My first Shoot

This last weekend I was super lucky and got to take pictures in the park of two of my favorite families: my brother's and my best friend's.
It was a beautiful weekend; hot, really, by Fall's standards.
And with everyone so darn photogenic, what I had to do was a piece of cake; I let the camera do the work.
I hope to do it again very soon.

The Lot

Peach Crisp

I think fall has come to settle in with us for good it seems.  The leaves are laying in dried up piles along the curbs.  Frost has threatened a time or two at night.  And fall fruits and vegetables are in abundance in the stores.  I picked up a huge box of peaches bigger than Mike's fist a few days ago, and set them by the back door until I had time to make something with them.  I debated on a few things, and besides snacking on them I made this great Peach Crisp today and I'll can the rest.  It was so yummy that I decided to give you the recipe for it; this time I remembered what I put in and how much (I love to bake and cook without measuring unfortunately).

So give it a go, and let me know how you liked it!

Ripened Peach Crisp

4 large ripe peaches, or 6-8 small/medium
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
sprinkle of vanilla
sprinkle of almond flavoring

Preheat 375.
Dip one peach at a time into boiling water for 20 seconds; skin will peel off easy.  Do to all peaches.  Remove pit and slice into buttered dish.  If you have extra ripe juicy peaches sprinkle some flour on top.  Sprinkle vanilla and almond flavoring on top with your thumb over the mouth of the bottle.
In a bowl mix together flour, oats, spices and sugars, salt and butter.  Cut into crumbs with a fork.
Spread evenly on top of peaches; don't pat down.

Bake for 30-40 minutes till bubbly.  Serve with low fat frozen yogurt (this makes up for the calorie intake, which is about 380 per 1/2 cup portion...without the frozen yogurt or icecream :)

Scrapbook Corner

Boy oh boy have I been catching up on my 2011-2012 scrapbook.  I had to search back to find where I had left off in my book and it was at Christmas time.  After that I recall my printer breaking down and I was so upset that I didn't even want to look at it.  I moved it here to Lloyd with the knowledge I would have to take it somewhere special to fix it (it is a 13x19 paper sized photo printer).

Instead, I did what I always do when I'm in need for knowledge: I hit the internet. 

I learned that I could do three things:

1. Take out the inks (there are six in total), and tip the entire thing upside down and shake it.  Hmm.  I wasn't really inclined to try that one out.

2. Take a damp cloth and rub all the paper feeding wheels gently.

3. Take it to a repair shop.

I tried the damp cloth, and lo and behold, it worked.  Once again I could print my 12x12 pictures.  Next I had to run to Staples to get their amazing 13x19 ink jet photo paper, which is so cheap and I love to use.  Then I came home and got to work on replacing all my ink cartridges, cleaning the ink heads inside mechanically, then printing test pages.  Over and over for an hour, and finally I hit payday.  I was so excited...yep it doesn't take much folks.  My ink cartridges will last me from now until Christmas, as I only usually change them out twice a year.  I get them off of eBay from a print shop in BC, and for 18 inks it only costs me 60 dollars, so three of each color.  If I bought them from Epson like I am supposed to it would cost me 50 dollars per ink cartridge.  It's insane.  The inks from the print shop are Epson ink, just in generic cartridges.  I figure I can't go wrong, and have been using them for years now.

Anyhow as I said I have been scrapping away this past week for a few hours when it hits my fancy, and with the kids in school I have more than enough time to do so without feeling guilty.  Here are some examples of what I've done so far.

Week One down of..wait a minute, how many?

This week we made it through all the ups and downs of a busy activity schedule.  We pulled together to get Brandon through the "school refusal" that he was experiencing due to his nervousness of adjusting to a new school and worrying I wouldn't be there to get him after school, and therefore stranding him in the middle of unfamiliar territory.  That was tough, and I have to admit embarrassing with the other kids seeing him go through that at school and gymnastics.  But we are good to go now I think, and he's finally settling in.  With that on our plate it made the rest of the week edgy, and I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow.  Here's what our weekly schedule will be like until May:

Monday: Charlie - dance @ 5:30; crock pot supper ensues.
Tuesday: Charlie - school
               Jacelyn - dance @ 5:30; again with the crock pot.
Wednesday: Brandon - Piano @ 4:30
                                  - Gymnastics @ 6:30 - 8pm; homework in between that time means trying really hard to get the girls to play nice and without much help from me as I am too busy multitasking to care.
Thursday: Jacelyn - dance @ 4:00, 5:30, and again at 7 pm; this time an order for a big pot of chilli or thick soup (tonight I made my famous Italian sausage and orzo soup) should be on the menu to give the crock a break.
Tonight was weird for me because I am trying this Festival (aka: competition) dance program out on Jacelyn, and I was concerned she was going to be overwhelmed by it all.  So I took her at 4:00, sat there for the duration, drove back home at 4:45, went back (in rush hour traffic) for 5:30 and sat there again until 6:15.  We drove home again (in rush hour) and Jacelyn informed me I didn't have to wait around for her during her last Tap class.  Thank the Lord!  I drove her back at 7:00, and she decided I could stay or go, so I stayed.  She was shocked to see me in the waiting area after her class, and I am taking that as a good sign.  Hopefully after making a few more friends she will learn to think of Fame as her second home, and stay there in between her classes.  It is a long time to stay there, but with only 45 minutes in between each class, after our move to College Park there won't be time to go back and forth like that.
So I felt like I went a mile a minute all day.  And here I am blogging after 11:00 pm.  I'm gonna scrapbook too when I'm done; my way of winding down I guess.
Charlie and I go for little strolls some mornings, an activity I wish we did more but I don't feel too safe in this neighborhood between the extra traffic from ongoing construction and the huge amount of large dogs around here, again probably due to the area we live in.  I took my camera on one such adventure and took some cute photos of her downtown.

Charlie's First Day of School

First Day of School!

First Day of Dance

School with Dawsyn

First day of Dance

After this week of firsts I'm ready for a drink.