the one where she knows just the right thing to say

Today, one of my students asks:


Cutie Pie: Can I go to the library? [meaning the school library]

Me: Check the schedule to see if it's ok.

Cutie Pie: It has a flower. [That means it's ok. Really, I knew it was ok, but we are practicing reading schedules and charts.]

Me: Then, yes. Try not to take forever.

Cutie Pie: I'll try not to, but there's a whole bunch of books there!


Oh, words so sweet to my jaded teacher ear. Another student has been lured by the siren call of books! My work here is not in vain.

pretty little flowers

Remember these? On my last track break I was obsessed busy burning bits of satin and organza. What for, you ask?

Such pretty little flower pins. 

So far, all the ones I have have pins on the back. But you can attach these to headbands or hair clips.

The pins are a lovely way to add a punch to your outfit. Or you can pin it onto your purse for a little extra sass.

You can find these and a few other colors in my shop. Want one on a headband or hair clip? Want a different color? Just let me know and I'll be glad to make it happen for you.

menu plan monday - may 17

I must not be hungry right now. I am trying really hard to think of wonderful things to serve my family for dinner this week and I'm just a little stuck. So I browsed the internet, looking at other menu plans. None of it sounds good. None of it sounds bad either. I'm just a little indifferent.

Here's what I finally came up with:

• steak & roasted potatoes
• fettucine alfredo with chicken
• spaghetti & meatballs - Stephanie will be glad to help with this.
• stir fry - I keep saying we're gonna make this.
• hamburgers
• beef quesadillas

What's on your menu plan this week?

See what everyone else is eating at orgjunkie.com.

Happy eating!

a little bit of library snobbery

(picture from last year)

We are planning a camping trip soon. Both kids are quite excited about the trip, but Heather is showing it more. Earlier this week before her class went to the school library she told me she planned to check out books about camping and about where we are going.

After library period I saw her and asked about what books she checked out. With a snarl she showed me her book about National Park Rangers. While interesting, I'm sure, it was not what she had in mind. Disgusted with the school library selection of camping literature, she requested a trip to the public library after school. 

Be still my beating heart! I always get a geeky rush when the girls ask to go to the library. Oh!

So we squeezed in a library trip between school and dance. She got two books about camping and two books about our destination. We also requested a few other books and a DVD from other branches. 

On the way to dance she read to us about how to make a foil meal of hamburger, potatoes, and carrots.  (She recited this same recipe by heart to Greg later in the evening when we got home.) She also read to us about how to keep our food safe from bears by hoisting it in a tree. Then she expressed her concern about getting too close to any deer just in case they attack. She did not fall asleep on the way to dance, as usual, because she was too engrossed in her new books.

All is well.

menu plan monday - may 10

We are busy this week! Besides the normal dance classes, we are going to band and orchestra concerts at the school Stephanie will attend next year so she can decide which she she wants to take. Plus, if she chooses band, there's a little workshop to help her decide which instrument is best for her. So our meals need to be quick and easy this week so Mr. B. Mac doesn't sneak into our meal plan like he did last week when I was lazy on a dance night!

Let's try this:

• BBQ chicken (crockpot)
• beef quesadillas (with leftover roast from last week)
• crescent chicken
• chicken/rice/gravy
• tostadas

For other great meal planning ideas, visit orgjunkie.com.

book review - the total tragedy of a girl named hamlet

Recently, we got some new books in the literacy room at school and the literacy specialist asked for some us to review the books. I read The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne. I don't normally share my opinion on books because I read mostly fluff with cool covers (yes, I do judge a book by it's cover, initially). Or I read teachery books. Really, you probably aren't interested in what I have to say about either of those genres.

But if you have a tween, this review is for you.

From the book cover:

Hamlet Kennedy just wants to be your average, happy, vanilla, eighth grader. But given her family -- a seven-year-old sister who is attending middle school with her, and Shakespearean scholar parents who show up like a walking, talking, Renaissance Faire -- that's basically impossible.


School gets even worse when her sister is name the new pre-algebra tutor, and even worse when the class project is announced:  It's on Shakespeare. Add it all up, and Hamlet's life (like her name) seems like a total tragedy.

This was a very cute book that fairly realistically portrays the feelings and trials of a middle school girl. In the book, Hamlet learns how to accept herself, her family, and her friends for who they are. She deals with the balancing act of fitting in at school, as well as at home.

Erin Dionne is an engaging, humorous writer and the story moves along well. For a minute, I might have even wanted to be in middle school again.

The book is written at about a 6th grade level with no questionable material. I recommend this book for any middle school student (especially girls), or those about to embark on the middle school experience.

Oh, and, this book has a pretty cool cover.

menu plan monday - may 3

Here's what's for dinner this week:

• potato cheese soup
• pizza
• BBQ chicken (crockpot)
• tacos
• roast & potatoes
• crescent chicken

Some of the same things keep showing up week after week on our menu plan ~ like pizza and BBQ chicken. It's not that I'm making everyone eat the same thing over and over. We just never get around to having it. I want to try a homemade pizza crust.  Somehow it never works its way into our schedule. The BBQ chicken? Don't know what my excuse is there. So, this week maybe we'll really eat those two items!

Check out more menu options at orgjunkie.com.

we interrupt this conversation

Heather and I were driving to dance tonight, discussing her day, when all of a sudden there was a pause.  Then ~


Heather: Wait - lemme start over.

Me: Oh good, cuz I got lost.

Heather: Well, because I just now saw a flag and was doing the pledge. (Then she restarted her story.)

Well then, God bless America!

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puker update

I have two stories about The Puker to share with you. He hasn't puked in two and a half weeks, but he's having a hard time living down his reputation in my mind.

First:
The other day after lunch, some of my boys came out of the boys' bathroom to report to me that there was vomit all over the place in there. You know where my mind immediately flew! I found the fella in line and asked him if he puked in the bathroom. The Puker looked at me incredulously and said, "No!" Sorry, buddy. It was wrong of me to even fathom it was you. Ahem.


Second:
Yesterday, I picked the kids up from lunch and scanned the table for The Puker, as has become my habit. I need to see if his tray is full of puke, if he looks like he's gonna hurl, or maybe if he's fled to the heath office. No sign of The Puker. This can't be good. I asked the kids where he was and they said something. The lunchroom is loudish and I didn't catch their mumbles, so I assumed he went to the health office.

On our way down the hall I popped my head in the health office. Nope, no Puker there.

I sent my kids on their way with Suzanne while I went to the office to see if he had early dismissal. Nope, not that either.

Now, I'm feeling a little panicky. I usually don't lose any children in the course of the day. I decide he must surely be in the bathroom in the lunchroom. Once I reach my kids at the end of the hall I tell Very Responsible Boy to go in the lunchroom bathroom to see if The Puker is in there. Very Responsible Boy gives me a very puzzled look at says, "Mrs. Robinson, The Puker is absent today."

Right.

I knew that.

Carry on, then.

t.g.i.f.

I am glad it's Friday. This has not been a horrible week, really, but Friday I am glad to see your face.

This week:

• I helped out with some of the standardized testing for the ELL students. In 2nd grade, we don't do these particular tests (just 3rd-5th). I had forgotten how draining they are for both students and teachers. 
• My own students are bored of me. It's spring. Enough said.
• The weather can't make up its mind ~ is it gonna be warm or freezing ~ so I can't make up my mind about what to wear.
• I'm getting tired of what's to wear in my closet.

See? Nothing big and bad. Just ready for Friday.

This weekend, it is time for The Great Try-On. Wish me luck. There could be tears.

new, new, new

This Saturday I hung out with Grandma Smith and Heather while people considered buying my stuff.  Not a whole lot of buying was going on, but I did have a nice day with the two ladies.

I'm working on listing some of the new stuff in my shop.

These are some things I listed this morning.

There will be more to come.

Some really cute flower pins will be showing up soon.

she's got toes

A few weeks ago, it was my birthday. We were on track break and Greg's day off that week changed so he had my birthday off. Coincidence? Probably not. I had big plans that included a breakfast cooked by the kids that I was pretending not to know about, pedicures, visiting a museum, maybe shopping, and of course lunch and dinner out. 

I'm typically the first one up in our house, so I was messing around on the computer (instead of doing the 87 things I was supposed to do) when the kids came to tell me that Daddy was sick. Huh? This is no time for April Fool's jokes. I've got plans.

Sure enough, I go downstairs to find him cramped up on the couch ~ same as I was the week before. My birthday plans were foiled ~ again.  Did I ever tell you about the time I got chicken pox on my fifth birthday? How about the time when my boyfriend and best friend couldn't see fit to spend my twenty-first birthday with me? Or the time a close friend of mine just about ruined my 30th birthday party (not that I'm that old!)? 

I felt bad for Greg, really, I did. The memory of a week on that couch was fresh. I was full of sympathy. But seeing that the memory of that couch was so fresh, I couldn't sit still on my birthday. Knowing that he would be wanting to just sleep all day, I announced that I had no intention of staying home.

So we did just some of my plans. 

The kids and I headed out for pedis and lunch.

But first, we needed shakes from Sonic. Might as well do this up right! The girls have never had pedicures besides the sorry ones their mama gives. They were giddy with anticipation. So let's just top that off with some sugar, right?

They don't have my favorite peanut butter/chocolate shake anymore, so I tried something new. Since then I've been a little hooked on the Mocha Java Chillers. I might have had a couple more.

Heather was too short to sit all the way back in the chair and get her feet done. Still, she enjoyed herself.

The girls' future husbands will probably not appreciate that I am introducing them to the finer things in life.  First, the full hair salon experience.  Now, pedicures. They might be hooked.

They both got cute little flowers. So girly. Don't they look wonderful in their new-for-the-season flip flops?

Afterwards, we went out for lunch and did a little shopping. Then we went home and took care of the sick boy. We ordered pizza and wings for dinner.

Although I wish Greg hadn't been sick and could have spent the day with us, I had a great day afterall. Pretty much because I got to spend it with my two favorite girls. And there was ice cream involved. And nobody fought.

menu plan monday - april 19

With a few big projects behind me, I feel like I can rejoin the bloggy world. In the last few weeks I've had a lot going on.

I am part of the yearbook team at school (there's two of us) and the yearbook was due at the beginning of April. In true procrastinator fashion, I waited until the last minute to do my half of the pages.

In the middle of all that, throw in writing report card comments.  I always want to make sure I say just the right thing. I want to give the parents as much information as possible about their child, as well as be accurate about what I say. No sense saying Hilda knows her addition and subtraction facts like a breeze when she doesn't!

Then, this weekend I had the craft show at Grandma Smith's community club house. I was up the night before keeping company with the owls finishing up just a few more things.

For now ~ no deadlines loom in my near future. I feel like I can breath again and go at a relaxed pace. For a minute

This week for dinner:

• BBQ chicken (crockpot)
• beef strogonoff (Greg cooks this dish.  Awesome.)
• breaded chicken & mashed potatoes
• hamburgers
• ground beef enchiladas
• country chicken stew
• steak & noodles

As always ~ visit orgjunkie.com for more great dinner ideas.

What's for dinner at your house?

still here

I'm still here.

Don't give up on me.

I've got about 89 things going on and only two hands.

Be back soon.