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September 2010

August 2010

A Fine Day to Make S'mores!

Did you know today is National Toasted Marshmallow Day? :)

I have always loved the flavor of marshmallows, especially toasted ones ... there's nothing quite like the gooey, delicious mess of a confection made by holding a marshmallow over an open fire. My mum always loved the burnt ones which was a good thing because my brother and I always seemed to burn them! I remember when I was a young girl there was a brand of lip gloss called Lipsmackers made by Bonnie Bell. (I may be dating myself, but does anyone else remember these?) My *favorite* flavor of all was a special holiday release called "Toasted Marshmallow." How I'd love to find that little gem again ...

Smores

Bonfire2

Things are going well here - our last "unofficial" week of Summer has come at last! Our town actually begins school this week but we always start our academic year on the day after Labor Day. It's tradition. :) I spent most of this past weekend cleaning in the school room and this week I plan to organize our book bins, school & craft supplies, work totes as well as my lesson planner for the new year. I also placed our final order from Oak Meadow - nothing like waiting till the last minute lol! I hope the materials will arrive in time for our first day, but if not, we can surely keep ourselves busy till they do. ;)

I'm getting excited for Autumn - are you? This is perhaps my favorite time of year.

Have a good one, my friends!


A Hello and a Few August Pictures :)

Dear friends, thank you so much for your concern, for checking in here to say hello and see if I'm about ... suffice it to say, a whole host of issues kept me offline these past few weeks, but I'm here at last and eager to share some August pictures with you ... I hope you all have been well. :) 

First of all, we just got finished celebrating Crackerjack's 11th Birthday this past weekend ...

Cj11 

This was taken at his "friends" birthday party on Saturday. (The family celebration was held on Sunday.) It was another Lego theme party - our favors were smiley "minifig" face bags filled with a jumble of treats:

Cj112 

I found these football candles at Shaw's Marketplace (my grocery store of choice). I couldn't resist them - we get very excited about football season around here. Not that any of the boys play, but we are, as many of you know, super-huge Pats fans and what's more - football season means fall - and both are right around the corner. :)

Cj11-3 

We've been happily watching our little red squirrels - five in all at last count!

Cutered1 

Since it's been so hot here this summer, the squirrels have taken to "lounging" in the seed trays. The above is actually an action shot - this fella was feeding himself in this very position! It was too funny to watch.

The squirrels have also taken to sampling the spruce needles ...

Cutered3

The raccoons have also made their presence known ... they're comical and so very clever.

Crazycoons1 

Another critter to look for at this time of year is the grasshopper. We find them on our house - walking across clapboards or as in this case, a storm door.

Augusthopper 

I just took out a library book for Earlybird on grasshoppers because he's slightly freaked out when he sees them, lol. We also have a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail that graces our yard on occasion, as well as a pair of hummingbirds, ginormous dragonflies, lots of chipmunks, and we THINK a screech owl in the woods. (We've heard him but not seen him.) The boys also found this odd looking insect on the deck recently ...

Locust? 

We're pretty sure this is a Carolina Locust. Bookworm (who took this picture) said he had wings like a butterfly when he flew off. He also asked me if I thought we should alert the proper authorities considering the infamously destructive nature of these creatures. Lol.

I told him since we lived in a residential (rather than agricultural) area we were probably ok. But I asked him to let me know if he sees any more. :)
 
  Myglories 

Above you see my most successful gardening venture this summer - my glorious morning glory vine!

Myglories2

The basil and nasturtiums have also done well.

Nasturtiums

The tomatoes, not so much.

I dare say we've used our deck more this summer than ever before. I bought some pretty sun lights for the railing ...

Decksuns2 

 They'll look even better when they're peeping out between morning glory blossoms. :)

Decksuns1 

That's all for now, folks! I hope to be back again before the start of the new year (academic, that is). I have lots of planning to do and a school room to set up. Hope to get it all done before Labor Day!

Be safe and well ~ and see you all again soon!