Currently | August 1st

Doing | The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. The two oldest had band camp and I volunteered every day to help take care of the cooking for the kids. The first day a girl fainted and fell face first into the floor. Broke her two front teeth. And that's pretty much how the whole two weeks went.

Thinking | Since we were gone so much over the last two weeks, we kind of neglected the house. Including the youngest's little blow up pool. The result of that is tadpoles. Now we are midwives to about 100 baby frogs. She wants to check on them daily.

Reading | I'm reading a lot of schedules. Boys soccer, girls soccer, band, and archery. My planner is getting a work out right now. The next two months will be so busy that I am exhausted just thinking about it all.

Watching | Helix. Just started watching this on Netflix and I'm trying to space it out because we binge watched Stranger Things in one day.

Eating | The whole two weeks of band camp I was eating McDonald's every day for breakfast. I have mucho regreto about that, but one kid had soccer practice from 7-8:30am, the other had soccer practice from 8-10am, and then both had to be at band after that so I just didn't have time (or energy) to cook better food at home.

Weather | Hot. Humid. Not much rain. It was so hot and humid these last two weeks that the band couldn't even work on their drill outside. Y'all it's hard to get 142 band students into a small field house or gym and get them to cooperate.

Work in Progress | El Oh El. No time for knitting. *sad face* I do have some baby gifts I need to get started on soon though.

Currently | July 17th

Doing | Getting prepared for my two oldest to attend band camp next week! We'll be there many hours. They'll be learning drill and music. I'll be helping serve food and keeping them hydrated and cool. Marching band gets made fun of, but it's pretty intense and I challenge anyone to say it's not a "sport".

Thinking | I was so disappointed yesterday. A little backstory: a local state park hasn't had it's beach (on a lake) open for seven-ish years due to flooding, erosion, and lack of funding. Recently, they put some money and work into it and reopened. We took our two oldest kids there all the time before it closed so I was very excited to go back. And we did last week and it was just as great as I hoped it would be. However, we planned all week to head there on Saturday as it was my husband's only day off this week. Mind you, this lake is a hour drive away. We pack up the cooler, get our gear, drive all the way there, and... ... ... the beach is closed. Not only the state park beach, but all of the beaches run by the Army Corp of Engineers were also closed. No explanation given.

Reading | A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1. Better known as A Game of Thrones. Almost done. Hopefully.

Watching | Outlander. I enjoy this show, but look forward to reading the books as well.

Eating | Cholesterol lowering stuff. I'm supposed to go back in August for a re-test of my levels and I'm trying to lower them without having to take medication. I did cheat today and had Taco Bell. 

Weather | Basically a repeat of last week. A bit less rain though.

Work in Progress | My Flax sweater. Still. Probably need to put this one on the shelf for a month or two.

Hello Out There! A Currently Catch-up Post

Wow. It has been three-ish months since I made a post. I really did intend on doing the damn thing, but well I didn't. So let's just go right back into it and do a little Currently post.

Doing | Recovering from all the finger foods and cake/sweets that I ate yesterday. My youngest daughter turned FIVE YEARS OLD last week. She is loving Minecraft right now so she asked for a Minecraft themed party. Which was more easy that I could have ever hoped for it to be.

Thinking | My oldest just got his intermediate license. I already have anxiety attacks so this new development is going to cause me to have many meltdowns. Currently (like right at this very moment while I am typing), he has left the house for the very first time alone. I told him to call or text me when he arrives at his destinations and like a good parent... I'm tracking him with the Find my iPhone app.

Reading | A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1. Better known as A Game of Thrones. Like many others, I love the show, but I know that the books are different. I want to read what the author originally intended for the storyline to be.

Watching | Honestly, I'm kind of in a funk with shows right now. I have been watching Kingdom and Animal Kindom, but I'd be ok if I missed an episode.

Eating | I made fondant. For that birthday I mentioned earlier. I also made hard candy. I have never attempted either of these before. I was pretty intimidated by both of them. By some miracle, it all turned out! I didn't burn the candy and the fondant was perfect. I'm ridiculously proud of the Minecraft cake I used the fondant for.

Fondant recipe: Marshmallow Fondant
Hard candy recipe: Aunt Marcey's Old Fashioned Hard Tack Candy (when recipe says add flavoring, I used Kool-aid)

Weather: Hot, humid, and lots of rain. Daily. Flooding everywhere.

Work in Progress: My Flax sweater. Le sigh. I've been "working" on this since January. Maybe by the time it's cool enough for me to wear it, I'll have it done.

Hello April!

New month, new season, new beginnings. I've been thinking of taking the kids on a day trip sometime this week since it is their Spring Break week.

On Easter, me and the girls made tie dye shirts. I think I may have done some tie dye I was younger, but it was so long ago that I can't remember. It was actually pretty fun and the shirts turned out pretty cute.

Some of use had more fun dyeing our hands though.

Download the HELLO APRIL graphic here.

Easter Weekend

The weekend turned out sunny and beautiful! We decided to let our youngest do her egg hunting on Saturday because the weatherman had forecast rain for Sunday. I had prestuffed the eggs on Friday night and she kept asking if we could hurry up and hide them!

Rowan's egg haul

Only after we were done did I realize that she's wearing the same shirt that she wore while hunting eggs last year! I showed her a photo and she thought it was funny. After egg hunting, we grilled some chicken, cooked some baked beans, and enjoyed some fresh baked bread.

Irish Soda Bread

Super simple recipe, super yummy bread. I can verify that it goes great with grilled chicken and baked beans.

Irish Soda Bread recipe

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbls sugar
• 2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift all dry ingredients together. Add buttermilk. Knead dough on floured surface for two minutes and create a rounded loaf. Put in a well buttered round pie dish, score top in an X pattern, and bake for 35-40 minutes.

*I used my stand mixer with dough hook. I sifted all the dry ingredients right into the mixer bowl then added buttermilk one cup at a time with the mixer set on lowest setting. I let it mix for two minutes and then dumped it out onto a floured board. (I totally typed out "floored board" instead of floured! Glad I did a quick proofread!) It was a little sticky still so I just gave it a dusting of flour and folded it a couple of times before placing in my dish. I also used butter flavored Crisco instead of butter in the dish.

I've made a couple of loaves and this is, by far, my favorite bread recipe. It's simple and easy.

Currently :: October 11th

Doing | I have been doing a whole lot of letting go. I'm not sure what it is, but something has just clicked in my brain/body. I'm done being completely stressed out about pretty much everything. I am slowing learning that things are what they are and if I can improve it, good, if I can't, move on.

Thinking | The husband's new job seems to be going well. He works four 12-hour shifts then he is off for four days. Shifts are 6am to 6pm and switch to 6pm to 6am every month. He just started his month of night shifts this week. It's a little strange.

Reading | Oh lord... uh yeah. Not much. I've been reading up on my tarot book, but that's about it.

Watching | All the things! I desperately wish that TV networks would space out when shows return for the "season". Every Fall I struggle to figure out what to watch, what to record, what to skip. I know, I know... #firstworldproblem.

Eating | September was pretty hectic and eating well was, unfortunately, not a big priority. We ate quite a few frozen pizzas and hot dogs. Hopefully, I can get myself organized again and being doing meal plans.

**Recipe I think you'd like: Frito Chili Pie from the Pioneer Woman. Husband and son wanted chili so I made this. They didn't eat it with the chips, but I threw some in a bowl, topped it with chili and gobs of cheese! By itself, it still made a nice tasting chili.

Weather | A little bit of cool weather, a little bit of warm weather. Definite prayers for all those living in South Carolina with too much water and those living in California with too little.

Work In Progress | I'm working on a Heirloom Chevron Throw.

October 10th | Show Me Your Favorite(s)

October 10th | Favorites

The Sun, The Moon, The Star

When I first received my deck, I immediately shuffled through them to just look at them, feel them. These three cards stood out to me and still do now.

This tarot challenge is hosted by @blackandthemoon via Instagram. 

Tarot deck | The Wild Unknown