Summer Chalkboard Art

Happy first day of summer!!! Well, it was when I drew the board...yesterday. haha!

Yesterday, I showed you my Spring Chalkboard I did a few months ago.  And today, here's my FIRST Summer Chalkboard!!  I say 1st because I wanted a few different things in my mind, but I couldn't do them ALL in one board.

This one took a lot of erasing...with a paper towel (wet AND dry) AND Q-Tips. lol. I used a ruler to help keep the writing straight in the middle there... I REALLY wanted to draw a mermaid in water for the "Mermaid Kisses" part, but I didn't trust myself on that one! eek!

You can check out my "inspirations" on my Chalkboard Art Board on Pinterest..this one was a combination of a few different ones.

Spring Chalkboard Art

I was doing some "research" on what I could do for my summer Chalkboard Art, and I realized that I don't think I shared my Spring Board, that I'm KIND of obsessed with. haha. Anyway, I realized I needed to blog about it because I would want it for future reference to maybe do it again! haha!

If you want to check out other boards I've been pinning during my "research" you can check out my Chalkboard Art Board on pinterest.

Baby C...Gender Revealed!

Today was the day. I wasn't going to find out so soon... I really honestly, didn't care that much. We thought we pretty much knew what Baby C was going to be. But hubs suggested we go now. Ok. I'll make the appointment....

My belly has been tied up in knots...What was Baby C?!?!

Welll......

HAHA!!! We all KNEW we were going to have a 3rd girl....

Let's just call Ron "The X-Man"

I think for Halloween he should dress up as an X-Man character...

Now... to start thinking of Baby C names!

Blueberry Cobbler Crisp

So, one of my favorite desserts to make is a Cobbler... I don't know why it's so comforting, but it is. Summer, winter, whatever is in season you can use for the fruit.

This is my take on a Blueberry Cobbler Crisp (I add the crisp because I just LOVE the crumbles on top).

There are 2 parts: The Cobbler and the Topping

For the Cobbler, I just use a simple recipe, using Bisquick. ha! See?? simple.

6  tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/4  cups Original Bisquick™ mix 

1/2  cup sugar

2/3  cup milk

3  cups fresh blueberries

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat oven to 350°F. Pour melted butter into baking dish. (I always use my cast iron pan, but if I need to take it somewhere, I put it in an 8 or 9 inch square pan.)

• In medium bowl, whisk together Bisquick mix, sugar, and milk; pour over melted butter.
• Stir lemon zest, lemon juice, and blueberries together.

• Sprinkle blueberry mix evenly over Bisquick batter. 

For the Crisp, I use a basic streusel recipe

1 cup flour

1/3  cup sugar

1/4  cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or sometimes I trade out for pumpkin pie spice!)

1 stick of cold cut butter (1/4 pound)

For the topping, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it's in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. 

Bake 42 to 47 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm....and maybe even with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! YUMMY!

Time to be a Butterfly!

One of my favorite saying is "Sometimes you just have to be a butterfly." I actually LOVE butterflies! You know why?? Because they CHANGE from a caterpillar. To me, they are a symbol of life... because life is ALWAYS changing... whether you planned it that way or not. And even if you didn't plan it...if it's an ugly situation, it'll turn out ok! I mean the butterfly isn't pretty as a caterpillar, is it?? But after it changes, it's beautiful.. just like life. you have your ugly moments.. and your beautiful moments...but nothing every stays the same. And here's just a little snippet of how my life's been like a butterfly.

Life's been a *little* crazy lately.  Things are definitely changing around here.

First... there's the BIG news of the BUMP!

YEP! Baby C is on its way!!

We're not really sure when C is due...but according to size, sometime around Thanksgiving.

I think my first reaction was "Oh, boy!" (or girl...probably), but then I got to thinking.... Life's already chaotic, how much more could it really get? lol

Blooper from the photoshoot.... just to prove that kids make everything so much more fun. 

So, that's the one thing...

the other thing is that I'm moving schools... and grades! eeek!!!

I've called Turner home for 10 years of my 11 years of teaching. It's bittersweet to leave. I will miss a lot of my friends there...people who I've known for the last 10 years.  But I'm so excited to be starting this new chapter of my teaching career. It'll be a whole new world to me.

So I've been doing a lot of purging... and packing....

I've already taken 8 large tubs to a storage unit... and I've packed up ONE of my filing cabinets...

The other filing cabinet will take probably 8-10 boxes because it is SO jammed packed, I can't even get things out of it! lol

I've also been PURGING!! This is only the pile I had after one hour of purging... I have TONS more... I sent an email out to my school telling them to come grab what they wanted... the rest was going to go in the trash! Yep... I'm one of those... I don't have the time or patience to sell things. Just want to be DONE! lol

Anyway... the THIRD thing that's changing is that my parents are moving back!!! 

It's been 7 LOOOONG years since they've moved out to Colorado. And gosh darn it, I'm SO ready for them to be back!!! Especially with baby C on the way. wooo!! I can't wait to hang out with my parents again, and the girls just LOVE them!

Time to be a butterfly!

Missing Socks Dilemma

Today, I had a meltdown....over socks.

Yes. 

I know, it sounds lame. But if any of you are OCD like me, then you'll appreciate the fact that it took me THIS long to finally go off my rocker about it. lol. 

So, I finally did something about it!

(sorry about the lighting...the light is RIGHT over that spot and there was no way to get a good picture)

I went to the store, got some fish-eye hooks, clothes line, and clothespins and hung up a clothesline....

Then I took it step further and busted out my black vinyl and my cameo.

The font I used was called Impervious, from Kevin and Amanda

The letters (the tall letters like the Ts and Ls) were 4 inches tall. I just googled "sock svg" and found this one...well, actually it was a PNG that I had to turn into an SVG.... and voila! Missing socks floating around the house issue is done!

The Dreaded Scale

I must admit, I'm OBSESSED with the scale. I weight myself EVERY day. I know..it's not healthy. I don't do it to obsess about my weight...I really do it JUST to make sure I don't go over a certain amount.

BUT, I can't help to obsess about my weight when I see my weight go up. I literally fluctuate between 4-5 pounds within a DAY! It's crazy! Like Monday morning I'll weigh THIS, and then Tuesday morning, I'll weight 4 pounds MORE. HOW in the world is that even possible!? I have to admit. It ruins my self-esteem.

BUT, I have to remember, my STRENGTH is really growing. I can SEE the muscles in my arms and legs (and BUTT! hehe) without even flexing. So I know that I have muscles, which we all know weighs more than fat. And my clothes still fit...which is good.

My friend posted this picture on her wall the other day. No, it's not me. and No, it's not her....but is a GREAT reminder to not take the scale so seriously!

This girl weighs almost 10 pounds heavier and is clearly in better shape. 

So, just remember....the scale is NOT the end all be all. 

Now...if I could take my own advice!