This summer is slipping by so fast. July 15th?! Already???!
June disappeared in a flurry of finishing baseball and tying up the 2012-2013 school year (and all of its accompanying paperwork) and house work and brief trips here and there and getting the garden in. I hung in there as if my life depended on the slower summer days I just knew July would afford me.
Ha.
July is like a vapor. I've barely absorbed the fact that it's begun, let alone that we're halfway through, but here we are.
That said, the pictures snapped here and there on the phone don't lie and they tell me that somehow, despite busyness and work demands and the never-ending To Do lists, we have snuck in our fair share of quintessential summer memories. Ah.
baby boy living in white onesie and sunhat
parades and celebrations
cold drinks (what a treat!) on hot afternoons
playing in the water until our teeth are chattering and our lips are blue
enjoying being together
getting faces painted at a local festival
dance camp for the biggest girl (she's the one in the back-- no flash photography made for poor snapshots, but I got them for memory's sake nonetheless!)
throwing hair in a pony tail and running out the door first thing every Tuesday morning to pick up our CSA share
flip flops and sand and dirty picnic quilts
putting in our time in the toddler nursery, which conveniently happens to be one of the few air conditioned rooms at church!
games on the sitting room floor after chores
laundry on the line almost every single day
keeping the jar of granola filled because, really, who wants to eat hot cereal on a hot morning?!
Yes, in fact, nestled between busy days and already-spoken-for nights, this has been a summer full of everything summer should be, in my estimation. And I intend to keep on enjoying it right up until the very end of August. This is one homeschooling mama who does not like to cut her summer short!
Can I ask how you make your granola? I've looked at many recipes and have yet to find one that suits us. Curious as to what is in yours. :)
ReplyDelete@EmilySBaxter - I use the recipe from the More With Less cookbook called "Simple Granola." Do you have that cookbook? (If not, it's a great one, for what it's worth!)The base is oats, whole wheat flour, wheat germ and/or bran, unsweetened shredded coconut, oil (whatever kind you prefer), honey, vanilla, salt. Then you add in whatever "extras" you like or have on hand. We like craisins, sliced almonds, and cinnamon best. Sometimes I do diced dried apples, chopped walnuts, and ginger-- and I might almost like that one the most myself. I play around and just make it whatever I have or feel like. We really do love almost every variety I've ever tried!
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly not "grain free," as you can see. I've been doing my best to get us away from eating so many conventional grains since even the organic strains tend to have been genetically modified along the way. That said, there's something about a bowl of cold cereal on a hot summer morning-- and I figure at least homemade granola made with all organic and simple ingredients is a WHOLE lot better for us than a box of store bought cereal! Right?!?! :)
@brietta - I do not have that recipe book, I will look it up for sure! I'm
ReplyDeletea huge granola fan (my mom used to make it when I was growing up) but my
husband has crohn's disease so rough grains can cause a problem for him. :( Yet
he still tries VERY hard to eat healthy and I search a lot of recipe books and
online sources to help him get the good nutrients without getting sick. I have
messed around with granola bar recipes, adding what my kids and husband enjoy, tweaking
it here and there to fit us best...no one has jumped for joy at the taste as of
yet. We'll see what I can muster up though! :) Thanks for writing all of this
down, I have copied it and will be giving it a try soon!!