies!!

a kink in the plans

One of the things we didn’t expect to face when we moved here, was a lack of high speed internet.  We are back to the old time days of dial-up.  If you know J, then you know this is a HUGE sacrifice for him.  Of course he can still hop online at the hospital, but he doesn’t get much dedicated reading time there.  The kids have no concept of what this means for their computer time as they were quite spoiled with our lightning fast DSL. I’m trying to remember all the silly tricks like typing everything offline then going online to send stuff.  

 

This week should bring a nice summer rhythm to our lives-no travel, no all night work schedule.  Just unpacking, organizing, and outdoor exploration.  

 

I’ll try to get some pictures of our beach trip loaded soon, but I have no idea how long it will take for them to upload.  This will surely be a test of patience for all of us!  There are so many cute tidbits I’ve wanted to share but couldn’t, and now I can’t remember any of them.  I’m going to have to start writing things down…

Still alive!

Just in case you’re wondering, I’m am indeed still alive.  Unfortunately, however, we do not internet access at home right now.  I’ve found a cute little store with free wifi and I’ve spent the last hour or so updating all our accounts and paying bills.  The kids are about to climb the walls, so I can’t take much more time.  

 

We love our new home, though I’m still unpacking boxes.  J is on nights this week which only further complicates things.  The kids are enjoying the huge deck out back and the lovely yard.  Evenings here in VA are still cool and breezy which makes the setting that much better.  We’ve had rain storms the last few evenings so the yard and trees are luscious and green.

 

Hopefully it won’t be too much longer until we have consistent internet service.  Until then…

June already??

Wow, May went by in a flash!  We have officially moved out of our old place.  I drove by there today to pick up the hose we left behind, and it was weird being there, but not living there.  We are living out of boxes, taking out as little as possible.  We don’t have internet access at the interim house-so I may post here and there when we make a run to a coffee shop.  Next week we’re off to the beach in FL with my parents, my siblings, and all of their kids.  Should be a great time!

 

Until next time, whenever that may be…

an unexpected retrieval

Just taking a short break from the joy of moving to share a quick funny with you.  

 

I was working upstairs while Little Lamb napped and Little Bear played downstairs.  He had just gotten a dumb-dumb sucker when he announced that he needed to go potty.  I heard an unusual clinking sound followed by crying.  I rushed downstairs to find his sucker down at the bottom of the bowl full of little boy pee-pee.  Ugh!  I scrubbed my hands extra hard with soap and hot water after that one.

 

Yes, I threw it away.  Yes, I got him a new one.

 

And it’s back to work for me!  I’m beginning to think we will NEVER get all this crap out of the house.

day 23: a break

I’m going to have to take a break for a few days.  Life is going to be a jumble for the next few days and I have no idea how much computer access I will have.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.

day 21: one last idea

So I’m finally getting to my last teacher gift idea.  This is an especially easy one for your last minute gift needs.  

 

Here’s what you need: 

1.  Some lovely flower or landscape photos taken on a digital camera

2.  A photo printer or other method for printing photos

3.  Solid color cardstock, cut to  7″ x 10″ (assuming photos are 4″ x 6″)

 

For the photos, I recommend using the macro function on your camera to capture blossoms up close.  It’s that setting with the picture of a flower that allows the camera to focus very closely on an object while blurring the surrounding area.  (I’m amazing you with my technical skilz, aren’t I?)  

 

Print your photos (or order them online or go to CVS/Walgreens/wherever) and try to print them with a white border if you are going to use colored card stock.  Otherwise just use white or black paper.  

 

Carefully fold your papers in half, then affix your photos to the paper.  Wrap 5 or so in a stack with appropriately sized envelopes and tie with ribbon.  

 

Here’s examples of some of my cards:

(Click on the photo for a larger version of the picture)

day 20: proud mama

Today was Belle’s Kindergarten play, Bugz.  They did a performance for the whole school this afternoon and then for parents this evening.  They were so cute singing songs and dancing.  It was great to see them all participating so happily.  No one was too cool for it yet.  Belle said her lines perfectly and I even really heard her in the second performance.  I took lots of pictures, but I haven’t downloaded them yet.  My favorite part of the performance was at the very end, when everyone was clapping away, and Belle was so visibly happy as she bounced up and down, waved her arm, and smiled her biggest smile.  As a reward for her hard work and good attitude today, she is sleeping away in my bed right now.  I think it’s time to go join her…