Back to school they go

I wish I could say I love it when my kids go back to school, but the opposite is true. We had a wonderful summer together and I'll miss them and our carefree lifestyle of the summer.

That being said, once the kids were in their classroom they discovered they were happy to be there. They saw their friends again, unpacked all their shinny new school supplies and were wooed by their teachers and all the fun things they get to do this year.

We traditionally do a supper of their choosing on the first day of school and I had some very cool cupcakes I planned to make, but it is WAY to hot here to even think about turning on the stove. Instead we met grandma, grandpa and Auntie Rachel at BP's and had a celebratory supper there.

This is what the first day of school does to little boys,

and big boys too.

Randomness

I saw these fake sushi on a website awhile back and thought the kids would probably love them. Nolan and his best buddy were bored today, goodness me I can't imagine such a thing, so they whipped up these little tasty treats.

I bought this at the Farmers market yesterday because it intrigued me. It's a Kohlrabi. I have no ideas what to do with it. Any suggestions?

This is the way my kitchen looks as I go to bed tonight and may even look worse when I wake in the morning. I've cleaned it 6 times today, which appears to be my limit.

A childhood lesson

This is a picture of our Nolan taken awhile back after a few days of rainy weather. You'll need to click on the picture to view it up close to fully appreciate all the mud that is oozing out of the tire rims - it's just a big mess.

I thought it was hilarious when I saw Nolan and his bike; Noli was walking his bike home and both he and the bike were covered in mud - I giggled when he asked me to help him clean it. I handed him the hose, gave a few helpful pointers such as, throw the mud over the fence and told him to get to work - does that make me a bad mom?

Nolan was on his way to visit his best buddy and hit the muddy road, I think he thought he could out ride it. He didn't make it very far before he realized he was stuck.

I totally have tons of memories as a kid, getting into these sort of scrapes. My kids really haven't had much of an opportunity to have these sorts of adventures because I've keep them so close and watched over. Sucks to be a kid now days. There are no days spent out at the canal exploring and only coming home when your stomach told you it was time to eat.

Apricot-Mustard Pork Chops

This was our supper tonight and the real reason I am sharing it with you is because of the Smuckers Double Fruit Apricot Jam. Have you ever tried it? I licked a smudge off my finger and thought I had died and gone to heaven. I suddenly wanted to bath in the stuff. It was that good. I want to make toast just so I can smother the top with these luscious preserves, or dish up a big bowl of ice-cream and pour it all over top. Really I should just save myself the extra calories and eat it right out of the jar.

I could go on all night about Smuckers so I'll move onto the recipe.

Apricot-Mustard Pork Chops

1/3 cup apricot spreadable fruit or peach preserves

1 Tbsp prepared mustard (I'm not a big fan of prepared mustard, so I used a course ground mustard instead)

1/8 tsp ground ginger

4 pork loin chops, cut 1 1/4" thick.

1. For the glaze, combine preserves, mustard and ginger; set aside.
2. Ever so neatly trim the nasty old fast off the chop and season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat your grill, turn down to medium heat and adjust for indirect heat. Grill for 35-40 minutes and glaze with sauce frequently during last ten minutes of grilling.

Yum!

The potatoes are a little something I picked up from my mom and the boys go crazy over them - we never have leftovers. Cut up baby potatoes, place on tinfoil, pour a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) over the tiny tots, be generous with the S & P. Wrap up in the foil and cook on the BBQ.

Salads I find very freeing; I used to feel tied down to recipes and having the exact ingredients, but those days are over. Mix greens serve as my base, then pretty much whatever I find in my fridge has a good chance of making it's way into my salad. Tonight I found walnuts, strawberries and some brie cheese - topped it off with some fig dressing and it's done!

If you're interest Shane has also posted a video on his blog - he capture my mom swinging on the rope swing, along with witty commentary.

Part 2.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The remaining days of our vacation were spent at the lake soaking up some rays and cooling off in the water.





We attempted to go crawdad hunting this year, we had no luck. In years past, at Talley Lake, the little crawdads would start to come out as soon as our beach was in the shade, so I thought it would be a cinch to catch them at night. It was a bust, next year I'll be more prepared and my kids (and Paul) won't be disappointed.

Whitefish

Whitefish is one of my favorite parts of the summer. It's filled with:

family,

swimming,

boating,

skiing,

tube riding,

fishing,

hiking,

laughing,

shopping,

stuffing ourselves with tons of delicious food until we are sick.

In short it's heaven!

Day 1. - Rainy - which of coarse makes it perfect for a day of shopping. We also tried out a new restaurant called 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. We gorged on salty roasted peanuts and causally tossed them to the ground, home cut fries (so so tasting) and ginormous burgers - which were the best I've tasted.

Day2 - Sunday

Day 3 - Hike up to Avalanche Lake. I think it was one of the most spectacular hikes I've ever rambled through. There were lots of little spots along the way for the kids to veer off and explore. The boys fished at the lake and the Jarom and Meggie tried to catch friendly little chipmunk in their lunch bags - Uncle Shane was the only successful one; so funny my side hurt from laughing.

Warm and Cozy

Another one of the goals I set for this summer was to learn something new. Yesterday I started the long hard journey to acquiring this skill. My knitting expert friend taught me the tricks of the trade over and over and over and over and then sent me home to practice and practice some more. This is my 3rd go round trying to figure out how to knit a sock, yes that's right my friends, this beautiful ball of yarn will someday be adorning my feet.

I will prevail at this, my kids and hubby may go hungry, my house may look like a tornado tore through it, I myself, may begin to develop personal hygiene problems; but I will master these socks!

Summer Reading

1. The Birth House - I read this book a couple of summers ago and loved it. I chose it as my book to reread this summer.
2. Still Alice - interesting - good read.
3. The Book of Negroes- I want to read this one, but I'm a little anxious as to what awaits me inside it's pages. It's the same feeling I had about A Thousand Splendid Suns. It took me awhile to build up the courage to read it, but once I did I loved it.
4. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters - I can't remember what this one is about and why I wanted to read it, so I'll let you know.
5. World's Without End - This book is never ending, seems like I've been reading it forever. Not sure if it's worth the time I've invested in it, but I'm curious to know how the story plays out.

Looking for a Supper Idea?

Try these out:

Sensational Sirloin Kabobs

Sooooo delicious.

The Man, The Boy and The Mountain

This boy is amazing.

He climbed this mountain.

It was steep,

but his dad was there to encourage him along.


There were low points,



and lots of high points.






The Summit.

Nolan age 9 will be forever recorded at the top of Crowsnest Mountain.

The Candy Parade

The Anticipation

The Reward

You may or may not have noticed that the middle is missing. Actual pictures of the parade and candy scramble are missing. Sometimes I feel like I miss the event because I am too busy trying to photograph it. This year I opted to enjoy the happiness first hand, instead of through the lens of a camera.

I loved watching my kids get excited over the anticipation of the floats, horses and costumes. I loved seeing them clap and cheer and cajole people on the floats to throw candy their way, but most of all I loved watching Katrina take out little kids in her quest to acquire candy.

Take note that Russell can barely hold up his candy bag and his mom is standing closely by, guarding her prizes of sugary goodness.

I am in love

with this baby Even teething , she is the cutest baby I have ever had the pleasure of holding, cuddling, and rocking to sleep. I was too busy holding her or thinking of ways to get her back from her mama to spend time photographing her; as a result this is one of the few pics I have of her.

I think her mama should move in with me or let me have that baby. Either way I'd be happy.

I'm Losing It

This morning I wore my shirt inside out to the Farmers Market.