Peaches to Peaches

 What is one to do with an entire flat of underwhelmingly flavored Costco peaches?? Preserves.  My mission was to make the peach butter recipe from smitten kitchen but somewhere along the lines, it never made it to the "butter" consistency.   I used my untouched KitchenAid food grinder instead of the prescribed food mill...my bad.  There were peach guts splurting across my kitchen and the whole pureeing process probably took way longer than what it probably should have with a manual food mill. Whatevs, it came out to be the best peach jam I ever did sink my tooth into.  And the Mason jars are oh so pretty to have adorning the pantry shelves.  My next canning feat will be tomatoes, or maybe my grandma's chile recipe.   My last couple thrifting experiences have been pleasant ones too.  I found a little wooden chair that was a little wobbly for four dollars but a couple dabs of gorilla glue later and it was solid.  I am thinking about changing the cushion material, since there is a little rip in the vinyl, then it will be purrrfect.  Oliver loves sitting in it and so does Rory (pictured).  I found a new/old sewing case that has probably seen better days but I love the flowers and I am always needing more sewing storage.  Elliott snatched up a complete Superman costume with built in muscles, belt and cape for five smackers.  Surprisingly it held up in the washing machine and he will be wearing that nonstop for the next few days I'm sure.  

My "Bichon" Saturday

So pretty much it 'twas an awesome day...  

7 a.m. wake up.

8 a.m Realized kroger donuts in fridge are completely disgusting and not worth taking the next bite.

9 a.m. Coaxed mr. into going out for Starbuck's and then Shipley's for replacement donuts.

10 a.m.-11 a.m. Ate replacement donuts and caffeinated, beat rugs with the tennis racket outside and steamed the floors.  Basked in a lovely clean living room.  Received a parcel of Trader Joe's goodness complements my father.

12 p.m. Hid in bedroom from kind person who came over to purchase geoff's guitar which was collecting dust.  

1 p.m. Showered and got our Costco sampling and shopping done. 

2 p.m. Arranged for the crib that has been plaguing the living room to be taken to it's new home down the street.  Basked in a little more clean living room.

3 p.m. Ate one too many butter croissant sandwiches. 

4 p.m.- 5 p.m. Zoned out watching old Mighty Mouse cartoons.

6 p.m. onwards- Pretty much more zoning out until both babes fell asleep around 8-ish.  So nice. I'm good tired. 

Banana Nut Monkey Bread Morning

Yes it has a whole stick of butter and a can of biscuits but it is soo dang goood.  BANANA NUT MONKEY BREAD... get it on.  I cut the recipe in half and doubled the banana and shaved off some of the sugar requirements, also, I think it wouldn't hurt to cut back on the buttah a smidge.....  Food Coma!   

Hopefully I get just the right amount of sugar and carbs to propel me out from under the piles of laundry that have settled atop every cushioned surface of the living room.  

frump

Feeling frumpy and just plain worn out.  I ran out of eyeliner and I feel like golem without it, PLUS,  for the past four days Oliver has been running a temperature and apparently had roseola which is basically a sudden long lasting fever followed by a rash.  Several pukes later and even more laundry loads later, I AM BEAT and my eye is twitching just thinking about the fact that I have been wearing pajamas for the past week.  He is finally feeling good but dang is it taxing taking care of a little sickly man.  The whole little illness has pretty much pushed back the weaning process and made him even more needy of me and only me.  The fever made him so fickle with food which is very uncharacteristic, finally today his appetite came back for his usual fare of beans and pasta and bananas and peas and pretzels and cheese and cookies and grapes and cherry tomatoes and pickles and bread.  I am dreading weaning him, It is hard to say goodbye to all that snuggly quiet time...BUT it will be nice to not have to worry about all that encompasses being the primary feeder/pacifier.  I guess I pretty much am an attachment parenter...and it is friggin' exhausting.  We bought a crib for Elliott and I'm not even sure he used it even a months worth total.  I thought I would for sure use it with Oliver.  I must say he got more use out of it than E, mainly naps and a few hours during the night before he would wake up to snack again, but for the past six months it has been sitting in our living room serving as a collect all for stuffs that will most likely go to goodwill, awaiting a new home, so that explains a lot.  I have dreamt of wall to wall bed, basically a padded cell, that is what I need at this point in time...with a t.v. mounted to the wall playing nonstop Heathcliff episodes.  I can't wait till the weather is decent and I can at least take them out for walks again.  Eat shit Houston summers.

Potty Time! Excellent!

I think the time has come where Elliott, who has reached a wise old age of three and a half has finally come to terms with ditchin' the diaper.  He started showing interest in the potty about two years ago but pretty much passed on it when little brother came to town.  Lately he has been on a serious Superman/Batman kick again, we have been scrutinizing the apparel of the two superheroes and have finally come to the conclusion that they do not wear diapers and that they most likely use the toilet...although I'm not sure where superman's facilities would be in that fortress of solitude.  I have been laying on the praises and pretty much been giving him lots of forbidden treats such as his own soda (kid's size) if we happen to hit a drive thru or the regular lollipops and chocolate chips...he'll need some dental work but at least the amount we're saving in diapers will pay for it.  Hehehe.  But really, it would be nice to be in a place where a reward would be something like carrot sticks or graham crackers but there is no going back once they know of how awesome a little junk food is.  He has quite a healthy appetite, so I don't worry too much about junk when I've seen him polish off bowls of grape nuts or a can of sardines.  Now I have to be on the hunt for toddler sized superman tighty whiteys since that is what he is set on flaunting.  It is just about the most awesome thing for him to take off into the bathroom by himself and get the job done, complete with washing his own hands.  Yay for housebreaking #1 :)

28 years

So my birthday month is coming to an end, it's been good.  I got an amazing camera, some sweet gifts and messages from friends, whipped up my first batch of homemade laundry detergent, ate at benihana, won an awesome camera bag, went out for drinks at boheme, hit the chocolate bar, made some strawberry cupcakes for maself, watched a bunch of cartoons, drank some shampain, and slathered on wrinkle cream.....what else can one do?  

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!

I'm a winner!!!

My last post featured a MonocledLop "Bonnie" camera bag giveaway put on by Perfectly Lovely Photography, which i found myself to be the winner of this morning!!! and now I need to select which fabric I want my camera to sit stylishly in while it isn't busy being snappy.  I love the idea of this whole make your own insert and choose your own bag idea for the camera.  There are few and far between choices out there for cool camera bags (especially reasonably priced ones) that don't look like you are hauling around....well, a camera. THANK YOU thank you ThAnK YoU!

Too cute fabric selections from MonocledLop!