Here Comes Maple

I read recently that, even with the ubiquitous nature of all things pumpkin spice, it's actually maple that's making a surge.  I had to giggle when I saw this at ALDI the other day:

And then just a short while later that same day, I opened the mail to find this ad:

I woulda loved to have had a third example here but I ran out of time...!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The Kiddie(s) and The Mother

Built-in Bestie

It's always good to have partner in "No, we don't want to go do x,y,z that you're telling us to do so we're just going to hug each other and be really cute instead!!"

Still Going...

Listen, if Nabisco is gonna keep pumping out the flavors, we're gonna keep eating 'em!

Thanks to loyal reader Susan for letting me know there was a new one to look out for-- I was so excited to find it last week!  I haven't tried one yet, actually, but the kids give it a thumbs-up and it's the same graham-flavored cookies as the Apple Pie ones so I would believe they are delicious!

FreeFlow

Miss C has been acquiring bags and bags of hand-me-downs from a good friend of her brother's.  We are getting them as they are being outgrown, so the clothes are still several sizes too large for C.  She recently acquired this flowy skirt, however, and--big or not--can't stop putting it on during the day as dress-up (hence why it doesn't actually match the top):

Immediately after this pic, she went out in the yard and practiced her cartwheels.  Girl loves to do that...and no giant flowing skirt will get in her way!

Take That!

I am so pleased to announce that--after the early-season chomp session--we have some okra growing!  I meant to get out there a few days ago to snap a pic of the very pretty flowers but, alas, I took too long.

But do you see?  In the foreground and then there are several in the background.  Also in the background?  Those pesky deer who were the chompers in the first place!

Happy Friday!

In-the-Thick-of-It Thursday

There's no school here today for us, nor can the BG have practice.  (Technically, it's a non-instructional day on the calendar but it just happens to be Rosh Hashanah.)

I initially had all these visions for FAMILY FUN DAY!  ADVENTURE!  EXCITING TIMES!.....but....the BG and I each have a mile-long list of work projects to do.  He's already been up grading papers since 5am and I'm trying to get myself pumped up to start the five or so different tasks I have on my agenda.  Sigh.

Here's to a productive day for us all!

Tip-Top Topper

We have started a thing where the kids have to play outside for 30 minutes when they get home from school. It's really warm here this week but it was pleasant and we actually all stayed out for an hour! At various points, a child would disappear into the house to get/do something, and I never knew how they would reappear...

Miss C went in to change her shirt, and emerged for playtime in a rather large floppy hat:

Then this guy took it-- and practiced some looks:

He was even sporty while wearing it!

And this one (and neighbor friend) rolled down the hill...sans hat but full of laughs:

Active family success!

Spirited Ghost?

Ha ha!  Spirit!  Ghost!  Didn't even put those two words together intentionally!

ANYWAY.

A local Waco spirit shop posted this pic of a dog showing its Baylor pride:

Some of you loyal readers may do a double-take because this pup looks very similar to Houston Moore, who joined the fam back in 1992(ish).  I'm sure the Ghost of Houstie be so happy to wear some green & gold.....just not anywhere near a vacuum cleaner or a running refrigerator...

FINtastic!

As you might recall, Mr. B did a year-round (once weekly, nothing crazy) swim program last year.  After his summer on swim team, he's moved up a level and I also signed up Miss C so that she'd be ready to take the pool by storm next summer for her first year on the big team.

The 2017-2018 program started yesterday and these kids jumped right in.  I was really proud of the B-man-- at one point, I looked down from the stands to find him in a lane and couldn't believe that he was the one rockin' and rollin' his way right down the middle.  He looked great-- and didn't even complain!  He even said it was pretty good!  (big victory!)

Miss C also went right into it, but there were a few tears afterward as she felt like it was "super hard."  Makes sense that she might think that since she's two years younger than her brother was when he first started.  But she's so tough and is going to be great!

You know what else is great?  Celebratory bubble teas from a new-to-us place!

I should probably be thrown in mother jail for allowing my kids to have such GIANT treats.  What kind of place makes the SMALLer size be 25 oz?!  That's crazy talk!  At least these two are pretty good at shutting things off when they're full.  Next time, we're picking one and splitting it three ways!  (Which will be tricky since someone only ever wants a pink one!)

Strange People but not Strangers

I have adored Brian Andreas' StoryPeople since buying a print in a Seattle gift shop at the front end of our honeymoon...just a few years ago. I was tickled to find "the one that started it all" (for us) on the Instagram feed:

Look!  They even got the height differential right!

HAPPY FRIDAY from this strange bird (who is never alone in her strangeness as long as the BG is around)!   :-)

Throwback Thursday: Three Days Early and Eight Years Late

I was looking back to see if anything interesting had been posted on Sept. 14th in the past.  In my perusing, I came across a post from Sept. 17th, eight years ago, that just has it all: deep thoughts, recipes, a wee B-man video, and a lively comments section! (RIP to both lively comments sections and one of the most active commenters, aka Opa.)

In any case, it's always fun to look back and "see where we were" at a given point in the past.  This post is particularly amusing to me since the first two paragraphs describe a truth that still exists for me today, and one that has swung the other direction since I now am involved in so many work/volunteer projects.  As it turns out, I'm back to waking up in the middle of the night worried about getting things done, and it's often because others don't take things as seriously as I do.  It's also true that I know now that I take things more seriously than I should and I'm trying to be better about that.  Look at that-- GROWTH! :-)

Anyway, come for the flashback, stay for the video of 1.5 year old B "singing"!

Check it out here:  The Answer is a Big Ol' NO (9/17/09)

Wednesday Randoms

I got nothing to show.

Other thoughts:

• We have tacos pretty much weekly because the B-man actually eats them without complaint!  I use ground turkey and Penzey's taco seasoning (but of course)!  I've also started doing a "pico" as an accompaniment (that only the adults like) that's super easy: chop up tomatoes, onion, and cilantro and then squeeze lime juice as the only liquid.  Oh, and lots of salt-- OBVS.
• (We had tacos last night, which is why this is on my mind.)
• In other food news, Miss C has pretty much determined that she no longer likes any of the breakfast/lunch foods that her brother definitively likes. So that's awesome for meal planning.
• You'd think that, for all the angst that's been in my life re: food the last 9 years, I'd have given up on it and be really skinny right now.  You'd be wrong.
• I banged into a doorframe the other day because I don't even know my own width.  It's so depressing. Sigh.
• I shouldn't write these randoms when I'm feeling blech about myself.
• Then I'd never write these randoms.
• Wow, this is getting dark.
• I'm really fine!  :-)   Just having trouble accepting that "old age" (I know, I know-- I'm not that old) is making lots of physical things (like losing weight) harder.  And then, to add to it, it hurts to stand up after bending over most of the time.  Ack!
•  [PAUSE]
• Just got back from walking kids to the bus stop.  Our trash can is already empty, but I'm pretty sure our trash truck doesn't come until later in the day.  Sooo...I think another company picked it up accidentally.  (We're all responsible for our own trash pickup, so there are many different trucks that come down our street on various days.) I'm kinda tempted to stop paying for ours and see if the other guys keep picking it up!  ;-)
• I'm back in the swing of my Wednesday morning "Moments for Moms" small group at church.  We actually started last week.  And you know what?  I haven't done my homework for today.  I KNOW.  When did we EVER think Emily wouldn't do homework?  ;-)
• I do think I'll shower and make myself presentable, however.....TOODLES!

Numerical Order

There are 14 girls on Miss C's 1st grade soccer team.  Apparently they lined up in height order to get uniforms and these three besties were pretty excited to be right in a row! 

I had no idea they were getting such legit uniforms, so that was a fun little surprise.  I see that we need some remedial work in folding down our socks, however... 

It's Gonna Be A Long Fall

(wait-- did I already say that last Monday?  Didn't even look.)

Sooo....the Rams lost their game Friday night and it was the game thought to be the most likely win for the year.  So, um, that's not looking good.

(We won't mention the Bears here but with their own 0-2 start-- against what are generally assumed to be "cupcake teams"--it's not looking good, either.)

The kids and I didn't arrive at the away game until just about halftime since our PTA Back-to-School Picnic was earlier in the evening.  Thankfully, it was a really positive event and everybody had a great time.  At least something went well...

I snapped this pic during the game, mostly to show Big D that, since the rules now prohibit the use of electronic signboards to display the called plays, his son now stuffs large pieces of (I assume) colored construction paper in his waist band to be ready to be used as signals:

And then I stole this from the photographer because it shows him a little more " in action":

The game was actually quite close (27-18) but we're just not sure what will happen in the next eight.  He keeps trying to figure out new ways to "coach 'em up"-- we'll see how it goes!

Overwhelmed...but "Good"

I don't know how to talk about the current state of our lives without sounding unnecessarily overdramatic (because we're totally fine), but MAN, there's a lot going on right now.  I can't even take the time to detail everything because I have 87 things to accomplish today and am already behind.  Suffice it to say that the adults in this house might each have a propensity to take on a lot--and dig in to do it ourselves since we know we have high standards and aren't so sure about others! ;-)  Yes, I know we should delegate-- you don't need to tell me that.

ANYWAY.

B-man described his family on a homework sheet:

But we'll keep the scamp around since he's also the sweetest (and I don't throw around that word like lots of Texans! Ha!).  I had to go to a meeting last night but the BG was still at practice and then had his school's Back-to-School Night, so I found a friend of Miss C's whose mom was willing to watch her.  I was going to leave B at home, but the mom asked if he could come, too, because her 4-year old son loves him so much.  When I picked them up at 7:50, she beckoned me down the hall to peek in on the B-Man "putting him to bed."

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Mmmmm.....and Easy!

Every now and then, I like to buy buttermilk (especially when it's on sale because I am drawn to any and all bargains!).  The grocery store I most often frequent only sells it in a tall carton (a quart, I suppose) so one can get several uses from it.

I planned to make scones over the weekend and had tracked down a recipe with buttermilk.  Then I didn't make them over the weekend because I decided to do it for the first day of school....and then that didn't happen....so I decided to make them yesterday.  Why not?

Unfortunately, I made this decision at 5:30am so it was too late for them to be ready before the BG left at 6, but we managed to save a couple for his return.

ANYWAY.

What I find interesting about this recipe is that it only has 3 Tbsp of butter, which is a lot less than many scone recipes.  Since it also only has 1/3 C of sugar, it's not the worst baked good in the world, health-wise.  As far as a basic breakfast carb, they were pretty tasty!
(I didn't do the glaze.  Fairly certain that would have made them even tastier but, you know, less "healthy"!)

Lemon Buttermilk Scones

(Ha-- I just looked again at the recipe link and am reminded that I also didn't shape them into wedges as directed.  We're more "drop and go" around here!  They're fluffy, just like me!  :-)

Continuing The Tradition

It takes a special kind of obsessive to keep up this trend...but the time it took me to put these collages together yesterday morning was super worth it for my satisfaction levels!  :-)

(with pink "height constant" lines drawn to help with scale):

The B-man pointed out that we no longer have the giant tree by which he always posed.  So instead we have kids looking sad by some mushrooms growing out of the place where there once was a tree:

You can see the crepe myrtle that we planted; there's another (smaller and different variety) planted either directly behind them or just offscreen.  And the BG planted grass seed on the giant mulch pile so hopefully that will fill in eventually.

September 2017: still dabbing  (sigh)

It's the First Day of School (finally)!!!

Celebrate with a new (and delicious!) Oreo flavor!

Last Day of "Summer"

Get out there and set yourself up a "jump over all the things" course!

On Trend

How cool did I feel when I opened the most recent Entertainment Weekly and saw that the #2 entry on The Must List looked a whole lot like my nightstand?

(Answer:  PRETTY COOL!)

I actually had already finished the book so I might even be considered AHEAD of the trend!  ;-)  I would recommend-- it wasn't earth-shattering or particularly amazing, but I do love stories involving a college setting and this fits the bill.

HAPPY FRIDAY!