last day of summer!

YIKES
it's my the kids last day of summer

it went too fast...

too many things that we wanted to do didn't happen...

so I am fully embracing this last day of summer...

this may or may not have been my breakfast...

and I'm not sure if the kids polished these off last night at midnight or this morning....

not sure what was happening here....
I may or may not have been reading
     and ignoring the kids letting the kids explore their creativity...

it's the last day of summer so don't judge me for my brunch...

or my lunch...

it's the LAST day of summer....
tomorrow it's back to alarm clocks...
thrown together lovingly packed lunches...
finger combing hair in the car drop of lane
     clean and tangle free hair...
dreaded hours of homework
     precious on-one-one mommy and kid time

it's the last day of summer...
the kids are trading in their flip flops for 'close-toe' shoes...
their swimsuits and towels for backpacks and folders

it's the last day of summer for the kids

time to pack up the clone trooper and TMNT costumes....

today is my last day of summer....
I think I need to read some more...

priceless moments

the kids and I hit the farmers market last Saturday...

Beau was going to the library sale and he likes to wait in line....

and well, 

well, the crew that shows up early and waits for the library sale is a very interesting mix of people...

so rather than wait around and people watch 

(it is a good group to people watch with, but maybe not with the kids in tow)...

anyways, rather than wait the kids and I walked over to the farmers market...

I wanted some peaches and some honey...

got both, and the peaches were gone by Sunday afternoon...

yeah, I know, I take amazing pictures...don't be jealous!

so back to the farmers market for us on Tuesday morning...
I wanted  needed to make a peach cobbler...
arrived at the market around 11 and the peaches were almost all gone, I asked for 10 lbs because some ladies at the office wanted some too...and some for eating...
it was the last pickin's of the day and she sold me her last 10 lbs,
& they were all seconds and needed to be used that day...
took all 10 lbs to the office
only got rid of maybe 2.5 of the 10 lbs
& I was left with just less than 8 lbs of peaches...
that needed to be uses asap...
so I set to work peeling those little guys...
and before I knew it I had a helper...
the girl child came it,
donned her apron
found a knife
and asked me how she could help...

before I knew it she had taken over all the peaches and I had moved onto making the 'cobbler' part...

it was great working together with my girl..

she peeling and slicing peaches, me mixing up the cobbler...

talking about girl stuff....

laughing...

and then cleaning up the mess of peach juice all over the floor and counters...

and then enjoying the girls first cobbler...

this was only 1 of the 2 cobblers we ended up with, the other went to our neighbors...

it was a bubbling, golden bit of heaven...

I love a good cobbler....

but a girls' first cobbler...that's just priceless...

Whole Wheat Peach Cobbler

peaches

6-8 peaches-peeled and sliced

1/2-1 cup sugar 

     (depending on the sweetness of the peaches, you may be able to cut this down to 1/4 cup)

2 Tbs cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

cobbler

1 1/2cups whole wheat flour (or regular if you want)

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

pre-heat oven to 350

place peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla into large saucepan, stir over med heat until mixture begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

while peaches are cooking mix up cobbler,

mix all dry ingredients together, and then cut in butter.  once mixture is crumbly slowly add in milk.

pour peaches into a greased 13x9 inch pan and then drop spoonfuls of cobbler over top of peaches...

bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until cobbler is golden and bubbling...

serve warm with vanilla ice cream and or whipped cream...

or for breakfast...

no judgement...

it's whole wheat, oats and peaches...that's a good breakfast...

and well it's better than doughnuts...

check out this amazing recipe book...

"New Recipes for Good Eating"...check out how happy the mom is feeding her kids the doughnuts she just fried in Crisco......

A+wesome

so the boy child's version of this shirt is done...

I had planned on making the boy version yellow...
like the yellow memo paper...
i heart those yellow pads of paper...

but, um, yeah, he has his own opinion
and he said NO...
never...
not going to wear it if you do it yellow...

so I went white like he demanded requested

 seriously mom...

 well, I know I'm cute, but really mom...

 are you almost done...

pure torture!!!
since it's sort of hard to see all the pictures on my oh, so patient model...
looking at it, the top left (his right side) stars and music notes...
our right his left is an orange guitar with flames and "Rock On" under it
then below the stars and music notes on our left/his right is "A+wesome"
then under the guitar on the right/his left is a rock...he wanted a rock under 'Rock On'...
then under the "A+" on our left/his right is a bike riding up the red line of the 'paper'
and lastly on the right/his left is a homework eating plant with the words 'Math Yum'...

 

I suggested strongly sketching out all of your images ON a piece of lined paper so you can see how it looks...
and then also using a sewing/fabric/disappearing ink marker to do the sketching onto the shirt before you break out the permanent markers...

i heart art

my girl is a little nervous about going back to school...
5th grade is making her nervous...
so I made her a little shirt to help calm her down...

I saw this cute shirt on a blog last Friday...

source-The 36th AVENUE

I liked her version of the Old Navy shirt...
but actually liked the ON one better...

Old Navy version...via The 36th AVENUE post

so...I bought the girl a plain white t...
washed and dryed it...
gathered all the materials...

ruler
washable fabric pen (to sketch the lines and doodles before using the sharpies***)
***sharpies***

and have some fun...

I really liked how it turned out...

...but then...then I learned a very painful lesson...
***Sharpies*** aren't as permanent as I once thought...

and yes, I heat set the shirt before it got wet...

I let the girl wear it to church on Sunday and then...
then... the 'popcorn incident of 2011' happened...
and well, popcorn butter...water...and bleeding of sharpies...

***Blog Note***...do not attempt to make this shirt with Sharpies unless you like the bleeding look...
...so now off to the store to buy REAL fabric markers...

wow...they aren't as cheap as Sharpies...and Sharpies aren't cheap!
and I couldn't get a decent package with a good combo of colors...
I really liked the color combo of the first Sharpie shirt I made, but couldn't find that color combo in a single package of fabric markers and I was NOT going to buy two different packages...YIKES...
so anyways, I had to settle on a different color combo...
but this combo won't bleed like the Sharpie version...

 hey, you have a birdy on your shoulder...

mom, you said NO pictures of my face...

and the girl is very happy with it also...
now the boy child wants a boy version...off to create!

shooting for the stars

yesterday I was remembering that a few times in high school and college a few of us would get together and watch a meteor shower in August...

got me thinking...

does that happen every August...

so I got on google and learned, that YES it does...

read some more about it...

it's called the Perseids meteor shower and of all the meteor showers throughout the year it's the 2nd best (the best being Geminids shower in December)....

it does happen every August...

the 'peak' nights for viewing are the 12th & 13th...but we'll have a full moon, making the sky possibly too bright to see very many of them....

1 week on either side of those dates will also work for viewing the meteors...

and the best time to view the meteor's is around midnight....

so the girl child had a friend staying the night last and I told them around 8 that I was going to wake them up at midnight to watch a meteor shower...

the response was lots of jumping and screaming...

and then the questions of what and why...

what was a meteor shower?  

what would happen if a meteor landed in our backyard?

why wake them up at midnight?  

why can't they just stay up until midnight?

answered all their questions and tucked them into bed...

stayed up until about 11 myself, tried to make it to midnight, but my eyes were just too heavy...

set my alarm...

woke up at midnight...

went outside to check it out before getting the kids up...

and the sky was too bright with the combo of the moon and the city lights...

so I went back to bed, not going to wake up sleeping kids to look at a nothing sky...

all asked me this morning why I didn't wake them up...

now I'm thinking I should have woke them up...

maybe tonight I can convince Beau to pack up the car and drive north a little out of town to see if we can catch a few of those falling stars...

some lessons I learned when shooting for the stars..

1. rather than tell the kids of what 'might' happen surprise them when it DOES happen...

2.  IF you tell kids something is going to happen...it's best to follow thru even if it's not as great as you were hoping...

3.  I'm way older than I was in high school and college when I would stay up late with friends watching these...

I'll update this post...if/when we try again tonight....

who knew

we all had one...

we loved the Zelcro close...
we HAD to have one...
we doodled hearts and flowers all over it...
but did you know....
that the Trapper Keeper....
is a 'keeper' for this...

your 'Trapper'....

Yeah...Beau and I...
and when I say Beau and I...I mean Beau...
discovered that a 'Trapper' was a folder...
and that's where the name 'Trapper Keeper' came from...
cuz you KEEP your Trappers there...

were we the ONLY ones that never knew this???

Bag Lady

or Tote Lady...whatever...

my friend 

Mrs. Smith, of The Smith Hotel...

...yep...you read that right...

I'm friends with THE Mrs. Smith...

of The Smith Hotel...

yep...I know her...

we hang some times...

I even... sort-of.. single-handedly...

might...have... possibly...

even taught her daughter how to ride a bike last night...

...or maybe I had nothing to do with it and it was just pure magic...

not really sure...

anyways...back on task...

my friend Mrs. Smith over at The Smith Hotel is having a giveaway...

yep...she is...

and it's this amazing canvas The Smith Hotel tote...

 take it to the farmers market

to the pool or beach ...
or dried up water feature in your backyard...no judgement...

or the library....

now that you know you need this...
here's how you can get your very own!!!


All you need to do is be a follower...
of The Smith Hotel...
     not ChambersMade...but that'd be nice too...
and leave a comment! ...at The Smith Hotel
     ...not ChambersMade...but that'd be nice too
Enter a second time if you let your blog followers know!
     (leave a comment at The Smith Hotel when you do)
Contest winner will be announced on August 9th!

This tote will also get you 10% off your purchase anytime Mrs. Smith is at a show!
If you don't win this tote now-you can still get one!
They will be available at her booth over at Oregon Street Antique Mall too!

Plus the first 10 customers that purchase $30 or more at The Burlap Harlot Show will receive one FREE...
so don't you fret....
you have lots of ways to get your hands on this pretty little thing...
but the easiest...
and cheapest...
free-est (just made up that word)...
is to go over and become a follower of Mrs. Smith at The Smith Hotel.

now back to reality...
hanging out next to my dried up water feature in my backyard!
.

sleepy

Yesterday I dragged myself thru the day...
I was so sleepy...
I couldn't keep my eyes open, yawning all day long...
I had had not 1
not 2
but 3 cups of coffee...

   

almost had cup number 4 but it was 3 pm and decided that wasn't a good idea...
ended up going to bed at 8:30...
yes, the kids are gone for the week and mom's in bed at 8:30...that's how we party!
since I went to bed at 8:30, I was wide awake at 5:30 this morning,
I stroll out to the kitchen to make the coffee...
and grabbed the coffee out of the freezer...
and just before I pour the beans into the grinder I realize that I had just grabbed the decaf...
the same coffee that I had used yesterday...
....decaf....
today will be better...
I will have regular coffee today and hope that this mom can make it past 8:30!!!