Christmas Traditions

It seems like every family has Christmas traditions. Many of my family's went out the door when my parents split. We held on to some after the kids moved out, but the divorce definitely meant the end.

Since having a child, we have started our own traditions. First, I have to tell you that Shane is a SCROOGE! He hates holidays. I'm not sure why, but he isn't big on any aspect of it except seeing Wade open presents :)

One tradition I am beginning this year is part of A Book on Every Bed. A friend from work told me she saw it in the Chicago Trib and I am IN! Now I just have to decide WHICH book goes on his bed. Wade loves books. He has TONS on his bookshelf. We cycle out the holiday books and slowly get rid of the board books as he loses interest or space on his little shelf.

Reading is a priority in my house. I hope Wade continues to love to read. That's one life long skill I hope to give him!

Off to choose which book he gets...there are about two dozen waiting to be wrapped. Yes, that many. I'm addicted, what can I say?

Cranberry Orange Bread

Yesterday I was a baking whirlwind! I found this recipe and I had almost everything I needed.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
* 1 cup golden raisins

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and orange peel. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with juice. Fold in cranberries and raisins. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.


Left out the raisins and added more than what was called for in cranberries. Turned out well and the OJ really brings a good taste! YUMMY!

Mexi Pizzas--our first e-mealz meal!

I decided to try e-mealz.com at the recommendation of a friend. It is also a Dave Ramsey recommended site...so I knew it couldn't be too bad ;) I will be honest in saying we won't use the whole menu each week. Very rarely do we eat 7 meals at home and I don't eat fish :) I also cut out some of the cost by having meat in the freezer. I have deer and beef (and hopefully pork soon!). I buy chicken breasts when they go on sale--10 pkgs or so at a time. Love having a deep freeze!

Mexi Pizzas

Ingredients:
Refrigerated pizza crust
2 cooked chicken breasts shredded
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles--drained (the regular ro-tel was too hot for Wade!)
1 can white corn--drained
1/2 c. chopped onion
8 oz fiesta blend cheese (used co-jack because that was what was in the freezer!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400o. Spread dough on 2 pizza pans.Bake 10 min. Remove from oven.

Toss shredded chicken with cumin and garlic salt; heat in
microwave 2 min.

In separate bowl, combine tomato sauce
and diced tomatoes. Divide and spread evenly on both
crusts. Divide corn, onion and chicken; sprinkle on pizzas.
Divide cheese; sprinkle on pizzas. Place in oven 10-12
additional min until cheese is melted. Slice to serve.

This recipe originally called for 2 crusts and splitting the ingredients. I only used a small 8 oz can of tomato sauce and half the cheese. The tomato/corn mixture went well on one crust. I must say that cooking the crust 10 minutes before adding ingredients made for a SUPER crust! It was crisp and flaky! Excellent for a pre-made crust!

Next time I will buy mild Ro-tel so Wade will be more likely to eat it. He swears he doesn't like tomatoes...:)

Blessed

I am truly blessed. We are renovating our family room--from the ceiling to the floors, it'll all be new by the time we are done.

The first of October we had the drywall fixed and the ceiling re-done. Then we painted.

My father came down this week and put a new sliding glass door in for us. He also put two new ceiling fans/lights in. Fixed two outlets.

Next week is carpeting in that room and the master bedroom.

All that will be left after that is trim. It's ALMOST DONE!

Christmas treat

Totally stole this recipe from Tanya at My Two Cents. They are quite YUMMY! Taking the rest to school to hand out for Christmas treats! SO EASY

Two-Second Turtles (ok more like 10 minute...but still excellent!)

Ingredients

Equal numbers of the following:

Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)

Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)

Pecan Halves

*

Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....

***
Instructions

Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.


Neither of my boys like nuts (darn it!)I tasted several for quality control...YUMMO!

Thanks TKO (I know it's more like TKR now, but I think TKO when I think of you!)

Chicken Sweet Potato Bake

Note: Whenever I find a new recipe, I always change it. I mean ALWAYS! Here is the original recipe:

Ingredients

* 1 large McIntosh apple - peeled, cored, and diced
* 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 small onion, sliced
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 bone-in chicken breast halves

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Stir the apple, sweet potatoes, onion, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish and place the chicken breasts on top.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I baked that stinking chicken for an hour (I even cut it into smaller pieces at first to save some cooking time.) It just didn't cook. The sweet potatoes were not cooked either. So I threw the chicken in a skillet and the potatoes/apples in the microwave for 15 minutes.

Spice changes: I didn't have ginger or nutmeg. I used cinnamon and brown sugar. Omitted the salt and pepper except on the chicken. Salt and cinnamon...not a good mix!

Shane LOVED the sweet potatoes and apples!

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at my mother in law's. There were about a dozen or so people there.

I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I followed the recipe this time, next time I'll make a couple of changes (noted in italics)
Crust:

1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (use graham cracker crumbs)

3/4 cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/3 cup maple syrup
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 4 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. (Line pan with aluminum foil first!)
2. Using a fork, combine gingersnaps, pecans, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and melted butter. Press mixture onto the bottom and two inches up the sides of the pan to form the crust.
3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the pumpkin. Mix in the cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes, or until center of cheesecake is set. Allow to cool in pan for 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.

It was wonderful, but a bit rich after a big meal. I am looking for a mint cheesecake recipe for Christmas.

I also made a ham and broccoli pastry dish last week. It was pretty yummy.

Ingredients:
10-12 oz ham slices chopped up
6 oz shredded swiss cheese
2 cups FRESH broccoli chopped
2 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/2 c onion chopped
1 tube of crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350. roll out crescent rolls and press seams. Mix remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread mix down center of crescent rolls and then fold rolls together. The top will be open. Seal the ends. Bake until crescent rolls are brown--10-15 minutes.

Notes: I didn't put the mustard or onions in (Shane dislikes both). I used frozen steamed broccoli--MISTAKE. It was too watery! All in all it was yummy. I heated the leftovers up in a cast iron skillet. It was pretty good left over too!

Why?

Today I was reading the SJ-R online as I usually do. One of the first articles to appear was about a young soldier--Cpl. Chad Young--who died while serving our country. Every time I read one of these articles, I tear up. I fear that my brother Lucas will meet the same end. I don't talk to my brother, so I'm not sure why it makes me cry. I have let him hurt me time and time again, so I'm not sure why he even matters.

I'm to the point where I feel like I am an only child for the most part. Lucas has removed himself from my life and my mom's. He still talks to my dad regularly--but I guess birds of a feather flock together. My older brother is not someone I know anymore. He is "taking some time for himself." I'm sorry, but once you have children, you sign away the right to have time for yourself. He shouldn't have had kids if he wanted to be selfish. Just my humble opinion.

I am sometimes jealous when I see families who are close to one another. I doubt I'll ever have that. My family used to be close...but a divorce changes things big time.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

Somehow as I am getting ready to type this, I feel like I have posted about this recipe on here before. I'll go look, but I may not delete this post. It is just THAT good! OH and simple. My non-cooking friend Lydia even made this :) I learned something from her the day we cooked this. You can use a vegetable peeler on apples. Who woulda thunk?

Oatmeal Apple Crisp
1 c rolled oats (I use quick oats since that's what is in my house)
1 c brown sugar
1 c flour
1/2 c butter melted

Mix above ingredients to make the crisp part.

3 c peeled, cored sliced/chopped apples (I slice mine and generally use golden or red delicious)
1/2 c white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8X8 (or 9X9) pan with cooking spray. Layer half of oatmeal crumble in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle sliced apples with cinnamon and sugar, mix to coat apples (I used more than what was called for!) Put remaining crumble on the top. Bake for 45-60 minutes. The recipe says 45, but I like my crisp a little crispier! :) So it was an hour for me.

After baking this twice, I will use 4-5 cups of apples next time. Three cups was four small apples. I will go with 6-7 next time. I like a little more apple considering how much "crisp" there is!

It made my house smell delicious! After the paint smell from Thursday, it was welcome!

Sneak peak and other goings on

My friend Joni did our pictures again this year. I think this is the second year. It was SUPER windy, so my hair isn't very pretty. The boys didn't have that problem though! Wade is an easy kid to take pictures of. He gets a cheesy smile from time to time...but he cooperates pretty well. The pictures were taken at our friend's farm--Thanks, Grundy fam!

• 
  Other happenings...Wade and I both have colds. I think Shane is getting it. Luckily, Shane will get over it quickly. Wade and I will have to take antibiotics to kick it. Wade also has a double ear infection! Wahoo! Only his second ever...but still not loving it!
• Wade is going to get allergy testing done on November 23. Say a little prayer for me that I don't go crazy first! I'm going to be more nervous than he is because I know what is going to happen. He doesn't :(
  
• I think we are getting new carpet for Christmas.
• Massage on Thursday :P <3
• Hot water is amazing for a sore throat.
• Started Christmas shopping online.
• Going to Tuscola on Saturday! Yippee!
  

Taco Soup--a fall favorite!

Today is a soup day. Unfortunately, I had to go buy meat! GRRR! I'm tempted to head to Jones' Meat Locker to just buy a bundle until my cow is ready...or I get a deer.

Taco Soup
2 lb hamburger
1 medium onion

2 taco seasoning mixes
2 ranch dip mixes
1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can red beans
1 can Rotel
1 LG can diced or crushed tomatoes
2 cans white corn
2.5 cups of water

Brown hamburger and onion. Do not drain any of the beans or corn (EXCEPT black beans).
Simmer for 2 hours, or cook in crock pot for 3-4 hours on low.

My addition--2 tbs chili powder for a little kick.

Garnish with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Fall 2010

We made our annual pilgrimage to Broom Orchard in Carlinville, IL on October 16. We met my friend Crish and her three kiddos. We started doing this 3 years ago when Wade wasn't even walking! I measure him every year. He's definitely growing!

We picked up some pumpkins for carving and some apple cider for the boys. Then off to lunch at Nick's...another yearly tradition!

We all carved the pumpkins. I bought a handy dandy kit at the end of the season last year. That's how I got this funky faced pumpkin...the orange one, not Wade :)

The Chillifest tractor pull was the next day. Wade pulled first and didn't do too well. He'll get there one day, or not :0)
Tonight we went Trunk or Treating at two of the local churches. We didn't plan to meet up with Carson and his family, but they were there. I have missed my friend Kelly. Wade has also missed his friend Carson. I got my baby fix...though Rose is definitely growing up!

Swiss Chicken

I'm a chicken and stuffing lover. My husband, not so much. He will eat the chicken out of the bottom of this though. I make him left over potatoes and a veggie, and he is happy (usually).

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 c milk
1 tsp of minced garlic or more if you like
3-4 slices of swiss cheese
stuffing--stove top works, but not as well as pepperidge farms does
1/4 c butter melted

Spray a casserole dish with PAM. Lay chicken on bottom of dish (I cut mine into smaller slices for a faster cooking time). Layer swiss cheese on top. Mix together milk, soup and garlic. pour over cheese. Put stuffing on top. Drizzle butter over the top of stuffing.

Cook for about 60 minutes at 350 OR until chicken is done!

This is even good as a leftover! :) YUMMY YUMMY!

Get caught

With the help of my assistant principal, I have started a positive behavior reward program at school. Ok, so it takes more than just M and I, we get a lot of help from the other teachers.

If a student is caught doing something positive, they can be rewarded. We have no budget for this plan, but I was able to secure several rewards that many students would LOVE to have!

• Tornado gear
• Tornado apparel
• free game admissions
• concessions gift certificates
• Off campus lunch
• Get out of school five minutes early--ok, might not seem like such a big deal, but that gets a kid out of the parking lot early...that's a big deal!

We are trying to figure out a few others, but that's what I have come up with so far! We drew our first names today. C was a bit put out that she couldn't take a friend out to lunch. We have a few wrinkles to work out, but I think it will work out well!

Easy Apple Cake

I enjoy trying new recipes from time to time. Yesterday we were having a weenie roast, so I wanted to try something sweet that wouldn't be stuck around my house for a week or more!

I found this recipe on Bakerella's site. It is easy and DELICIOUS! I'm dubbing it Carmel Apple Cake...and will definitely make it again to take somewhere!

Easy Apple Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped dates rolled in flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon with a wire whisk and set aside.
• Combine sugar and oil using a mixer until blended.
• Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
• Add flour mixture and mix well.
• Stir in nuts, dates and apples. The batter will be very thick.
• Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.
• Cool cake and using a skewer, poke holes in cake.
• Cook topping ingredients on stove until mixture bubbles.
• Pour topping over cake letting some (ha… more if you like) seep into the cake.

Progress

I had to run home at lunch yesterday (15 minutes one way, so not something I regularly do). I couldn't see! My contacts are either too old, or I am having eye issues. Maybe both. I had to get my glasses, but it also gave me a quick look in on what the drywall men are doing.

They had scraped the ceiling. Sanded the walls and were ready to prep/tape/mud a few areas that needed a little love. Hopefully, today (Thursday) they will get my ceiling DONE! Then the walls will be completely done on Friday. I hope to bring home a rug doctor and clean the carpet in there that evening. Touch up some spots on Saturday morning before I have to return the machine.

Then we can move furniture back in Saturday before our get together. I think some of our furniture is going to be displaced for a while though. I don't think we are putting our entertainment center back in there. We want to sell it! I need to take pictures of it.

I have pre-work pictures of the room. Might get a progress picture tonight. AND we need to pick out paint colors!

Oy vey. Remodeling is TOO much work!

Fall and renovations

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the leaves turning and the brisk weather. I enjoy sleeping when it is chilly, but not so cold that I have to close the windows and turn the furnace on. I also enjoy the power bill being a bit lower. Fall means shorts and sweatshirts. Jeans and t-shirts.

This summer my dad began the renovations on our master bath. All that is left to do is some drywall work and then finish painting the room. The color is "early dawn." I would like to get that part finished so we can put the door on and finish trimming out that room, my closet and the master bedroom.

One evening this summer, I got a wild hair. I decided to take part of the paneling in our living room down. I took two sections of faux brick down. There was, low and behold, drywall behind it. Before the summer was over, we took down the rest of the paneling and had naked walls. We contacted a man whose job was drywall. Nothing else. He gave us a quote and we jumped on it. We had some preliminary work to get done that took us a while for various reasons.

We knew last week that we would be ready for drywall this week. The man we hired is not a very good communicator. I'm pretty sure he works through his wife...or that is how it seems. Not really effective. Monday he probably worked less than an hour. Tuesday maybe 3 hours. I'm glad this job is a total cost job and not hourly. Our living room is EMPTY. No light fixtures. No furniture. No dog. Dog is at grandma's and furniture is STUFFED into mainly the dining room and a few other places throughout the house. I'm hoping drywall man makes good progress including the CEILING today. Otherwise, I might start to get angry.

We are having our annual weenie roast this weekend...so my kitchen needs to be mostly cleaned up! I know renovations give me a little slack on the cleaning end...but I can't handle it. Wade watched his morning Clifford on a 13" tv while sitting in the computer chair in the otherwise empty living room.

I just get overwhelmed

I am not the most organized person, but I have a place for everything and everything is where it should be (according to MOI!). I missed 2.5 days for granddad's funeral and another day shortly afterward for a sick kid. I feel like I am SO far behind, when in all honesty, I don't think I really am far behind. I have several kids miss, so keeping up with their work is what is bogging me down. Tomorrow midterms have to be posted by 8:00 AM. I have posted once, fixed some stuff, and posted again. So I'm covered as far as HAVING to have grades posted.

Last year a student started a Coat Challenge. She challenged the school and ENTIRE community to donate used coats that would be given away to people in the community who need a winter coat. This was part of a challenge she received at church camp. We are continuing the program again this year and hope to be able to give away lots of coats!

Another teacher and I "sponsor" the students who are in charge. I have three lovely kiddos helping out this year. Two senior ladies and a sophomore boy. It's hopefully all coming together! I am going to challenge ALL of my classes to bring in coats. The winning class will get a special treat and more extra credit than if you just bring in a coat.

Wish us luck! It's going to be a crazy fall!

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Luckily today wasn't a rainy Monday. It was a beautiful blue skied day. My heart was cloudy with a chance of rain though. Today was granddad's funeral. I did ok at the visitation last night, but today was a bit harder. We drove over and back for both. Sleeping in my own bed was so worth it!

My grandpa was an amazing man. He was always happy even at his worst. This summer I went to see him at the hospital several times. He was always upbeat, even when he felt horrible. I'm talking had surgery and didn't want to move horrible. Or in the ICU and couldn't hardly move at all. He still radiated love.

Several years ago when my mom dropped her home phone, she got her dad a cell phone so she could call him as often as she wanted without having to pay (mobile to mobile is free.) That also meant I could call him more often. I would love to call him on my way home from work, just to say hey. If our conversations lasted more than 7;00 minutes (EVER) that was a record. He didn't have much to say, but I can still hear him saying my name.

My grandma broke my heart as she sobbed on my grandpa's casket. That's the hardest part, I think. That and my mom is about at her breaking point. Mom thinks she has to do it all. She has two brothers and a sister who can handle some of the responsibility. She promised grandpa she would take care of grandma...and she will. I just hope she remembers to take care of herself along the way.

Few things that have made me angry:
~The pastor who did the service didn't know my granddad. Not sure she even knew how to do a funeral service. My grandma didn't hear a word she said. All in all, she sucked.

~My little brother Lucas is just a memory. This was the last straw. I realize he is in Afghanistan, but I'm sure he got a Red Cross message that granddad died. He hasn't seen my grandparents in over 5 years. I guess he didn't care about grandpa living and he doesn't give a darn now that he is dead either. A quick phone call from my SIL or even flowers would have been nice. I'm done. He is not a man I want in my life.


Good things:
~Granddad's casket has "footprints" on the top. One of my fave poems.
~I found out my cousins can be pretty darned good people. I hope they continue to rally around grandma.

He's gone

My granddad had a massive stroke on Thursday morning in his sleep. He was for all practical purposes gone with that stroke. His shell was there, but he definitely wasn't there.

Mom called me at work and told me he had a stroke. I left work in a mess of tears and rushed home then to Quincy to the hospital. Pretty sure I went about 150 miles in less than 2 hours...I think??? It's a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! He was in the ER when I got there. Grandma told me to talk to him, tell him I love him and kiss his forehead. I did all that, then I just stood there with everyone else.

I stayed until about 11:00 pm then I was exhausted and had to leave. He passed at 3:03 am. I know he is in God's hands. He's an angel watching over me. I've got both my grandpas up there now. Wish there were here, but I know they are up in Heaven watching over me.

Summer, where did you go?

Labor Day weekend brought some pretty cool temps! I was kinda surprised, but really impressed! I love fall weather. If the temps were high of 80 and low of 50 every day, I would be in hog heaven.

Grandpa is not doing well. I think he is losing the will to fight. He's tired. He's weak. He's weary. I will miss him dearly when he's gone, I'm not sure I'm ready for him to be gone.

Funny story:
Shane put some trim that we tore out of our living room on Craigslist. Price=a case of Bud Light. He had a guy call from about 2 hours away interested, but he wasn't sure if he could make it down anytime soon. Another guy from about 30 minutes away called...Shane says an "old timer." Old timer and his wife came to get the trim last night. He called twice saying he couldn't find our street in our LITTLE town. Shane had to stay on the phone with him until he found the road. Shane got his beer...22 Miller Lites and 2 Honey Weis. Date on the Millers? 11/30/09. Most likely the beer is skunked, so we won't be drinking it...just found it funny...LOL

It's all about him

Right now it is pretty much all about Grandpa Fuqua. I don't really know what is going on with him, but I think he is better. His journey has been a tough one.

June 25 or so- he had a routine colonoscopy and the dr. found a cancerous spot. Dr thought he would have a 3 inch section of his colon removed and be in and out of the hospital in about 7 days.

July 7--surgery. It was lower in his intestine than thought, so he ended up with a stoma.

July 12--Grandpa was SICK. Turns out he was septic and had infection in his colon. They did a second surgery because they thought he had a twist in his colon. After this surgery he was in ICU.

July 15--out of ICU and into intermediate care

End of July he was moved to a nursing home in his home town so grandma could visit more often. It was supposed to be just for a week or two so he could get his strength back.

August 22/23--He was sick again. My mom insisted they take him to the hospital. He was extremely dehydrated. Pushed IV fluids and that helped. His heart decided to take a crap though.

Here we are on September 2. He is home. I thought he was going to die this last week. I cried for the first time about all of his problems. I didn't even cry when he was in ICU. But I really thought he was going to be calling square dances in heaven.

I'm happy he is home; I just hope he can continue to improve and actually get some rest.

Keep those two lovely people in that picture in your prayers. I am pretty sure God is watching over them, but a little extra help doesn't hurt!

A new beginning

The beginning of the school year is always FRESH! Very seldom do I have repeat students (2 this year). I do have some students who chose to take Speech...but not repeat offenders!

So far my classes seem to be going well. I have a few students I am a little concerned about already. That's a common thing too. Students who cannot find subjects and verbs as a sophomore need some intervention!

It is so hard to get back into a routine. The morning routine is the toughest for Wade. He is a sleeper. He loves to get 12+ hours of sleep on a regular basis. Unless he is going to go to bed before 6:30 PM that is not going to happen! He gets about 10 at night and at least one more during nap time.

My friend Kelly picked Wade up from daycare today for a little play date! I will go get him after school and have some time to chat with her too!

Fall is going to be good!

Summer is coming to an end

I know that summer is coming to an end when I have to go back to school and get my classroom ready. I spent some time working on getting things ready on Monday. I don't really have much to do. I can't do seating charts or anything like that until the end of the week when I have a final class list. I do know who my students are, but most of my classes will change between now and Friday. During our loverly meetings on Thursday I will make seating charts. I met the new principal today. Figured I should introduce myself.

When I leave at the end of the day, I close my blinds to keep the heat of the sun out. I always come into the building from the back side and rarely drive by the front of the building at all. When I opened my blinds today, this is what I saw. He was a bit higher up initially, but I was talking on the phone and couldn't snap a picture. Last spring the pulley for the flag pole broke off in a KILLER storm. So this guy got to fix it today. I did get to have a nice little conversation with him. Funny man.


I am happy that Old Glory will be flying high again this year. I missed it! I could always tell how windy it was by the flag.

Across the street Advanced Eye Care lost their time/temp marquis in that storm....now if only they will fix it so I can see what the temp really is out there!

Renovations

My dad came down last week and did some major work on our master bath. This picture gives you an idea of what was accomplished. Flooring, a new stool, vanity and sink, linen cabinet and medicine cabinet were all installed by my daddy! He had to move some pipes around, so that was time consuming...but all in all it is almost done. Shane has to do some dry wall work. I will paint afterward, then only have the trim to do! (Two doorways and the base boards.)
The first day he got here about 2:40 PM. So there wasn't much time to do stuff. He saw that I had taped this wall, but hadn't painted it. So he ripped all the tape off, edged it without paint (GASP!), and then Shane painted it over the weekend. I edged it again WITHOUT tape (BIGGER GASP!), and it is done! I love the color.
You can see the color in this picture. It was more of a sea foam green...not my taste at all!

Wordless Wednesday--Fave summer pic (so far)!

A little bit of Wade

Shane took Wade fishing last week before taking him to grandma Jeanie's for the weekend. They went to Brandon's pond and caught catfish and blue gill. Wade had a blast. Let me tell you...that makes my husband a HAPPY man. I can see those two fishing for years to come!
Two weeks ago was also the Morrisonville Picnic. Wade was too young for the tractor pull, but we didn't realize that until he was all hyped up about it already. You are supposed to be 4, but he is only 3 1/2. He didn't fare well. He didn't even make it to the 10 foot mark, but he had fun by golly! Next year should be better. Shane is even contemplating making a sled for him to practice with at home!

C25K

I have often looked at the program, but never really took much interest in it. Once I bought my iPod...I looked a little more. I down loaded a podcast and started the C25K program on Tuesday. Today was actually day 2. My knees hurt today. I pushed myself a little harder today than Tuesday. It doesn't help that it is HOT outside. I sweat like crazy! That's ok.

I also joined www.livestrong.com today. I am counting calories taken in and burned! Hoping to keep my calorie count LOWER than what it says I can have (2000). I'm pushing for about 1500.

Wish me luck!

Lucy the Destroyer

My mom's dog Lucy is visiting since she is running back and forth to the hospital in Quincy so much. She's been here since July 6 (with the exception of 2 days that my mom had my dog too).

Shane and I took Wade to grandma Jeanie's for the weekend. Saturday we went to Springfield to go to Menard's, out to dinner and did a little other shopping.






This is what we arrived home to. First we found the damage to our master bedroom bedspread. I was a little torqued...but figure it is about time for a new bedspread...no big. I get to go shopping.

Then we wandered into the spare bedroom/computer room and found THIS mess. She tore apart 4 pillows, a blanket and my FAVORITE down comforter. 2 days later I am still finding down all over the house. I expect to find it for months to come! Those little feathers are the devil!

I am truly blessed

Very few people my age still have grandparents. I am truly blessed to have known all of my grandparents. Growing up we lived 1-2 hours from my grandparents, so we didn't see them often. My mom's parents (to the right) had a cabin on the Mississippi River. We spent many weekends and summers at the river. The cabin had 2 bedrooms and several pull out couches. It sat 30 feet in the air and was our haven. In 1993 when the river flooded, the cabin went down the river. Many of the cabins were lost in the flood. My grandma's cousin had a cabin next door with and ELEVATOR! seriously, an elevator :) It was pretty high tech in the 70s and 80s!

My grandpa Fuqua is currently in the hospital. At the end of June he was diagnosed with colon cancer. They thought it would be an easy surgery and he would be in and out in a week or so. Nearly three weeks later he is still in the hospital. He has some infection in his intestine. We thought we were going to lose him this week, but he still has some fight left in him. I think the prayers of friends and family have helped him too. My grandmother has alzheimers. Granddad is her care-taker. I think that is part of what keeps him going...knowing that he needs to take care of his beloved wife of 66 years.



My dad's parents were the ones who pushed us (the three grand children) to get an education. They were pretty vocal about it. My grandpa Pedigo passed away in March 2009. It devastated me. He lay down to take a nap and never woke up. I guess that was a blessing for him to pass so peacefully, but it didn't give me a chance to tell him goodbye. ]

Grandma is tucked away in an independent living facility in northern Illinois. My grandparents were married nearly 68 years before his death, so she is a little bit lost! She lives close to my dad and his sister. They help her out quite a bit.

I correspond with my grandma by mail. She is the best penpal I have ever had! I have learned a great deal about her life and my grandpa's too.


It makes me sad to think that all of these wonderful people will leave my life before I am ready!

If you have grandparents, give them a call and tell them you love them...you never know when your last opportunity will arise!

Summer fun!

On Monday, July 12, we went to Knight's Action Park for our first trip of the summer. I took some quick shots of Wade when we first got there. I don't think I took any last year when we went. He loves the water and discovered some fun slides that are just his size. He goes under water like a champ! He thinks he's a rockstar sometimes and gets some up his nose though!









We took Wade to his first Cardinal's baseball game on Sunday, June 18. The day started out dreary and rainy! I so hoped for a clear cool day...it started out cool, until the sun came out. Then it got hot. Wade's biggest concern was seeing Fredbird and going down on the field to play. He didn't understand why some people got to be down there and he couldn't. Then, of course, he was disappointed that Albert and Yadi did not play. We spent quite a bit of time walking around the stadium, and a little less time watching the game. He definitely got to eat his share of JUNK




On Monday following the ball game, we went to the St Louis Zoo. This was our first adventure at the zoo. It as a little humid. Wade's favorite part...the train. We rode it several times. Thank goodness for Safari passes. We rode around the zoo 3 times I think. The novelty never wore off. When we finally left, that was the part he loved the most!

Ramona and Beezus

I haven't read these books for MANY years...but I am reading Ramona and Beezus right now online...check it out!

Two new things in my life--

I finally joined the world of technology and music. I purchased an iPod nano. It's green like that one over there! So far it is pretty cool. Just learning some things! I am uploading several of Shane's CDs to my iTunes. He has some pretty good music in his big ole folder of music! I know there will be some new stuff I want, but for now I am doing it this way.

Rani and Chloe are also teaching me how to get some tunes from other people :P







Have you tried these? HOLY COW! they are amazing. I don't even normally like Oreos...but WOWZA. They are much cheaper than Girl Scouts Thin Mints...but they taste about the same. AND I can get them year round! how about that!?!?!

Got Camel, Will Travel

So I was driving to Quincy today to see Granddad. And this passed me on the interstate...

What's been going on?

July 4th was a beautiful day. Laura Ann Evans became Laura Ann Wilson. I didn't get a picture of the groom, but he wasn't quite as beautiful!
It was hot and muggy...but not scorching hot. I'm sure LA would disagree, but she was glowing! Not because of the sweat mind you, because she was marrying the love of her life!

At the reception, Wade wanted to try his hand with my camera. This is the short man's camera technique. Direct pictures!


I put up a little corn on Sunday. My first time ever. It was not much fun. My deep freeze smells like corn every time I open it up!

We have a visitor this week. My mom is caring for my granddad who had colon cancer surgery on July 7. So she is staying at my grand parents in order to help with grandma and be closer to the hospital. That means LUCY is staying at our house. She is a slug. She pants all the time and FOLLOWS me everywhere, yes, everywhere. When I go to the bathroom, she waits outside the door. She sleeps outside the bedroom door waiting for me (or Shane) to get up.

I guess it is a good thing she is a good dog. Otherwise, I might have to send her to doggy camp! :) I brushed her tonight and I should have taken a picture of the yard! Some bald dog could have had quite a hairpiece!

Bark Off

Yesterday while I was making a quick Walgreen's run, I saw this little package on the shelf. Actually, I saw someone else looking at it and thought "WOW! Maybe this will work on Murphy!" I grabbed it right away.

It is all powered up and sitting near the back door where he goes outside. That seems to be his favorite place to bark. Cross your fingers it works or the ASPCA might be after me!

This lovely lady

This lovely lady is getting married today! I met Laura Ann at the Bowl In about 13 years ago! I am hoping for good weather until she gets into the church, then until she arrives at the reception and when the fireworks are supposed to go off!

I pray that God blesses LA's marriage to Tony and gives them many many years of bliss.

It is hard for me to believe it is almost the Fourth of July! I don't want summer to be half over!

My girlfriend/co-worker Cheryl and I went to see the Cardinals take on the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. We hit a businessman's special every summer. Love day games AND the weather this year was PHENOMENAL!



Today I met a new friend who married an old friend :) I am starting a new sunshine garden in my front yard. This new friend offered me some of her mom's flowers (with her mother's permission). I got some AWESOME starts! AND two pampas grasses from my momma for my birthday (super early!).
While we were at my mom's, Wade got hungry...this is the cookie monster I found in the truck!


LA's wedding is this weekend. Hopefully, more pictures to follow!

I really should

I should really get better at this posting stuff! Just seems like time is short! Here are a couple of summer time pics!
Wade took swimming lessons at the local YMCA. This first pic is of him and his best buddie Carson. Wade was trying sit like Carson.
We had a cookout on Saturday. Shane thought the kids would need a cool activity to do. He created our own little redneck water slide. Wade's poor bum was SORE for a couple of days!

AHHHHHHHHHHH summertime!

It's been a while. Summer is finally here. School just got out last week, then I had two days of in-service this week; therefore, I feel like I haven't even really gotten to summer yet!

I am super happy to be home though! June is super busy!

June 11--going to STL with Lyd
June 12--giving dirt away
June 13--Carson's bday party and BG's graduation party; LCLS bday
June 14--begin daily swim lessons
June 15 --swim lessons, then dentist for Wade
June 16--swim lessons, then my hair cut an color
June 17--swim lessons, then Wade hair cut; my dad's bday
June 18--NADA
June 19--To Memphis with QN LA et al
June 20--return from Memphis and FATHER'S DAY
June 21--continue swim lessons for the rest of the week
June 26--Jess K 5K, annual cookout
June 30--STL Cards game with Cheryl
July 3--cook out at Green's
July 4--QN LA WEDDING!

THat's it so far....