Back to School Madness

I realize it's been almost a century since I posted. I'm sorry about that. I've thought of posting a few things here and there but it's been so busy around here and I put the computer away for a few days to get things done and enjoy my last few days of summer vacation. Here are a few of the activities we've been partaking in lately:

I made these Cowboy Calzone from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. They were delicious!! They don't reheat well. I had more filling than pizza dough so I saved the filling in the fridge. It makes great burritos the next day. I would probably try adding some refried beans to the burritos though.

We took Aidan to the pool for the first time. He loved it! Quite different from natural water.

I've been busy being the hands-on mom I thought I'd be all summer. Gee, where did the time go? Anyway, I started making Aidan a felt face set. I suppose you could just go buy a Mr. Potato Head, but this is more creative. The facial features come off and you can rearrange the face. I just have to make more pieces first.

We also made finger paint from flour, salt, and water. It's sticky and thick, but you know it's safe if your little one decides to eat it. I'll post the recipe one of these days if anyone's interested.

We made three colors by using food coloring drops.

Then we set up outside to help manage the mess.

Aidan didn't like the finger paint at all. He didn't want to touch it. Instead he used his Crayola paints as I posted about a few months ago. He likes to try to suck the paint out of them before I catch him.

I used those to paint his feet and do a footprint. He didn't like this process too well either, so the right one didn't turn out as well.

I also got started making Aidan's growth chart. Here it's just a board but presently I have it cut down, sanded, and painted white. Now I have to get creative about the decoration, I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet. I'll try to post the full project when finished.

We also had fun trying out this idea:

I just mixed some food coloring in with water before making ice cubes out of it. These are this funny shape because we happened to have those water-bottle sized ice trays that make the round cubes to slip into bottles.

We put them in the tub with him to watch them melt and so he could feel the difference in the warm water and cold ice. Be careful though, small cubes are a choking hazard as they melt. Stick to the bigger ones and as they dissolve keep them out of little mouths.

It'll turn the water funny colors, too.

The other night during story time Aidan took pleasure in sticking out his tongue. It was pretty funny.

I got out the camera and snapped a few photos and video.

On Wednesday, we filled a baby pool with spaghetti and let the little ones "swim" in it. They didn't really take to the idea of swimming though, instead it became a spaghetti flinging contest. There was spaghetti ALL over the yard surrounding the pool. It was a lot of fun, albeit messy. I have video of that as well, perhaps I'll add some clips later.

Now that I've been to orientation at school, summer fun time is drawing to a close. It's about school supplies, textbooks, and parking permits. The seasonal fun isn't all over, we'll fit it in between studying and fieldtrips, but I'm about to feel the affects of being in class full time Monday through Friday instead of spreading it out and taking classes online. My schedule will be much different, and convenience products will probably fill the gaps in my life. Like frozen pie crust. If I get around to baking that Chicken Pot Pie I was planning on, I'm using frozen crust...that's why they invented those products, to save our time.

Until next time...hopefully it won't be 20 days again...thanks for reading!!

Too Many Forks, Not Enough Fire

It's been one week...without Facebook.


I'm sort of working on my internet addiction. I wouldn't call it an addiction entirely, but I spend WAY too much time in front of the computer. Like now...

I deactivated my Facebook account in an attempt to help reduce the time I spend online. I miss it in some ways, but in others my life is brighter and happier without it.

I haven't spent as MUCH time on the computer, but I have somewhat replaced my Facebook time with craigslist time.

I also am still a "board fly" (there's no alcohol involved or that would read bar fly) on a forum I subscribe to.

If it weren't for school, I'd probably be willing to try to break free from the internet all together for a week trial. It's one of my 43 things. Well perhaps avoiding the computer all together is on my 43 things.

The thing is, I don't realize just how much time I spend here. I get stressed, behind, bogged down.

Being a full time mommy/student/girlfriend/homemaker all at once all the time is hard enough, but then when I spend most of my free time here on this computer...well nothing gets done entirely. Things get started and abandoned. Like this project (I will blog about later) that still isn't totally done...so much for it being a Mother's Day gift, perhaps it'll be accepted as a belated one.

I have piles of things waiting for me to finish/start them. My bookshelves overflow with cookbooks and activity books filled with post-it flags marking things I'm going to do "one day". Even more pressing are the library books. IF I get a chance to look through them, I end up copying the most intriguing pages and returning the books; leaving me with stacks of papers in the "one day" pile.

That blue thing is the above pictured mold, with a coat of paint. The yellow cup has squash seeds I meant to plant this month. That orange folder sticking out of the basket has cut outs of car ads to make a car book for Aidan while we travel (ok so I have a while to finish that still...). The Tylenol is recalled that I'm waiting for the refund on-holding on to it just in case I need those numbers again. Etc...the list goes on!!




Realizing this is what has helped me stop buying more books. I would love to,, especially when I find bargains, but I also try to think about everything I already have at home that I haven't gotten to yet. The same goes for "junk" because cleaning out the attic (and all of my stuff in general) is high on the list too.

On top of this I'm trying to exercise a little "self-care" every day or so which means I need to be MORE lenient in my schedule and make sure it get it in. It really, really makes a difference.

We're planning on going on a camping trip for a week in June as well, so I find myself thinking of this a lot too. I've made a good list of everything we need to bring, though I'm sure I'm still forgetting something. The list fills the first margin of the page and then some...and this doesn't include the FOOD we'll have to bring or exactly what "cooking gear" means.

So...I'm hoping to cut back on my computer time. Seriously. I have a lot to do before the end of this week, and while I'll be trying to take pictures and things, I think I'm going to try to stay off the computer unless totally necessary. There are a few necessary events coming up...like my paper and a recipe I plan in making (though realistically I could print it and might have to to avoid the temptation to go wandering on the internet) in which I will need to  use the computer...otherwise I think I'm going to really try to avoid this necessary evil.


My dear readers and Facebook friends, I will be back...very soon. BUT hopefully after I get a handle on my priorities and don't revert back to my old habits.

Time for some paper writing, or perhaps Calculus?

Let's take a closer look at that test, in case we needed another reminder that I need to DO my homework and study for once.

That's right. It's bad. It took me from a B to a C overall. Even with the curve, it still is in the 50% family. But I made the Dean's List last quarter!! So we'll see what I can do about this C...