the last day

Even though I reported back to work on Wednesday, today is officially the last day of summer break. Greg had off work this week so he entertained the kids when I had to go back for teacher work days. 

One day he took the girls and our neighbor buddy, Austin, to breakfast with the grandmas and the papas then hiking in the mountains. They had a great time!

The air was cooler. It was reported that they climbed all over everything. (Not bad for a phone pic, huh?)

They went up to an area we've been before that has a "slide" that over time water has carved into a rock. The last time we were there it was dry and the kids slid down it several times. This time, there was water flowing over it from recent rains in our area.

Yup.

You guessed it.

They slid down nature's water slide.

In their clothes.

Over and over again.

Apparently it was the pinnacle of the day.

Greg texted me this photo with the caption, "The party is obviously over!" They were tuckered out!

Heather and Stephanie have both given out their back-to-school Starburst treats to their teachers. 

Their backpacks are packed. 

First day outfits are decided upon, but not yet ironed. 

They are ready and excited and nervous.

They are a little sad summer is over. 

Tomorrow they will start 8th grade and 5th grade. How did this happen?

This will be a year of lasts for us. This is the last year Heather will be at my school ~ the last year any kid will tag along with me in the mornings and be forced to occupy themselves while I work. The is the last year Mommy will be just down the hall if she needs something. This is the last year Stephanie will be in middle school. 

Sigh.

Take a look at my teaching blog to see what this is all about.

And this one too.

bursting with excitement

When Stephanie started 6th grade, Greg had the idea to take a little gift when she went around the school following her schedule to get an idea of where her classes were located. Great idea! Why didn't I think of that?!

So she walked her schedule and introduced herself to the teachers that happened to be working in their rooms. I'm using the word introduce loosely here. I think Greg had to initiate some of the talking there. 

In 6th grade, she gave popcorn since she was "poppin' in to meet them." Last year, she gave her teachers candy bars in hopes of a "sweet year." We have to change it up every year because she has the same band teacher each year. Can't have repeats, now, can we?

This year, she is "bursting with excitement" and giving her teachers Starbursts.

I wrapped the candy with patterned paper, backed the printed tag with scalloped card stock, and tied it with baker's twine. I used yellow and blue because those are her school colors. We kept the patterns/colors gender neutral because we didn't know whether her teachers are male or female until we got her schedule while we were at school.

This is a cute, easy, and inexpensive way to make a teacher's day. What teacher wouldn't like to get candy in the days before school while they are busy planning and room rearranging?

Heather will bring her teacher a treat at the meet the teacher day next week.

Want to make your child's teacher's day? Click on the picture above to download the printable.

Punch the circles out with a 2.5" punch or cut them out freehand. Your child's name can go in the space towards the bottom.  If you don't have a large scallop punch, you can adhere the printed circle to a piece of card stock and cut around it leaving a border. Wrap the Starburst with fun patterned paper (I cut mine 5" by 3 3/4") and attach your tag.

P.S. If you are someone who knows Heather's teacher this year, she has requested you keep this information to yourself so she can surprise him. Thanks. :)

     

rite of passage

The year was 1978 and I wanted to see a movie real bad. I imagine I begged and begged. At that time we didn't go to too many movies cuz my parents were working hard to make ends meet.

My dad took me to see the movie that my little girl heart could not live without and I was oh so happy. Just the two of us went to go see Grease!

Oh how I love this movie! I wanted to be Sandy and dance with Danny Zuko.

I'm not sure if he realized what he was getting himself into. Looking back, I just have to laugh. My dad is quiet and shy ~ most painfully shy. If he can get by in life without saying much, he does. (Side note: when he does talk, he's stinking hilarious.)

I was a pretty naive child. Even though I was regularly exposed to racy English humor watching Benny Hill and other such shows on PBS, I was still naive.

I know my dad must have been dying and shrinking in his seat to sit next to his 10-year old daughter during a movie with so many innuendos! Ha!  Thankfully for his sake, I'm quite certain his little girl didn't understand many of the lines. I know for sure I loved the singing, dancing, and Danny Zuko.

I have been telling Greg that it's time to let the kids watch this movie. It's time for them to experience all the delightfulness that is Grease.

Last weekend we rented it and had family movie time. I snickered to myself at all the lines I knew they didn't really understand. I sang along. I even did some of the dance moves during Greased Lightening. I swooned over Danny Z. all over again.

The kids? Well, they liked it alright.

But I don't think anyone enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.

One day when they are older they will watch the movie again and look back on the first time they watched it and turn a little pink knowing they watched this movie with their parents!





       

new in the shop ~ ipad pouches

Today I added a new item to my shop ~ iPad pouches/sleeves. 

There are a few different looks ~ some with pockets on the outside, some without. Which do you like the best?

Except for the one with the cycles, these pouches/sleeves are big enough to fit iPads that have the covers like Snugg or Case Crown. Even though you might have one of these covers that conveniently puts the the iPad to sleep when it closes, doesn't mean you can't have something pretty (& padded) for your iPad. Right?

The one with the cycles is a bit smaller and is best for just the iPad alone.

As always, the inside is just as interesting as the outside with a different, coordinating fabric.

   

a day at the dentist

Yesterday was dentist day.

I didn't realize when I scheduled Heather's appointment that Greg had a cleaning the same morning ~ different dentists, different sides of town. Maybe I should have looked at my calendar, huh?

Nevertheless, the timing worked out fine.

Greg has to have two fillings replaced next week. Good grief.

Heather's was the big appointment of the day. The dentist has been talking about this for a couple of years now, but kept telling us to wait and see if the situation resolved itself. Which I guess sometimes it does. In December we were told it was time, but we wanted to wait until summer. Heather needed a frenectomy. She had too much tissue connecting her upper lip to her gums.

Find a mirror and check yours out. I'll wait.

She also had extra tissue between her two front teeth at the gum line. This has caused her to have a significant gap between her two front teeth and could cause future adult teeth to be crowded.

Since she is a child, the dentist begged for recommended a conscious sedation. Stephanie had this once when she was about 3 when she had to have some silver caps done. The experience at the dentist's office was not bad, but she wigged out on me at home. Bad. It was a good thing I had taken Heather to the sitter that day.

Because of my previous experience, I scheduled it for a Tuesday and made Greg go with me. Heather was a little anxious about the procedure and she was hungry because of the required fast. But when she got the sleepy shot, she was drowsy within seconds and giggly. That made it much easier for her to go into the procedure room without me ~ we weren't allowed to watch.

Probably a good thing.

The procedure didn't take long & the dentist brought her into the recovery room to begin our wait for her to fully wake up and be ready for the ride home. Let me tell you, it was a good thing Greg was there. It was a strange sight to see her eyes open at about half mast, but she was not seeing, not awake really.

But then.

She started screaming as she was coming to. Unconsolable screaming. She had double vision still and was unable to make her mouth say what her mind wanted. This scared her even more I think. She made strange noises and did strange things with her mouth. Greg wanted me to video her. I gave him a dirty look and found some of her favorite "sweet music" on his phone to help calm her down. To be honest, for a brief moment I was scared silly that something went wrong and this behavior was permanent.

As she became more conscious, it alternately heart-breaking and hilarious. She said some really funny things. She was pretty l~o~o~p~y still. She asked numerous times how she got there. She asked why we were in my brother's living room. Then she wanted to know how that was possible when he lives in a different state. She wanted to know why we were in our neighbor's living room, then the library. She wanted to know who gave her the "lame-o" toy that came out of the procedure room with her. She tried to play with said lame-o toy. She wanted to know if she cried during the procedure. She told us that she didn't feel anything during the procedure. She demanded to get up and walk many times. She demanded to go home many times. She would be calm, then she'd freak out all over again. She told us she loved us frequently and wanted many kisses. It was serious work calming this child down.

During all of this, she still bled in her mouth quite a bit and her lips became a wet/caked dry bloody mess ~ which made the kisses she wanted pretty tricky. When she was much more awake and very calm we asked her if we could clean her up. She wouldn't let us do it until she saw what her lips looked like. The front office lady obliged her with a hand mirror and a giggle. I told her we do our best to be entertaining to those around us (trying to make up for that screaming).

She also told us that she wished she was more awake during the procedure so she could see it. That's Heather ~ interested in the procedure even if it's a little gross. She was not happy that I put a kibosh on Greg's suggestion of videoing her earlier antics. Later when Stephanie got home, she was not happy about the lack of video evidence. I told Greg maybe we should have shot some footage so when she is a teenager we can show it to her to scare her out of drugs for sure. So maybe the veto of the video was not the smartest idea.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with a more normal child, pampering her with chicken noodle soup and ice cream, taking naps, and watching t.v.

Today she reports her pain as a zero (on a 1 - 10 scale) unless she laughs (which pulls at the incision) in which case it's a half or 1. We are trying really hard not to make her laugh, but with comedian parents she's sorta doomed. Her lip is puffy. She is still enjoying some indulgent ice cream, pudding, and soup. We just made some jello. We are taking it easy today. No need to get out of our jammies.

She will probably go with Greg to the dentist next week and hold his hand during his procedures. She's supportive like that.

         

pin this ~ avocado tomato salad

Pinterest.

Do you?

I avoided it for a long time. Then, I couldn't hide from it any longer. At first I used it to simply pin things that I was seeing on other peoples' blogs or along the interwebs.  Then I started looking at other peoples' pins and repinning. Now that I'm on summer break I spend all day hours many minutes a day perusing pins, pinning and repinning. I follow my friends and see what they are pinning.

I think it is such a valuable {and fun} tool to be able to get ideas and save ideas in one place for later use. I have pinned recipes, ideas for the classroom, ideas for our home, etc. The problem is that there is  not enough time to do all of the projects I have pinned, especially when I keep finding more. But they are there for me when I need them.

Let's talk about recipes. Just because it's on Pinterest doesn't mean it is tasty. The picture might look tasty. The mix of ingredients might seem like a good idea. But it could be a total fail.

But this is tasty, I promise!

(pin)

This Avocado Tomato Salad is dreamy ~ that is, if you like avocados and tomatoes. If you don't, well, never mind.

Avocado Tomato Salad

2 ripe avocados
2 large tomatoes (beefsteak)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs chopped, fresh cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Chop avocados, tomatoes, and cilantro. Mix together and add lemon juice, salt, & pepper.


Now, I used one roma tomato and half an avocado (but I should have used the whole thing). I didn't have fresh lemon juice, so I used bottled stuff. Cilantro has become a refrigerator staple in our house lately so I certainly had that. This made enough for a little side "salad" for me. Oh my! I wished that I had made more. I will be making this again soon and often.

What have you pinned and tried lately?

 

menu plan monday ~ july 9

Last week all the meals I planned were new. I've been including new recipes in our meal plan since I have extra time, but an entire week of them was a total accident. Here are my reviews of the recipes:

honey-rosemary pork chops ~ Yum. We will definitely have this again. And what else can I slather honey on to barbecue?

crock pot chicken cacciatore ~ Gross. There wasn't a lot of liquid and it tasted burnt. This dinner left me digging in the fridge for something else to eat. What a waste of food and money! I have fond memories of chicken cacciatore from my childhood. I'll have to find another recipe and try again.

three packet roast ~ Delicious. We will do this one again.

taco pizza ~ This was a hit. Easy.

This week we are having:

• bbq chicken pizza
• steak & twice baked potatoes
• chicken pot pie
• bowtie skillet lasagna
• bbq ribs
• garlic parmesan crusted chicken

Not as many new recipes this week, but I'll be sure to let you know how the new ones turn out.

What's for dinner at your house? I'm linking up with orgjunkie.com.

 

between the pages

How do you choose a book to read? Do you rely on recommendations? Do you read the synopsis? Do you choose a book by its cover? Do you have favorite authors? Do you see a movie preview, then rush to read the book before you see the movie? All of the above?

I'm an all of the above kind of girl.

For those of you who like book recommendations, I'm going to help you out a little bit here and there.

Today I'll talk about two books.

The first is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Just recently, we saw trailer for the movie coming in out in December. When Greg and I watch trailers at the movies we tell each other whether we want to see the movie, not see the movie, or wait for the video. This was a must see for me. However, even though I'd almost finished an English degree before I changed my major to elementary education, I had never read this book. This book became a must read for me for more than one reason.

It's not a terribly long book. It did take me a while to get into the groove of his style of writing. It was certainly not a writing style that I am used to reading. I had to use a dictionary a few times, not that I mind that. In the end, I'm not too sure how I feel about it. While I liked the book, I somehow felt unsettled about it. The ending was tragically ironic.

I know there is another earlier movie made from this book, but I have not seen it. I still want to see the one coming up.

You should read the book before you see the movie ~ but that's what I always think.

I read about the next book on a blog (don't remember which one). It's 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Philip Done.  This is a book of vignettes that gives the reader a glimpse into Mr. Done's teaching life. As a teacher, I laughed and nodded my head frequently. Teaching is not glamourous and he tells it how it is.

I recommend this book whether you are a teacher or not. Teachers will identify with the book, but I think everyone will appreciate the humor and realistic tales of the classroom. It's very easy to read and will take no time at all.

Philip Done wrote a second book, Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacherhood that I hope to read soon.

Pick up a book and read!

   

3 packet roast

I've been seeing this recipe on Pinterest, so I thought I'd try it. I followed the recipe here.

Ingredients:

roast (one you like & fits in the crock pot)
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 cups water (see note below)

The roast was a beef chuck roast. We are using the last cuts of the quarter of beef we bought two years ago & this is what we had.

Put the roast in the crock pot and season with salt & pepper.

Mix the three packets with the water. Pour over roast. Cook for 8 - 10 hours.

Tada! This is after 10ish hours, maybe more. The great thing about roasts in the crock pot is you can leave them a little longer and they get a little bit better.

I used the juices to make gravy, but there wasn't as much liquid as I like & I had to add water to get 2 cups of liquid. I'm glad I didn't use the recipe I found that called for only a half cup of water. Next time I make a roast this way, I will use more water ~ probably 3 cups.

Delicious.

Greg, the kids, and our little neighbor buddy loved the roast.

We will repeat.

Try it with your next roast.

     

and i'll say it again

The kids had their dance recital this past weekend. I know I've said this all before, but I'll say it again. I love their dance recitals. I am one proud mama sitting in the audience with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as they show what they've worked so hard on for the past year. 

Heather was in the tap/jazz class again this year. Her class performed two separate numbers ~ one tap and one jazz. That girl can really move those feet in a pair of tap shoes. This year she learned how to do wings.

And she has the highest kicks in her jazz number. Very limber, this girl.

Stephanie took ballet again. Their dance was a little more modern than it has been in years past.

But still.

Be still my heart.

She is the youngest and smallest girl in her class. Her teacher choreographed a lift into the dance, so she was the one they lifted.

She works hard to keep up with the girls who have had ballet more years than her. She dances with emotion and really feels the music.

Their separate classes really suit them. 

Side note: Stephanie and Heather were almost the same height at the beginning of the school year. Stephanie has recently shot up in height! So much that she got dress-coded in the last weeks of school because her skirt was too short. She was so mad about that!

Their gymnastics number was to the song "Welcome to the Jungle." Perfect costumes, don't you think?

Even though they prefer different styles of dance, they both love to take gymnastics. They also like being able to take this class together.

Aren't they pretty?

There are times when I complain about driving 50-mile round trip to the dance studio to sit on a hard bench for 3 hours at a time after a long day at work.

But really, it's been worth it.

The skills and confidence they've learned while dancing are immeasurable. The life lessons they've learned in the dance studio ~ especially that little in life comes easily ~ are priceless. The friendships they've formed with other girls and their teachers are irreplaceable. The joy I get watching them practice and perform is immense.

Some dance days end in tears because what they are learning is tough stuff. Some dance days end with, "Mom, did you see that?!" Some dance days end with exclamations about how much fun they had. Most dance days end with one or both of them falling asleep in the car on the way home. Every dance day is worth it and I'm pretty certain they feel the same way.

That being said, it's nice to be off for the month of July. They have a chance to get pumped up and excited for the coming year. I get to stay home and sit on my comfy couch on dance nights for a month. Win-win, really.

And here's an out take. This was supposed to be a sweet sister moment, but apparently Stephanie's kiss was a little too juicy for Heather's taste and left her cheek wet!

Classic.

   

menu plan monday on a tuesday ~ again!

Ok, so last week's new recipe was cheesy chicken lasagna. It was pretty easy to make and everyone liked it. I think I liked it more than everyone else, though. The site said to use less lasagna noodles and I used even less. Three noodles made one layer in my pan, so all I needed was six noodles. I made it in the 9 x 13 pan, but next time I think I'm going to make it in a 9 x 9 pan for a deeper lasagna.

I also made chicken cordon bleu for the first time (that wasn't frozen in a box). Kind of a nightmare! The taste was good, but...nightmare. I have an idea of how to fix the nightmare & I'll keep you posted.

This week we're having:

• honey-rosemary pork chops
• crockpot chicken cacciatore
• bowtie skillet lasagna
• 3-packet roast
• taco pizza

I just realized that every one of those dishes is a new one. Adventurous.

I'm linking with orgjunkie.com, as usual.

     

swag ~ for free

Do you search the web?

Of course you do.

Do you like free gift cards?

Duh ~ who doesn't?

If you do your searching through Swag Bucks, you can earn "swag bucks" that can be redeemed for tons of things, including merchandise and gift cards. I like to redeem my bucks for Amazon gift cards.

 

It's easy. When you are ready to search, go to swagbucks.com and make sure you are logged in. Then, search away. The bucks are awarded randomly at different amounts, but they add up. You can also take part in daily polls, surveys, watch videos, etc. to earn more bucks. When I am awarded bucks for searching, they are usually anywhere from 5 bucks to 13 bucks (but higher bucks have been awarded). The daily poll earns 1 buck. A $5 Amazon gift card can be redeemed for 450 Swag Bucks. It might take a little while to earn some bucks, but you were going to search the web anyway, weren't you? 

When you rush over to Swag Bucks to sign up, be sure to click the banner in this post and I can get referral bucks when you get bucks. 

Help a girl out. Right now I'm trying to earn bucks to get some teacher books I'm wanting to read.

What are you waiting for? Your bucks await you! 

Go ahead, click the banner.

Thanks.

    

menu plan monday on a tuesday

One of my goals this summer is to try more new recipes. After the orange chicken fail from last week, I was hoping to redeem myself in the kitchen. I tried two new recipes ~ creamy black bean salsa chicken in the crock pot and Hawaiian Grilled Chicken. I'd like to make some changes to the Hawaiian grilled chicken so there's a sauce for the rice. But, overall, both were a hit and will be repeated. The salsa chicken made a lot, so I used some of the left overs for chicken quesadillas for lunch. And there's still more chicken left.

We have several nights of dance recital practice this week, so we are having some things Greg can help with or quick things.

We are having:

• ribs (crock pot) & mashed potatoes
• king ranch chicken
• chicken & rice soup
• chicken cordon bleu
• chili
• tostadas
• cheesy chicken lasagna

What are you having? Head on over to orgjunkie.com to see what everyone else is having.

           

cousin time

Sisters are built-in friends. Friends who bicker with each other, scream at each other, argue with each other, and stomp away from each other. Friends who tattle on each other. Friends who con each other into doing their chores. Friends who slam doors on each other. 

But, I digress.

The next best thing to sisters is cousins. 

Gianna is in town for the summer so we had an impromptu sleepover last weekend after a family dinner out. Who needs a toothbrush, right? 

And then there were water games the next day.

Where'd your teeth go, little girl?

They tried to play with water balloons, but couldn't find the nozzle. No worries ~ water is water on a hot day.

Here's to a summer full of sister time and cousin time.

With lots of laughing.

And no fighting.

       

instagram friday ~ summer is great!

It's that time of year ~ the girls are in the midst of dress rehearsals for their big gig on the big stage. I love the excitement of the culmination of a dance season's worth of hard work.

I love to use the crock pot to make dinner. When I'm working, I love to come home to dinner almost done and smelling great. Most of the time the crock pot gets its action from making roast. I don't use it as much as I'd like so I'm going to try some new recipes this summer. For Father's Day, I thought I'd make an orange chicken recipe I found. Now it wasn't going to be Panda Express worthy, but it had great promise.

It smelled good.

It looked ok.

It didn't taste quite right.

We all took some bites and tried to warm up to it.

We ordered pizza.

Crock pot fail.

Another cavity-free visit to the dentist. Whew!

Most weeks, Tuesday is grocery shopping day. Greg drops all of his girls off at school and then does the shopping. Since I'm off for summer, we had a little grocery shopping date. It's hard, but try to keep up with our rock star lifestyle!

After I took this picture, Greg commented that it looks like all we eat is junk food. While we do love soda and Tootie Fruities, there's healthy stuff in there too.

Hairapy.

By myself.

Need I say more?

It's also this time of year.

And it will get worse.

Every day when Greg gets home from work, I ask, "How was your day ~ and don't say hot." To this he always replies, "Hot."

While I don't enjoy tipping that century mark on the thermometer, I do love summer. One of my favorite things is that it stays light so late. It lulls me into a false sense of time ~ more light equals more time to get stuff done. The two summers we visited Alaska, I felt invincible! Sadly, we all know what happens when my mind gets involved in time trickery.

Not much gets done.

Ah ~ such is summer.

 

Go here. Read. Link up.