Halloween 2009

This years Halloween has been so much better then last years!!! That was an awful day!!!

Brother was Darth Vader.


And Dada was a witch?? We found the dress in her closet and thought it would be perfect for her costume this year. (Hunny said she looked like a widow.)

Daddy took them around the neighborhood while I stayed at home and (with coffee in hand) passed out candy.

We ordered a pizza from our favorite pizza joint and I made an apple cake (with apples from Grandma and Grandpa S trees) for dessert. It was delicious!!!


Apple Cake

4 1/2 cups diced, peeled apples
2 eggs
2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2t cinnamon
1t nutmeg
1 c chopped pecans ( I used walnuts b/c I like them better)
2 c flour
2t baking soda
2t baking powder

Mix all together and put in a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake for 45 min in a 350 degree oven.
Let cool and frost.

Frosting

1/2 c butter
8 oz cream cheese
1t vanilla
1# powdered sugar

Mix together and spread over cake.

ENJOY!!!!

Your house will smell wonderful.

Quite a moment

Last night at school we had our end of the season Volleyball/Soccer Extravaganza. It's a night of mainly volleyball games. Lot's of volleyball games. Fun times. :)

Well last night, my girls surprised me with getting me a bouquet of flowers and a really nice thank you card, with a generous gift of money inside. It was so nice of them.

As I was walking across the gym to accept the flowers and card.....all the kids present started shouting and cheering......THE LUNCHLADY!!!!

It may not seem like much to anyone but me. But to me it was pretty cool. See, I haven't ever really been good at much. And I feel like being a little ol humbling, lunch lady is something that I can be good at.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I LOVE my job. The kids are great.....well most of them. KIDDING!!! ;)

Anyway.....

I did have a small little moment while I was walking across the gym floor. It was pretty cool.

And girls......the joy is all mine. I love each and every one of you.

Lesson's From the Kitchen...

Lesson #39 ~ Kids LOVE BBQ Pork. Seriously love it.

Lesson #40 ~ When you work in any type of job, the way to make your job a little easier, is to realize that it's not about YOU!! When you take yourself out of the equation and focus on serving and showing Christ's love to other's it makes your day a whole lot easier AND you have less stress to deal with. ( This is more of a life lesson. I'm just sayin)

Lesson #41 ~ Have I mentioned that kids LOVE Big Texas Cinnamon Rolls. (Note Lesson #36.)

Lesson #42 ~ Clean floors make or break a kitchen. If the floor isn't clean, the kitchen isn't clean. And trust me....people notice. I have had a couple people randomly walk into the kitchen to tell me that they have noticed how clean the floors are. Which leads me to Lesson # 43....

Lesson #43 ~ Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
I am a person who likes to hear kind things. I do. It's just how God made me. It makes me feel like I am doing a good job when someone compliments me for something.



Also...Mrs. D. taught her class a little cheer to sing to me when they see me. They even made a special trip to the kitchen one afternoon just to "cheer" me up.

I LOVED IT!!!!

Lesson #44 ~ Teachers LOVE their coffee. Especially French Vanilla. I had to get a new coffee pot b/c we wore the other one out.

Lesson #45 ~ Laying down the law doesn't mean that I am mean. No further comment on that 1.

Lesson #46 ~ Wear comfortable shoes. My feet and back are really taking a beating from being on my feet all day. In the afternoon, you will often find me with my slippers on.

Lesson #47 ~ PLAN AHEAD!!! There are many meals that I actually make the day before. It makes the next day go SOOO much smoother. My chili is almost done for tomorrow. Now all I have to do is make the corn bread.

Lesson #48 ~ This 1 is kinda important. And let's just say that it's a hypothetical lesson. Do not under ANY circumstances forget to order the kids milk from the milk company. They MIGHT get a little cranky when ( I mean if ) they don't get their milk.

Lesson #49 ~ Be careful when opening a can of spaghetti sauce. I bet you didn't know that sauce COULD jump right out of the can and hop right INTO your eyeball.

Lesson #50 ~ Metal tongs can and will cut the palm of your hand. I bet you didn't know that.

Also I bet you didn't know that when you have a cut on your hand....you have to put a band aid on the cut UNTIL it's healed and then you have to cover the band aid with a glove.

While I think this is a GREAT rule. (Who wants to take a bite of someone's nasty, used band?) This rule is actually very hard to put into practice. I wash my hands at LEAST 100 times during my work day. That mean I am constantly changing my gloves and washing my hands. That's a lot of gloves.

Lesson #51 ~ Hot pans will burn you. This is more common sense. I just wanted to put it out there for you slower people. ;)


Lesson #52 ~ I thoroughly enjoy it when kids come to visit me during the day. Enjoy the kids. Make them feel special. Because they are. (Don't worry....the kids were at play practice and were not skipping out on class. :) )


Lesson #53 ~ Kids love Mexican Lasagna. It surprised me how many kids ate and enjoyed it. That will definitely be on the menu again.

Lesson #54 ~ Make a tip jar. I have already earned $20 in tips. I bought a new knife with my tips. :)


Lesson #55 ~ Holy Cow. Kids DEVOUR dirt dessert. I'm just sayin.

Just Because I like it.....

I had fun taking pictures with the kids. I knew I didn't have their attention for long. Well Brother's at least, so I had to take them quick. And I LOVE them!!! Enjoy!

The Final Chapter of Ben the Toad

The other day after school, Brother and his neighborhood friends were outside playing with Ben and the 2 nameless frogs.

And went to see what they were doing and I decided right then and there that Ben the Toad and his 2 nameless sidekicks should really be let go. I had compassion on the amphibians and let them go.

They had a moment of freedom and feeling the grass beneath the pads of their feet before Brother and the boys caught them and with tears in Brother's eyes put them back in their blue cooler.

My motherly instinct won over my compassion for the amphibians. I couldn't bare to see Brother cry over Ben.

I told the boys that they had to take better care of Ben and the frogs. You know like actually feed them.

And I told them that it would be nice if they would put some dirt in the bottom of the cooler with a pool of water with some grass, and some more crickets.

They were very excited to have a job and a direction in which to help make Ben happier.



So with shovel in hand they headed to the garden. They really did make a good home for Ben, in spite of the cooler. :) It had a nice layer of dirt, and some good clean water, with a nice clean layer of grass, and a nice amount of crickets.

The next day they went to the cooler to check on Ben and the frogs.

This is where I don't quite understand what happened.

I don't know if Ben jumped out during the night. (You know with the added dirt he probably could have jumped out.)

Or I don't know if the boys were "cleaning" the cooler and put Ben in a sand pail and he jumped out of that.

I like to believe it was the 2nd option. That way it isn't my fault.

But either way, Ben is where he really belongs. He probably hopped far away from our house and is now burrowed somewhere in the warm dirt.

2009 JH State Tournament.....and Shopping. :)

You have no idea how much I have missed blogging. Our computer got a virus and we haven't been able to use it for a week. It has been a long week!! :)

I keep taking pictures....thinking about how much I want to blog about this, or blog about that. I have so much catching up to do!

I 1st want to thank Andy for fixing the computer. You have no idea how lost I have been! And it's only been a week! ;)

Last Saturday my JH volleyball team made it to STATE!!! They were super excited about going.

We normally go into Chicago the night before and go to the mall and stay in a hotel. But this year, I just didn't feel comfortable about staying over night. I didn't have a great reason why, I just for some reason decided to stay home that night and drive in early the next morning. And I mean EARLY!!! (We left at 5:45!!)

It didn't take long for the reason why we stayed home to come to light. Friday night, Lori called me and told me that her Father in Law died unexpectedly of a heart attack. She of course was not able to go.

I thank the Lord for his guidance in our decision to stay home that Friday night. I cannot and don't want to imagine getting a phone call like that being so far from your husband and family.

Because Lori wasn't able to go, my good friend Jan didn't hesitate when I called her up and asked her if she could go with me the next day.



I am SO grateful that Jan went. She helped me more then she will ever know!



I think that the girls were upset about Lori's Father in Law. I think they were worried about Lori and Jason. Because of that, they didn't play as well.


But we had fun. And I was so proud of the girls for their spirit and attitude. They were kind and friendly to the other teams and I was so proud of them for that.

I think that is more important then winning a game that really won't matter when it's all said and done.

But the lessons learned in sportsmanship and working as a team will last forever.



I think this has been my favorite year of coaching so far. Although with my new job, I have been very overwhelmed with all of my responsibilities. But this a great group of girls and I love each and every one of them.


After the tournament, we headed to the mall. I mean....what's a trip to Chicago without going to the mall....right??!?!?

We divided up into groups and the girls attacked the mall. They did a lot of damage in just a couple hours. I think that the parents were more then ready to go, but the girls were raring for fun!!

After the mall, we went to TGIFridays. ( I highly recommend the fried green beans!!) It was nice to just sit and spend time with and listen to the girls talk. There was no other responsibilities to deal with, it was nice to just be with them. And boy did they have us laughing!!!


I think at 1 point Jan and my sides hurt from laughing so much.

We had a great time and I am so thankful for God's safety and protection on the road.

Happy 1st SNOW

It's October 10th.

It's been an unusual year this year. Colder and rainy. I don't think we had many 90 degree days this year. (Global warming my eyeball!!)

Today it's snowing. Normally I am excited about the snow. Normally, I am a giddy school girl when it comes to the 1st snow of the year. But today I'm not.

Today, I still want to hang rugs on the line. Hunny is hanging our storm windows. The leaves have barely changed colors and are still on the trees. We haven't raked leaves or carved pumpkins. As a matter of fact....we haven't even bought pumpkins.

Have I mentioned that it is snowing??

We haven't even turned our heat on yet. We have bundled up in sweatshirts and extra blankets at night. We have a space heater for when we get really cold.

I have fallen in LOVE with slippers.

I just can't bear to turn on the heat yet.

I know that the snow won't stick. But I had to mark it down that October 10th, 2009. It's snowing.

I think I am going to make some coffee. :)