if not now...when?

back to school 2010

well, another summer has come to a close here in so cal. it was late this year - furlough days kept us on vacation until mid-september... not that i'm complaining! if there is one thing most people know about me, it's that i LOVE having my kids home with me. sending them back to school is just sad, sad, sad for me. this year was tough because we have had some pretty major changes at our school, and i have actually been dreading it more than the average year.

thankfully, though, kids are so resilient and much stronger than we as parents give them credit for. we had our first day yesterday, and i think we can make this a successful year for everyone. happy dance for mama! i'm going to do my level best to keep from yanking them out and homeschooling every time i am frustrated. ;)

 

my little social butterfly was the one in the family utterly excited to go back. this one loves flitting from the playground to the soccer field, playing with her friends and just having a general great time. it's so nice to see her blossom with the other kids. she's just the outgoing on in the family. hopefully, second grade with be a great year for her!

 

and then there is this guy. just looking at this picture makes me want to burst with pride and have a massive anxiety attack all at once. it's so HIM - the big boy with the VERY grown up face, with the little boy in the star wars lego shirt still hanging on. i cannot believe how old he looks here. he was hesitant about this year. our school is unusual in that the kids stay with the same teachers for multiple years. he absolutely loved his teacher last year, and she has always been the fourth grade teacher as well. with the mess that our school districts are in and facing massive budget cuts, we lost one of our 4 teachers last year, and the classroom shuffle was on. both of my kids got caught up in it, but jack was pretty devastated to lose his favorite teacher. change doesn't sit well with this one. ;) but the day really went smoothly and i think he accepted the situation with a great deal of maturity and poise. proud of this one, i am...

i found these cute little back to school treats via my friend lisa on facebook. rolo pencils and hershey's kisses points?? seriously, who comes up with this stuff?? i made them for the kids, their teachers, their new principal, and our sweet school secretary. how CUTE are these??

 

 

i guess they were featured in creating keepsakes recently, but i must have missed that issue. i'm so glad i saw them online. they were really fun.

and me, well, only 173 days of school until summer vacation, so there ya go! ;) no, really,  i am going to work to make this a productive and fun year for them both. even though we might not choose the homeschool route, i still have some plans in store for us. i think fourth grade in CA is the BEST year, so i have a big "field trip" planned for me and jack to visit sacramento and some of the historical sights in nor cal. really, really looking forward to that. sarah will be getting the chance to take some fun classes and maybe join another soccer team. she enjoyed it last year. and of course, time to go back to brownies and boy scouts. busy busy busy!

have a great day! :)

 

reflections made me do it!

last weekend, my friends susan and karen held their annual scrapbook retreat reflections in newport beach. i was fortunate to be able to be on hand to help out by being a TA and a general runner-arounder-and-get-stuff-doner. true to the bar that they set at their inaugural event last year, the did a fabulous job again this year. they really pay attention to details and to the happiness and comfort of their guests. the amount of work that goes into an event like this is astounding, and i am happy that it was so successful for them! :)

i was able to help out in the classes of a couple of their instructors, kelly goree and kelly purkey. both of these girls just really ooze talent. you know i'm not one to suck up to someone because they are well known in the scrapbook industry or anything, so believe me when i say from the heart that there is a heap of talent and creativitity going on there. they both inspired me to go home and do some scrapping, and that's just what i did! 

i've been doing some traveling in the past month, so i have an abundance of photos to scrap. hopefully, i will stay on this creative streak! 

this one is based on a studio calico sketch, and it is sarah with her little best bud at her birthday party.

 

i was fortunate enough to take a trip with some friends to victoria, BC last month, and let me tell you, the flowers up there were outstanding. i took sooooo many pictures, it will be a challenge to be able to display or share them all. i thought this layout would be a good little sample.

 

i found this layout i did recently that i don't think i have shared. my sweet babies.

 

hmmm, that is a little crooked, and look, they actually look like they love each other here!! ;) that's what my journaling was about - for them to remember these times when they are getting along. otherwise they might go through life thinking that they just want to rip each others throats out... lol! 

mother's day was very sweet around here this year. i got a couple of books from my amazon wish list (love those things!!) - pioneer woman cooks and blogging your bliss. looks like i have some reading to do, and maybe some cooking, too. PW's book is beautifully put together and photographed - very colorful, just like her cooking tutorials on her blog. love those crash hot potatoes!! and if you haven't heard of blogging your bliss, you really should check out tara frey's blog. beee-u-tiful!!

my best gifts, however, came from the heart. really deep down in the heart. like this.

 

now THAT, my friends, is what it is all about. hope your day was as wonderful as mine! xoxo

this is why...

we do what we do as moms. a little scene i found in my family room today, complete with the holder.

 

by sarah. her little contribution to our halloween decor. made me smile. :)

i love chalkboards. and i love my little artist! 

1 down, 179 to go!

ah, the first day of school. around here, it doesn't seem to be cause for celebration. rather, it tends to have us crying into our soup for summer and freedom, complete with talk of homeschooling and dropping out of the system. it's sort of a pattern around here.... ;)

but, in jack's words, today was "better that i expected". this is his first year with a new teacher since first grade, so he was quite nervous. but i think it went well and he ended up being happy to see his friends. dodged a bullet on that one, my friends. i wasn't looking forward to tearful mornings and an unhappy boy. i'm so proud of my smart, but shy third grader! 

 

and then there is sarah. no one will ever accuse her of being a wallflower! she's been so excited to start school. a big day in first grade. a full day in school. i was a little worried because her good friends all seemed to be moving away, and i wasn't sure what the day would be like. but she was ready and raring to go! one of her good buddies is back, and we have another year with the same teacher. and let me tell you - it's going to be an interesting year! she's in a combo class with 16 kindergartners from 8-11:20. when the kinders go home, there are FOUR first graders left from 11:20-2pm. your eyes aren't deceiving you. FOUR kids. and 2 1/2 glorious hours of more attention than they can probably stand! and in a public school!! weird, eh?? but i think it could be a positive thing. here's hoping for a great year for my girl! :)

and a special treat for my kids this year - their cousin, eli, will be joining them at our little school. it's pretty funny that half of the first grade class is from our family! ;) the kids are so excited to have their cousin there with them. 

here's hoping for a successful year! i will miss them so much every day. i love having my kids home with me, and it is NOT easy for me to send them off. we'll all take it one day at a time, and before we know it, it will be june again. we'll be ready for it! ;)

happy back to school! 

*happy thanksgiving to you*

we had our cute little politically incorrect thanksgiving feast at the kids school today. they all made macaroni necklaces and pilgrim and indian hats. they ate a turkey feast, and chased each other around the playground. we dodged the rain - whew! here are a couple of pics of the kids in their finery. :)

next year, they both get to be pilgrims - they are very excited! :)

i took my pumpkin crunch cake to the feast that we prepared for the teachers and staff. they got "real" food. i don't know how "thankful" we would appear if we made them eat that school food. **shudder** everyone loved the cake and wanted the recipe, so i thought i'd share it here. it's not my recipe - i'm not even sure where i got it, but dang, it *is* good!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) -- (29 oz.)

1 can evaporated milk -- (12 oz.)

1 C. sugar

3 eggs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon  (i use a little cinnamon and a little allspice)

1 box yellow cake mix

1 C. chopped nuts (i use pecans)

1 cup butter -- melted and cooled

Frosting:

1 pkg. cream cheese -- (8 oz.)

3/4 C. Cool Whip

1/2 C. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" x 13" pan with waxed paper. Mix pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon together and pour into pan. Sprinkle yellow cake mix (dry) over pumpkin mixture and pat nuts on cake mix. Spoon melted butter over nuts evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully invert and peel off waxed paper. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Mix frosting ingredients together, frost cake and refrigerate.

BEWARE!!!! this dessert is terrible for you, but you won't be able to stop eating it, and anytime you take it to a gathering, people will want you to bring it forever and ever and they'll also want the recipe! ;) it's sooooo good!

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to my so cal readers, here is something you might want to look into for some serious christmas fun. the fillmore and western railway up in fillmore, CA (west of valencia and magic mountain) offers a christmas tree train. you and your family take an old-fashioned train ride to a local christmas tree farm to pick a fresh christmas tree. your tree is cut down and loaded on to a train flatbed for your trip back to their vintage train depot. they also offer a north pole express train and dinner with santa. fillmore isn't exactly close to orange county... but we don't have too many options for fun things like this locally. they have pictures on their website. i don't know if i am going to make it up there this year, but i would love to hear about it if anyone does. we have gone up there for the thomas and friends days, and it is a great daytrip for something really unique. :) and with gas prices way down, this might be a fun way to spend a day!

i hope that everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving full of family, food, love, and lots to be thankful for. we will be spending the day with family tomorrow, and i just feel with all of the uncertainty in the world right now, it is important to remember how much we DO have to be thankful for. it's easy to forget when we hear so much doom and gloom in the news. i know that for me - we have our children and everyone is happy and healthy. seriously, what more could i ask for? yep. lots to be thankful for in my neck of the woods. (((((hugs))))) to all my friends out there. i am also so thankful for YOU! :) happy thanksgiving!

we made butter!

and it was oh, so fun and satisying! :)

i stumbled on to this cool website after stumbling around a bunch of eat local websites. she had a cool little post about making your own butter with your KITCHEN AID! sarah was anxious to help after we bought this apron for her at anthropologie today. (it's a little bit big on her.)

but anyways....  this is when i really, really wish that i had better lighting in my kitchen. hmmm, we have the lights ordered. i guess i  need to see when they are getting installed. it sucks to take pics in there. but here we are.

my old, old kitchen aid. if it ever dies, i promise to buy one of the big, colorful mixers they have at williams sonoma! but this trusty little thing has been with me for for gosh, 15 years?

 

but it is still whirring along...

and we have butter!! not only that, we have buttermilk, too! :) just in time for pancakes sunday morning!

the instructions (which originally came from here) said not to use ultra-pasteurized whipping cream, but that was all i could find. :( i went to two different stores - and the best i could do was horizon organic. i'll have to keep looking around and see if maybe whole foods has it. i'd like to see what difference it makes...

but really, this ultra-pasteurized version tastes great to me! it was pretty exciting to see whipping cream transform itself like that. i really am a city girl, aren't i?

maybe there is still hope for this one. isn't she cute?

and in a little bit of blogging housekeeping, it doesn't look like i have been hit with this new typepad posting format that i keep reading about. i'm a little skeered - it sounds a little messed up. i guess they haven't rolled it out 100%, and they haven't switched me over. i'm anxious to see what it's like.

we saw indiana jones and the crystal skull yesterday afternoon. the kids and i really enjoyed it. not as good as raiders or the last crusade, but better than temple of doom. we were entertained, and that says a lot since we rarely go to the movies. much more excited about this!! i cannot wait. and if carrie and big don't get married, well, i am just going to cry!

new banner...

karen, does that picture look familiar? ;)

thanks again for the replies on my jack/school post. i'm still thinking, but i have months to make a decision... i know it will work out whatever i decide to do.

i will come up with some sort of challenge "assignments" for the jenni bowlin kit. they should be arriving early this week, for those who ordered. she has the monthy inspirations up - check them out!

check out our local idea of SNOW.

its either that or this, so we'll take what we can get. ;)

if you want to take a look at a GREAT blog, check out kellicrowe. boop - thanks SO much for having me give her a second look. she is hilarious, yet she really has a lot to say. so, i'm shouting out to her here. i love her homeschooling posts, and i loved, loved, loved her shelter post. wow. and she is a kickass scrapper.

happy monday - it is midnight, and i have to go to bed! *muah*