The Ice Cream Truck

We've been waiting all summer to hear this truck come down our street!

One Fish, Two Fish

I just wanted to share what the kids have learned to do this summer. At least the grandmas might want to see it. I love having a pool in our neighborhood!

Sleeping and Crying

There are gross pictures at the end of this post. You've been warned. I won't be hurt if no one finishes reading or looking, but Daddy-o insisted that this was blog-worthy.

So that lovely little gift that the mosquitos gave me while I was pulling weeds last week has been outdone.


Sunday morning, I noticed that what I thought were scratches and a few bites on my arms were actually getting more itchy and swollen. And the individual bumps were a lot smaller, but more defined than my normal reactions to the little blood suckers that swarm our yard.


By that evening, there was no question that one of those weeds I was pulling must have been poisonous. Nothing looked like poison ivy, which I know is common here, but I haven't ever actually seen any. But if it wasn't that, it was something else. My arms are SO itchy and gross. And theres a little on my neck and forhead (I'm sure from wiping off all the sweat) and my ankles.
But the best was the home remedy site that Daddy-o found. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh so hard. One of his favorites was the quote: "The only thing that I found that helped the itching was sleeping and crying." That's pretty much where I'm at, benedryl-induced sleeping and trying not to cry.

First Day of School

For the other kids around here. A few months ago, I was a little sad about not getting that "First Day of Kindergarten" shot if we homeschooled, but I decided that a picture for the scrapbook wasn't really a reason to send Bean to school. And today, when other families were rushing through breakfast and packing up lunches, I just looked across the table at my little girl and was so happy that I wasn't sending her off on the bus today. Maybe another year, but for now, we're going to enjoy this time together.

So, we ran some errands, spelled all the words we could think of that end in -ay, signed up for ballet and a homeschool circle time, read a little, played a little, did some money math . . . basically it was a day like any other day.

And as a side effect, this kid now knows which coin is a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.

Weekend Warriors

***WARNING--this is a really long post. Its been a really long, but good (mostly), weekend***

Starting Friday, the kids and I spent the entire morning working in the yard (some of the "work" looked a lot more fun than my work). And to show for it:

I even put on bug repellent, but I guess the 48 oz. of sweat that poured down my face and legs washed that all away in the first hour. This is why I'd been avoiding the weeds all summer, but they had gotten completely out of control and were taking over the flower bed. I forgot we even had azeala bushes in there. But I moved a couple loads of weeds like this:and now the bed looks pretty empty. We need to find something to fill in all the holes.

Then, after a quick nap, we headed off to a homeschool information fair. At this point, I'm feeling like there will be no problem finding fun things to do this next year; the problem is weeding through the hundreds of groups and classes and free events (those have top consideration on our list). More on that later. But the highlight of the trip was the stable who brought a couple horses with them to advertise. We even got Buggy up on one, which was a first since he usually prefers to watch from afar (very, very afar). But as long as he could ride the boy horse, he was ready to try--he's a little sexist right now. I like to think that its more a matter of him recognizing his own sex and wanting to "match".

And just to continue the fun, Daddy-o and I had a date night set up for the evening. Our babysitter, who the kids absolutely love, came over so we could go out to dinner and then to the 80's dance at our church. Even though we didn't get dressed up, we had a great time. I kept having flashbacks to Bret Harte Intermediate School dances. There just aren't that many chances to go dancing as adults who are past the club scene (not that that was ever really our scene), so this was really fun. A few people got totally decked out in the 80's garb which was awesome!

Saturday was more exhausting endeavors--I got up at 7 so I could run 9 miles before it got too hot, although it was already totally muggy when I walked out the door. Good thing I have my running partner to get me out there even when I'd rather crawl back into bed. Not sure if it was a good thing or not, but the mugginess turned into rain just after we turned around at the halfway mark, so we weren't quite as hot coming home, just dripping wet the entire 5 miles. But we did it! That is the farthest I've run since having kids, and yes, my legs were hurting a little by the end. I've had really tight hamstrings for the last few weeks, and my right knee is starting to protest a little, but I'm hoping that I can keep working steadily and finish this. We only have 4 weeks left until the half marathon and I feel like we can both do it. And then we're dropping back to the nice 4-5 mile runs that are actually enjoyable :)

We'd also envited a few of our neighbors over for a mexican fiesta that night. Daddy-o used to work in a mexican restaurant back in high school and has some great recipes for Chili Rellano and Chili Verde, so he spent most of Saturday cooking up a feast. I didnt' get any pictures after this point because things got a little hectic for an hour or so. But one of our neighbors did, so hopefully I can get those from him and add more pictures.

All the food turned out great, the company was fantastic, and even the kids (there were 9 of them, 12 and under) weren't too out of control. Succesful entertaining!

Finally, look what this little guy learned how to do this morning! It took him about 20 minutes to get the whole shirt buttoned, but he was so determined.

Crayon Rolls For Sale

I know nothing is quite as good as free stuff, but for all of you who were interested in the crayon rolls in the last giveaway, I thought I would give you the option of buying them from me.

I haven't really been interested in setting up a business to sell these since there are others out there already and since I love coming up with new craft ideas and trying them out, not necessarily making the same thing over and over, but I keep seeing cute color combinations of fabric, which makes me then want to buy more, so I figured I need to find something to do with all of them.

They are $7.50 each, not including crayons (its just too hot right now and I'd worry about them melting). If you want them for Christmas gifts, I will sell them for $8 with crayons to ship in a couple months. These make great birthday and holiday gifts paired with other art supplies. We did a dog theme one for a 5 year old's party last week--2 things of doggy stickers, a pad of paper, and the dog print crayon roll seen above and it was a big hit with both the birthday boy and all the parents present.

If you are interested, email me: kamcclellan@hotmail.com. I have some of the fabric combinations here, but I do have quite a few other colors, so I can send pictures to you once I have an idea of what you are looking for.

Lots of Crafting

We've been busy making messes over here. Cards, books, crayon rolls, painted rocks, clothespin leg animals--its just been one thing after another.

And its been a good trial run of the craft room--and made me realize how badly we need shelving in there for storage. It takes a lot of little boxes and buckets and cans to contain all of the supplies that 3 artists need. (Daddy-o's art studio, a.k.a. The Garage, is also currently being renovated, but more on that later.)

That's Not Funny At All

After Bean gave a long explanation on how to do something:

Bean: "And that's how you do it."

Bugaboo: "If you say so."

Bean: laughing

Bugaboo, in a very matter of fact voice: "That's not funny at all."

Haircut

I finally took this little man in for a professional haircut. We've been trimming it for the last year, but its so hard to get him to hold still and I just can't do much in the 3 minute window he gives me. He did great for the sylist, although he had this look of concern on his face the entire time, as if he wasn't quite sure that he was really going to come out of the whole experience unscathed.
But I think he looks pretty handsome.

Summer Flowers

For the last 9 months, our gardening advisor and neighbor, Mary, has been telling us that these Crepe Myrtle's were going to knock our socks off when they bloomed. We had mentioned to her when we first moved in that we might take one of them out to plant a fruit tree since there just aren't that many open sunny areas in our yard and she implied that that would be completely scandalous.

And now that they have finally bloomed (about a month after most of these trees bloomed around Charlotte), I have to agree. I LOVE the color and although we didn't get as full of a bloom as they have in years past, it still looks so pretty whenever I drive up. These marigolds represent one of the few real successes in my gardening this last year. They must be a pretty hardy plant; they've survived drought, torrential downpour, and nearly complete neglect. And since they are supposed to repel mosquitos, I'm thinking I'll just scatter the seeds everywhere next year. Because, lately, the mosquitos have been relentless.

Southern Peach Pie

I love summer. On top of being able to swim, stay up late, and watch the lightening storms in the evenings, we also get so much good fruit. And right now is the time for the South Carolina peaches.

Another Cooks Illustrated creation, and once again, its a recipe we (I use the "we" pretty losely here--Daddy-o seems to be the pie master at our house) will be making again. I'm a little embarrassed to say that we ate almost 1/2 the pie the first night (and we won't mention that the kids actually didn't like it so there were only 2 of us doing the eating), but it was just that good.

Prayer for Peace

"Who wants to say the prayer on dinner?"

"I want to say the night time prayer!"

"I want to say the upstairs prayer!"

**************

"I wanted to say dinner prayer!" (Too bad its now 8 pm and the next dinner is about 22 hours away.)

"I'll pray! Dear Heavenly Father, please bless this day. . . Wait! I don't want to pray! I'll say half a prayer. No, wait, I'll pray! No! I won't pray!"

***************

Why is it that something that is supposed to bring peace and love and the Spirit into our home causes so much agnst and often ends in tantrums and crying (and not just the kids are crying)?

My Dad

Today would have been my dad's 67th birthday. He passed away a little over 2 years ago, so we no longer get to celebrate with him, but I'd been thinking about doing something today that would honor his memory or at least help me to remember him today. And then I got busy planning our week and kind of forgot.

But our good friends and neighbors owed us a day of babysitting, and Daddy-o and I ended up going for a beautiful (and strenuous) hike at Crowders Mountain in Gastonia. And as we were hiking, and telling hiking and backpacking stories (uninterrupted, I might add--it really is a beautiful thing to have a kid-free day once in awhile), I started to tell a story about my dad's 50-miler he did when I was a baby and suddenly remembered that it was his birthday and how much he would have loved to have been there with us right then, navigating the rocky ridge that led down from the peak.

My dad loved the outdoors. He took us camping every summer, went hiking with the scouts, went backpacking with friends, and spent most weekends working in the yard. He had a library of books on trees and plants and was always planting something new. Everywhere we went he would point out the various species that he knew. It seems like there have been so many moments these last two years when I have wished that he could be here with us. I'm sure that he influenced my love of the outdoors and I'm grateful that I share that love with him. It's part of his heritage that I hope to pass on to our kids so they can feel like they know something about their Papa.

Crowders Trail:


Trees everywhere:

View from the peak. On a clear day, you can see the Charlotte horizon:

The trail. Those rocks are actually the marked trail. It reminded me of some video game that you have to hop across a lava bed:

Deliciousness

Lemon Bars. I forget how much I love these. It's not something I make often, not even every year, but then, once I do, I want to make them again and again (only my waistband doesn't want me to.)

Daddy-o loves Cooks Illustrated, so we tried out their recipe this time and its a keeper for sure.

The Crust
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar , plus extra to decorate finished bars
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at very cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus extra for greasing pan

Lemon Filling
4 large eggs , beaten lightly
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest from 2 large lemons
2/3 cup lemon juice from 3 to 4 large lemons, strained
1/3 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon table salt

Instructions
1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and line with one sheet parchment or wax paper. Dot paper with butter, then lay second sheet crosswise over it. (I'm not sure how much this makes a difference--CI always has complicated steps that make little sense to me, but I figure they're the experts and do it if I have the right equipment or ingredients. So butter up that parchment paper! And maybe someone else out there actually knows why. . .)

2. Pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Add butter and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. (To do this by hand, mix flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl. Freeze butter and grate it on large holes of box grater into flour mixture. Toss butter pieces to coat. Rub pieces between your fingers for a minute, until flour turns pale yellow and coarse.) Sprinkle mixture into lined pan and, press firmly with fingers into even, 1/4-inch layer over entire pan bottom and about 1/2-inch up sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

3. For the filling: Meanwhile, whisk eggs, sugar, and flour in medium bowl, then stir in lemon zest, juice, milk, and salt to blend well.

4. To finish the bars: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Stir filling mixture to reblend; pour into warm crust. Bake until filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to near room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Transfer to cutting board, fold paper down, and cut into serving-size bars, wiping knife or pizza cutter clean between cuts, as necessary. Sieve confectioners’ sugar over bars, if desired.

Quote of the Day

"If daddy cows gave the babies milk, that would be special!" ~Bugaboo

And the Lucky Person . . .

I just cut up scraps of paper with numbers 1-18 (the comments from the last 2 posts, and sorry Emily, I decided to just stick with one comment per person ;) ) and then let Bean draw a paper out. And the winner is Katie! Give me a few days to put the things together and then I'll send it your way :)

Thanks, everyone for the new ideas. I love finding new things I want to try, although in answer to SRM's question about how I find time, I really don't feel like I spend much time doing crafts lately. More time gathering ideas and making lists of all the things I'd like to make and do, but I still have projects left over from Utah that I haven't finished up, I haven't touched my scrapbooks since we moved into this house, and my sewing machine seems to only get dragged out when I need to make a present.

But I got my new desk the other day for our newly appointed craft room and am feeling a little more inspired. Just a few more things to finish with the room itself (and I'll post some pics of it in its midway stage soon--I want to build some shelves, but that may take months so we'll go with what I have when I finish these last couple things.) And with Bean at home with us this next year, we're going to have to have regular art time to satisfy her needs, so I hope I can sneak in my own projects while the kids are working on their own messes.

Last Chance to Enter!

Today's the last day for the giveaway (although I can't say that I will actually be up to close the comments at 10 pm, so you probably really have until some time on Tuesday, depending on when I manage to get on the computer. Go leave your comment!

I've been loving everyone's crafty ideas. I really haven't been doing much, and I'm getting excited to get back into using my hands to make messes :)