~September Random and a Recipe~

Ah, September . . . these acorns signify what is yet to come.

Like so many families we have been up to our eye-balls in back-to-school preparations. And unlike so many families, there has been the added trauma adventure of transitioning from homeschooled elementary school to public middle school for my baby. Two years ago it was the Oldest and now I find myself no longer teaching and no longer with a Younger around as well.

The Husband summed it up well when I stepped out of the shower Wednesday morning to find this phone message: "So, are you dancing around the house or balled up in a corner crying your eyes out?" . . . I responded as any sensible woman would with,"both".

 So adjustments are being made but for the most part, 

I. am. ecstatic.

For the first time in 14 years I have the days to myself. I find myself gaping at the amount I can manage to fit into six hours without the countless interruptions of two young males. That 'to-do' list I've had to put off for 14 years? I'm finally pulling it out!

So here are the two middle schoolers on their first day.

 My eighth-grader looking like the cocky almost 14-year old he is . . .

and my sweet sixth grader still untainted from the throes of middle school (though I know that's not gonna last long).

 So, yes, the last couple of weeks have been full, but there have been some moments for the sweet little things that make life so grand. Like scone baking . . .

And playing with my food . . .

Cat adoring . . .

 and admiring sunflowers from a dear friend . . .

 Some painting . . .

And some blackberry jam making.

And speaking of blackberries, I have the promised blackberry cobbler recipe to share!

There it is in all it's glory, cooling on the stove.

And this was taken part-way in . . . another minute and there would have been nothing but crumbs.

Blackberry Cobbler
-from the Mary Engelbreit Sweet Treat Dessert Cookbook-

For biscuit topping you need:

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
3/4 heavy cream

For blackberry filling you need:

4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Make topping: in a large bowl toss together first 4 ingredients- then you fingers to crumble in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (I always use the mixer to do this and it works great- I'm lazy and don't want my hands dirty)

3. Add cream to crumbs, tossing with a fork until soft batter forms. Set aside.

4. Make filling: in a large bowl toss all the filling ingredients together and then spoon into an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. Using a large spoon, drop mounds of the biscuit topping on the blackberry filling (don't worry, it will spread as it cooks and cover it all)

5. Bake cobbler for 45 mins. or until the top is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Let it cool before serving, but not too long because it is SO good still warm and all that waiting should be rewarded! 
Enjoy~

Cheers!

8:43 PM - By Unknown 0

~Catching Up With June~

Oh, June! Where have you gone? How can you run off and leave me stuck still in May?

Why, oh why are you always so full?

Our fifteen year wedding anniversary . . .

and a trip to celebrate it with . . .

School presentations, conferences, graduation parties.
Sunshine and flowers and gardening . . .

A tea party for friends . . .

And a week of virus-fighting within the family. 
Father sick for Father's Day. The Oldest's last day of seventh grade.

Somewhere in between it all time slipped silently by. And a personal achievement was gained- one without recognition or fanfare. No ceremony or cap. Just an empty 'school' room left in a thoughtless jumble as the final day ended in a blink of an eye- our final day of home school. 

My final day of teaching.

After eight straight years of home schooling my sons through elementary school- it's over. The Youngest has finished fifth grade and next year he'll join his brother in middle school.

 Eight years.

And it came suddenly too- a phone call one morning saying our paperwork was done. Everything was satisfactory and the final conference I had been expecting wasn't even necessary. Goodbye.

 So I stood there- in the middle of our school room- just stood there among what had in a moment become a remnant of what has been.
And I cried.

I can't even explain all that I feel . . . exhaustion for sure. And the bittersweet. And the relief and excitement for what lies ahead. I'm grateful to be done. Happy to finish what I set out to do.
And yet . . .

how do you mark eight years of your life? How do you cap it off, nod to it with respect and then lay it down forever when there's nothing there to do it with?

At each life transition there seems to be something which celebrates what was and welcomes in what is to come . . . graduations, marriage ceremonies, bridal showers, baby showers, housewarmings, anniversaries and even funerals- they all mark a person's story. But parenting . . . ?

As I stood in that room and cried I realized I was grieving time passing and my children growing up and I thought how this moment was only a little taste of what is to come.
It seems so strange that we should give so much of ourselves and then it is suddenly done.

And I thought-
No wonder so many parents suffer with 'empty nesting'! We celebrate our children and all they've accomplished, but do we celebrate what we have given, as well? Do we allow ourselves to pass with grace into this next chapter of our lives? Because our story is part of their story.

So, as I've been pondering this all week I'm thinking two things . . .

1. I need to do or create something that will celebrate what I have given and received over eight years of teaching my sons. Something personal and meaningful so I can lay it to rest in peace and enjoy the next thing, and . . .

2. We need to start a movement for those parents whose children have grown and are on there way out- 'Empty Nest' showers! Seriously- it's time to celebrate parents. We do so before the children even arrive, so how much more do we deserve a party once they leave? Wouldn't it be wonderful to throw a party for one another to celebrate not only the rearing of our children, but also who we've now become through the rearing of those children? Might that not help us demystify our own identities and separate ourselves once more toward dreams that so often get put aside as we parent? 

Anyway- it's a thought. I have five more years to go until my Oldest departs, and without a doubt we will celebrate all his achievements to the fullest. And two years later, we will do it all again with our Youngest. But the partying isn't going to stop there . . . though, I do think we will put it off until September since June is quite full enough!

Cheers!

8:45 PM - By Unknown 0

~All the Autumn's Joys~ A Chipmunk Love Story

Once upon a time, during a November long ago, there was a little girl named Jennie. She was almost 6 years old and attended kindergarten at the local elementary school. 

Little Jennie didn't mind school- she liked to draw, make figures with clay and she loved to read and write -(though the pace at which they were all taught was agonizingly slow some days)! 

There was even a cute boy named Elvin to sit next to and she would sometimes lean her head on his shoulder and bat her eyes at him. He may or may not have loved this.

Yes truly, after a couple months in this strange new institution called 'school' she was able to generally enjoy herself.

Except for one thing . . . recess.

 Everyday in the middle of the morning, Mrs. Hatchel -their teacher- would ruthlessly throw all the children outside to 'play' on the desolate playground. Their options for amusement were slim. They could play tether ball (which no one could reach), climb the dome (which was too high) or play four square though only one yellow, half-deflated ball was available to share among twenty-four students.

It wasn't that Jennie didn't try to like recess. For weeks she had grimly walked in a snake-like line out the door with the rest of her class to endure rain, wind, cold and utter boredom. She would stand with a couple other little girls right next to the classroom window and gaze longingly into the cozy room thinking of all the better things she could be doing. 

One day, when it wasn't too cold, she even tried four-square only to find herself with a bad nose-bleed from getting pummeled with the ball. Kids laughed. Jennie cried. It took all the rest of the morning for the bleeding to stop.

 Another day she stood out on the playground looking up at the tether ball pole, wandering what it's purpose was. She was wearing her grey sweat-dress with the word 'hello' in different languages printed all over it. As she looked up suddenly from nowhere a little boy came over and actually FLIPPED UP HER DRESS! Everyone saw! She screamed! 

He ran away shrieking with laughter and chanting something about 'Friday Flip-Up Day'. 

Kids laughed. Jennie cried. She was utterly humiliated.

After that day little Jennie REFUSED to go out to recess ever again.

No matter how much Mrs. Hatchel begged, she would not be budged. Mrs Hatchel threatened that Jennie would have to stay in with her head down on the desk if she choose to miss recess. Though she would have preferred to color, Jennie found this little mid-morning rest rather refreshing after awhile. 

Days passed. Mrs Hatchel seemed more and more cross with having to stay in the classroom with Jennie during recess instead of slipping off to the teacher's lounge for coffee. Emotions began to run high. Jennie began to feel uncomfortable not only with recess, but with her teacher as well and soon . . . 

little Jennie didn't want to go to school AT ALL!

 It was around this time that she found herself on an outing with her Grammie one day. They were shopping at Hallmark, just browsing around when suddenly Jennie saw HIM!

He was about 2" high, plastic and he had a feather in his headband and a drum in his hands. His name was 'Indian Chipmunk'- and that November, at almost 6 years old, Jennie learned what it was like to fall in love.

Needless to say, Jennie HAD to have him.

But Grammie was clever. She would only unite little Jennie with Indian Chipmunk IF Jennie would go to recess for one whole week.

ONE ENTIRE WEEK!

And so, after a tearful goodbye to her love in the Hallmark store, Jennie left there to brave a week of recess at school. She would go for HIM. She would do it for Indian Chipmunk.

After an agonizing week of cold November recess, Jennie and Indian Chipmunk found themselves together at last!~ It was a match made in heaven. He greeted her from the windowsill in her bedroom and she kissed his little chipmunk nose and stroked his headdress feather. It was their first Thanksgiving together. And there were many more to come.

Little Jennie is not so little now, but every November she brings Indian Chipmunk out of storage and sits him out in a prominent place to greet her. She still doesn't like being out in the rain and wind and cold- and she never did warm to the idea of recess, but luckily there is no one to make her go do such things now. Still- she knows he was worth it all because they lived happily ever after!
- THE END -

Ps. She may or may not still kiss his little chipmunk nose and stroke his little feather . . .  ;)

Cheers!

8:10 PM - By Unknown 0