The Bets Week Ever

Did you think I forgot about you?

2012-01-18T20:43:00.006-06:00

Clearly, I rarely have/make time for this blog anymore. How in the world did I post something more than just a picture for 365 days in a row my first year here? Some days I can easily post my picture on The View Across Town and other days I'm running around my house with my iPhone taking pictures of things at 11:30pm.

To share a little bit more of what I have been doing ... this post will serve as a way to catch up through photos. Here are some of my 2nd favorites from the first few weeks of 2012 that weren't picked for the other blog. Enjoy!

A visit to Park Place on January 1st for a post-holidays family brunch.

And then a family dinner that night at Molly & Erik's. This little one went around the entire table taking dessert orders (with the short-order cook, Molly, in the kitchen). She did a great job! Her reward was her own bowl of ice cream with a Girl Scout cookie on the side (that she didn't know existed until this night).

The first day back to work was tough, but I did get to go out to lunch with my fabulous teammates! Have you been to Unforked yet? It's awesome!

Playing around with the new iPhone lenses I got for Christmas from Mom. I love this macro shot.

A profile shot of my silly schnoodle.

I love my Instagram app more and more each day. This was a quick shot I took when out walking Minners.

Looking at her Momma!

Staying up too late on a school night. It's always hard to get back in bedtime routine after a break from school.

I like this one because I love to take pictures like this of the sky with beautiful clouds. Here is the same scene ... in a paint by numbers kind of way :)

We FINALLY got a little bit of snow. It didn't last long, not that I'm complaining. It's always very pretty ... but walking a dog in the snow is one of my least favorite parts of winter.

A new "portrait" taken against my favorite piece of art in my condo. Jill says it makes for the perfect photo studio background.

Wearing flip flops. In January. In Kansas. Love it! See? I told you the snow didn't last long.

A perfect day to head to the dog park. We've been close to 10 times this "winter".

Here is a photograph that's very close to the painting 5 pictures up. Such a great day to be outside!

I hope to get back to sharing things on this blog more often. I realize I may have lost many of my regular readers since it's been a while. Keep coming back ... you never know what I'll post next!

I now have letters after my name!

2011-11-27T20:32:00.008-06:00

They don't mean much to the average person, but they mean a TON to me! After a very, very long road ... I am proud to say I am now a Nationally Board Certified Teacher. I waited a while to write this post, because I went on quite a roller coaster ride the weekend I received my scores. This is a lengthy post ... but not nearly as long as the journey I've been through :)

This entire process started almost 20 months ago. In February of 2010, I went to meetings that my district provided to learn about the National Boards process. At that point, I was still unsure of whether or not I was going to go through with the process. I had to make a final decision by July. I took a few months to think about it and did sign up that summer. In early August, I received information from a mentor in Emporia who runs a center to help teachers through the NBCT process. I went to a weekend workshop in September of last year and learned even more about what I would be expected to do, how to start the planning and I met other teachers from around the state who would become a great source of support.

I spent many days and hours last year working on my Boards. I drove to Emporia almost once a month for work days with other teachers. My teammates were supportive and often helped to calm me down during particularly rough days. I seemed to live at Panera at night and on the weekends to work on my laptop. My paraprofessionals in the room helped during video taping of lessons. My friends understood when I was too tired or busy to get together to hang out. I received care packages in the mail from friends and my family treated me throughout the process. My parents helped by watching Minnie for me during busy weeks. I had friends to help with the technology pieces of my portfolios. I had a mentor in Emporia and one in the district who answered phone calls & emails late at night, read through my papers and watched countless videos and gave endless emotional support. I met an amazing teacher who was working towards the same certificate as I did. We spent days upon days sitting at her dining room table, typing away and studying for the exam portion of the Boards. She is now a wonderful friend. I spent almost my entire spring break working on my laptop to complete everything on time. By the time I finished & sent off my NBCT box on March 30th, I was drained! Then, the studying for the exams started. Lisa & I took our 3-hour exam in June, just a few days after the school year was over.

And then ... I got to pack everything up in June ... and wait. At some point, I forgot about getting my results. Then the emails started coming. People began asking if I had passed. Mom went to Emporia again with me for a celebration lunch (on having completed the work) and a workshop on understanding our scores and what to do if you don't pass this first time around. We learned that the candidates would all get an email about a week out from the day they will definitely post scores. That email came on Friday, November 11th. I immediately put in for a personal day, because I'd decided that I didn't want to see my scores at school and wanted to celebrate my hard work (regardless of my scores) with a day off from work.

I woke up about 2 weeks before with a ridiculously stiff neck. After many, many trips to the chiropractor, I realized my neck pain is part to blame from a spine that is curved the wrong way ... but I think another major part is based on stress. This is always a stressful time of year. This month was no different. Because of this, I didn't make the appointment for the massage I really wanted on the 18th. I did make plans for lunch with Mom & Dad for after I found out my scores. NBPTS told me on Twitter scores would be posted for sure before noon.

I went to the doctor that morning and was home by 9:00 where I promptly parked on the couch & refreshed, refreshed, refreshed my computer on the NBPTS site. Things quickly went sour ... the site crashed. I couldn't seem to log on. Neither could anyone else I knew that was looking for scores. I kept emailing Mom & Dad, texting Molly, and responding to texts from friends at work ... "I haven't heard anything yet. Site seems to be down. Waiting patiently. Should know before noon." At 12:30, I was frustrated and decided just to head to lunch with Mom & Dad. I was nervous and upset and could barely eat or concentrate. While I was there, I received an email from them saying the site was down, but we should check back at 4:00pm for scores. I did, and the site was still down. The next email said to check at 6:00pm. I pulled myself together to head to dinner with family around 6:00. Still no scores. By the time I left dinner, I had received the last email for that day saying scores would not be posted on Friday, and they weren't sure when they would be up.

So ... I attempted to sleep that night. I had hardly slept in weeks, waking up with bad dreams about me getting scores that weren't high enough to pass. I didn't sleep very well that Friday, but I tried to keep myself busy the next day. I had dinner with friends, and when I got home, I read the latest email from NBPTS stating the scores would be posted by 6:00am Sunday morning. Before I went to bed, I decided I would try to sleep in and then I'd check the scores whenever I woke up. I had waited long enough ... what was a few more hours?

Early in the morning, my phone rang. It was my friend, Lisa, who went through the process with me. I answered and heard, "Betsy! The scores are online." I told her I was trying to sleep in, but wanted to know how she did. The great news was that she had passed! I asked her what time it was. She told me 6:50am and said she would wait on the phone with me while I checked my scores if I wanted. I decided that I wanted to check them by myself, and so I stumbled downstairs in my pj's and flipped on the lights. I logged in. I was confused. What was this pop-up screen that wouldn't go away? I just wanted to see my scores on the window that was hidden! Why wouldn't it close or minimize?

Then, I read that window: "What name would you like printed on your official certificate?" WHAT!?!? What did this mean? Oh, my goodness! I immediately started crying. I saw my score {A 307 out of 400, for those who care. A 275 is passing.} and could hardly see straight. I called Mom & Dad at 7:00am and they were both THRILLED for me! Then, I called Molly & woke her up. Then, a call back to Lisa. And then ... I was on a high until I finally went to bed around 11:00pm that night. I cannot believe I passed. Only 40% of teachers pass on their first try to become a NBCT. I started this journey with 14 other teachers in the district. 2 of us finished. Both of us passed. I am happy. I am relieved. I feel better. I am sleeping better. I am proud. I am a Nationally Board Certified Teacher.

It's time ...

2011-11-27T20:19:00.004-06:00

... for this year's annual Christmas/dog/shopping video. This one is really sweet ... and a tear-jerker, too!

Minners got her hair cut yesterday and when I was waiting to pick her up, I saw a group of 5 dogs that were there, looking for their forever homes. If you are looking for a dog to join your family this year, you should check out the adoption events at your local PetSmart. Such cute babies!

Let's play catch up

2011-10-30T21:11:00.006-05:00

Well ... I finally did it! I upgraded from my crappy, no-internet, likes-to-make-phone-calls-from-my-purse, simple cell phone to the newest iPhone 4S. I was waiting until the iPhone came to Sprint because I wasn't willing to change carriers since I've been with Sprint for 10+ years and I was due for a phone upgrade.

I've had an iTouch as long as I've had my MacBook Pro, so I already knew about lots of the cool apps that are out there. What I wasn't expecting to love so much was the camera on this phone and all the fun photo apps that are out there. I got this phone on October 17th and I will tell you that I've only picked up my point & shoot or my DSLR camera 2 times since then.

The pictures (and video) are so clear on my phone ... sometimes better than what I can take with my Canon cameras. It's easy to carry around with me and it's fast to get started when I want to take a picture quickly. In October, I've taken more pictures than the last two months, and I would bet that most of them have been since I got my new phone.

I wanted to share some of my 2nd favorite pictures that didn't make it onto The View Across Town. Enjoy!

Taken with the Instagram app. You can turn the camera around so it takes the picture from the front of the phone instead of the back.

Instagram allows you to change all the filters right from your phone to give your pictures a unique look. This app was one of the main reasons why I wanted to get an iPhone. It's free, but it would have been worth it if I paid for it, too!

The main camera is clear and allows me to keep track of things in my classroom. This day was beyond hectic. I shared this picture of our schedule with my classroom parents via my Twitter account.

Erik asked me to bring my camera to his TEAM Tailgate a few weeks ago to take pictures for the blog. I only brought my iPhone and I was very pleased with the pictures. They helped to raise over $6,000 this day for Jamie's Wish charity.

Instagram takes great pictures, even at night. Doesn't this tree look creepy?

YUM! Apple cider donuts at the Louisburg Pumpkin Patch. Instagram allows me to share pictures right then on Twitter if I want with my followers. I HAD TO share this one :)

It even has a tilt-shift feature, which makes some parts of your picture clear & other parts blurry. Can you see the horizontal line that is focused across the middle?

I've been used to carrying my PowerShot with me each time Minnie & I go for a walk. Now, I can just bring my phone (which also tracks the length of our walks). This picture is just as great as the ones I've taken with my camera.

This collage was made with the Diptic app. I'm not sure if I paid for it or not, but it's worth it! You can make a collage in many different shapes and number of pictures. I made this one as Minnie and I cooled down after our walk. Amazing!

Taken at school. The 4th grade team is going to be "Rock, Paper, Scissors" for Halloween this year. We painted these shirts on conference day last week. The backs of our shirts have pictures of our objects. Fun!

I took this picture at the Dollar Tree this weekend. I found these miniature cones in the teacher section at the store and wanted to share the find with my teacher friends on Twitter. Such a quick & easy way to share ideas.

Brought my phone to take pictures of Ellen getting ready for her Halloween parade at school. She is a bee keeper this year. Molls had to put her hair up so it would fit under her bee keeper hat.

The best spot in the world for pet portraits! Still takes a great picture, even with my phone!

I took this one with the MovieFXCam app (free until November 1st). You can take video or pictures with many different effects. This one is called "Seventies Film". I love the way the sunlight looks in this one.

Same app, but this effect is "Thermal Vision". Doesn't Minners look funny?

This one is in the same "Seventies Film" effect. Keifer is one of our neighborhood dog friends. He's pretty fast, so most of the pictures I took of him were a bit blurry. This is the one time when I think my DSLR would do better because it has a fast shutter speed.

Minnie loves her Auntie Mitzi. I was able to share this Instagram picture with Mitzi via Twitter after I took it.

Had to share a picture of one of my grocery store finds with the Instagram app. I love this filter because the apples look so yummy!

What are YOUR favorite apps? I also have 360 (for panoramic pictures) and Pro HDR, but I haven't played around with those as much.

I'm actually excited about grocery shopping!

2011-10-05T21:06:00.005-05:00

I've never been a fan of grocery shopping. Do you remember when I diagnosed myself with Grocery Store Sensory Overload? It's a real thing. I promise. I have a hard time planning a menu for the week and sticking to just the things on my list.

When Trader Joe's opened here, I thought for sure I wouldn't care or become a shopper there. The first time I went, Jill & I went just to look around. I was annoyed by the crowds, but it was still new at that point and everyone was super excited about TJ's.

Then, I asked Molly if they'd meet me at the Ward Parkway TJ's to do some shopping and give me suggestions of what to get. 4 weeks later, I'm completely hooked! For someone who used to typically hate my grocery store trips that happened every 3-4 weeks, I'm now excited about going once a week to get what I need for lunch and dinner. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites (so far).

Chocolate-covered banana bites - $1.99. These are in the frozen section and stay frozen. Just take out & enjoy as-is. They are pretty filling and usually, I can get over a chocolate craving with just one or two of the bites.

Bananas - $0.19/banana. Pretty cheap for bananas! They also carry organic bananas for a little bit more money. I love bananas, but I got burned out on them after peanut butter banana sandwiches for SEVERAL meals in a row.

Mini heirloom tomatoes - $3.49. So yummy! The last time I was there, they didn't have the heirloom tomatoes, but had regular cherry tomatoes for the same price.

Whole wheat slim sandwich bread - $2.49. These taste just as good as the Thomas' whole wheat slims I was buying at my other grocery store, but a bit cheaper. One of my coworkers told me today that all the bread from TJ's should be kept in the fridge (and they recommend that) because there aren't any preservatives. Just an FYI for you.

Half-gallon of fat free milk - $1.99. I normally drink fat free skim milk, but TJ's didn't carry it. this milk is significantly cheaper than the price of a half gallon at Walmart where I normally shop. I have a hard time drinking my entire 1/2 gallon, so sometimes I have to pour out half of it. I don't feel nearly as guilty when the milk is less than $2.

Organic brown rice - $3.49. There are three 10 oz. packages inside this box. It's found in the freezer section. So far, I've only made one of the packages, but when I mixed it with a bag of organic frozen veggies ($1.69), it was a great "side" to add to my lunches.

Turkey meatballs - $2.99. Frozen & fully cooked. This is next up on my list of things to make with pasta for some easy lunches for school. I haven't tried them yet, but Molly has and they are getting great reviews.

Chicken & vegetable potstickers - $2.99. These can be cooked quickly in the microwave and they are super yummy.

Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal - $2.99. I didn't actually buy this at TJ's. I'm sorry I didn't, because the day before I bought it at Walgreen's when doing some quick shopping for $4.99. Ugh. I'm still getting over the lack of taste, but attempting to like it because of the high amount of protein it has.

Organic fruit wrap - $0.49/each. I'm a hugh fan of fruit snacks and roll-ups. I used to buy the fruit wraps at Whole Foods, but I rarely shop there. Target's Archer Farms brand has great fruit wraps, too. I really like these, even though they are a bit expensive.

Quinoa duo with vegetables - $3.99. Have you ever tried to shop for quinoa at your grocery store? Of course, my Walmart didn't carry it. When I finally found some in the organic section of a Hen House, a small container cost a small fortune! I left it on the shelf. This is found in the frozen section and it's already pre-cooked. You just need to quickly warm it up in the microwave or a skillet. I got about 3 portions out of this bag and I added a little bit of cheese to it for some flavor and to tone down the spice. I'm sure most people wouldn't think it's too spicy, but I noticed it had a kick to it.

I'm also now a fan of the What's Good at Trader Joe's FB page, with the hopes that I'll get some other new ideas. With a little bit of searching, you can find plenty of blogs & twitter accounts where people share suggestions of what to buy at TJ's and what foods reviewed well (or not so well).

I hope you can find a few things to get next time you're there ... or maybe this will entice you to take your first trip to Trader Joe's. Let me know what you like to get when you are there!

Apparently I'm a dumpster diver now

2011-09-17T21:00:00.005-05:00

Do you remember the last time I "inherited" some new furniture from the dumpster in my neighborhood? I ended up with a great piece of furniture that I still use in my classroom.

The new project started Friday when I got home from work. I took Minnie out for a walk in the cold and saw a leaning bookshelf sitting in one of our dumpster carports. I looked around to see if anyone was in the middle of moving and just rested it there. Nope. It was in the trash.

I came home and texted Molly to ask for advice. Should I pick it up? I've always wanted one, but wasn't sure I had the spot for it in my condo. I didn't think I could carry it and was almost sure it wouldn't fit in my car. Molly replied to say, "Take it and decide later!" So, I hopped in my car and drove it around the development to see if the shelf was still there. I put the shelf in my back seat, but had to drive back to my building with the back door open because the shelf was so big.

Mom came over this afternoon to help me find the perfect spot for this shelf. The office seemed to be the best option. Last summer I had rearranged the office to make room for a new dresser. It was still a mess and we had to move things to make it all work.

Here are the finished products! The bookshelf was already painted this gray blue color. Thanks, friendly neighbor! I also hung that brown frame that Jilly gave me for my birthday a few years ago. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to get it hung. It is filled with baby pics of Ells because I don't seem to print pictures out anymore :(

Got rid of the tiny bookshelf on that right-hand wall and moved the brown dresser over there. That small bookshelf is now sitting out at the dumpster. I hope someone else can use it! The top of the desk is cleaned off, too. This couch is Minnie's spot during the day, hence the dog bed & towel.

After Mom left, she told me to get to work & finish organizing. So, I tackled the GIANT piles of filing I've been putting off for months. I hate to file papers, both at home and at work! I sat in that tiny open space for about 2 hours to get all these bills and papers put away.

Mom did a GREAT job of organizing and decorating the shelf for me. I love the way it looks.

I can still access my printer on the bottom shelf for the occasional time that I need to print something. Most of the other items came from on top of my desk or around my condo.

This is the cleanest my office has been in years! I'm hoping it will stick :) Not bad for a zero dollar makeover!

Light, easy dinner

2011-09-06T21:05:00.006-05:00

Looks good, no?

I don't think my prep time every matches that on the recipe. I must be slow and/or not very efficient. I left out the following items ... I'm sure you aren't surprised: hot sauce (would have added, but didn't want to buy it just for this), cilantro, shallot. I also used a box of Garden Delight tomato, carrot & spinach pasta instead of the whole-wheat pasta. It came in a 12oz. box, so I added left over penne pasta in my cabinet to get the pound. You'd be fine with just the 12oz. box!

** UPDATE: Clearly my eyes only see what they want to when it comes to my favorite carbs. I honestly never saw that the recipe called for just 1/2 of a 1lb. box of pasta until Molly pointed it out to me. No wonder it made so much! Stick with just half the box, or the 12oz. box for more pasta in the gazpacho. **

Cooked pasta. So pretty looking!

Diced veggies. I used a whole cucumber. I also used an orange bell pepper instead of yellow because it looked better at the grocery store. I forgot to add the cherry tomatoes until after I mixed the pasta in this.

Easy dressing. I thought this wouldn't be enough, but it was plenty. The final (gazpacho) product is less soup-y & more pasta salad-y.

My portion for dinner. This made a HUGE amount! I ate this bowl, gave some to a neighbor, packed some for Mitzi & Brenda & me for lunch tomorrow, and have 2 more portions left for future meals.

Oh, and I dirtied up just about every utensil and bowl in my kitchen!

Enjoy!

This puts things in perspective

2011-09-01T21:04:00.004-05:00

Today, I got an email at work from our school counselor. She found this post from a teacher in Joplin, MO. I immediately opened her email and then started crying at my desk during the day. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

This is from the journal of a teacher in Joplin, Missouri as the school year is beginning. It kind of puts many things into perspective.

This may end up being my last tornado journal update. You want to know why? Because for the first time in 87 days, I have been able to breath today. I have been able to feel almost normal today. My kids were able to sleep and have something to wake up for today. We didn't have to spend our summer days wishing the pools hadn't been destroyed. We didn't have to wish we could go to our favorite parks, only to remember that they are no longer there. We didn't have to do anything that revolved around the tornado. We got to get up and go to school!

With the help of donations from around the world, these kids came back in style! Every child received a backpack with Joplin Eagles and our eagle logo on the front that was filled with school supplies appropriate for the grade. Every high school student--whether they were going back to school at the mall campus or the old middle school--received a laptop in the backpack. They will do all of their learning via the computers since the textbooks were destroyed. There is a coffee bar set up in the mall campus that the business classes will run. A theater in Branson adopted the drama department. Barry Manilow sent a truckload of instruments for the band. Amazon donated truckloads of books. As we walked into our building this morning, members of a local church greeted every child and teacher with smiles, high fives, handshakes, and snacks! Media outlets, both local and national, filmed at the various school locations, focusing on the more innovative spots like the high school in the mall and the middle school in an old warehouse. These children will not be disappointed with the facilities that were amazingly constructed over a few weeks’ time. It took a lot of time and effort from many people. We had volunteers from around the country putting together furniture, stocking libraries, cleaning new desks, filling all of those backpacks. There is even a health club in the new high school because there was not space for a traditional gym. Talk about getting the job done!

As a teacher, the best part about today was seeing the kids. There were some physical injuries from the tornado that were still visible. There will be even more emotional scars that will pop up in the days to come. Several former students wanted to tell me their stories today. One boy crawled out of his house after the tornado was over to find an arm in his front yard. Another 7th grader found a child when he was helping to clear the rubble near his home-the child hadn't survived. Another talked about coming up from his basement to find that there was nothing left of his house and how disorienting that was for him. I was lucky enough to be trained by Dr. Arshad Husain and his staff of trauma psychiatrists and psychologists in a Teachers As Therapists program. I have to admit that it seemed a little weird to me that our town needed this type of training as I knew his team works with children experiencing major trauma. I had to admit that we did indeed need his help. Today, though, the tears were mostly from joy and pride and, yes, that hope we talk about around here all the time. It finally feels like we are healing. Never underestimate the role that a school system plays in a community. It was a huge step for our town to get back to normalcy.

We had our Welcome Back session on Monday for all Joplin Schools employees. It had all of the usual things you would expect--the cheerleaders, the band, the speeches. It also had a lot of things we didn't expect--the entire sidewalk heading into the auditorium lined with people from the community shouting "thank you" and holding up "good luck" signs, a copy of the USA Today on every seat that featured a front page story about our schools and one of our students, the governor praising our school and city efforts since the tornado, and even a video with celebrities like Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Charles Barkley, Sugarland, and Lady Antebellum wishing us good luck and shouting, "Go Eagles." There were boxes of Kleenex scattered around the seats because this was no ordinary Back to School session. This one made everyone in that room proud to be an Eagle and proud of our town! Even though it is still going to be awhile before we can truly get things back to normal, we are headed in the right direction. When you have hope, nothing is unreachable!

Crafty time + Crayons = Happy Girl

2011-08-28T19:34:00.007-05:00

I saw this project on one of my favorite blogs and knew that I HAD to make it. Apparently this melted crayon art is all over Pinterest, which I have yet to play on because I know I'll never leave my laptop.

Last weekend, I headed to Wal-Mart for a deal on Crayola Crayons, because they are the only acceptable brand of crayons. If you are a parent who shops for school supplies, please don't send your kid to school with Rose Art supplies ... they just don't do the trick! Jill came with me because she saw the link and also wanted to make some art for her classroom!

We each bought a box of 64 and an additional box of 48 for this project. We picked out the pretty colors ... who knew there are so many versions of brown in a box of crayons?

Jill went with blues, purples, white and a few reds. I went with a rainbow of colors, primarily pink. Are you surprised? After we picked out enough crayons, we carefully hot-glued them to the canvases. I had canvases left over from a previous crafty project that I ended up hating. The canvases were about 18x24 inches. We used painter's tape to line them up straight when gluing. About 1/4 inch was left between the top of the crayons and the edge of the canvas.

LOTS of crayons ... glued on our canvases. At first, I thought I wanted to glue my crayons with the color names facing out, but Jill & I decided that the Crayola label facing out added some interesting graphics to the art.

And here comes the hard part. Get a friend to hold your canvas upright. Use your hair dryer on HIGH heat and LOW air flow to heat up the crayons. The papers will start to glisten & then you'll see the tips of the crayons start to drip, drip, drip onto the canvas. I started on one side and melted about 8 crayons at a time. They will start to melt, and you can get them to melt more or less depending on how much you put the hair dryer on them. The entire canvas took about 35-45 minutes to get it looking the way I wanted it.

Then, it was Jilly's turn. This was when she said to me, "Betsy. Even your hair dryer is pink!" :) Her crayons were glued onto the canvas vertically, so she wanted them to drip a bit more/longer than mine did. We realized it is boring to be the "holder" of the canvas, but it is a lot of fun to watch the crayons melt right before your eyes.

My finished product! I'm pretty pleased with it. That brown-looking crayon in the middle of the oranges is actually gold. It didn't look as pretty as I thought it would :( Oh well! It's the first time I've done this.

I took it to school on Monday and hung it up in my room. My students oooooh'd and aaaaah'd over it. Lots of fun & I have a feeling a few of them might tackle this project at home, too!

I still love him

2011-08-02T20:40:00.002-05:00

Do you remember when I wrote a few years ago about how much we loved Matt Damon? Well, he's back ... and not afraid to say what he's thinking.

Matt recently attended a Save Our Schools rally in Washington with his Mom who is a teacher. He had this to say when a reporter accused teachers of not being driven to do a good job.

Watch out! I love watching the reporter's wheels start to turn as Matt defends the great teachers in this country!

Road Trip!

2011-07-30T10:49:00.003-05:00

Early yesterday morning, Kristin & I got in the car and headed out for a drive. To Denver. We came here to visit Emilie and pick up Julie at the Denver airport on the way to join in the fun.

Teacher Invasion, as Emilie calls it.

The last few summers, we've had plans to get together in the summer for fun, laughs, adventure, food, drinks, and relaxation. Last year it was Chicago. This year, Denver. Emilie assures us she won't be living in another new town next year for us to head to :)

I haven't taken a big road trip like this since the last time Julie & I headed to Denver for a job fair about 8 years ago. It was a blast! I don't normally like being in the car for extended periods of time, but when I'm driving, it's not so bad. So, I hopped in the driver's seat. Kristin was a great co-pilot and we made lots of memories! We made great time, with minimal stops, so we even had time to stop at Prairie Dog Town. For those of you not familiar with this tourist stop, I'll just tell you that their current claim to fame is a 6-legged cow. Oh, and the extra legs come out of the cow's neck. Just wait until I share pictures :)

The first night was a blast, and being able to walk & sit outside without breaking into a sweat is enough to make me love this city. I can't wait to see what today brings us!

Happy Girl

2011-07-20T22:04:00.003-05:00

She was probably looking at the tiny squirrel in our neighborhood that keeps climbing just out of her reach on the tree trunks. Now every time we go outside, Minnie sits at the bottom of the trees, looking up like she might be able to catch it. Or play with it. You know how much Minnie likes other animals :)

I was so happy we could get outside for a quick photo shoot today. And quick means less than five minutes in this 100+ degree heat. It's brutal out. Too hot to do much more than lay on the couch inside. We needed to get outside to do something, even if it was quick. I wanted to post this picture of a smiley Minnie because I picked the more serious picture of her for my photo blog today. She definitely shows lots of different emotions ... that's one of my favorite things about her!

Hope you are all staying cool ... people AND animals. Don't leave your pets out in this extreme heat. Just think about how hot you are and then imagine wearing a fur coat every time you went outside. Now I've got to get back to my DVR. The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles are waiting for me.

5 days and 500+ pictures

2011-07-16T18:05:00.005-05:00

I've been home from Carmel, CA for almost a week. I've been putting off this blog post because I wasn't sure how I could possibly sum up the trip or share my 500+ photos. Well, thanks to my friend, Jilly, I put the following slide show together! I know it's probably too long for the majority of my readers, but I wasn't sure I could narrow my pictures down any further.

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We fit a lot in the 5ish days we were there: hiking, wine, window-shopping, walking along the beach, cards, trip up to Big Sur, food, visit to Pebble Beach Golf Course, wine, 17-Mile Drive, laughs, Monterrey Bay Aquarium, wine, more cards and fun.

What a wonderful trip & get-away during the Kansas heat. I hope I get to go back again someday!

Craftpalooza

2011-07-03T00:01:00.003-05:00

Kathryn, Jill & I planned to have a crafty weekend. Jill worked on her dishcloths for her giveaway contest. Kathryn came to create a cookie sheet calendar similar to the one I made a few years ago. Here is a picture review of the process!

Ta da! All done! It took me an ENTIRE Spring Break to complete my calendar and with our hard work, we finished Kat's in just under 4 hours. We even have an idea for our next crafty project. Love craft time with the girls :)

Telling stories

2011-06-25T23:00:00.002-05:00

The last few days, I've been helping Molly & Erik at their new house. When I say "helping", I don't actually mean that I've scraped old wall paper from the walls, or pulled bags of weeds from the flower beds. I've helped by entertaining Ellen since there isn't much she can do in a big, empty house that is a construction zone right now.

To stay busy, we've picked up sticks in the front yard, watched bunnies in the backyard, colored in coloring books and told stories. Ellen has turned into quite the story teller. She remembers her favorite books well and has started "reading" to us when we come to visit.

This weekend when Ellen & I were coloring, she wanted to know about the story in her Fairy Tale coloring book. It was Hansel & Gretel and I did my best to retell what I remembered about the tale, using the blank pictures to help me. Ellen was fascinated with the witch and she's decided since last Halloween that ALL witches are "scawey". I agree, Ells. 100%. Oh, and clowns, too :)

Here she is retelling our version of Hansel & Gretel. I'd say she's ready to run her own classroom! Sit back and enjoy the story.

Not bad, huh? She insisted on watching herself on my camera multiple times that day. She likes to smirk at herself in videos, which is worthy of another video, too. If only I had multiple cameras and pairs of hands.

Barbie, I love you ... but what happened!?!?

2011-06-21T09:31:00.002-05:00

When I was little, I LOVED playing with my Barbies. I dressed them up. I sang to my Barbie & the Rockers cassette tape. I brushed & braided their hair. I made a Barbie mall with my childhood friend, Sarah. I took their heads off to swap bodies and then was very sad when they never went back on the bodies correctly. I had favorite Barbies: Peaches & Cream Barbie, Rocker Barbie, Crystal Barbie, California Barbie, Jewel Secrets Barbie and Tropical Barbie. I played with her canopy bed, shop, Corvette and pool party accessories. I still have most of my Barbies and her clothes in Mom & Dad's basement.

In a recent trip to Target, I found myself strolling through the aisle of dolls and Barbies. I immediately started to oooh & ahhh over the pretty clothes & hair found on current-day Barbies. I also like to look at the fancy Barbies that should really be kept in their boxes. I saw the Happy Birthday, Ken doll and couldn't get over how beautiful her dress was! Mattel also came out with a line of Barbies called Back to Basics Barbies. Her dresses are simple LBDs (little black dress), but you can choose to buy a set of accessories to add to her dress. These dolls are really pretty. Some others in this collection come in simple jeans and a white t-shirt.

I'm okay with all of those dolls. Then, I came across a new line of I Can Be ... Barbies. I thought, "Oh! How nice! Barbie in different jobs to show girls that they can do many different things when they get older." Then, I looked a little closer. You should, too.

Teacher Barbie:

Why is her skirt so short? Why is her shirt ruffly and satin? Does her computer have a picture of herself on it? Oh, and the glasses? Stereotypical image of every teacher. At least Barbie can be beautiful in glasses ... right?

Kid Doctor Barbie:

Are we not allowed to call them "pediatricians"? I don't know too many doctors that wear pink capri pants and a fitted white coat, but I'll let it fly. At least she's not showing too much skin. However, I don't think her heels are very practical, and I'd like to think that a doctor would carry more equipment with them other than a stethoscope and a big brush.

Doctor Barbie:

This one also seems to be a "kid doctor" ... so I don't know why they are different. For the same price, you get the Barbie and her small patient. The small girl apparently GROWS, but I'm not sure how that happens. Now that I'm comparing this outfit to the "kid doctor" outfit ... I'm suddenly very okay with the pink capris. Doctor Barbie is actually wearing a satin coat, mini-skirt and shiny pink tights with her white heels. VERY impractical. Grrrr.

Lifeguard Barbie:

She gets a free pass for her skimpy outfit for her job since she spends her time by the pool. I didn't notice until I got home and looked at the pictures that her lifeguard chair acts as a catapult so she can dive in to save the swimmers. The description on this link says: Your daughter can play out her dream of being a stylish, heroic lifeguard. Yes! That's just what all girls want to be. Stylish AND a hero!

Snowboarder Barbie:

Her outfit is pretty cute, minus the mesh, see-through shirt she has under the cropped snow jacket. But look! She won some sort of an Olympic medal. Way to go, Barbie!

Pet Vet Barbie:

Again, can't we just call her "veterinarian"? There is another one online called the Kitty Care Vet Barbie. She has more equipment with her, like a slide for the cat to slide from the scale INTO the bathtub. Right. I think this one has the same tights as the Doctor Barbie.

I found many more I Can Be ... Barbies online. Dentist Barbie. Babysitter Barbie. Computer Engineer Barbie (who has a totally cute outfit that I approve of). Chef Barbie. News Anchor Barbie. Ballroom Dancer Barbie. Architect Barbie (I also approve of her cute outfit). And Pizza Chef Barbie.

One of the last Barbies I saw before I left the aisle was this pretty, Princess Barbie. I really liked her. Although, when I took a closer looks, I noticed something about her outfit. She has a pretty ballroom skirt on. And no top. No seriously. Look. She has glitter painted on her top, but that's it. I guess you can't change her clothes ... but you could cover her up with a cute cardigan :)

Enough of my rant. I took these pictures on June 2nd and I just now got around to writing about them. I knew I had something to say about each of the outfits, but this post actually turned into a trip down memory lane. When looking for links for the top of this post, I had a lot of fun remembering all the fun I had with MY Barbies. I played for hours and refused to give them up, even though I haven't played with them for years. Jill was here as I flipped through literally hundreds of pictures online and we talked about which accessories we each had. She had Barbie's Dream Apartment and I had Barbie's Dream Shop. After hours of looking, she said, "I could go to my Mom's house to get my Barbies so you could see them ... and maybe we could play! Ha!"

I appreciate the attempt to open up every occupation to little girls. I just think that there is a long way to go. Slowly but surely, Mattel makes changes to make Barbie more PC for little kids. Her body has changed to be a more realistic shape (so they say) and the names on the dolls are no longer "Blonde Barbie", "Hispanic Barbie" and "Black Barbie". You might find her fictional history interesting ... and definitely read the controversies listed on this page. I learned a lot about the company.

As much as I made fun of some of these Barbies, I hope that she's still around when I have kids. I hope that Ellen wants to play Barbies some day with me and I'll be interested to see how much more she's changed by that time.

Just 16 months ago ...

2011-06-18T10:07:00.000-05:00

... these two love birds were announcing their engagement! And today ... THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! Many changes have happened in their worlds in the last 16 months, but the one thing that never changed was Kristin & Matt's love for each other. If anything, their love has only grown stronger!

I can't wait to be there tonight to help you celebrate the start of your marriage together! I know it is going to be a fabulous party ... you wouldn't have it any other way! I love you both very much.

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Zender!

Welcome summer!

2011-06-12T20:03:00.004-05:00

I've been a total slacker when it comes to this blog. Ugh. I can't believe I haven't blogged in over a month. I'm still posting daily on the photo blog for those of you that don't check every day.

The View Across Town

I'm just about 10 full days into summer, and I've had plenty of time to relax and be lazy. Of course, this happened after I spent my first official day of summer studying for my National Boards exam. Then, I took said exam on Saturday the 4th. I'm now ALL DONE with my Boards for this year and have to wait until early December to find out if I've passed. After that, I had two days of a Leadership Team conference for the district. When that was over last Wednesday at noon ... I've caught up on lots of relaxing!

My DVR is officially caught up and is down to 0% full ... it hasn't been that way since I first got it 3 years ago. This means that I can upgrade to my fancy HD-DVR to show off the nice picture on my fancy, new TV. I also have taken time to catch up on sleep. I've done a little bit of reading. A little bit of pool time. A little bit of shopping. And lots of time with friends.

I don't have any more requirements this summer ... I decided to take the summer off from tutoring. I felt I deserved it after working harder than I ever have this year. This will also allow me to get a few projects completed around home and make more time for family and friends. I'm going to work on getting back in the groove of writing for this blog. I have a few posts already planned, so they will be scheduled to post soon. I just wanted to let you all know that I am still around ... I just needed to take a little hiatus from the blog. Glad to be back in this creative world.

Happy Day To You!

2011-05-08T22:32:00.002-05:00

Mom was super busy this weekend with her BIG Lily Ball for work. I stole her for a few hours today to treat the both of us to much needed pedicures! We're doing our family celebration Monday night after work because that was when the 6 of us got our schedules to match up.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

We can't thank you enough for all you do for us! You really deserve a whole month to celebrate, so I'm glad we can at least stretch it out over two days :)

Sit back & relax

2011-05-01T11:22:00.003-05:00

If you have 40 spare minutes, and you need a laugh, you should watch these clips from the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. I thought Barack and Seth Meyers did a great job. The Donald Trump jokes alone are worth the watch!

Don't you think it would interesting to attend this dinner? I do!

Shoe Review #3

2011-04-18T20:03:00.003-05:00

I called Mom last Friday afternoon, asking if she would join me at DSW to look for some new shoes before my $10 off coupon expired on Sunday. She had a coupon, too, so we braved the cold on Friday night and visited the newly made over DSW close to us.

I went, looking to replace 2 pair of black leather sandals that I've worn out. They are very comfortable, but the straps have stretched out from numerous wears and I needed something new for work and this spring/summer. Sadly, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for ... but ... I did try on these sandals made by Crocs. {The straps look navy in this top picture, but they are actually black.}

I know that many people are anti-Crocs, but I really do think they're comfortable. You get used to the bumps on the sole and the soft base make them nice to walk in. I bought this black pair for $29.99 (and then $10.00 off) and I'm already loving them. Originally, I thought they would just be for bumming around this summer, but I think they look a bit nicer than my regular Old Navy flip flops.

I wore them to school today (I did touch up my nail-polish after taking these pictures) and my feet felt great all day. These came in brown, too. I'm tempted to go back & get that pair, but I rarely wear brown in the summer. If you are looking for comfy sandals and you can get over any issues you may have with Crocs, then you should check these out.

Are any of these a surprise to my readers?

2011-04-12T09:18:00.004-05:00

Found this list on another blog I read regularly. Thought it would be fun to share about me.

Age: 29, just a month away from the big 3-0.

Bed Size: Double. I'd like to get a queen the next time I'm mattress shopping, but that will also mean a new bed frame.

Chore you hate: Putting away clean laundry. Cleaning the shower.

Dogs: A Schnoodle, Minnie. She just turned 5.

Essential start of your day: REALLY getting up after snoozing on all 3 alarms.

Favorite Color: Pink - duh!

Gold or silver: I like both, but probably wear more silver.

Height: 5'8.5"

Instruments I play (or have played): I played the cello for 2 years in elementary school. Now ... not so much. Does my iPod count as an instrument?

Job Title: 4th grade teacher.

Kids: None.

Live: Overland Park. Almost my entire life has been in this great city.

Mom's Name: Caroline.

Nickname: Bets.

Overnight hospital stays: I think one night in elementary school and then one night in high school.

Pet Peeve: Slow drivers. Stubborn people who don't admit when they are wrong.

Quote from a movie: So many great ones. The one that *just* came to my mind, "Reg. Bev. Wil."

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: Older sister, Molly. Brother-in-law, Erik.

Time you wake up: Alarms start to go off around 6:15. Depending on how much I need to do in the morning, I get out of bed between 7:00 and 7:30. Maybe this is why I'm usually rushing to work.

Underwear: Target or GAP Body.

Vegetables you dislike: Squash. Raw onions.

What makes you run late: Normally it's sleeping too late in the morning. Other times are because I don't plan for time to take Minnie out.

X-rays you've had done: Dental x-rays. X-ray of my ankle when I fell about 4 years ago.

Yummy food you make: I make sweets that are yummy and I also like to make certain casseroles. None of them are original recipes.

Zoo animal: Loving our local polar bear. I also like giraffes.

Is this my next project?

2011-04-07T19:55:00.003-05:00

Do we think I'm ready for stop-motion photography?

It took me a few seconds to really understand how this would have been done. Check out the clock, too. The comments on YouTube say that this organization took 13 hours. Amazing!

I think this video is absolutely lovely. I was thinking about the logistics of doing this video for days after first seeing it. The song is nice, too.

Something to work towards ... who wants to help?

The evolution of a yawn

2011-03-30T21:17:00.003-05:00

Minnie came home tonight after a long stay at Mère & Père's house. They watched her while I finished the last few days of work on my Boards. I'm now DONE (yippee!) and so we both came home tonight and immediately took a nap on the couch. I picked up my camera for the first "real" time in about a week. These were the pictures I took in a row of Miss Minnie yawning and licking her lips. Pretty cute.

P.S. I'm amazed that after typing 70+ pages of information over the last few months, I couldn't come up with anything more to say than that one measly paragraph above :)

My assistant

2011-03-20T22:04:00.002-05:00

Poor Minnie. She got ripped off. Her Spring Break with me was hardly a break. I worked on my National Boards the entirety of my Spring Break, except one measly day to clean, run errands and cook. Here she is sleeping in one of the dining room chairs as I worked from the chair next to her the majority of today.

I rarely slept in.

I spent close to 20 hours at one of three Paneras in town working.

I went to another candidate's house two full days to work.

I spent two full days working at my dining room table.

Another two days were spent working at Mom and Dad's dining room table.

I took only one nap, and that was only after waking up early to take Ellen to school.

I did zero shopping. Insert sad face here.

I had time to see a few friends, but not nearly as much time as I would have hoped.

And poor Minnie only got to go on two long walks (and lots of short ones) even though the weather was beautiful most days!

This might go down in history as the worst Spring Break ever. When I have been home, she's followed me around everywhere. Wanting to sit on my lap or sleep next to me wherever I'm working. She knows something is up, and I bet she's anxious for me to go back to my usual, lazy self where I have plenty of time to play and take walks.

The countdown is officially on! I will have everything completed, packed and shipped off before March 31st. I don't have a choice, that's when it is due. The next few days will be stressful, so send some calming & positive thoughts my way. I NEVER imagined this process would be so taxing. I'll be proud of myself when it's finished, but until then I can use all the assistance I can get :)

Violet, you're turning violet, Violet

2011-03-06T22:24:00.003-06:00

I thought this was pretty funny ... I'm just like these kids!

I mostly blame Jill. She's the one that made me get my MacBook Pro when I went to buy a new PC laptop ;) And then, I blame Apple for sending me a free iPod Touch and new printer when I bought my MBP with my educator discount.

However, I might be the only tech-y person I know that doesn't have a smart phone. I even went to the Sprint store this weekend since I was due for an upgrade on my phone. I was thisclose to actually buying something fancy, but Mike Teavee (do you see what I did there), was the salesman I was stuck with and he was so ADHD he couldn't answer any of my questions or look at me long enough to help me buy said smart phone. Therefore, I walked out empty-handed.

Enjoy this video, and then take me with you when you go shopping for your next Apple product. Ahem, Molly, ahem.

Just a few months

2011-02-21T14:33:00.003-06:00

Today marks exactly three months until I turn 30. Just 89 short days. I can't believe it.

Ten years ago when I was turning 20, it felt like 30 would never come. These last ten years have flown by! While my life doesn't look anything like I thought it would at (almost) 30, I know that I have accomplished quite a bit since I've become an adult at 18, and even more since I graduated college at 22.

I can't wait to see what my 30s will bring me. I have a few goals for things I would like to do before May 21st, and then I'd like to set goals before the next big birthday. Maybe 35 things before 35? I have a few friends that have done 30 goals before 30 ... but I'm a bit late to start now.

Let me know if you have goals in mind ... maybe we can cross a few things off our lists together!

Did you see this moon tonight?

2011-02-17T21:11:00.002-06:00

It made me want to go shopping immediately for a fancy lens for my camera to get a truly great picture of the moon. This one isn't bad, but the moon was SO beautiful, you could see all the craters clearly, and my camera couldn't get close enough. I hope you all got out today to enjoy the beautiful weather ... and that you got to enjoy this sight, too!

:)

2011-02-11T16:11:00.001-06:00

I needed this laugh!

2011-01-26T09:42:00.002-06:00

Watch this one ...

And then feel free to waste some time watching the other Walk on the Wild Side videos, especially if you're home sick and can't seem to move off the couch.

Hurry!

2011-01-22T16:53:00.002-06:00

I don't know how much longer Tangled is in the theaters, but I strongly suggest that you go! See it in 3D if you can, too! Emilie called me on New Years Day and asked if I wanted to join the Wagner family for some movie time. When she called, I was still in my pajamas, had a kitchen and house full of dirty dishes from a dinner party the night before and was fully committed to lounging on the couch all day. I'm glad I decided to go!

I don't think I've been to a 3D movie in the theaters before. If I have, I don't remember what it was. You get these really funny glasses, and the movie really is better when part of the action is right in front of your face.
I've always been a fan of Disney and Pixar movies. I'm impressed by the amount of animation work it takes to make things look so realistic. This movie is no exception. The story was really cute, but I oooh'd and aaah'd throughout the movie at the beautiful images.
Don't these all look so realistic? This last one was my favorite. Imagine all these lanterns floating right by your head. Then, pretend that you are a small child and reach out to touch them! :)
Quick! Go look up your movie listings. For those of you in town, I've already done the hard work for you. Just click HERE. Let me know what you think after you go.

I'm telling you, you'll be sorry!

2011-01-20T22:00:00.005-06:00

Minnie had a very hard time leaving her chew inside tonight when we went out for a walk. She sat here like this for about 5 minutes, waiting for me to put the leash on. I knew it was a bad idea, because the snow we got this week buries her legs and part of her belly. I knew if she dropped this chew, we wouldn't find it again for weeks!

I finally wrestled it out of her mouth, and once we came back in, she was very fast to pick it up again. She didn't even wait for me to dry her off.

I hope to get some of my snow pictures posted here soon. This one couldn't wait :)

What an improvement!

2011-01-16T11:49:00.006-06:00

I've been a shopper at Kohl's for quite a few years. They always seem to be having "The BIGGEST Sale Ever", and I can find great deals. As a teacher, I need to find nice-looking clothes, that don't cost a fortune, and can be both trendy and classic.

I have a Kohl's credit card, although I probably got it later than I should have. I think I must have waited until a back-to-school shopping spree to get the giant percent discount off my total.

They have a big clothes section in addition to great home goods, kitchen supplies, cute baby clothes (perfect for gifts!), jewelry, perfume and more! I don't typically shop in the purse or shoes section. I know, I know ... that's probably shocking, but I am picky.

In the past, I've been frustrated by sifting through racks & racks of clothes and I don't think the sale racks are as organized as they are at Target. The dressing rooms were always a giant mess! The doors hung off hinges or didn't close. The floors were cluttered with hangers, trash, and a pile of clothes. YUCK!

I went to Kohl's this past week on a snow day to look for a way to spend a gift card I got for Christmas (thanks, Ann!). I knew my local Kohl's was going through some construction on the outside of the building over the last few months, but I don't know that it had changed on the inside, too. Most of the time, I shop at the 119th & Metcalf store. I was SO impressed! They rearranged the layout of the store and things seemed to be easier to locate. THEN, when I was ready to try on clothes, I found myself in a brand-new dressing room. The outside had nice husband/boyfriend/son lounging benches, and artwork on the walls. The dressing rooms were BIG and nicely designed and CLEAN! The new wood floors, leather benches and 3-way mirrors are a nice addition.

One of my pet-peeves about dressing rooms is when there aren't enough racks, hooks or places to hang the clothes you want to try on. I bet department stores hate when their slatted doors are all scratched up, but that is what happens when you don't have enough hooks inside the room, and your customers will instead hook hangers through the door slats.

Kohl's has now fixed this problem with a large hanging bar (see the above picture) and then 3 hooks on the wall that are labeled. "Love it", "Like it", and "Back on the rack". What a GREAT idea! Don't most women make these piles on their own when trying on clothes? Now half the work is done for you? All you have to do is try on endless amounts of jeans and swim suits! :)

For those that are wondering, I spent my gift card on that brown sweater on the left, the gray one in the middle, 2 cards, 2 baby/kid gifts, some new pj's, and a bottle of perfume for myself. Not too bad! Go visit, trying on clothes will actually be enjoyable!

Looking for a show?

2011-01-04T20:19:00.002-06:00

You need to watch Auction Hunters. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Meet Allen and Ton. I'll let you guess who is who in this picture. You'll find them on Spike TV, except you won't find them right now. They're on a break right now. I believe they were one of the first shows in a string of auction house / storage facility / pawning reality TV shows. Now you can also find Auction Kings, Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, and American Pickers.

Not only is Allen nice to look at, but the show follows this twosome as they obtain abandoned storage units in an auction. The rules for the auction state that when the door is opened, you can look, but can't go in. Based on a quick view inside with a flashlight, the team decides whether or not to bid on the unit. Allen has 20+ years of auction and antique experiences. He was raised by collectors and antique dealers. He uses those skills to know exactly how much items are worth during the short viewing period. Of course, the episodes show them winning most of the units they big on ... but it also shows both the smart purchases AND the worthless units.

The shows comes back on Tuesday, January 25th. You might be able to catch some reruns between now and then. I highly suggest recording it (who watches TV live anymore?) when it comes back. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and you're welcome :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T22:53:00.002-06:00

Minnie & I are wishing you & yours a very Merry Christmas!

We'll be spending the day with family and friends at Mom and Dad's house. We're thoroughly enjoying winter break and are pleased the 10 inches of snow won't be keeping family from getting together this year like it did last year!

Maybe snow will come, but let's hope it doesn't strap everyone inside ... I've got a fully booked week off from work. I hope Santa brings you everything on your list! :)

She doesn't mess around!

2010-12-20T21:41:00.005-06:00

At least not when it comes to sweet treats!

Ellen clearly gets this from her mother. It's a McKnight gene: We don't share desserts. We don't turn down desserts. We like most desserts. Ellen has this same affection for sweets that comes at the end of the meal (and sometimes for breakfast - I heard she had cake for her first meal today)! Her father can often be heard saying, "Let's just get one dessert to share." No. Thank. You.

Tonight, we got together to celebrate Molly's birthday (on the 21st). Mom made an amazing meal, like she always does. We ended the night with presents and an AMAZING butterscotch cake. Mom, I'm still thinking about that cake - you need to share the recipe if you can! Ellen begged all evening for a piece of cake. She's got the birthday thing down since she just celebrated her own 2 weeks ago. She inhaled every. single. bite. Here she is, picking up the crumbs to place on her spoon, to deliver them to her mouth. Smart girl, I tell ya!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Molly!

I hope you have a fabulous day! I'm so glad we could all get together to help celebrate :)

Don't let me go here ...

2010-12-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

I might come back with everything I see!

Ha!

P.S. That baby in the drawer looks exactly like Minners when she was a puppy! So cute!

P.P.S. I laughed out loud at the saleswoman taping the tissue paper around that pug! Go back & watch again ... you'll laugh, too!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Girl!

2010-12-05T22:20:00.003-06:00

More information to come about the Big Top Birthday bash for Miss Ellen's 2nd birthday. It was a ton of fun, and I'm so happy to be part of her life. I was flipping through pictures tonight and thought this pose on the right looked familiar. Sure enough, here is a picture from last year that is eerily similar. This is one girl that LOVES to be sung to!

*** UPDATE: Okay ... I take it back. I'm too overwhelmed with life to follow up with more information. You can see another post with more information on Molly's blog. Check it out! ***

This happens on a daily basis!

2010-11-28T17:49:00.003-06:00

Look at what I just made:

Someone in my Twitter PLN (Personal Learning Network) shared a link to Bitstrips that her students had created. They looked like comics and they were fancy. I thought, "There is NO way her second graders created those comics!"

Then, I clicked on the Bit Strips website, and within just 5 minutes I had created this comic. If I could do it in just a few minutes ... imagine how much fun my tech-y students would have on this site! I didn't know what to expect when I started, so I just wanted to make something quickly. I didn't know what I was going to have my comic say until I found the trash can clip art. This is one of my biggest pet peeves ... no name papers :(

Even if you aren't a teacher, go check out the site! It's pretty fun!

Try to contain yourselves!

2010-11-21T12:56:00.009-06:00

It's time for ...

Betsy's Favorite Things!

I was reading a few of my favorite blogs this week/weekend. Many of them were doing their own version of "Oprah's Favorite Things" in the form of a blog post, and then sharing what they came up with. I missed my chance to post on the starting day AND I couldn't narrow my list down to just 5 items. So, here you go ... in no particular order!

My DVR: It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago, I was taping my favorite shows on VHS if I couldn't be home when they were on. Now, I record anything from Oprah, to SNL, to my new favorite show, Auction Hunters. {Check it out on SpikeTV!} Oprah's last Favorite Things show aired on Friday ... but she's doing another on Monday! Haven't watched yet, but I bet there was some great stuff!

Apothecary jars: I collected these over 2 years and waited patiently to put them up until I had my own place. Love how they can create great decor pretty easily, and for not too much money.

Bath & Body Works candle: It's my all-time favorite scent! The store doesn't always carry this passion fruit & guava scent, so when I find it, I try to stock up. I'm always happy to get this as a gift. (Ahem ... hint, hint).

Beautiful painting: Passed to me from Aunt Susan. It's giant, and unique, and I love it! Oh, Minnie likes to hang out by it, too!

OPI nail polish: Lots of favorite colors (for my toes), but my MOST favorite is "Ladies and Magentamen"!

Canon Rebel XS: I still love, love, love my Canon PowerShot, but I feel like this new camera has made me a much better photographer. I have to work harder at getting a great picture, which is frustrating at times, but good for the process.

Rings: You can see how they take over the majority of my jewelry box. Some are from family members. Some were gifts. Some cost $1.00. One was bought in Italy. Most were bought at stores around town. I like to wear rings every day, and when I don't, it feels strange.

Bootcut cords from New York & Company: These are a new favorite. I bought the khaki-colored pair first. I got so many compliments on them the first time I wore them, that I went back right after work and bought the green pair. I just went this week to pick up the gray pair. That's how I typically buy things ... find one I like, so I buy all they have. They still have them in the stores.

Eyeliner: I love all kinds of make-up, but I tend to really experiment with eyeliner. I'm not a brand snob, and most of these come from drug stores. My current favorite is the ULTA store brand. I'll wear any color ... I think it's fun to change it up every once in a while.

Diet Coke: No explanation necessary. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, so I need to have some caffeine to start and get through my day.

Perfume: I've never had fancy perfume. My two favorites are Clinique Happy and Tommy Girl. I still get compliments when I put one of them on (which I don't remember to do every day). They last me a long time, but I'm actually out of Tommy Girl, after several years. I'm a sad girl ;)

Panera: Not only do they have good food, but they have free WiFi and I enjoy working and grading papers so much more when I am out of my house.

Double Twelve Dominoes: If you haven't gotten on the Mexican Train bandwagon, errrr train, then you're missing out! Great game for the family during the holidays!

Garden Veggie Straws & Chips: Of course, my Wal-Mart doesn't carry these, but I picked up a box of the lunch bag size when I was at Costco with Mom. They are yummy & a bit better for me than the other kinds of chips I normally pack in my lunch. I thought I would hate the rosemary olive oil flavor, but they were my favorite.

Top Sites: This is the home page on my MacBook Pro (another favorite). It picks the sites that I visit the most often (you can also set them) and then it notifies you when the site is updated with a blue star. It took me far too long to realize that was what the blue star was for! Are YOU featured on my top sites?

Wrapping paper: I have a ridiculous amount of wrapping paper (and bags, and tissue, and ribbon, and boxes), but I LOVE wrapping presents! I'm dying to wrap what few presents I've already purchased, but promised myself I'd wait until I had my Christmas decor up.

Fuzzy blanket: This picture doesn't really show just how soft this blanket is. I have a few of these (picked up from HomeGoods or TJMaxx) and Minnie and I curl up with one of them most nights during the winter.

Pens: All colors, all brands, anything that makes grading hundreds of papers more enjoyable. Last year, I purchased a set of fine-point LePen markers online that are great colors, but I still like this basic set of Flair Pens.

Vaseline Lip Therapy: No flavor, no color, inexpensive and works miracles for chapped lips! Found at most drug stores & grocery stores at the check-out counters, too! So easy to find :)

Target store brand vitamins: I've NEVER been a girl who takes vitamins. I have good intentions and I'll buy a bottle of them, but then the taste and size of those huge multi-vitamins scare me off. A friend suggested the fruit-flavored gummy daily vitamins to me. I bought them and I actually remember to take them every day! The last time I was there, I thought I'd look at the other kinds and picked up the gummy calcium supplements, too. Mom thinks they're disgusting, but I feel better knowing that I'm taking something ... and I think they are yummy, too!

Didn't realize I was going to end my favorite things post on such an exciting item (ha!) but here we are at the end. Hope you found something you might like ... or something you didn't know about. Maybe you can even get some gift ideas for someone on your list. Maybe YOU should write a post of YOUR favorite things to share with all of us! :)

Here is the link to the original start of the Favorite Things Post.

What are YOUR thoughts?

2010-11-17T07:55:00.000-06:00

I was fascinated by this video for a few reasons:

1) The drawings are amazing! I could watch this for days!

2) I wondered if I'm one of those teachers that believes all students should be medicated.

3) I know the creativity is dwindling in my job.

4) The drawing skills are amazing ... do I have ADHD?

5) I believe standardized tests have made great teachers wonder what in the world they are doing in the classroom. And more importantly, why do we care about "1 test that tells what my students can do on 1 particular day"?

What are YOUR thoughts?

Do they make chapstick at Santa's Workshop?

2010-11-14T20:16:00.013-06:00

I went over to Molly & Erik's Saturday night so I could get in my Ellen time for the week. Mom & Dad were there to babysit, and I was just there to document Ellen and all of her hilarity!

Ellen's FAVORITE thing to play with is the chapstick from Mom's purse. Seriously. She carried these tubes around for about 45 minutes. I may or may not have found some fun flavors for Ellen's stocking. Gotta love cheap Christmas presents!

For the first time ever, Ellen let me braid her hair. I've been asking to try out my french braiding skills on her for months, but she always pushes me away. This time I tricked her into saying it was how I wear my hair. She'll do just about anything that I do! Check out those natural highlights!

Look closely ... you can see her halo. Errrr ... the pretty artwork Ellen took it upon herself to add to the kitchen walls with a pen!

The cousins having a tea party. Minnie looks less than thrilled. "Sit der, Mimmie!"

Here's Ellen playing with Mère's "yeakum" aka makeup. She's got most of the right letters, just in their own order & pronunciation.

Smiles for Mère!

Minnie DYING for some attention. As the first grandchild (dog) she's had a hard time adjusting to Ellen taking over.

"Mimmie nekkless!"

Mom attempting to stop the tears at bedtime. We were telling Ellen that she was scary in her jammies!

Time to brush teeth. She refused until I pretend brushed my teeth first ;)

Minnie wishing she was allowed upstairs with the girls. Someday, Minnie ... someday!

Beautiful!

2010-10-29T21:13:00.004-05:00

My favorite time of year ... ???

2010-10-24T20:06:00.002-05:00

Dad informed me today that I hadn't updated since last Sunday. I've been super busy, but not a ton to share on the blog.

It's my favorite time of year; I love the cool weather, the changing leaves, the fact that my kids are well "trained" after 9+ weeks together, and there are lots of fun things to do in town.

What I don't love is the end of first quarter; report cards are always the most difficult to fill out the first time around. The craziness that comes with the Halloween party is enough to drive you nuts. The soda machine in the lounge wasn't taking my money Friday on party day. Thank goodness Mitzi saved me with a Diet Dr. Pepper she had stashed away. Parent/Teacher conferences are this week. It will mean two 12+ hour days Monday & Tuesday, kids Monday-Wednesday and then Thursday off with kids to have conferences. I have 28 booked this year. It's going to be a wild week, but I'm excited to share all the great things I'm seeing with parents, and thrilled that we can start to make some changes after the parents see the things that are worrying me.

Friday will be a vacation day to reward us for working two nights this week. I hope to work hard this week so that I can really enjoy the day off & attempt to keep that day work-free! Keep checking back for more updates ... and make sure you're checking the daily photo blog. I've been successful in keeping updated, and I'm proud of that fact!

Just another afternoon on the deck

2010-10-17T21:58:00.003-05:00

Went over to play with Miss Ellen this afternoon ... and to get some photo help from Molly.

While we were waiting for Molly to finish working in the yard, Ells and I sat to have a little chat out on the deck. This is good stuff!

You should make these cookies ASAP! You'll thank me!

2010-10-12T21:16:00.003-05:00

Each month at school, a grade level is in charge of lounge duty (cleaning at the end of the day, starting the coffee, running & emptying the dishwasher). When it is your month for lounge duty, you are also in responsible for planning a treat day! Even though it's a bit of work, treat day is always fun and everyone enjoys it! We actually make the time to hang out in the lounge and enjoy each other's company and the good food, too.

Last Monday, I had to start looking for things to make. I made my famous Icing Rice Krispie Treats. I also made a 5-ish layer dip (beans, sour cream with taco seasoning, salsa, shredded cheddar, cherry tomatoes and olives). Then, I started flipping through our Oak Hill cookbook. It was published for the 20th anniversary of our school. Parents & staff donated their favorite recipes.

I found this recipe that needed just a few easy ingredients. We've had the children of this recipe donor bring these cookies for our 4th Grade Market ... and they are YUMMY! I didn't think they'd be as easy as they were!

I made a batch for our treat day. I saved a few to take to Mom & Dad. I also saved a few for me. Shhhhh ... don't tell! They were so good that I ran to the grocery store again Sunday to get another box of the lemon cake mix. I took them when I got together with friends Sunday afternoon. The recipe made between 20 and 25 cookies, depending on the size.

These might be my new go-to cookies. I usually have butter & eggs in the fridge. Cake mix and rice cereal is easy enough to get. You should make them. Seriously. Now. You won't regret it!

If this doesn't make you smile ...

2010-10-05T22:30:00.002-05:00

... I don't know what will! :)

Spent the evening with Ellen ... and Minnie was MORE than thrilled to spend the night around her. You never know what kind of leftovers you can find on her chin or shirt sleeves :)

I know this picture is blurry, but it's a great representation of what happens when these two "cousins" get together.

"Mimmie! Get down!" *giggle, giggle*

250

2010-09-28T19:46:00.002-05:00

Back to school. I feel like we just started a week ago, but we are actually just two and a half weeks away from the end of first quarter. I don't know how we got here.

I'm still running around like crazy. I'm still overwhelmed. I still can't see the top of my desk.

A new daily Math program (on top of the current Math materials), a new way to do literacy centers (on top of the current Reading materials), a new principal (who is lovely and nice and organized), a new class of 27 students (soon to be 28) has me busy as ever! Throw working on my National Board Certification AND what little life I have outside of school on top of all of that, too!

I went to my Heath & Wellness screening last night through the district. When I sat one-on-one with a nurse she asked me to rate my current stress level. Ha! How high does the scale go? Then, we had to log on to our insurance carrier's website to do a Health Risk Appraisal. I was asked how many hours a week I'm expected to be at my job. Then, how many hours a week I actually work. Lastly, how many hours I've done work for my job during the past 4 weeks.

Mitzi and I were sitting next to each other, so we laughed ... and then calculated together. Hmmmm ... let's see. I'm expected to work 8:15-4:00. I can probably count on both hands how many times I've left school AT 4:00 when my contract hours are over. Most days a week, I'm there from 8:00-6:00. Often, I'm the last car in the parking lot. I hate that. I also bring work home to do at night, although I try NOT to do this so I can relax and recharge before the next day. Most weekends I work at least one day, sometimes more. Add it all together ... close to 250 hours of work within the last month. 250!!!! How many hours do you think you put into your job in the last month?

I wear many hats at my job and I attempt to wear a party, happy hat most days. I know things will turn around. I just wish it would happen sooner than later. That's it! Done complaining ... ... ... for now :)

Worth a watch!

2010-09-20T22:23:00.002-05:00

I've liked the band, OK Go, for a while. They became well known with their first music video, "Here It Goes Again" that involved a group of 6 treadmills. I probably watched that video 100 times. I bet you've seen it too!

Last year, they came out with another great video for "This Too Shall Pass" that was based off of a Rube Goldberg Machine. They had to do the entire thing in one take. I can't imagine just how many times it took to get it perfect!

Here is the latest video for "White Knuckles". I couldn't tell you any of the words of the song, and I probably wouldn't recognize it if it were played again, but I was glued to my computer. You'll see why ...

Pretty amazing, huh?

Strutting her stuff

2010-09-11T20:49:00.002-05:00

Stopped by to see Ellen tonight. She was funny, and shy, and playful, and sassy ... all in a span of 30 minutes. I took these pictures back to back. It looks like she's really strutting her stuff all over the front sidewalk! Although this girl IS sassy ... this is just what it looks like she you slow down her wobbly walking! :) Can you believe how long her hair is getting? I'm glad I got to see her in the middle of a busy weekend.

Mwah, Ells! Aunt Betsy loves you!

Show me your pearly whites!

2010-09-03T20:15:00.004-05:00

Can you tell that my little one looks out of it in this picture? This was taken after we got home from her long day at Dr. Jed's office. It was the day that I finally bit the bullet and scrounged up the money for Minners to get her teeth clean.

Minnie is 4 1/2 and last December, they started sending me home with a quote for a teeth cleaning every time I was at the vet. I'm sure our childhood dogs had their teeth cleaned, but I never remember that. Mom said it was probably good to invest in it so I don't have to have rotten teeth extracted on a 18-pound animal at $25-$125 a tooth!

She spent the entire day there and they called at 12:30 to tell me that she did great, didn't need any teeth pulled and was starting to wake up. I could pick her up at 4:00. I drove over after work and found this TIRED, EXHAUSTED, DROWSY pup! She could hardly stand up in the office and fell against the side of my car when she tried to jump in my lap before I could grab her. She fell asleep on my arm on the way home! :)

This picture looks scary and like she might be mad, but I think she was almost passed out when I took it. I had to show you how clean and WHITE her teeth were! They might even be more white than mine! I can't believe the difference the cleaning made! P.S. Aren't those small teeth funny? I think it's fascinating that they have a "cut out" that the other teeth feet perfectly in when her mouth is closed.

Here she is getting really sleepy. I was told to watch her around stairs and probably just to carry her. It's a good thing she doesn't weigh more than she does because I've got a lot of stairs at my place! She napped on the couch most of the evening and then went up to bed before I did.

Sleeping beauty ... trying to sleep off the anesthesia. :(

At some point in the middle of last night, she jumped up in bed and was still pretty out of it this morning, but not too out of it to eat a breakfast. She hardly had anything to eat yesterday ... which you know was torture for her! When I finally made it home from work tonight, she was at the door waiting for me and was back to her normal, happy, barky, self! Glad to have my baby back!

Too busy to post about the last few weeks, but I can do it quickly with pictures!

2010-08-29T13:32:00.006-05:00

I started back to work (unofficially) in my classroom early in August. It takes a lot of time to get things unpacked, uncovered, and organized. I was happy to head back in with my new camera, to share my room with better photographs. Here is my new calendar set ... may not be exciting to most, but I was happy to have something fresh this year (even though it was a hand-me-down)!

Here is my new, FABULOUS, fabric banner that the author of one of my favorite blogs, Whatever, made for me. I found a picture of this banner on one of her blog posts & knew she was the creator. I left a comment & she emailed me later that night! After much encouragement on Megan's end that I could make one myself, I thought it would look better if I could pay her to make one for me. It arrived just in time for school to start! It was the perfect way to tie in my current, bright decorations. The kids really love it, too!

Here is poor Minnie after her day of shots with Dr. Jed. This year wasn't as bad as years past, thanks to antihistamines the day before, during and after her vaccinations. She sure was tired, though :(

The unbelievable sunflowers in Jill's garden! Look at how much taller it is than Mitzi. There were beautiful orangey pink ones, too!

I needed a change & asked for your advice. Molly sent me the link to this idea. I liked it, but had another idea instead.

Jill helped me one night to empty out the jars, clean the jars and then fill the jars with various glass pebbles. I LOVE the way they look now!

I finally got to put my Jayhawk license plate on my new car. I bought it the year that I got my VW Bug, and minutes after I bought it, I realized I didn't have a front plate. Now I can share my KU pride!

Enjoyed my last official day of summer at the pool. This summer, I was fascinated with the clouds and the reflection lines in the pool water. I didn't have my camera with me at the pool very often, but I did make sure to take some final pictures.

As a family, we went out for a "Going Back to School" dinner the night before my meetings started. I picked Los Cabos in Mission Farms because of their giant patio outside and because the weather had finally decided to cooperate a bit. This little one was begging for "moe sasa" (translation: more salsa) during the entire meal. She even liked the spicier ones that I couldn't handle :)

At the end of our meal, we saw three vans that held hot air balloons. We stuck around long enough to watch them inflate & take off. Quite the experience for Ellen!

Great night for picture-taking, too. I was sad I had just removed my new Canon from my purse and had to use my point & shoot for these pictures, but they still turned out.

This year at school, we voted on a Western/Cowboy theme. We've never had an all-school theme before, but it was really fun to see how everyone decorated. I just did a few things here & there, because I really like my regular decorations. Becky, down the hall from me, created this mural out of bulletin board paper & wrapping paper. SO FUN!

The first weekend after school started, some KC friends flew out to Columbus, Ohio to surprise Julie for an early 30th birthday party! We went straight to the party from the airport and she was BEYOND surprised!

The next day, Mike & Julie opened up their house to all the family and friends for a BBQ. My camera was passed around the table for everyone to play. Becca changed some settings for me, and took this great picture. I have a lot to learn!

Here's a picture of all the girls. Exactly a year ago, we were together for our 10 year reunion. Glad we got to celebrate together!

I hope to have more updates this year, but it's going to be a busy one. I'm going to be working towards my National Board Certification, which will mean about 300 hours of work (outside of my job) between now and March when my portfolio is due. If I become a hermit and have a hard time keeping in touch this year, now you'll know why. Writing here and continuing with my 365 photo blog have been easy ways for me to keep in touch with others, even though it's not face-to-face time. Keep checking back from time to time!

Come on in!

2010-08-17T21:36:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow morning is the first day of school! I've been up in my classroom for about 2 weeks, even though our official work days didn't start until last Friday. As always, things really started to come together in the last few hours.

Tonight, we had our Popsicle Pop-In where I get to meet kids and parents for the first time and they get to see the classroom for the first time. The third grade classrooms are right next to ours, so some kids I knew really well, and some I hadn't ever seen. They all seemed excited to be there!

My room finally came together. I have some new decorations, new bulletin boards, new name-tags, new books, new rules ...

... and a new mess! Way to start off the 2010-2011 school year, Betsy!

UGH!

Girl without the Pearl Earring

2010-08-10T21:28:00.003-05:00

Last week when I babysat Ellen, we had a little photo shoot. It was little, because she was a sicky and didn't want to play along with my games. The second I took this picture, I knew I liked it. I uploaded and forgot about it until Molly used it in her blog post today.

Looking at it a second time, I had a feeling about it. It looked like something I had seen before. Then, it came to me. This picture of Ellen reminded me of the famous Vermeer painting, Girl with the Pearl Earring. I thought I was crazy, until I commented about it and Molly said she thought the same thing.

What do you think?

A few new pictures

2010-08-04T13:37:00.003-05:00

Pictures from a little visit last Saturday afternoon. It's always fun to play, read, explore, and laugh with this one.

Looking for change

2010-08-01T15:01:00.003-05:00

I love these apothecary jars, and I started collecting them before I even had a home to put them in. When I moved into my condo, I was excited that I had the perfect place for them. I have a counter that opens up to both my kitchen & my living room. Most of the other condos that have the same floor plan have an extended counter that allows them to have bar stools there for eating. I wish my counter was like that, because it might mean the counters wouldn't become my catch-all for mail, recycling, magazines, etc.

Anyhoo ... the jars have been filled with various grains and beans for 2 years, and I think I'm over it. I'm looking for ideas for new fillers. Candy would be a lot of fun, but that's just a recipe for a disaster (and a bigger a$$). I can also take them away completely for a cleaner look, but I like them so much.

They could go on top of this cabinet in my dining room and I could put the lamp somewhere else. They might look nice with the sunlight coming in through the jars, even if they were empty.

The other place I need help is with my TV and table. This is one of the few new pieces of furniture I have in here. My TV used to sit on my coffee table, but when I found this great piece, that had storage, I was happy to have my coffee table back! Erik's parents were nice enough to let me have this TV when I moved in because they were doing some redecorating. The one I had before this was a measly 19 inch TV, which was difficult to adjust to since I had gotten used to Molly & Erik's GIANT TV when I lived with them. The problem is that this table isn't very sturdy and I think the weight of the TV is causing the joints to shift, and the cabinet doors and drawers are becoming difficult to open.

Since this has been the summer of spending for me, I'm not sure that I have the money for a replacement TV, but I know a thinner, lighter TV would probably be the answer.

I'm taking any and all suggestions at this point. Today's Day Of Cleaning has been slow going, but I know that if I really work on cleaning this place top to bottom today, I'll be much happier once I head back to work full time!

Can you tell what she's saying?

2010-07-29T17:55:00.003-05:00

I figured out how to use my continuous shooting setting on my camera at Mom & Dad's on Tuesday night. It's a lot of fun, because when you scroll through the pictures quickly, they look like a movie.

Today, Jill helped me put this together with my fancy iMovie software! I have a feeling this is going to be my new, favorite tool in technology!

Just kidding ... .. .

2010-07-28T10:08:00.002-05:00

Kristin, Emilie and I spent the majority of our visit in Chicago "being" Judy Grimes and then laughing uncontrollably. You can imagine how much Julie liked us by the end of her visit ;)

This one is good, too!

Here are a few more Judy Grimes videos if you haven't had enough, just kidding, you've had enough, you should stop watching, just kidding, watch me, just kidding, watch TV, just kidding, TV is bad for you, just kidding, TV is a great baby sitter, just kidding, babies are TV sitters, just kidding, just kidding, just kidding!

Ummm, hello, just looking for my shades.

2010-07-26T22:40:00.002-05:00

We have a winner!

Thanks to 7-year old Morgan Porter for the winning caption! I had to go with her entry, because that is pretty much what Ellen is doing every time she digs in my purse.

"Aun Bessy purse. Gasses? Sun gasses?"

Off to Chicago!

2010-07-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

** Pretend Julie is in this picture, too! **

Yippee! Time for a vacation. Today, I left for Chicago with Kristin. Julie is joining us from Columbus. We'll be staying with Emilie! It's been so long since I've visited Chicago ... I'm almost embarrassed. This picture was from July of 2007 (I CAN'T believe it's been that long) when I stayed with Em & KK for close to a week over the 4th. Then in May of 2008, I went again for Julie's bachelorette party. Since 2008, I've been basically stuck in Kansas City with a lack of funds for plane tickets and pricey weekends out of town. Paying a mortgage really cut into the travel/fun category of my budget :(

However, I started saving up again & planned a trip out this summer. It is just what I need!

I'm taking my laptop, simply so I can upload pictures each day and hopefully get my daily photo posted on the other blog. Keep checking back there to see what is happening in Chicago.

We have dinner plans, tickets to a Cubs game (my first), plans to head to the Taste of Lincoln Avenue street fest, we'd like to squeeze in pedicures and pool time, and mostly we're just excited about having time to talk and catch up.

Hoping the weather is neither beastly hot nor full of thunderstorms like it has been here in Kansas City. I'm taking my new Canon Rebel with me; I think that will be a great opportunity for me to get used to the settings. I can't wait to report when I get back ... stay tuned for pictures!

Caption Contest

2010-07-16T23:24:00.003-05:00

Jill saw this picture tonight & said that I should post it and do a caption contest.

So ...

Here I am. Posting this picture. Waiting for YOU to give me your best captions!

Go for it! Comment to leave your best captions. I'll pick the winner by after a week or so.

What will you win? Ummmmm ... the pride of knowing that you can write a funny caption for this purse-digging sweetie! :)

Organize a book by it's cover

2010-07-08T22:18:00.003-05:00

You've seen pictures of this bookshelf that is in my loft. Remember when I finally got things unpacked, almost 2 months after I'd moved in here? Remember when Aunt Susan got me the CUTEST book ends for my birthday a few months ago?

Somewhere along the lines, I saw someone that organized the books on a shelf by color. I did this as soon as I had a bookshelf to organize & I love the way it looks. Every time someone comes to my condo for the first time, they always comment on it, and half of the time, they make fun of me for doing that. :(

Fast forward to today, when I picked up my mail. I had a Crate & Barrel catalog and just a few pages into it ... look what I found!

A bookshelf with books organized by the color on the covers!

I guess I'm not so crazy after all! :)

Easy snack/dessert recipe

2010-07-05T11:42:00.003-05:00

We have treat day at school once a month and our lovely PTO provides lunch once a month & meals during both Fall & Spring conference week. Several times a year, someone brings in a yummy matzo chocolate treat. I've always known it was easy to make, but never tried it. Until this week ...

Matzo Toffee:

* 2 cups coarsely crumbled matzos {I used more like 3.5 cups, I'll explain further down}

* 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds {the bag I bought was 1 2/3 cups, so I just used all of that}

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

* 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 325. Line a large rimmed backing sheet with parchment {I had to use Pam'd foil, because I'm not the kind of girl that has parchment in my kitchen}. In a bowl, toss matzo pieces with almonds.

{I knew I wanted to take this snack to my condo's 4th of July BBQ, so I wanted to make extra. I didn't have enough ingredients to double my recipe, so I just increased the recipe by 50%. So in this bowl, you see about 3 cups of matzo and all the almonds I had.}

Step 2:

In a saucepan, bring butter, brown sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water to a boil over medium, stirring constantly. {While this started boiling almost immediately, it didn't get to the toffee consistency for a few minutes.}

Step 3:

Working quickly, drizzle matzo mixture with syrup and toss. {I did increase all these ingredients, but didn't realize until this step that I didn't really need to increase the syrup mixture. It was WAY TOO MUCH syrup, even when I added more matzo at the last minute.}

Step 4:

Using a heatproof spatula, spread mixture onto a prepared sheet. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. {This is where I really noticed I had too much syrup. I should have put the mixture on 2 cookie sheets, but didn't have 2 with rims. It had a hard time setting up.}

Step 5:

Remove from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let chocolate melt five minutes. {You do NOT need to increase the amount of chocolate chips. The original amount would have been plenty.}

Step 6:

Spread chocolate over matzo toffee after the 5 minutes have passed. {I ended up scraping a lot of the chocolate off & storing in a small bowl for some other something. It would be nice to have some of the toffee showing through.}

Step 7:

Refrigerate until chocolate has set. Break into pieces and serve. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

Great (and fairly easy) snack. I would either stick to the original recipe, minimize the amount of syrup anyway, or use my tips for increasing the amount. Would make a great house-warming or holiday party gift.

"Feeling Good"

2010-07-03T16:26:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday, I was sitting around all day, being SUPER bored.

Then, at 6:30, I get a call from my friend Rachel. "What are you doing? Want to go to the Michael Bublè concert tonight? We need to leave between 7:15 & 7:30." I was so flustered, I wasn't sure what to say. I probably wasted a good 5 minutes just debating with Rachel whether or not I could get ready in time.

I didn't have anything else going on, and had just whined about the fact that Jill got to see his concert in Wichita & Julie was going in Columbus. So ... YES! I hurried to get ready and then went to meet up with Rachel and her sister & brother-in-law.

We had AWESOME seats! I've never been to the Sprint Center for a concert, only for the Big 12 tournament, but I was still surprised how awesome it was!

I have a great video of his song, "Feeling Good" from the encore, but stoopid Blogger took a year to upload it & then it wasn't actually in my post :( I've been singing in all day, every day, since I got home from the concert.

I had a WONDERFUL time and I'm an even bigger Michael Bublè fan than I was before the concert. Thanks for the invite, Rachel!

Yummy lunch or snack!

2010-06-25T15:51:00.004-05:00

I actually planned on making certain recipes when I went to the grocery store last week. It makes my shopping so much easier, but when I get home, I actually have to set aside time to make said recipes.

This time it was Tiny Tuna Melts. I LOVE a good tuna melt, and love tiny foods ... so what's not to like? These were so easy, those of you with kids could have them help!

Gather the following ingredients:

* 1 can (3 ounces) of tuna, drained

* 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I only had the fake stuff)

* coarse salt & ground pepper

* small crackers (melba toast, wheat thins, etc.)

* 1/4 cup shredded cheddar

Step 1:

Stir together can of tuna, mayo, lemon juice. Season with salt & pepper.

Step 2:

Heat broiler of toaster oven (or oven). On a foil-lined baking sheet, arrange 16 small crackers. Top with tuna mixture and cheese.

Step 3:

Broil until cheese has melted, 2-3 minutes. Serves 2.

YUMMY! Enjoy!

Who needs toys?

2010-06-21T08:15:00.001-05:00

Just for the record ... if you are an Aunt and you have nieces ... don't EVER feel like you need to buy her toys.

All you need to do is show up with your purse in tow and let your niece play all she wants!

Here is Ellen, playing with my "walrus" or wallet, for those of you that don't speak 18-month old!

And here she is with her other new obsession, glasses!

Your day

2010-06-20T22:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day!

I chose this picture for my Father's Day post for a few reasons.

1) It is a great family picture ... minus our additions since it was taken (Erik, Minnie, Ellen).

2) It is summertime and this was taken in late July many years ago.

3) It is funny to see us in old pictures.

4) It is a picture taken from Camp Waldemar, the camp where Molly & I each spent 7 summers between the ages of 9 and 16. Today for Father's Day, I gave Dad a book called P.S. I Hate It Here! It is a compilation of hilarious notes home from summer camp. Dad was the KING of sending us mail while we were at Waldemar. They even got us to record 1-sided conversations on blank tapes & send those home in addition to letters.

Thanks for being such a great dad, and for being the KING of so many aspects of our lives: planning family road trips, teaching us to keep our cars clean & gas tanks filled (even if I had to meet you in DeSoto for cash to fill said car), helping us with school projects (like staying up late to bail me out when I've procrastinated too long), sending us to great colleges, taking care of your Granddog & Granddaughter when needed, providing lots of laughs, sharing your love of photography with us AND supporting us in whatever we do!

Love you, Dad!

Seen on our walking route

2010-06-18T09:04:00.006-05:00

{Yes, that's a mattress & box spring under the highway.}

{Tree completely covered by vine plant. It's GORGEOUS in person!}

{She stopped half way through our walk to rest a bit. Cars driving by laughed at us!}

{Minnie's new "friend" that we ran into on the way home. This poor turtle was awfully far from any sort of nature. I wonder how long it took him to get on the walking trail from his home.}

Who wants to join us on our next walk?

Loving the Photo Booth program on my Mac!

2010-06-14T09:57:00.001-05:00

Ellen is now talking up a storm. Here we are talking about Me-Mee (Minnie), sew (TV Show), Be-See (Betsy), and she must have seen something that was po-pau (purple) across the room!

I can't believe how big AND vocal she's getting!

New York - Wedding celebration!

2010-06-12T13:36:00.011-05:00

The last of the NYC posts. Here are some of the pictures that go with the wedding celebration on the Saturday that we were in town.

The beautiful Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer, just across the street from Katherine & Bruce's apartment.

We got inside & we were all awed by the beauty of this church! I wish my camera had the ability to take great pictures in the dark, because these pictures really don't do it justice.

Instead of a rehearsal on Friday night, the happy couple had an engagement party with all the wedding guests (family) and invited all their friends & coworkers so we could all mingle. When we got to the church, we had an impromptu rehearsal of the events of the ceremony. Everyone was excited. Katherine & Bruce were beyond calm!

The ceremony was held in the Friar's Chapel because there were only 18 guests, all family members. We sat in what would have been the choir members' seats along the sides. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I love this picture! It almost looks like a vintage picture. The chapel was the perfect backdrop!

Aunt Caroline giving a reading.

Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Crane!

Isn't this tile floor amazing?

We had a bus to take all the family across town to the reception. Of course, we had champagne to toast & celebrate.

The bus driver let us off a few blocks away from the restaurant. I loved seeing Katherine in her perfect dress & heels, marching down the street to get us to Prune.

The reception dinner was at Prune in the East Village. Katherine & Bruce picked the perfect location for all of us! The place was so small that we filled the entire place and they closed it down just for us!

Here Katherine and her new Father-in-Law, Steve drinking the signature drink of the evening, which was a mixture of 3 types of rum. I did not partake (because I would have been flat on my @$$), but I heard it was amazing!

The menu! I tried lots of new foods on this trip that I never thought I would have. Just at this dinner I tried shrimp toasts (yummy), and marinated white anchovies with goat cheese (was surprised by the flavor, but I don't know that I'll have again). I ordered the Scottish salmon (to die for), but tried Reagan's duck (very good) and Katherine insisted that I try the beef bone marrow that came with the beef pot au feu (don't need to have again). The white asparagus was great, too!

A little dance (and song) for the father of the bride & his daughter :) Very sweet!

Katherine & Reagan! We always love our time with these cousins ... let's plan a trip in the near future!

Uncle John & Reagan after dinner.

Here's a pic of my meal. It was all fabulous!

This really shows you how tiny the restaurant was. We filled the entire place. The rest of us sat at tables behind where I took this picture and to the right was the kitchen & the tiny bar.

Cutting the cake!

Ricotta ice cream with salted caramel croutons. The cake went with the ice cream perfectly, layers of caramel & buttercream. They also passed around oranges poached in a simple syrup. You were supposed to just slice into it & eat everything, peel included. Amazing way to end the meal!

Cousins picture! Hugs and Kisses!

Thanks for an amazing weekend! I'm not sure my posts fully explained what a great time we had, but I had fun sharing with everyone.

Whatcha think?

2010-06-11T18:05:00.002-05:00

After some advice from family, I got an itch to go ahead and clean and rearrange today.

I moved the couch to come out from the wall like Mom suggested.

And moved the dresser into the corner where the couch used to be. Not sure I'm crazy about this placement. Maybe this dresser needs some paint this summer. I also wanted to take the drawers out & put baskets in their place ... that seems like a lot of work.

Minnie seems to like this spot, too. As long as she can bark at children, dogs, cars, leaves, the wind outside the window, she's happy!

I moved the "desk" behind the couch. It doesn't need a chair, just room to get into the file cabinet drawers. I also needed room for my drying rack.

And ... the bookshelf. Still needs sorting & organizing. That will have to wait for another day.

Whatcha think? Good rearranging, or do I still need help?

I need your help!

2010-06-10T19:17:00.004-05:00

But please don't look too closely at these pictures :)

This is my 2nd bedroom on the first floor of my condo. It's set up to be an office. But let's be honest, it's really just become the room for all the crap I don't know where to put anywhere else.

Since it's officially summer for me, I thought I'd take all the projects I've been putting off all year & "assign" one per week for me to tackle. This room should be one of the easier projects.

I think it needs some rearranging and some organization. I don't use it as an office, except for the occasional day that I hook my laptop up to the printer to have a paper copy of something. I'm not married to the arrangement, and I'm sure it could be done better. I think I can even move the furniture by myself, so I'm not asking for any of your manual labor ... just ideas!

Minnie must have just discovered this room, because it's become her new hide-out during the day when I'm at work. She naps on the couch and I don't blame her. She can see outside & it's really cool in this back room for some reason. I'd like to move the couch away from that window for a few reasons: I don't like that you can see it when you walk down the hall, and that window started leaking with the BIG rain storm the other afternoon. The entire back of the couch was soaked. Not cool.

This is the desk I made out of 2 file cabinets & a piece of laminated plywood for the top. The dresser was found at an estate sale with Mom, and I do use all the drawers & my printer is currently on the top.

I've never sat at this desk. I don't even have a chair for it. 99% of the time, my laptop is on my coffee table in the living room. This is why I feel like I don't really need it set up like this. I will still need the file cabinets accessible since I use them for mail, bills & other things. Well ... my mail & bills should be in the drawers. Don't look at the floor where there are piles & piles to be filed. It's a lot like my classroom :(

This is the opposite wall. I have that small bookshelf which is full of things, but none of it is that important. That closet is full of all my craft supplies :)

And that's the rest of the room.

Ideas? Help? I'm looking for tips. You are all invited over to see the room in person & give advice. It's not a big room, just 9 feet x 15 feet. You don't have to move or pack up anything. You can just point where you think I should move things.

Thanks in advance for your help!

New York - Things to see & do!

2010-06-08T17:59:00.009-05:00

Here's the next installment of my report on our trip to NYC. Keep reading to see all that we got accomplished in our VERY short time in the city.

Technically, we didn't go to Phillips in New York. It was actually in Baltimore, Maryland at the airport. We had a longer layover, so we stopped here for a late lunch of 4 fabulous crab cakes and 4 beers. Our bill? Just under $80. No joke.

After our layover and a delay, we got into NYC and had a chance to check into our hotel, change clothes & walk about 10 blocks to meet up with Uncle John & Aunt Dinah, Katherine & Bruce, and Reagan for a late dinner.

We had a fabulous dinner at Trattoria Belvedere and our waiter was nice enough to have the kitchen put a small sample of all the things we ordered on each of our plates. It was a small restaurant that had the front doors open so we could see people coming & going late into the night.

We got to finally meet Katherine's fiance (now husband) and catch up with our family, which is always fun! There were drinks ... and lots of them. They may or may not have been the reason we didn't get up for the Today Show the next morning!

After dinner, the "kids" wanted to go out for more drinks. The Bride & Groom joined us, even though they both had to work the next day! We walked for blocks & blocks & blocks to find a place to go, and when we finally got here, we indulged in more beer. Who's idea was this? ;)

Once we finally got up & moving the next day, we had lots of things we wanted to see all over town. First stop was the New York Public Library. It was a must since we were with the twins, who are former librarians. The inside was BEAUTIFUL and we got to walk through an exhibition on early New York maps, which I found interesting, because I teach about early maps and explorers like Henry Hudson (Hudson River & Valley) in my Social Studies curriculum.

Then, we strolled over to Rockefeller Center to see the sights & watch as they took the railings down from that day's Today Show summer concert.

Then we took the subway to get across town faster & cheaper than walking or a cab. The man in the subway booth was VERY helpful & told us the most economical way to buy passes for 5 of us. It was a nice break for our feet, too!

When we climbed the stairs out of our subway stop in Soho, we saw the Prada flagship store across the street. Aunt Dinah insisted that we walk inside, because you don't often see stores like this ... especially coming from Overland Park, Kansas. I was thrilled, because I'm always happy to drool over gorgeous & pricey purses!

We also went to the Pearl River Market to see what sort of neat things they had. Molly walked out with the cutest pair of panda shoes for Ellen. I got Japanese erasers for my students. I should have purchased this tote, "First Lady of Fabulous" ... I agree 100%!

We kept on strolling after some yummy lunch at Porchetta to go to 3 John Derian stores that were all along one street. They had GREAT housewares and lots of things that were WAY out of my budget, but fun to look at! Isn't this display of simple black paintings fabulous?

We walked for what seemed like miles & miles. It was way more than I've ever walked without a dog attached to the end of a leash. And in flat sandals, no less. Feet. Killing. Me. Need. To. Rest.

So that we did. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed sitting out on Uncle John & Aunt Dinah's 15th story terrace. Well ... some of us enjoyed it more than others. Molly & I were antsy to take pictures from the terrace and Mom spent the majority of the time thinking we might accidentally jump over the 4ft wall on the edge and fall to our death. Here she is crying, and here is Dinah laughing at her. Hilarious!

Around 5:00, Erik convinced us to head out on the streets again to get a 1st dinner, since the dinner for the Bride & Groom wouldn't take place until 9:30 or so. He assured us if we went with him, we would get a cab and forego any more walking. Little did we know, the cabs change shifts around the same time, so we walked for probably 20 minutes just looking for a cab. I thought Erik was going to cry. Mom & I almost gave up. It was a good thing we didn't!

We headed to The Pony Bar, which Erik read about on a friend of a friend's blog. It was a tiny bar, but we were lucky enough to snag a few seats to take in the people watching, make some new friends & enjoy fabulous food & beer.

I had lobster rolls for the first time (AMAZING) and an apricot wheat beer. Can we go back, please?

That night, we went to Pasita for an engagement party for Katherine & Bruce and we got to meet some of their friends, and Bruce's family for the first time. The food & wine was excellent (can you believe how much we've had to eat & drink in just 1 day?) and we made friends with a former coworker of Katherine's and her Neil Patrick Harris look-alike boyfriend. It was a fun night! The only bad part of the evening was walking around from 12-1:00am looking for a cab to take us home. I was thisclose to cutting my feet off. Erik was thisclose to kicking the next cab he saw that wouldn't take us home. We couldn't believe how many people were out doing the same thing we were! That city never sleeps!

When we finally got up & at 'em the next morning, we used Erik's iPhone to find a bagel place for breakfast. So, we walked to Ess-a-Bagel ... and my whole wheat bagel with walnut raisin creme cheese was a perfect way to start the day. Erik had TWO bagels, because he knew he's regret it if he didn't order the two things he really wanted.

Next we walked to Bloomingdales to browse around a bit. The time limit we gave ourselves went by VERY quickly, when I realized that we'd been walking around the housewares floor for a whole hour & came away with nothing! A few floors down we found a Vera Wang couture wedding dress display. Each one was more amazing than the last, but this one was my favorite. It was laser cut leather. Unreal!

After a small lunch with the Bride, we walked to see her apartment! Katherine & Bruce's street was so nice & their place was great! It's amazing to see how New Yorkers live. Kind of makes me feel selfish about filling all 1500 square feet of my condo ... by myself. Yikes.

They even have a rooftop patio, which they use for entertaining, dining, (now) puppy playground, and relaxation. Left to Right: Me, Katherine, Caroline, Aunt Dinah, Molly.

After we left there, Mom & Dinah went to have their hair done & get ready. Molly, Erik & I went a bit further down the street to Central Park.

We saw a fashion photo shoot happening.

And sat down long enough to watch the roller-skaters and street performers.

And then walked a bit further to see the sight! This was just like every movie I've seen that takes place in Central Park. BEAUTIFUL!

If we had more time, I would have liked to sit in the park and do some more people watching. I'll plan on it for my next trip.

They spent a lot of time doing this! We then had to find our way out of the park and attempt to get to the last few stops we had planned.

But ... we happened upon Mister Softee as we exited the park. We HAD TO get a couple sprinkle cones to walk with. It was pretty hot that day, so it was the perfect mid-afternoon snack!

Then we got lost trying to find our next stop, but we did walk past Trump Tower. Just as gaudy & obnoxious as you would think.

When we passed Trump Tower, we were on our way to momofuku, a cookie & milk bar. We split three amazing cookies and were sorry we didn't take some home to the rest of the family. Quite an experience!

Our last stop was to M&J Trimming, which was a crafty girl's dream store! Buttons, ribbon, lace, sequins, tassels, beads GALORE! We walked away with empty hands, but I think if we weren't dragging Erik along with us, Molly and I might have spent some more time there.

Okay ... part 2 of 3 is finally done. It only took me about 2 hours to write! See why I stalled so long? I hope you enjoyed reading ... and maybe found some fun things to do on your next trip to the Big City!

Tie-Dying is NOT for perfectionists!

2010-06-07T15:57:00.001-05:00

What? You don't think I'm a perfectionist? I guess I don't think I am either ... but when it comes to crafty things, I don't have a lot of patience with a difficult learning curve.

When I want to start a new craft, I jump all in! I buy all the materials at once. I think this new craft will become my new favorite hobby & it's okay to spend all my time and money on it. P.S. DON'T ever look in my craft closet at all the yarn, stamps, scrapbook supplies and paint that haven't been touched for months.

When Mom taught me how to knit, I learned, but that was it. Just knitting. Don't ask me to turn my stitches around to purl. Don't ask me to read directions. Don't ask me to follow a pattern.

Then I thought I could easily pick up crocheting in a short amount of time to make a baby blanket for Molly when she was already about 5 months pregnant. I became so frustrated with my hands that were stuck in knitting mode and I almost stabbed myself with my crochet hook. That was the end of my crochet craft time. It's a good thing Mom convinced me NOT to buy the yarn & pattern books I wanted to when I first walked into Michael's.

And here we are to the new (to me) craft portion of this story.

Jill mentioned that she had tie-dyed some t-shirts with her yearbook students as a fun end-of-the-year activity. She then bought a few tie-dye kits since summer was quickly approaching. I've never tie-dyed before ... or if I have, I don't remember it.

We FINALLY found time to get together for a belated birthday BBQ and to try out our dying skills. Adam was our resident expert since he was apparently a tie-dying fool in his former life :) Jill pulled out all the dyes and a giant handful of rubber bands. And we were off!

Jilly & Mitz working hard to get the perfect twists & bands on their shirts.

Adam & Heather, doing more of the same.

Here I am with finished product #1. Leggings for Ellen. My title refers to the fact that I had a VERY difficult time understanding that there is no right or wrong way to band up your fabric. There also was a serious amount of dye mixing! COLORS MIXING UP! Me no likey! I like things to be just so! I used yellow & blue on her pants with the hopes they would mix up just a bit to form some green bands.
This is the second shirt I made, and I did a bulls-eye pattern for Jill's shirt.

Here's all our equipment. It was messy ... also something I don't like. Good thing Jilly came prepared with gloves. That is my other tank top in the ziploc baggie on the bottom left of the picture.

Jill was dressed for the evening. This is the shirt she made with her yearbook kids. She had great tips for us after seeing how her first shirt came out: wet your shirt, because the dye seems to soak in better, and continue to squeeze dye on the fabric, even when you think you are done, because the insides need to get color, too! This picture also shows her breaking Adam's cardinal rule ... and cutting the rubber bands off BEFORE her shirt had dried! She gave it about an hour.

I think it came out great! She then was able to hang in on their clothesline to dry over night.

Here are my finished products:

Ellen's leggings. I'm hoping she'll grow at some point in the future so she can wear them! They are pretty cute with the ruffles on the bottom. I wished I had picked other colors, because I didn't realize the yellow would be that bright. I also thought the colors wouldn't mix as much as they did. The biggest challenge will be finding a shirt to match these pants.

And here's the tank-top I made for myself. I haven't washed it since it's dried, but I LOVE the way the pattern came out!

Not too bad for my first attempts at tie-dying, huh? Who wants to join us for round two?

New York - Buildings

2010-06-06T14:42:00.007-05:00

Now that I finally have time to sit down and write a post about our trip to NYC, I'm having a difficult time figuring out what to write. I took close to 500 pictures between Thursday night and Sunday morning. We window shopped all over, ate a TON and enjoyed our time with family.

When I came home, everyone asked the typical questions: "Did you go to Times Square?" "Did you see the Statue of Liberty?" "Did you go to any Broadway shows?" "Did you buy anything fun?" "Did you see Ground Zero?" My answer was no to every single one of those questions, but we DID do a lot in a very short time in the city. We were there for cousin Katherine's wedding to Bruce ... not a vacation to explore the big city! When you subtract our traveling time, we were really only in the city for about 56 hours. For such a short time, I think we got a lot accomplished!

I've decided to break the trip down into a few posts, based on topics. Most will be full of pictures ... you can head over to Molly & Erik's blog to read their recap of the trip in more detail.

Just a stone's throw ...

2010-05-25T22:09:00.002-05:00

... or maybe a bit further.

Here's the view of the Empire State Building from our hotel room. I could probably write & share pictures to fill 10 blog posts, but this is all you're getting for now.

This is the last week of school and each day gets crazier than the last. As soon as summer starts next week, I'll be able to really sit down and share all about a fabulous weekend with family in the BIG city.

Thanks, McClymonds clan ... it was a WONDERFUL wedding weekend!