Peach Cobbler for One? Yep...Yum

I don't care for peaches. Never have. I don't know how to tell if a peach is ripe or not. I know nothing about them really. Just that I don't like them. On our way back from South Carolina, we stopped at a roadside stand in North Carolina to bring back peaches for Ryan's parents. Ryan' mom made me take a few. Then she and Ryan's dad proceeded to tell me how to peel a peach and how to tell if it is ripe or not. I still don't think I could go to the store and buy a good peach. Ok, so anyway, we had peaches here. I think they are a pain to even deal with. So I got to looking around on the Internet, looking for an easy way to use them up ASAP. Well I came across a recipe from Joy the Baker. It is a peach cobbler of sorts, only extremely simple. So I gave it a shot one night for dinner. This recipe calls to bake for 20 minutes. So I had it all ready to go, and put it in the oven when we sat down to eat, so that it would be ready when we finished dinner. According to Joy, it is best eaten warm, so that's what I wanted to make happen.
Here is the recipe:

1 peach
1/4 c of all purpose flour
1/4 c of brown sugar (packed)
3 tbs of old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tbs of shredded coconut
1 tbs of slivered almonds
2 tbs cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 and make sure the oven rack is in the middle
Cut the peach in half and remove the pit. Once you remove the pit, just scoop out some of that red part to leave room for the filling.
In a small bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt, coconut, and almonds. Then add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers.
Now, place the peach halves, cut side up, in an oven safe dish. Add the filling to each half of the peach. Make sure to push that filling down in there to get as much as you can on the peach. If some falls over into the dish, that is fine...you will still eat it!
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve it warm. You can of course add ice cream if that's how you like to eat your cobbler.

I also want to add, that the first time I made this, I left out the almonds. I didn't have any nuts in the house. It was still perfect. The second time I made it, I left out the nuts and the coconut and it was still great. So if you don't like either of those, just leave it out. You will still love this! And like I said earlier, it can cook while you eat dinner, and will be ready when you are finished. That is called perfect timing!
The kids loved this. Now, even I liked it. And I don't like peaches. But I like this! I am not sure why I like this and not peaches in general, but whatever. This is so simple and yummy! Give it a try!!

Before:

After:

Doesn't that look good?!

My Monday Eve

I had my class last night. I had to leave the house at 5:30 to be at the class by 6:30. I was unsure of how bad the traffic would be. Ryan was supposed to be home by then to watch the kids. And it was all supposed to work out, and do so smoothly. Well because of a squad run he chose to go on, he wasn't going to make it home in time. So he had his parents run down here last minute. I am thankful for them running down here like that last minute, but I was NOT happy about it. Ok, I was PISSED. Taking this class wasn't supposed to inconvenience the whole family. He was supposed to be home. So yeah, I left mad. I got stuck in traffic because the phone company was working on the lines. I did make it on time thankfully.
So we get into the class and the instructor is nice, and seems like someone that we can get a lot of good information from. He is a commercial photographer and has been doing it for too many years to count. He hands out his outline of what he wants to talk about that evening. And it looks promising. Well turns out that there were a few people there who could barely turn their cameras on. Learning how to use your camera is NOT what that class is for. There IS a class for that. But not this class. Turns out, those people are ALSO taking that more basic class too. Its just a different night of the week. So he does his best to get into the class and explain some basic terms and principles. He just keeps getting interrupted. Interrupted with questions like "well how do I do that on MY camera?" and "what does the 'A' on my camera mean?" Seriously people, read your freaking manual. If you spend the money to buy an SLR camera, the first thing you should do, is read your manual and know what the buttons on your camera mean. If you are taking a class on photography, you should understand your camera before you go into that class. The class isn't called "Learn how to use your Nikon camera." If they would read their manual, they would have a small understanding of some of the ideas in photography. I am there to learn more about photography. I am not there to learn how to change the settings in my camera.
It was a frustrating class, because he was slowed down and interrupted constantly by stupid questions about the camera itself. Instead of just listening, they kept interrupting. At the end of the class, I found out that I was not the only one completely frustrated by what happened. I left at the same time as a few others and we talked about it. So who knows what will happen next class. There isn't any on the holiday of course, so it will be a couple of weeks. I just hope that it doesn't happen again. We only get 7 classes to learn some of this. We won't learn anything if someone keeps trying to get answers on how to use a Nikon.
Today started out pretty crappy. I had a bad headache. A friend of mine was coming up with her boys for a playdate. I didn't want to cancel, so I just dealt with it. My headache went away and they boys played well together. Ethan is supposed to be napping but he isn't. I don't have the energy right now for him to not nap today. He will be so crabby if he doesn't nap. He has been rather crabby overall lately, and is going through a "short nap, up early in the morning, not sleeping as much as he should" phase. Its exhausting me. If he would just be happier overall, I would be fine with his lack of sleep. But he is so grumpy and is such a challenge. I want my "Ethan free" time in the afternoons. I need it. I am not getting it. So I don't know. So far most of the day has been crappy. I really just want it to be over. I am ready for bed.

School is Cool

Today was Dylan's first day of preschool. 3 days a week for a few hours each day. It was a bit chaotic with all of the drop offs, but we did our best. The teacher was great about getting all of the kids checked in and and into the classroom. Some kids cried at leaving their parents. Dylan was not one of them. He usually can't wait to get rid of me, haha!
Once we dropped Dylan off, Ethan and I ran to the grocery store. Only it wasn't the one I normally go to. It was hard getting into another store layout, and the people are just not as friendly as what I am used to. I got tired of waiting at the deli and left. There was only one person ahead of me, and I had stood there for 10 minutes while the deli worker attempted to serve her. The employee was just insanely slow. I couldn't stand there any longer. There were store employees standing everywhere. Talking. When I got to the checkout, the bagger left. The cashier was ringing my stuff up, and sending it down the belt to the bagging area, but wasn't paying a lick of attention and my stuff kept falling on the floor!!! She never said 'sorry' or anything. I left a bit upset. It just doesn't make sense to go to the store I am used to going to. So I am going to have to get used to it I guess. We got gas and headed home to unload the groceries.
It was kind of a whirlwind of a morning. It seemed like as soon as we got home from the store that it was time to go and pick him up. Ethan and I went in to get Dylan and we were a bit early. So we waited a little while. Ethan was not patient at all. Little turd. Dylan's teacher would call the kids one by one to the door as she saw the parents. It was very organized. Dylan said he had fun and he likes his school. When I asked him what he did today the very first thing he said was "play outside." I had to pry a little more to get any more information. All he wanted to talk about was what he played with. I'm sure they were busy getting the kids used to the classroom and the teachers. It feels nice to have him in something like this. I hope it will get him ready for kindergarten next year.
Here he is before we left this morning.

Tonight is my first of seven photography classes. I am looking forward to it a lot. I hope it helps me. I am planning to fix dinner a bit earlier than we normally have it. I am worried though that the kids won't be hungry since they had a later than normal lunch. I don't know. We will just see how it all plays out I guess. Wish Ryan luck this evening with the boys! haha!!

The week in review

Ok, so enough with the vacation posts. Although I think I could talk about it everyday. So when we got back, it was life as usual. Ryan had to work on Sunday for part of the day, and I had loads of laundry and unpacking to do. To tell you the truth...there are still clothes in a suitcase in the dining room. But at least they are clean. The boys and I ran to the grocery store on Monday morning. We had nothing in the house. So it had to be done. Tuesday evening we had the open house for Dylan's preschool. Ryan's parents were unable to go on their vacation, so they came down to help us out and stayed here with Ethan. I am so glad. I think the open house lasted for about an hour or so. They had ice cream for everyone and then a scavenger hunt for the kids. The idea was to get them used to going around the classroom and to get an idea of where things are. Dylan did well, and he seemed to enjoy the hunt. His new teacher was very friendly and talked to Dylan quite a bit. Even though Dylan didn't say much back. But he gets his shyness honestly. They had sign up sheets laid out for all of the party days and for the co-op days. I signed up for the second wednesday of each month. I hope it works out ok. And the one thing I forgot to ask, was about the party days. They had a chance for someone to bring in drinks, someone to bring in food, basically someone to cover each thing they needed. I signed up for 4 parties I think and to bring the drinks for each. But after thinking about it,  I wonder if we are expected to stay for the party or if the co-op parent is the only one that needs to be there. I am hoping that the co-op parent is the only one they need. Otherwise there may be an issue with me being there since I would have to have Ethan go somewhere. So oops on my part, for not asking. It didn't even cross my mind at the time. I just wanted to be able to offer to bring stuff in. Overall it went well, and I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I only get nervous because of my part in the whole thing. I have to go out of my comfort zone a bit when it comes to the co-op part.
The rest of the week wasn't all that exciting. Just normal life. I think it was wednesday...maybe it was thursday...I don't know. Anyway, we had storms go through one night. They weren't severe, but did have a lot of lightning. So yeah, guess what. We lost power. AGAIN! Why does this keep happening? Sounds like the power company needs to do a big upgrade down this way. It went out around 2 am or so one morning. I had no idea how long it would be out, but figured it would be a whole day, since it normally is over 12 hours. I got the boys up and fed them breakfast. I was wanting my coffee so bad since I didn't sleep well. But since the power was out, nothing I could do. So we were just hanging out when about 9 am or so the power came back on! That has to be a record. It was only about 7 hours! So yeah, I made coffee. I get so tired of the stupid power going out down here. Its ridiculous.
So for a while now I have been looking for a small-ish camera bag. I didn't want a big bulky bag and didn't want one of those ugly standard black bags. So I went on the hunt on the big ole Internet. Well guess what. Camera bags are soooooo expensive! I could not find one below $60! I'm sorry but that is nuts. No reason for them to be that much. While I was looking, I came across a website where someone suggested going to Amazon.com and buying a camera bag insert. No bag, just the insert. The padding part. So I went and looked and the smaller size like I wanted was only about $12. Not bad. It got here and was just what I expected. So then all I had to do was find a purse that would fit it. The boys and I went to Walmart today. While I was there, I looked. I had taken my insert with me to make sure it would fit. I found a purse on sale for less than $10 that would work perfectly!!! So my new camera bag that I put together myself cost me less than $20!  How awesome is that? Its perfect and I am happy with it. I was going to ask Ryan's mom if she would make one for me, but I found something that would work for $20 total. No work on her part, haha! I am fine with this one for now, so I will stick with it. Maybe one of these days, I will get tired of it and ask her to make one. She is good at making those types of things.
So here is the insert:

That little gray part has velcro on it, so you can place it inside the big part where ever it works best for you. And of course you can take it out if it doesn't work for you. Here is the link to the insert on Amazon if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/Camaroo-Inc-DSLR-Camera-Insert/dp/B00348J5Q0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1314467849&sr

And of course there are others if you'd like. Once on Amazon.com, just search "camera bag insert."

And here is the purse I got.

A nice, dark green. The insert fits perfectly inside that bag! So yay for me! I have a camera bag now!

Dylan starts preschool on Monday morning, and then that evening I start my short photography class. I am looking forward to it, but again, I am nervous. I hope I am able to learn a little bit from it.

Vacation: The Beauty of the Destination (and a link up)

Here is the last of the vacation posts. If you missed any, scroll back through and catch up people! Today is also the first day that I took the time to edit all of the photos I am posting. I just haven't had the opportunity or the drive to sit and edit all 300 photos the way I want to. I am working on it though. Slowly. So you all just got the bare bones photos. Sorry. But you got the idea. We had a wonderful time, and hope to have a vacation again next summer.

Not to bad for taking a picture through aquarium glass, huh?

       

Vacation: Dylan

*We are almost done with the vacation posts. Tomorrow will probably be it. I have been posting my pictures unedited. I hate that, but haven't had time to mess with them really. *


Dylan got to go to a few places with out Ethan in tow. One day we took him to a pier to walk around and look, one day he got to go Putt Putt and see some airplanes. We hoped to see more people fishing on the pier that day, but there weren't many. But it was also nice that the pier wasn't crowded too. There is just so many things to do down there. We could have had an activity for each day. It's fantastic. And I have to say that I am so glad that the hurricane will miss them and stay out in the ocean for the most part. Here are pictures:

I am going to try to wrap it all up tomorrow and try to get in my usual Friday link up as well. I just have to manage to get a photo edited for that one! Stop back by tomorrow!

Vacation: The Aquarium

We took the boys to the aquarium in Myrtle Beach. We had taken Dylan there years ago when we were down there, but he was so young, he wouldn't remember. We were excited. I know I was at least! We were a little worried about how Ethan would do. We had him in the stroller to begin with, but took him out so he could see. He did wonderfully! It really was an awesome day. Anyway, now to the pictures!

Of course there are more, but I am sparing you from having to look at them all. Haha! As usual, there will be more tomorrow!

Vacation: Part Three

*We are getting to mainly picture posts now*


We spent most of our week going back and forth from the pool, to the beach and relaxing inside while Ethan napped. Dylan was a fish. Once he got used to his Puddle Jumper floatie, he was all over that pool. It was fantastic. If you need a good floatie, check out Puddle Jumpers. Ethan didn't care much for the pool. We had a floatie for him too, but he hated it. He didn't even care for being held. He just didn't like it all that much. We had Dylan in the pool when Ethan was napping most days. In the mornings we would go out and do things if we wanted to. And in the evenings after dinner, we would take the boys to the beach to play in the sand. We had lunch at the house each day as well as breakfast. We went out to dinner a couple of nights too. I enjoy going out to eat. I just with Ethan did. He is always hit and miss when it comes to going out to dinner. Some times he will do just great, and other times he is a nightmare!
So here are pictures of Dylan in the pool and of the boys on the beach!

More later!

Vacation: Part Two

*Again, I am breaking it up a little mainly because of the photos I want to share.*


The Arrival:

So we got into Garden City Sc around 2 pm. Check in isn't until 4 so you can't really expect your house to be ready before that. All we did was walk in and ask if it was ready. They checked, and said it wasn't yet. We gave them a phone number to call when it was ready. So we headed back out and drove down to the house just to look at it. We were so excited! After we drove by, we then went back to Garden City and parked. We walked into a parking lot over looking the beach so the boys could see the ocean. We hung out there for a little while.

I think Ethan was in a daze from the 12 hour drive.

We hung out there for a bit before walking a little and going into a store to look around to kill time. By the time we did all of this, it was almost 3. We left the store and went back to the car. We had planned on just driving around for a little while to look at things and wait on the phone call. We loaded the boys in and just as Ryan was getting into the car, his phone rang. The house was ready! He went in, signed a paper and walked out with the keys!

We drove back down to the house and very very quickly unloaded the car. All of our stuff from the car ended up in the kitchen and living room and didn't get unpacked until much later in the evening. We wanted to get in the pool, we wanted to go to the beach, we wanted dinner! So we did some of each that first evening. We ordered pizza and had it delivered. Yuck. That pizza place was awful. After a long day we were so happy to be there. The house is just like we imagined it. We were very happy with it.

Living Room 

Kitchen

Dining Room

Pool Area

Pool area all lit up at night!

Stay tuned for more!