friday again?

Weeks are FLYING by these days.
I swear I wake up and it's Monday,
and go to bed and it's Friday.
Monday is October?
Weird.

I don't have a ton to say tonight.
I'm ready for bed...as soon as Project Runway is over.
And I really have done nothing inspiring lately.
That's sad.




I just realized that the latest OS update on the iPhone
includes the new panoramic function for photos.
So cool.

I decided to ditch my neighborhood yesterday
and go running downtown instead.
I needed some new scenery.



It was a good decision.

We're dog-sitting for my parents for a little while.
My kids are OBSESSED with their dog Murphy.
He's like a celebrity.
They can't leave him alone.
Aaaaand...he's a beggar.
I was eating...can you tell?



My goal for today was this:
be happy.



And I was.
I visited with a friend...
helped in Riley's class...
made dinner before soccer...
and folded a good amount of laundry.
Oh, and that filter on the above picture really emphasizes my freckles, doesn't it.
Awesome.
I guess I'll just be happy about that too.

good stuff.

I went to see my grandpa this past weekend.
He lives in Prescott, about an hour and a half from Phoenix.
I hadn't seen him in four years.

I sat by the windows at the airport to try and catch a glimpse of Endeavor flying over.



One side of the plane saw it while we were in the air.
Murphy's law: I sat on the wrong side of the plane..



It's definitely a challenge to get away for four days: Gary has to adjust his work schedule...
we have to find arrangements for the kids after school...
we need help getting three kids to three different fields for three soccer games
that happen at nearly the same time.

But...my grandpa is 89.
He's happy and at home, but...he's 89.
I'm so glad I got to see him.
He has short-term memory loss,
so even though we can talk about what he did in the war,
and how he met my grandma when he was 25,
he forgets that I was there visiting five minutes after I leave.
It's sad for me, but I know that he was happy when I was there.



I call him Pampa,
and I love him times a million.
And he's wearing his pants quite high these days.
My grandma would have had something to say about that.

I stayed with my aunt and uncle and their daughter.
She was obsessed with texting my kids with my phone.
We sent them this picture.



And I had breakfast and did a little shopping with Kate.
Do you know Kate from Songs Kate Sang?
Love her.

Whenever I'm in Arizona I'm reminded just how much I am a California girl.
I'm not meant to live in the desert,
but there are some non-deserty parts of the state.
If you're ever in Arizon get out of Phoenix asap and head to a town like Jerome.
It's an old ghost town and has the most gorgeous views of Sedona.



Gorgeous.



And I'll admit: Arizona has some pretty fantastic skies.







Wow.
Good stuff, huh?

And when it was time to go home on Monday
I was ready to see my family.
The flight from Phoenix to Oakland is the perfect distance:
just about an hour and 45 minutes.
I read an oldie but goodie: Grace-Based Parenting.
Also good stuff.



The kids were happy to see me.
And Gary too.  I think he was happy to go to work Monday morning.
It's hard to be a stay-at-home-dad when you're not used to doing it all.
He was happy to not have to pack lunches today.
:)

And my souvenirs were a big hit.



Anything Hello Kitty for Avery,
and the old nail-through-the-finger trick and fake dog poop for the boys.
Good stuff.

stuff we did.

The past couple of weeks:

Sleepless in Seattle + sewing



early morning soccer + gigantic cup of coffee



cousins + basketball



new piano student



readers



a piano practice helper



secret stash of yummy



breakfast



sunshine



new lisa leonard loveliness: g hearts k



target dollar bin, for the win



impulse buy



Happy Friday.

dinner. A-GAIN.

I've been so bad about taking pictures with my big camera lately.
When I'm by myself during the day I just don't find that many reasons
to get it out .
Lately all of my photos seem to have been of food,
which means you get to see my kids' new favorite dinner.

Messy kitchen alert:
I'm telling you...my kitchen is a mess all of the time these days.
That's definitely my biggest complaint about cooking.

Is dinner a struggle for anyone else besides me?
Riley asked me recently if it was hard to make dinner everyday.
I said, "Actually, yes.  It is hard."
It is!
When I win the lottery that I don't play I'm totally hiring a personal chef.

Anyway, yesterday we made pizza pockets.
It was a new meal for us.

{recipe here}




Homemade pizza dough is actually REALLY easy to make.
I've been making ours for about nine months now.
A store-bought crust has 20+ ingredients (including preservatives)
but this one is just whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water.
And if you have a food processor it's super simple.
Promise.



Plus if you have a helper you don't even have to roll out the dough yourself.
Pizza sauce is also so easy and so much better than something you'd buy at the store.
{sauce recipe is here}
Inside the kids' pizza pockets I just put sauce and cheese,
because they have an aversion to all things chunky.
And not to get all food nazi up in he-yah,
but it's better if you can grate your own cheese.
Pre-shredded cheese contains cellulose to keep it from clumping up.
{yuck.}
Plus it's more expensive.
Okay.  Little mini food rant over.

For Gary and me {that sounds like really crappy grammar, doesn't it?}
I sauteed some mushrooms with garlic and onion
and then threw in some roasted red peppers, spinach, and basil.



Aren't they cute?



Everyone liked these.
Make them on a night where you have a little bit of time.
Not on a night where two of your kids have soccer practice
and one has drum lessons.
On those nights you may want to have a package of Trader Joe's Orange Chicken
in your freezer.
Just a suggestion.
:)

sunday night brain dump.

Monday morning...here we go.
Ready for another week of packing lunches.
Packing lunches gets a little old.
Anyone else think so?
As soon as the kids are off to school,
I'm going to go run.
I am.
Or at least run/walk.
Seriously...the hills by my house kill me.
In the spring I could run up the hills, but now I'm walking.
Is it too much to wish I lived in a flat city?
At least it's going to be cooler here this week
with highs in the mid 70's.
Fall is just about here and I'm happy.
But I need to buy a black jacket.
And I want to make an apple crisp.
I'm here on the couch looking at my kitchen counter.
It's a mess and I'm not in the mood to do anything about it.
But tomorrow I'm going to have a cleaning spree in there.
I'm sure I'll be in the mood tomorrow.
{uh huh}
So much running through this little pea brain of mine.
What does the next several years have in store for me?
Do I go back to teaching?  I don't really want to.
Do I pursue other things?
Ugh.  Thinking thinking thinking.
Also thinking about Riley going to middle school next year,
and praying about where the right place is for him.
I'm not sure if it's the public middle school
or another option.
It's HARD,
this being a parent thing.
Isn't it?
Which reminds me...I need to call about flu shots.
I'm flying out this weekend to surprise my grandpa.
I haven't seen him in probably four years.
Gary will be on his own with the kids from Friday through Monday.
I need to make some food so they're not eating pizza all weekend.
{he's a lot of things, but a cook is not one of them.}



And recently his guitar stuff has taken over the guest room again.
And his side kick is right there in the middle of it all.

i need another baby.

I have babies on the brain lately.
I blame some of my friends
who keep having these adorable babies and then posting pictures of them
on instagram and facebook and blogs.
I know.  So rude, right?

I think we should have one more baby.
Just one more!
But it turns out vasectomies are really effective,
and not conducive to more babies.
So no more for us.
Instead I just steal friends' babies when I can.
And instead of changing diapers, I sew.
{maybe that's not such a horrible trade.}

So I made a few new things for my dusty ole etsy shop.
I've only made onesies, for now.
This one has bacon and eggs.
Because everyone knows babies love bacon and eggs.



And donuts.



And there's a few more,
with more coming soon.
Until my self-diagnosed ADD kicks in and I get bored.
{that happens sometimes.}

Have a great Friday, everyone.
Do you get to hold any babies this weekend?

you might like this.

Raise your hand if you love going into a department store

and having a really young, perky salesgirl

{who has never breastfed a baby e-ver}

measure you for a new bra?

Anyone?  Anyone??

Yeah.  Um, no.

That's no fun for anyone.

Me...or her.

I'm sure she's not looking forward to seeing what life + 3 kids has in store for her bubbies, either.

{'bubbies' term taken from RHONJ, thankyouverymuch.}

Anyway, I heard of a site called trueandco.com.

They ask you a few questions about your 'girls'

{i really hate that term}

and then they match you with bras that may work for you.

Well now this is awkward.
I guess you know what shape I am, huh.
Obviously I wish I had taken that screen shot before I took their quiz.
Good thing we're all friends here.

Once you answer all of the questions
and they choose the bras that may fit your needs,
you can choose up to five bras to be sent to you...free.
You pay a deposit of $45, but send back what you don't want
and only pay for what you keep.
Buh bye, perky salesgirl middleman.
{oh, and no offense if you're still perky.  i'm happy for you.  really.}

Oh, and True & Co. isn't paying me to say this.

I just need a new bra, that's all.

monday.

I guess I'll do a little Monday recap.

Well, I knew it was going to happen.
Germs know no bounds, so naturally it's my turn to be blowing my nose every 5.8 seconds.
Today once the kids went to school I wanted to crawl back in bed
and watch my New Jersey housewife friends.
Yeah.  Didn't happen.
Today was the dentist and two piano lessons and soccer and dinner and homework
and everything else that comes along with a plain old Monday.

But tomorrow?
I have a glorious Tuesday morning with nothing on the calendar.
And...if I'm still not feeling well...I won't even feel guilty about not running.
I'm going to start some laundry...then I'm going to sit at my desk and make some stuff.
I have plans to open my etsy shop again with a few new things.

Um, what else?
Let's talk food.
I fell off the wagon for a few months,
but I'm back to eating and making "real", non processed, food.
Yesterday I made a batch of faux ritz crackers.
The kids can't get enough of them.



Did you know real Ritz have both high fructose corn syrup AND partially hydrogenated oils?
Not good.

My kitchen is pretty much a constant mess again.
That's one thing about cooking everything...your kitchen is never clean.
By the way...if you're interested in looking into eating "real" food,
this is a good place to start: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com.
Or read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.
Kind of a game changer.

And finally...homework.
She loves it.
Her brothers...notsomuch.





And now to cap off the Monday I'm off to watch Bachelor Pad.
I KNOW.
It's so bad.

{so bad it's good!}

seven days of instagram.

Hi.
I'm in a bit of a post-migraine fog...my first in awhile, thankfully...
so I'm not feeling very wordy.
You're welcome.

An instagram week-in-review:
saturday: lots of bacon and cinnamon rolls for 10 hungry boys.



sunday: watching 'up' in the car and saw our favorite effects supervisor's name .  the kids cheer every time.



monday: labor day = no labor = a little afternoon reading in my happiest spot.



tuesday: kindergarten homework.  her favorite.



wednesday: hooray for pear crisp.



and not hooray for the school pick up line.  {sigh}



thursday: someone else wanted to write avery's lunch note.  be still my heart.



friday: today: back to school, back to sick kids.  bummer.



Happy weekend.
Here's to hoping it's germ-free and full of fluffy white clouds.

food and fall.

It's overcast today and a perfect 74 degrees.
I have a cinnamon apple candle burning
and have had a sickie home bundled in a blanket on the couch all day.
All signs are pointing to fall.
So.  Happy.
{except for the sickie part.}

I made a pear crisp with the pears from our tree today.
It was okay.  I should have peeled the pears, though.



Yesterday I made granola.
If you've never made it...make it your September mission to change that.
It's so easy, and much better {and better for you} than anything you can buy at the store.
And the kids love it.
I use this recipe...minus the coconut.
One of my kids is a coconut hater.

I've been trying to cook dinner during the day
so by the time soccer rolls around in the evening
I'm not busting out the box of macaroni and cheese.
{not that there's anything wrong with that.}
In summer I never want to cook,
but it seems as soon as the calendar turns to September the oven goes on again.



Last night...baked ziti.
Tonight...baked ziti, round two.

Fifth grade homework is a monster.
It's not hard...but there sure is a lot of it.
Two hours a night?  Crazy, in my opinion.
I've never been a huge fan of homework,
and when I was teaching I didn't assign much.
My students appreciated it,
but now I know that parents appreciate it more.
The days the boys come home with very little homework are happy days.



I always have a hard time taking down the birthday banners after a birthday.
There's something about them that just makes a house a little happier.



Come to think of it...I made a fall banner last year.
Time to dig out the fall bin.