The day before school.....

Little Emma has taken a liken to playing with things she shouldn't. She likes to turn on and off the xbox bc the button lights up and makes a dinging noise. Silly Baby.

This was what was for breakfast this morning. It was my "last day before school starts" celebration breakfast. Well.....I am celebrating anyway. ;)

We had a great weekend at home. I got the house clean, laundry taken care of and groceries bought. Clothes are laid out. Lunches are partly packed.  School supplies ready by the door. Camera ready for the 1st day of school pictures. We are ready for school.

On a side note.....it feels weird to not be working at school. It's a good weird. Just a.....weird. I am not stressed about the next day lunch, I am not worried if I will have enough food. I am not wondering if I have forgotten an ingredient. I am not planning a Walmart stop in the morning for 1 more item. I am not.......planning. It feels good. I can continue to enjoy being a mother and not being consumed by my work. I am really thankful for the time that I had at school. I grew in the years that I worked there, but I am thankful that God has opened another door for me. It has allowed me to put my family before my job, and for that I am so thankful.

My dear friend BETH

I would be lost without my Beth right now! She has come to my rescue. You see, I am in charge of the Box Tops/Campbell Soup labels at school. Something that I am failing miserably at. I just DON'T HAVE TIME!!!

One day Beth was working with me in the kitchen and noticed the over abundance of Box Tops. They were spilling out of bags and thrown all over my desk. I was slowly being swallowed by these tiny little box tops. She immediately sat down and started cutting, counting and bundling. She did what she could that day which barely scratched the surface. Then she said that she would come in and volunteer her time and help me finish the whole project!!! And today was part 1 of the process. What a huge blessing she is to me. She saw a need and she jumped in feet first and got to work. She is planning to come in tomorrow as well. She has taken such a huge burden off of me. Just to know that I have HELP. And that I am not alone in this. Makes. me. smile.

Thank you Beth!!

Lessons from the kitchen

A couple more lessons from the kitchen......

Lesson #10 ~ Always let the butcher slice your meat. It will save you ALOT of time and frustration. It will also keep your hands from getting gross!!!!

Lesson #11 ~ Keep a fresh pot of coffee constantly. It makes the teachers happy. Also, if you have the ingredients on hand......they also like chocolate chip cookies.

Lesson #12 ~ Bribe the janitor with food. I did, and he is more then happy to help me with dirty jobs. :)

Lesson #13 ~ Make sure you and the food service guy are COMPLETELY clear on the quantity of food that you are ordering. Otherwise, you might order 2 CASES of green beans, corn AND peas and not 2 cans.

Lesson #14 ~ Always.....and I mean ALWAYS make sure that your oven racks are secure in the oven. Otherwise, well.....otherwise, a pan of au gratin potatoes just MIGHT slide right OFF the rack and onto the floor, while you are pulling the rack of a 450 degree oven, It also just might spill half the pan on the floor just as the elementary classes are lining up for lunch. I'm just sayin.



Lesson #15 ~ Bribe a senior to sweep the cafeteria floor during their study hall. They will do anything for a candy bar!! Thanks Dave!!

Lesson #16 ~ Remember to thank your husband for running to the store when you think you will run out of something.

Lesson #17 ~ When using roaster pans to cook ham, make sure that you have a rack on the bottom so the meat won't burn.
My favorite quote of the week is from the high school girls while they were getting their salad from the salad bar.

"look.....the lettuce is GREEN, not white."

Lessons from the kitchen.....

So this week I have learned some lessons while working in the kitchen. I thought I would share some.

Lesson #1 Watch the clock. Tuesday, I was so busy making sure everything was going well, that I walked out of the back room and into the kitchen and saw the elementary kids walking by. I hadn't put their pizza in the oven yet. :( I was so upset!!!! So lesson learned.....watch the clock.

Lesson #2 A stockpot of water takes a LONG time to boil. Since I was late with lunch on Tuesday, I wanted to make sure that I gave myself plenty of time....(especially since I was applying what I learned on Tuesday by watching my clock) so I put my water for the noodles on at 10. A whole hour EARLIER then when lunch started.

Well did you know it takes 1 hour for a large pot of water to boil?? Well, it does. At 11,( when elementary lunch starts) when the water was ALMOST boiling I threw the noodles in the pot. 8 min later, they were done.

Lunch was late again.

Lesson #3 Spaghetti sauce will stain your shirt. I ruined a shirt yesterday.

Lesson #4 Bleach will bleed through your apron. I ruined a shirt today.



Lesson #5 Canned chocolate pudding is disgusting. Take the time to make your pudding. It's worth it.

Lesson #6 Wear good shoes.

Lesson #7 Your face will break out!!!!

Lesson #8 Invest in a big heavy duty can opener. Its way to awkward to open huge cans with a little 1!!!

And finally......
Lesson #9 Funny hats always look better in pairs. :) I am so thankful for Allissa. She has been such a huge help to me. She has a good spirit and we can make our work fun.