Summa-Random, Summa-Greatness

Summer is full of long nights, days spent being lazy (not hardly actually), lots of playing and so much more. In a word: Randomness.

So I share with you, some randomness over the last few months. Part 1, anyway.

Have you found a Girl Scouts Coffee Creamer? You need to!

Decided it was time, and chopped my  hair off. New change

I donated my hair to help children in need of hair for wigs.

The sunrises + clouds are so beautiful this time of year.

Even without clouds, still a pretty way to start the day.

Playtime is serious business over here! So is his cuteness :)

Drool. S'mores bars.

Chobani Champions yogurt for breakfast

Pool time playing outside.

Did ya miss me?

Gosh, it's been nearly 2 months since I've posted on here. You'd think life was busy or something. Well, it has been. And this blog has been the lowest on the priority list. Sorry blog. In other news, we've all been doing well. Some quick updates for now, and with pictures of course, and then we'll start paying more attention to you, blog. 

Have a great weekend!

Jackson

{Our outing to a splash pad while running errands}

At 21 months old, he amazes us every single day. He's so smart. New words almost every day. He understands so much and can communicate fairly well. We've also hit the tantrums and whiney stages too. Ah, toddler hood. Not every day is like that though. Lots of playing outside in the water, digging in the sand, trying to chase and catch Lucy the Cat and feeding himself with a spoon and fork. Newest words that are funny sounding: "kuck" is stuck, most things are "owie" because we said it once, he says "hi" at very random times, when he says "peeease" = please he usually whispers it or is on repeat until we acknowledge that we heard him. He's such a budding little guy. He loves pouring water from cup to cup and helping Daddy do anything outside, from planting to watering to fixing stuff. Hard to believe he'll be 2 years old in a few months.

Josh

Working so much and Mr. Fix-it around the house. He's our favorite person in the world! We had a beautiful garden this spring in self-watering containers built by Josh. We had some huge zucchini squash produce as well as some cucumber and even some small bell peppers. Not many tomatoes or strawberries, but again the heat came in and I don't think the veggies or fruits are too fond of 102°F and hotter. Looking forward to the fall when we can grow some more. A new grill for Father's Day has inspired some outdoors grilling action going on. Enjoyed our first cedar plank grilled salmon along with grilled corn on the cob a few nights ago. Yum!

Char

Watching the weather. Running races. Cooking up new and exciting (ok, maybe not super exciting) meals. And juggling both of these busy boys. Speaking of racing, since January, I've done a race each month, or close enough. February didn't have any, but March had one in the beginning and one in the end, so I count it as Februarch. I think I'm hooked on running major races. I used to run in middle and high school and am getting back into it. Love it! Weather is getting more exciting to watch here in Arizona as our Monsoon has started, though no Monsoon moisture yet. Patiently waiting for the clouds to arrive. I need to get better about posting more cooking recipes and photos. Some things we've been enjoying a lot of are fresh fruits, avocados, strawberries, bananas and apples daily, steamed rice with steamed veggies, grilled chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes. Trying to mix it up and not use so much pasta (gosh, I love me some pasta) and incorporate more veggies (as if I need to incorporate more!). Meal time prep is pretty tough when you have two very demanding boys in your life and a schedule that doesn't have much time for myself, but I try to make use of prep time to prepare things I need. And anything that helps is great!

Lucy the Cat

Gotta have a section for her, right? She's doing well. No changes. She eats, sleeps and repeats. Yes, I may be that crazy cat lady. I'm OK with that.

And, if you couldn't tell, I document a lot on Instagram. Follow me there for more craziness. 

Legos, Trains and Trucks

Life changes fast. The day you were born, your daddy and I's life changed so much. So much we didn't even realize. You've gone from eating every few hours to a few times a day. Napping the day away (not as often as we'd thought you would) to only napping once or twice a day (some days, none at all!). You used to just lay there and wiggle your arms, trying to find your face or something to hold on to. Now you walk from room to room throughout the house and are gone in 2 seconds, usually chasing the cat around. Making only a coo or squeak before, to now speaking nearly 10-15 words and even some sign language too. 

How did you get so smart so quick? Keep learning everyday, Jackson. But your daddy and I have one request. Don't grow up.

We love you! 18 months have flown by. 

Hey, Hey Little Pumpkin Muffin

My pumpkin baking and cooking is not limited to the Fall holiday season, it is just kicked into overdrive. From Pumpkin bread, lattes, bagels, muffins, pancakes, cheesecake...the list goes on. I haven't tried something Pumpkin that I don't like.

Made these Pumpkin Pancakes a few weeks ago, delish! I didn't use a bisquik base, but made them from scratch. High Five! So with the latest muffin trend here in the Dewey house, I wanted to continue that. I used this Pumpkin Pancake recipe and put it into muffin tins. Add chocolate chips. Devour. Repeat.

Can you smell them fresh from the oven? Scoot closer.

Pumpkin Pancakes (from scratch, original recipe by me)

1 1/2 cup milk (soy or dairy-free work well too)
1 cup pumpkin puree (room temp)
1 egg
2 tablespoons apple sauce (in place of vegetable oil)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups flour, white or whole wheat
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground all spice
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
*Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, chocolate chips

In one bowl, combine all wet ingredients, mix. In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I used re-useable muffin tins, sprayed with non-stick spray. Add dry mix into pumpkin/wet mix and mix until JUST COMBINED, don't over mix. Muffins/pancakes will be tough. Add chocolate chips at the end.  I scooped a heaping spoonful into each muffin tin. Baked for 15-18 minutes, until done in the middle.

Second batch, ran out of batter. Used water to fill empty spaces.

Here's a tip. If you run out of batter (I got 20 muffins total out of the batter), fill remaining empty spaces with water. This will help muffins bake more evenly. Works..like..a..charm!!

Aren't they cute? These will make great grab-n-go breakfasts too! If I don't eat them all before dinner :)

{Fall into Autumn: Northern Arizona}

Some things I love about Autumn are the the cool, crisp air, the leaves falling off the trees and the changing of the color of the leaves. Living in the desert with plants that don't lose their leaves, and cactus that don't exactly have leaves to lose, makes it difficult to see such things. Not to mention we just left our triple digit friends for the lower 90s a few days ago. Luckily for me, and many others that enjoy this, northern Arizona is not too far away! 

A little climb in elevation, drop in temperature about 20 degrees and a completely different climate exists. We drove up to Flagstaff last weekend and got to see some changing Aspen trees. Explored the hilly-mountainous area around Flagstaff and Jackson got his first hike in.
[Warning: Photo overload!] All from October 7.

Pinecones aren't that tasty.

Look Mom, I found dirt to play in!

Family trip success! Next on the agenda: Snow.