Steppin' Out ~ Library Style

I am trying to get better at getting in front of the camera instead of always being behind it.  This is not a new thing (see here), but an action that has taken a backseat.  Now that I am getting back to blogging ~ hopefully ~ I want to make this a more regular event again.

So here is me "Steppin'  Out"  yesterday.  Smiley had preschool, so I took her, then ran a few errands.  When I was finished, I headed to the library (which is conveniently next to her school).  I was sitting at a desk, minding my own business, typing up a blog post (Peach Muffins ~ seriously, check it out, they are yummy!) When this younger man came and sat in a oversized chair that was right behind the desk I was sitting at.  Mind you ~ there are many comfy oversized chairs ~ why he chose that one, I'm not sure!  Anyway, he kept stretching and yawning.  No big deal right, but he was so loud.  I think he wanted everyone to know that he was extremely tired.  Annoying!

I tried to get a picture of the culprit for you, but only got myself and the tip top of his head.  Oh well :)

Lesson learned yesterday ~ pick a desk in a more secluded area and when tired, don't announce it to the world via loud yawning and exaggerated stretching.

Oh yeah, and step out and get in some pictures!

Movin' to the country

Like the Presidents of the United States of America sing.... Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.

(don't know what I'm talking about.... watch the following)

Or, maybe not.  Not the moving part anyway.  I do however, like to eat peaches!  And today, you are in luck.  I'm sharing a tasty peach muffin recipe with you.

Peach Muffins

Gather your ingredients:

2 Cups self rising flour
1 Cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup sour cream
1/4 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 Cups diced peaches (about 1/4"), can be canned (make sure you drain them) or Fresh (soft and ripe are best)

And get baking:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350° F.  Either spray a 12 cup muffin pan with non stick spray or line with paper cupcake/muffin liners (I used liners and only had Halloween ones at my house ~ I guess we are celebrating the holiday a little bit early).

2.  Whisk together flour, butter, sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

(and try not to break your whisk!)

3.  Fold in peaches.

4.  Evenly fill prepared muffin cups.

5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean.

6.  Let cool in pan for about 10 mins.  Then either try not to eat them all while they are warm, or let them cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!

And so we say "Good Bye."

~ Goodbye ~

Last week 2 of 3 of the kids started back up at school.  Neither were terribly excited for the summer to be over, but gave me some smiles as they headed off to school for their first day back.

Sassy is beginning 7th grade.

This is the beginning of the (supposed) "dreaded" middle school years.  She started at a new school that is much larger than she is use to and she is getting up earlier than she is used to.  She gets on the bus at 6:45 am (for the previous 6 years it was 8:15am).  The thought of having to get from her class to first floor, up to second floor, back down to first and to the other side of the building (and so on) had her a bit  nervous, and for me to see this confident girl of my nervous pulled at my heart strings.  She has a full schedule, with what could be some tough classes:  S+ Math, Spanish, Woodwinds, Life Science, PE, S+ English, S+ Us Studies and FACs.

On top of that she is playing volleyball for the 9th grade team at the high school.  Meaning, everyday after school she is bused to the high school for a 2 hour practice.  Two nights a week she has matches, two nights a week she has fastpitch softball practice and every Sunday she has 2 softball games.  The girl is busy... thus making her parents busy :)  But, so far she is managing everything very well.


Action is in 4th grade at the same elementary school as previous years, but with a teacher who is new to the school.

His school also hired a new principal (thankfully!) and assistant principal.  They have been a breath of fresh air and it has only been one week.  For example,  last year the kids were "assigned" a group of kids they had to play with at recess (friends or not), then they could only pick one thing to play for the entire recess.  This year, that rule is gone.  They choose who they play with (size of groups are limited for safety) and they can play whatever they want.  So nice to see him excited about this simple change!   Anyway, week one went down as a success!  He is playing tackle football again this year.  Their first game is tomorrow night.


Smiley is once again in preschool this year.

She goes to school on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  Today is her first day back.  She was excited to get back and see some of her friends again and ready to make some new ones!  I think she was getting tired of just hanging out with me all day long now that the other two are back in school! :)


Like always, it was a bummer to say goodbye to summer ~ we tried to squeeze as much in as we could around all of the activities the kids were in.

The time they are home is fleeing and the memories we can make together are priceless (even if they don't think so now!)

Yes it can be trying to have all of the kids home all day long, every day in the summer, yes they bicker and bug each other.  Yes, I have begged for just a minute of quiet.  But before we knew it, it was already gone.  And only the memories are left.  Memories I will savor!

 I hope you are all doing well.  I am still here, and I hope you haven't written off my little blog.  I hope to get back to being more consistent again.  I have a list of blog post to write and I am looking forward to finding all of you and getting caught up.  I am so behind on my blog reading!

~ So Goodbye Summer ~

We've had a lovely time and look forward to seeing you next year and creating many many more memories.

Ice Ice Baby

Let me just start with ~ my injured foot.... STILL.HURTS (unfortunately I think this is going to be a long recovery process).

But that's not stopping me from getting out from behind the camera and getting into the picture.  So, here I am, doing what I do at least 3 times a day (thanks to 4 year old Smiley for snapping the pictures):

Hubby left for a business trip on Monday ~ and this is the text I got from him as he was waiting to board his plane:

(don't judge ~ someday I'll graduate to a "smart phone")

So glad he is back today ~ I'm tired of being a single mom (kudos to all of you who are ~  it is not an easy task!)

Oh, and don't let me forget ~ get out from behind the camera and get in front of it.  Even something as boring as icing your foot will make for good stories and interesting memories!  And if you do step out, let me know and send me a link via email or comments!

Injured Camper Alert

Every year we go camping with 2 of Hubby's good friends and their families.  It works out perfectly as we all have 3 kids and they are all very similar in age (less than a week apart in one case).  We have a central campground on a lake that we have been meeting up at for about 6 years.  The adults and kids alike look forward to this long weekend away.

This year was no different.  Last Thursday we packed up, loaded up the boat and headed out for a quick 2 1/2 hour drive.  We got to the campsite, set up our tent and got things unloaded and organized.  It was one of the girls' 13th birthday, so we grilled and ate some of her favorite things and indulged in some ice cream cake.  It was a great start to the weekend.   The evening continued as we stoked the fire, consumed some beverages and caught up with each other.  The kids went to bed and us adults continued to relax.

Around 1 am I was in need of a trip to the bathroom.  Hubby decided to walk along with me.  We  were on our way back to our campsite and began goofing off with each other.  I playfully smacked him in the stomach, he got me back, I went for him and he came back after me.  I did a quick little zig zag, dive and duck to avoid him and felt an intense pop in the arch of my foot.  The pain was fierce and the ability to put pressure on any part of my foot was completely out of the question.  Hubby carried me back to the campsite (which our friends thought was hilarious, until they realized we weren't joking).  I took some Ibuprofen and watched it begin to swell.  A trip to the ER was talked about, but given the fact that we had all been drinking was out of the question.  Around 2:30 I hopped to the tent, propped my foot in just the perfect position and went to sleep.

In the morning, still unable to put any pressure on it, Hubby skipped a morning of golfing with his buddies to take me to a local clinic (we were camping just outside of a town of about 10,000).  Unfortunately both the orthopedic doc and podiatrist were gone for the day.  I ended up seeing the Orthopedic doctor's Physician's Assistant.  He told me I had plantar fascitis (which I already knew as I had been dealing with that on and off for a month or so) and that I just needed to stay off it, ice it and take ibuprofen.  He didn't want to order an MRI as I was away from home and should wait until I got back.  But only to go see someone if it still hurt.   SO NOT HELPFUL!

Hubby's friend was able to get me some crutches to use, which I did all day Friday.  I've never had to use crutches before, but now have increased sympathy for those that do.  They stink to use!  The thought of having to crutch from our campsite to the bathroom almost brought me to tears.  As the weekend went on, I ditched the crutches, indulged in ibuprofen, gave my foot lots of rest ice baths, reduced the pain enough that I could hobble using the side of my foot, and used Sassy's bike to get around.

Today, it is still sore, I'm trying to keep off of it as much as possible (which means no running, which bites) it still hurts to put pressure on it, although it is better.  I haven't gone back to the doctor now that I am home, for a variety of reasons, but I'm pretty sure that that pop I felt was my fascitis rupturing.  The swelling has gone down, some really nice bruises appeared, and have since lightened up a bit, but here's what the bottom of my lovely foot looks like today:

Nope, I won't be getting any foot modeling jobs anytime soon!

All Glitters is Gold

There was a blogger who use to do this weekly link up called  "Embrace the Camera"  the whole premise is to step out from behind the camera and get into the pictures with your kids, spouse  and other loved ones.  As parents, we spend a lot of time capturing the memories of our kids on our memory cards, but what about us?

I know for me, when I visiting my parents, I enjoy looking through old photo albums.   I can hear myself now,  "Hey, look at my outfit!"  "Oh my gosh, look at Mom!"  "Check it out, Dad had hair AND those sideburns ~ YIKES!"  "Aww... remember us here...or here.... or doing this together...."

I really enjoy seeing pictures of me with my grandparents, who have all passed.  

All of these pictures really pull at my emotional heart strings, and I love being able to see them.

So, today, I'm bring back Embrace the Camera ~ I haven't seen it on Emily's blog in quite awhile ~ but I think it is so important, and it forces me to get into the pictures and create memories that my kids and hopefully grandkids (in many many many many years to come) will treasure.

A few weekends ago, we traveled to celebrate my cousin's wedding.  The wedding was perfect.  The music lovely, the wedding party, beautiful.  The groom handsome, and the bride gorgeous.  Their vows were written by them, they were funny, sentimental and heartfelt.

Of course, following the wedding we attended the reception, dinner and a dance.  After the dinner they announced that they had a "photo booth" set up in the corner and the more use it got the better. 

Fun, but the dancing began and I was side tracked by this guy:

He was a dancing fool!

In between songs however, we did make our way to the photo booth

And here are our sparkly, glittery results:

 (um, yeah... you could say I was a little off on my prop placement!)

(My big, happy, crazy family ~ minus 1 brother and 1 nephew)

And Hubby and I, with his words of advice for the newlyweds:

Ahh..... pictures with the people I love ~ and what a perfect back drop ~ after all, all that glitters is gold and these people are definitely more precious than all the gold in the world!

So people ~ be sure to get out from behind the camera, have fun and get in front of that thing!  

Want to "get out" with me?

Leave me a link in the comments!  

Something to Think About Sunday

In the past, when I was a more regular blogger, on Sundays I use to post something called "Something to Think About Sunday".  Most often these posts consisted of quotes, phrases or songs that got me thinking (examples: shoveling, cleaning, honk, dog).  Today is no different.

Awhile ago, I read a book titled "Kisses from Katie"

I reviewed it on my Good Reads account and here is what I wrote:

It takes an extremely strong woman (in mind and faith) to leave everything she new ~ the wealthy comforts of home ~ to go to another country to serve those less fortunate (which is an extreme understatement). At the age of 19, Katie has more love and compassion than so many of the people I know. Her love of God and the desire to serve and follow him is simply inspiring. I definitely recommend this book.

I read the book back in February and it's words continue to creep into my mind and heart.   

Let me give you an example: A couple of months ago our family had to make some decisions.  These decisions had to do with my husbands job.  His company was bought out a little over a year ago.  Things were changing ~ he had to reapply and reinterview.  He was offered a continued position with the new company, but wasn't so sure he was interested.  You see the new company is much larger than the old.  He was concerned about the new direction, and becoming just another dispensable number.  He was concerned about the lack of customer service and the way the new company treated their customers.  It was becoming something and someone he wasn't.  It was stressful not wanting to be where he was, but not knowing what was going to come.   Regardless of what he ultimately decided to do, we knew we would be ok.  And while we were stressed out and unsure, I knew that we were still so fortunate compared to so many.... compared to too many.

I kept coming back to this book and this quote/story written and witnessed by a 19 year old girl who has uprooted herself to make a difference and help those who are truly in need:

"During our one night hospital stay, doctors diagnosed sweet baby Patricia with pneumonia and severe malnutrition.  Her HIV test came back negative and I praised Jesus for that.  In the hospital, I fed her high-energy formula and then took her home to continue to care for her until she was well.  For the first twenty-four hours, I could hardly stand to look at her.  The hurt and the hunger in her lifeless little eyes were simply unbearable.  Every time I changed her diaper, it was filled with large worms - big, fat earthworm-sized worms.  To add to her misery, she could hardly sleep at night because of the cough that assailed her weak little body."

You see, this problem and stresses because of it that we were facing felt daunting, confusing and frustrating.  But as I reread this passage and many others, I was reminded to find perspective.  My family has food on the table.  We have clean water.  We are healthy.  We have family and friends we can go to in times of need.  I'm not saying that times will not come that we lose hope, hurt, cry, stress, want to quit or give up, break down or become hungry ~ physically or emotionally.  This is part of being human.  But I just hope that we can find the light where there is darkness and to keep it all in perspective.