six word saturday

Sick Child. Grades Due. Birthday coming.

I'll be truthful, I'm not even sure what happened this week, but every time I got around to looking at the clock it was almost midnight. Work has been insanely busy, as it normally is at the end of the grading period. The young un started spring baseball and would be playing in a tournament today if it weren't for the 102 temp he has. We go for a flu test today. I realized yesterday that my birthday is in 3 days. Totally lost track of time and forgot it was coming up. Spring break is just two weeks away, and I'm holding on for dear life!

*Update: Flu test was negative, but the Dr says he's seen a lot of "fake flu". Said the fever could hang around for another 3-4 days. So right now we're on motrin and gatorade with a large dose of the greatest invention ever, the nintendo ds. I'm also the owner of 5 cans of lysol.

Six Word Saturday

Holy Crap! Saturday again? Not Possible!

I don't even remember ending last weekend. Living museum, spring baseball, state mandated testing, professional development, crossfit, etc. I'm not even sure I sleep anymore!
If you want to play along with Six Word Saturday, visit Cate here.

I'd like to thank Tequila Sunrises...

The lovely Penz has brightened my week by presenting me with a fitting award, especially considering the crazy-ness of recent weeks:

What did I do to deserve this award? Is it my spaghetti-o dinners? Or how about my crafty coonskin hat? Maybe it's that patch job I did on his blue jeans last week after noticing that a pocket had been completely ripped off by the washing machine? I may never know... but there are a few things I have to do now that I've been recognized for my mad parenting skillz:

1) Admit that ONE thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!

There may have been a few days over the summer when I just could not drag myself out of bed and allowed the young un to eat go-gurt, fruit roll ups, capn crunch and Popsicles as a meals. I'm also pretty sure he didn't do anything but play ds for 12 hours straight on those days.

2)To remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list SEVEN things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself of EVERY DAY that you rock!
1. I love watching him play games on the wii. He gets so involved and explains every little thing.

2. I love listening to him sing along with the radio on our drives to school.

3. I love that he still turns and waves to me on his walk to school.
4. I love that when I feel bad he'll come snuggle with me or bring me water.
5. I love to watch him play baseball. He'll look over after a big play to make sure I watched.
6. I love to have "our" dinners at Chick-fil-a.
7. I love to hear him laugh.

3)Send this to FIVE other Moms of the Year that deserve forgiveness and a reminder that they, too, are the best moms they can be!!! Remember to send them a note to let them know you've selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you!
Jessica
Monica
Heather
John Deere Mom
Blissful Babe

These ladies are some fun and amazing moms I either know in real life, or have found and follow on-line. Enjoy Ladies!

One Word Wednesday

This meme has been making it's way around facebook for the last few weeks, so I thought I'd do it here. Consider yourself tagged if you read it :)

The rules are simple--- answer each question using only one word.

1.Where is your cell phone? Table

2.Your significant other? On-line.

3.You hair? Ponytail

4.Your mother? home

5. Your father? working

6.Your favorite? butterscotch

7.Your dream last night? running

8. Your favorite drink? Limeade

9.Your dream/goal? Australia

10. What room are you in? den

11. Your hobby? crafts

12. Your fear? heights

13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

14. Where were you last night? museum*

15. Something you are not? Hungry

16. Wish list Item? Vinyl

17. Where you grew up? Ruston

18. Last thing you did? Crossfit

19. What are you wearing? sweats

20. Your TV? recording

21. Your pets? Loki

22. Friends? awesome

23. Your life? fabulous

24. Your mood? chill

25. Missing someone? family

26. Car? Clean

27. Something your not wearing? Jacket

28. Your favorite store? Etsy

29. Your favorite color? Green

30. Place that you go to over and over? Work

There ya go. Nice and succinct :)

*The museum was the young un's Living Museum project for school. His entire grade level dresses up as an influential person from history and the become statues for the evening. If you press their "button" they come to life and recite their speech. He was so excited that he got pressed 26 times!

How Do I love thee...

Valentine's was low key this year. In part due to the new "budget" and in part because the Mr was out of town till early evening. After shivering through the coldest baseball try-outs ever (yes CL, it was cold!!), the young un and I came home to start the decorating. He is a master with the scissors, so I promptly put him to work cutting out hearts for our garland.

We used the leftover scraps to make placemats, and to decorate around the room.

A few vellum quotes on my faux candles,

and dinner by candle light was ready to be served.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I figured pizza was the way to start, courtesy of Papa Murphy's.

After pizza, we went straight for dessert. Chocolate creme brulee or heart shaped ice cream sandwiches? Both please :)

He is quite the culinary master and took over blow torch duties for the evening.

I'm so glad he's my valentine!

Six Word Saturday

Cherry Hershey Kisses should be illegal.



I'm just saying. It's easy to eat a whole bag. Happy Valentine's Day!

Thankful Thursday

Last week snuck up on me and I didn't have a post ready :( So this week I'd thought I'd give a couple of things I'm thankful for.

1. I'm thankful for a child that gets as excited over a homemade hat as he does over a ds game. I had to pry that fake coonskin hat off his head yesterday!

2. I'm thankful for Chick-fil-a's free breakfast week. Yummy chicken biscuits and those tempting chicken minis have been consumed by the young and I this week.

3. I am thankful that my students behaved while I was gone to training and did not have a single behavior referral written. Praise the Lord, they've finally learned!

4. I am thankful for a husband that leaves me sweet notes when he has to be gone for work.

5. I am thankful for my "This day in History" calendar because it makes me feel smart to learn a new fact each morning. I am stockpiling for Jeopardy and my date with Alex :)

6. I am thankful for the amazingly creative blogs I've found this week: Oh Happy Day, Bakerella, and Jump up and Down.

Hope you've found plenty to be thankful for this week.

Just a little love

I realized today that I never really showed off my super cheap Valentine's decorations. I don't go all out for V'Day, but I do put a few things in our entryway that make me smile. And in respect to my new "budget", I tried to do it as cheaply as possible.

Let's start with the door (which looks as though it could use a good cleaning). I found my inspiration here.

Rose petals $4, Styrofoam Round (free), Ribbon (free), small tailor pins (free) and red glitter heart ornament (.99). The loss of feeling in my fingers from pushing all those pins into Styrofoam? Priceless!

Now what about the entry table? I grabbed a bag of picks from the Dollar Tree, broke of the sticks and used leftover snow from the Christmas displays. I need to find some ribbon for those candles... didn't realize how bare they look.

Also in the entryway is my Big Lots score ($5 for the glass canister) filled with conversation hearts and a few glass ornaments I picked up for 50% at Hob Lob. I have noticed that the candy tends to wander around the living room :)

On top of the super attractive entertainment center speakers, One of our wedding pictures lives year round. I loved it up with a little raid the stash creation.

And my favorite Valentine? That would be this little surprise I came home to tonight, courtesy of the Mr, who will be out of town until late on Valentine's. I love you too babe!

If Davy Crockett used woolite

perhaps his coonskin hat would have been a little fluffier :)

Apparantly January is a popular time for coonskin hats, as every Party City I visited was sold out. And who knew that Michael's no longer carried the fake fur stuff? Enter a marabou animal print boa, a felt hat, a glue gun and some hairspray....

And he's king of the exotic frontier !

Sunday Synopsis

The past week flew by, and I didn't always find time to blog it. But since tonight finds me propped up waiting for some painkillers to kick in, here's our week in review :)

Monday- Recovering from a house full of people and a queso overload had me moving at a sluggish pace. I'm sure the tequila sunrises didn't help me in greeting Monday morning either :)

Tuesday- I set a personal sleep record, going to bed at 4:30 (I swear it was just supposed to be a quick nap before Crossfit!) and not getting out of bed till 6:00 the next morning. Sometimes a girl just needs her sleep to re-focus.

Wednesday- The young un's birthday. I had to make up Tuesday's missed Crossfit workout, and be pro-active for the cinnamon rolls I would consume during birthday dinner. He chose CiCi's (but only because I put the kibosh on Burger King) and loved having the entire staff sing Happy Birthday to him. And check out the extra icing!

Thursday- I'm going to be honest and say that I don't remember Thursday. Elm and Cedar must have had their planets aligned because I could not breathe for the later part of the week. Even the short walk from the parking lot to the car had me gasping. I swear my students must roll around in the pollen before they come inside.

Friday- Friday was all about red. Go Red for Women is an organization that supports the fight against heart disease in women. Feb 6th was "Wear Red Day", but since I'm limited to school colors on Fridays, I did what any girl would do... I got a fiery red pedicure :)

Saturday- I was itching for some craftiness, so I conned a friend into a soap making adventure. I read Kelly's tutorial here, and, inspired by her colorful hearts, hit up the local Michael's for all my supplies. Through some trial and error, we eventually made our way through 7 lbs of glycerin. Two things became quite clear (get it-- became clear---we were using glycerin?hahaha!): 1. Freezing the soap makes it impossible to cut with a normal cookie cutter, and 2. silicone ice cube molds are my new BFF. Don't these look yummy?

We packaged them up for teacher gifts and I mailed a few off for some sweet little Valentine treats.

Sunday- A little more craftiness- magnets, handmade valentine's, frames-- but no pictures cause they got boxed up before I thought about it. A little laundry, some groceries, and a little time on the heating pad while watching the Grammy's rounded up our weekend.

Just a little head up, the wonderful girls at SITS are having a bedroom bliss giveaway. It's just what you need to give your bedroom a fresh new start! And Sweet Jelly bean is hosting a messenger bag giveaway from Satchel Studio. So much cuter than my black "teacher" bag!

Siw Word Saturday

Is it Saturday again?

Elm and Cedar are killing me!

I have tried all the OTC stuff, bought tons of local honey, sprayed the nose (which makes me gag!) and I still wake up feeling like a Mac truck hit my face! Grrrrrrrrrr

To play along with Six Word Saturday, visit Cate here.

Flashback Friday

Peach Parade 1983

Nifty Nine

Happy Birthday Young un!

In honor of your 9th birthday, here are 9 things I love about you:

1. Your thirst for knowledge, from dinosaurs to airplane exit strategy.

2. Your ability to make friends in any situation.

3. Your adventurous spirit.

4. Your mad ninja skills!

5. Your delight in the simple pleasures.

6. Your thoughtful spirit.

7. Your rock-ability.

8. Your love for animals.

9. Your infectious laugh.

Hope today is all you hope it will be. I love you!

It's why I teach

Didn't you want a pony when you were little?

Mario Mayhem

This weekend seemed like one non-stop party. I truly feel like I have a queso hangover today. It started Friday evening with my attempt to create a Super Mario themed birthday cake for the young un. We searched on-line for inspiration and finally settled on this:Being realistic, I knew that I would do better with a cake, and that it was for a bunch of 9 year olds, so perfection wasn't in the future. But, my experience as a baker/cake decorator did not give me much confidence going into this fight. Armed with the Mr's Mactop, 2 boxes of fondant and a box of food prep gloves, I started my fondant battle.


It was actually easier than I thought it would be, a lot like playing with clay. I had a pretty rhythm going that lasted right up to my busting open the buttercream icing box. Then my progress came to a screeching halt. Let me just say that the cleaning ladies had done a wonderful job on the kitchen which I promptly negated with the powdered sugar butter combo. I was so glad the Mr was already in bed and could not witness the mess I created.

Once the icing issue was cleaned up, I was pretty pleased with the results.

I will admit that Mario intimidated me and I chickened out of doing anything more than his hat.

At midnight, I threw in the towel and waited for the arrival of our weekend house guests. If you know anything about traveling with kids, it's that they will sleep on the drive and be wide awake when you reach your destination. This was the case with our house guests. Two of the young-un's friends from Louisiana were wide awake when they arrived shortly after midnight. The adults? not so much.

Saturday started way too early with the boys throwing stuffed animals from the loft bed. It was all we could do to get to the birthday destination without drinking. Luckily, the party included lots of "wear them out" activities, like

The adults decided to try out the arcade while the kids were in laser tag, so we grabbed our game cards and let loose. Papaw spotted the motorcycles and tried to plead his case for a Harley.


After Laser Tag and games, the kids devoured pizza and cake while I pouted over the destruction of my creation.

A few more arcade games and I was waving the white flag in surrender. Main Event+ 9 year old boys+ Saturday afternoon= 1 bottle of wine/tequila/rum.