September Acres

We made it through Turn of the TV week.   They made a huge deal out of it at school and I think the kids had fun.  The kids who participated for the whole week got little 'prizes'.  LM got a certificate for a free taco from Del Taco.  I have no idea when she'll use it - she has never eaten there.  But no matter what the prize is  the kids get excited. Yet another month has flown by.  It will be May 1st tomorrow.  Less than four weeks of school left for LM.  The end of 4th grade.  Please tell me how this happened? My cousin's lovely hydrangeas. The crazy April weather will hopefully lead to a sunny, flowery May.  It's been hot here the past week, but what's new. April showers bring May flowers. Wildflowers Looking forward to a busy, busy May with lots of fun to go along with it (after I get my tooth filled tomorrow, that is.)  Hoping to have some yummy tomatoes sometime this summer from the plants w...

Today starts 'Turn off Screens' week at LM's school.  Otherwise known as 'Turn off TV week' or Digital Detox. I actually like the idea of this.  My husband?  Notsomuch.  You see, it coincides with the NHL playoffs. You understand, right?  I asked him if he could wait until she went to bed to turn on a game, you know, to show support.  He wasn't on board with that as you can imagine. This year LM's school is really pushing it.  Really hard.  They are giving the kids 'homework' on Monday - make a poster for turn of screens week.  And everyone that makes a poster gets a prize.  Not just the winning poster but all.  And since LM loves a prize she's on the poster band wagon.  I'm sure it will be fun for her. And me too.  They also get tempted with prizes to show up on Tuesday for Young Author and Artist night.  Plus it's book fair.  What to do without TV you ask?  Other than the poster and ...

Every spring I plant a few plants in pots and since we've been out of town so much I haven't gotten to it.  So I figured since we were home this weekend it was the perfect Earth Day project for us.  I like to do something each year for Earth Day & it usually involves planting.  I headed out to my home away from home, Lowe's, on Saturday.  BY MYSELF.  I never get to go there alone and I really enjoyed just wandering down each aisle without anyone asking 'what do we need here?'  I got a few plants and some potting soil for our project.  This year I bought some tomato plants (wish me luck) and some herbs (peppermint & oregano).  I haven't tried to grow tomatoes since we've lived in Arizona.  I know people do it successfully so we'll see.  Honestly, I haven't had a really good tomato since we left the east coast.  It's the sad truth. And I love a really good tomato.   Along with the herbs I got this blue salvia ...

  Well, I signed up for   Pinterest  months ago but haven't been on the site since that initial day.  I thought, 'I don't need to get involved with another social media site.  How big can this be anyway?'  Well, we all know how big it is and clearly I am one of the few who is not a regular user. I'm certainly not a trendsetter.... Pinterest is invading every facet of our lives.  A twitter chat I participated in yesterday even involved pinning.  I was so out of my element. So, I guess it's time to look into this again and get on this bandwagon.  I would hate to be left behind. If you are a Pinterest user I'd love to hear how you use it; what works and what doesn't.  

There's lots of talk about school lunch these days.  Good things, bad things, in between things.  At the root we all know that what our kids put in their bodies is important for so many reasons.  We all know that lunch provided at school may be a child's only meal of the day.  Yet, so many school districts in this country aren't providing the very best for the kids.  I know, there are many reasons.  The one I hear the most is 'this is all we can afford to serve to the kids'.  Luckily, many schools are creating school gardens or partnering with local farms and restaurants in order to feed the kids.  Unfortunately, my daughter's school district is not one of them.  Fortunately, we are not in the position that she needs to eat the school provided meal each day.  I make her lunch most days and think I make it healthy but fun.  But let's take a look at what our school district is serving this week for lunch Monday Breaded Bake...

With the exception of our hall bath , every room in our house has been painted since we moved in 13 years ago.  I think I'm ready to tackle that room (I use the word tackle very loosely because it's a really small room so I think I could finish up in an hour or so).  I think I've decided on grey paint.  I love grey right now and it will pick up the grey in the marble counter top. I'm not sure if I want to go with a light-ish grey like this. Image Or something darker like this. I think something lighter will work better in the room.  I like the darker grey but I think it's a little more modern and the bathroom is more cottage-y. So I'll do my usual 'go to Lowe's and bring home 5 or 6 paint swatches and tape them to the wall for a week or so' and figure out what I like. Do you have a grey that you've used and liked?

I love kitchen gadgets.  I think most people do. I have been known to buy too many.  I bet a lot of you have, too.  Lots of have to have, trend of the moment type of things ( salad shooter, anyone?)  Things we really don't need . When space is at a premium in the kitchen I always check the gadget drawer and see if I've acquired anything that I'm not using regularly, then I toss it.  I remember seeing Peter Walsh on Oprah once and he said to take all your gadgets out of the drawers and put them in a box.  Keep everything in the box for a month and as you need something take it out of the box.  Once you're done with it and have washed it, put it back in the drawer.  Anything left in the box at the end of the month can be donated.  It means you really don't need it.  A month might be too small of a time frame so you can adjust that.  You won't want a box on your counter for much longer than that! I started thinking about ...

 Image:  Kraft recipes.com When we were younger we made a bunny cake each year.  I have wanted to make one every year because they are so cute.  And so easy.  But my husband didn't like coconut so I never made it.  Then this year he and LM reluctantly tried real coconut (as opposed to the flakes from the bag) an low and behold they liked it.  Yippee.  That means we're making this cake this year!  I decided that I will probably make the bow or ears without the coconut - just in case they changed their minds.  Pictures to follow soon! Hopefully this bunny cake will be a new tradition for our family.  For the past few years we've been making these sticky buns for Easter morning.  It can't hurt to have another 'sweet' tradition! What are your Easter food traditions?