All Fixed Up

Hey there!  Took a ride on the Reading, and took the kids to Sam's this morning...did I mention the right rear tire that kept running low on air?  Mmmm...yep, I had to get it fixed, before it fixed me (in one spot)!  I gotta have my wheels (and clean too!).  We were there almost two hours, and I couldn't even tell Ches (later) where the time disappeared to.  We looked at tons of books, made a bathroom run, ate lunch (pizza), and shopped a tiny bit.  I mean, I think Sam's time runs on a different clock than the rest of the world!  Time just evaporated-and I don't know how.  Hmm.
We came home, and I sat out while the kids played-it was a strange day of decent weather...sunny, hot, but breezy, and the clouds kept coming and going.  I was keeping the kids out of the pool (I thought they'd get cold with the wind) since it was threatening to rain (but didn't till after 5).  Anyway, I read a new Country French (or something like that) magazine (from Sam's!), and positioned my chair right by Ethan's swing, so I could push him, feel the breeze, and read-Perfect.  We stayed out for a couple hours, until Ethan went inside and left us.
So we went in to goof off.  Here's a closer pic of my sweet girl and her braces.  I still don't have a great one, but there's plenty of time for that!

I am in this cooking (baking!) mood lately..yes, I'm gaining weight, and know it, but I'm powerless.  Plus, it's good to occupy my time (while I shove my mouth, too).  Today I found a recipe for Lemon Bars, but my oven had baking potatoes already in at 400, and I didn't want to drop it to 375 for the bars (and I'm not skilled in mediating between temps).  So..since I bought lots of blueberries (and had some frozen ones too), I made Blueberry Crisp!  I put it in the oven as our potatoes came out, so it'd be ready after dinner.
If you've ever been here late (or listened to me rant), Ches gets to eat all he wants at night, and that includes ice cream with chocolate syrup EvErY night!  Anyway, he'd eaten all the ice cream, and I only had frozen Cool Whip (so not the same). So, he said he'd take the kids out to buy more ice cream, and I got all excited.  I know it doesn't sound good, but I really needed a break.  I went to the chapel for an hour last night (still fighting off the Lexapro withdrawal), and it helped.  But! Leave me alone in my house for an hour, and I'm positively giddy!  I had all that stuff from Pottery Barn that I still hadn't put out yet!  I just can't create with an audience I think.
So.  I changed my mantle in the hearth room from this:

to this!

More summery.  I know, not that much different, but I finally put up the chalkboard that I made, and I made a cool wreath (that I told you I'd work on!) with a burlap-y type bow, a starfish, and some jute string.  Fun.  Just lots of fun for me.  So, I got all brave, and put new holes in my wall!  I finally opened up all those picture frames I got, and hung them.  My plan was to put three on each side of the tv, but they were smaller than I planned.  So..I hung two and thought about it for two days..and tonight, I hung all six together.  Much better.  Makes the left side look a little light, but I'll work on that tomorrow.  So here are the six:

So then, I got to vacuum the kitchen/hearth room (which I secretly love to do!) (weird, I know), and it made everything better.  I also picked up a race track, some cars, took pictures down, packed a box of red stuff that I won't use till at least Christmas.

So, here's the now pix of the hearth room.  I have been trying to change it up, and I'm still just dying to get new white slipcovers, but for now-I shall be happy.

 

And then..they came home!  They came bearing not one box of ice cream, but four!  (they were on sale, so I'd have done the same thing!)

So, we had our yummy blueberry crisp, but with mint chocolate chip and cookies-with-cream ice cream!  We had vanilla, but when you have something else, why have plain vanilla?  Don't make fun of my camera-I tried to get a close-up picture:

Here's the professional picture:

Better, huh?

Yeah, mine doesn't look so amazing, but it was scrumptious!  It had oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter-all the good stuff.  I will definitely be making this one again.  I'd have to double it for company though-we ate 2/3's of the recipe!  I didn't use as many blueberries as it said, since I like lots of the crisp, heehee.

Maybe tomorrow I'll actually make the Lemon Bars. and stay home to clean the kids' rooms.  A girl's gotta have goals!

FYI- Blueberry Crisp:

 Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6  cups  blueberries
• 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• 2/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup  regular oats
• 3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 4 1/2  tablespoons  chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• 2  cups  vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; spoon into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon, and cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over the blueberry mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Top each serving with 1/4 cup frozen yogurt.

Note: Topping may also be made in the food processor. Place 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.