The final day of teacher appreciation gifts was my favorite gift. I'm a nerd, and I love, love, love office supplies. Hopefully the kids' teachers enjoy the same thing, at least a little bit.


I picked up these craft organization boxes, or tackle boxes as I call them.


I designed some covers to personalize each teacher's box.


I get excited just thinking about organizing and having cute paperclips. I know, I already admitted it, I'm a nerd.

Whew! I'm always happy to have this week in the books. I'm sure the teachers enjoy and appreciate the attention, but it is a chore. At least this year I had fun putting these together.

Out of the mouths of babes

Things said by my children today...

Cooper: (as we walked in to an accessories store) Let's go look at the twigs.
Me: The what?
Cooper: The twigs! You know, for people who don't have hair.

......................

Cooper: (explaining the movie Antbully that we were beginning to watch) Sissy, they're ants and they talk.
Abigail: Of course they talk, Cooper. They're ants!

.......................

Cooper: Momma, stop calling me baby boy.
Me: Well, what can I call you?
Cooper: Call me Bubba.

.......................

After breakfast at a restaurant, I sent each of the kids to the restroom to wash the chocolate chip pancakes from their hands and mouths. After too much time had passed and I was about to ask a male waiter to go in and send Cooper out, my hoodlum came out and we left the restaurant. I grabbed his hand when we reached the parking lot...
Me: Cooper!! Your hands are not washed!
Cooper: Yes they are! I washed them in two waters.
Me: You turned on two faucets?!
Cooper: Yes! I have two hands so I washed then in two waters. If I had three hands I would wash them in three waters. If I had four hands, I would wash them in four waters.
Me: (Embarassed at what I'm imaging Cooper did to the restaurant's bathroom. We probably won't return to that restaurant.)

You are Scentsational

Today's teacher gifts are in honor of a friend from church who has been a teacher for more than 20 years. I have never heard her utter an unkind, unlovely word about the students other than when it's warm and and they come in from recess, they are very stinky. Ha! So, I gathered up an AirWick fragrance dispenser and spray with a gift tag that says "You are Scentsational". Maybe it will help conquer the stinky kids.


Of course, this cutey is never stinky. Yeah, of course.

Tea is for Teacher

Today's teacher gift was one I wanted for myself. I found these awesome insulated, reusable coffee cups and had to buy them. I just wish I had bought one for myself. Gifted with a stack of tea bags, and topped with a "Tea is for Teacher" tag, I think these turned out pretty cute.

Tuesday Treats: Sugar Cookies

Today's teacher gifts are a box of iced sugar cookies for each teacher. I wish I was smart enough to take a snapshot of these treats before they were all gone. But, I wasn't. You'll have to trust me that they were cute and even yummier than they were cute. The recipe was given to me by another mom at school. She makes these fabulously delicious sugar cookies that I've never been able to make.... until now. This recipe makes the most scrumptious cookies.

Cookies
1 cup butter,softened
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup self rising flour

Cream buter and confectioner sugar until light adn fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and refidgerate for two hours or until easy to handle.  On lightly floured surface roll out to 3/16 in thickness and cut to your shape.  Bake at 375 for 5-7 minutes or until set.  Cool two minutes before moving from pan (cookies will not look brown...just set). Cool complettely on wire rack.

Icing
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter,softned
1 tsp vanilla
4 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk (or to your consistency you want)

Cream the butter, shorteneing and vanilla. Blend in the sugar one cup at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in milk until light and fluffy. Keep covered until ready to decorate. Color as you like. (Use the Wilton gel color and not the liquid because it makes the icing runny.)

Popular Teacher

Another reason I began working on valentines in January is the madness that Valentine's week is at our school. In their infinite wisdom, the PST (our school's version of the PTA) schedules Teacher Appreciation Week to coincide with Valentine's Day. I see why they thought that was a good idea. I also see why that is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. It causes moms, like me, to be a crazy mess all week. To be able to deliver 15 teacher gifts, three classes of valentines and contributions to each day's teacher lunch, all while still maintaining my regular crazyness... Well, you see where that train can go off the rails very quickly. This year, I began getting our teacher gifts together in January. Thus, no train will derail this week.

Today, the kids delivered one of these to each of their teachers:


I gathered two popcorn tubs and a bag of microwave popcorn, and added the tag: "To a POPular Teacher". If RedBox will start selling gift cards, next year I'll add a giftcard to these gifts.

Closure

Yesterday we attended Susan's funeral service. Sigh...

The day started with Abigail in a crumpled mess of tears on her bedroom floor. Faced with the reality of the funeral, she decided she did not want to go. She was done with all the sadness. After consoling her, we talked about doing things we don't want to do because it's the right thing to do. We still gave her a chance to back out of going and didn't want to force her to go. But, I was glad when she decided that she needed to go for Mrs. Owen's family. (Abigail is friends with all of Susan's three grandchildren, but Madeline is in her grade level, and Abigail knows her best.) Of course none of us wanted to go to the service, but we needed to go. Funerals just aren't events that you anticipate and look forward to.

This service was legendary. There were about 1,500 people in attendance, making it the largest service I have attended. At two hours, it was the longest service I have attended. With Susan's service to Christ as the theme, it was the most magnificent service I have ever attended.

Our church's praise team began the service by leading worship, and one of the teachers as well as Susan's daugher-in-law (Cooper's teacher) joined the band in singing. It was glorious music, as it was so real and raw. Another poignant moment was when Susan's son, Starsky, spoke about his mother. He was so composed and eloquent and delivered a message of following God that no one could deny. I know Susan would have been so proud of Starsky. But, he also made us laugh. He read a few cards that the family had received from students during the week. They were the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. I hope we are able to follow through in printing a book of these cards.
-Mrs. Owen stood still for her rights. (included a pop up statue of Susan.)
-I know you're mom died, but you need to get over it.
-Dear lunchroom helper (Mr. Owen is often in the lunchroom cleaning up after the kids), Sorry the misses died.
Oh, I wish I could remember more of them. They were so hilarious. Hopefully, we will be able to follow through in printing them as a book. Proceeds will go to the scholarship fund in Susan's name.

Another memorable time was during one of the slideshows of pictures of Susan. The background music was a song from Roger's (Mr. Owen) iPod. When he is setting up rooms at the school, he listens to his iPod. One day recently Susan came in and heard the song and said they should dance, so they did. As the song played at the service, Roger stood and danced with Susan's sister as a tribute to the dance he shared with Susan not long ago. I'm pretty sure there was not a dry eye in the place. It just speaks to the sincerity that was felt in the service.

In my opinion, the most significant portion of the service was not someone speaking or signing. Everyone who was a student in Susan's school at some point in time was asked to stand. It was amazing! There were hundreds and hundreds of children and adults standing all over the sanctuary. To my right, Abigail was standing. To my left, three young adults were standing. It was breathtaking. As if that wasn't enough of an image of Susan's footprint on so many lives, the pastor then asked for everyone who made a decision to follow Christ based on Susan's input into their lives. Still, hundreds of people stood. That. Is. Amazing. I know that I pray that I am able to reach at least one life for Christ in my time here on earth. I can't imagine reaching hundreds of people. I just can't imagine.

Oh, goodness. What a day. Although she's young, I know Abigail will remember the impact Susan had on her life. And, I will always remember and thank Susan for the impact she has had on our family.  

Valentine's Day - Part III

Part 3? What?! I only have two kids, right?! I know you're wondering if I made valentines for myself, but I'm not that crazy. Actually, I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day and we don't observe it's silliness. But, the kids have to participate in their school parties, and I enjoy the excuse to get crafty. And, Cooper gives me two excuses to get crafty. He has a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class as well as a Tuesday/Thursday class, so he has to participate in two parties. I know, it's extreme excess, but they don't ever ask for my opinion. Thus, I present to you the third valentine.



Can you tell I ran out of craftiness?! Yes, it's just a plastic boat to throw in the bathtub. I like to get crafty, but I do have limits and a third valentine was past my limits.

I bagged up these boats, threw in some of these...


...and added a bag topper that said "You Float My Boat". Oops, sorry! I forgot to take a picture of these assembled. And, as I mentioned before, my effort limit has been passed. So, you'll have to use your imagination.

Valentine's Day - Part II

I am most impressed to show you Abigail's valentines. It is not my design, as I found these in a magazine, but I love them! They are perfect for Abigail since she is constantly bopping around with her iPod.



It's a box of candy hearts disguised as an iPod, or an iLove. Ha! The earbuds are Rolos covered in foil and attached with white string. I even laminated the "screen" and "click wheel" to make it more realistic. Too cute!



I bagged them up and added a bag topper that says "Dude, You Rock!" These have to be some of the cutest valentines I've ever seen. I wish I could take credit for the creativity.

Valentine's Part I

I started working on the kids' Valentines about three weeks ago. There is just too much going on when Valentine's actually arrives, and I recall begina  frazzled mess last year. I wanted to avoid a frazzled mess repeat. Also, I don't like to busy with crafts and such when Daniel is actually home for a weekend. I'm anticipating him being home the weekend before Valentine's Day. It will be the first weekend we've had him home (other than two weekends when we had company visiting from out of town) since October. So, you can understand why I'd rather be myself than Martha Stewart.

In actuality, I was so glad I started on these in January, because it took me much longer to finish them than I anticipated. Today, I'll share Cooper's valentines.


This croc was a pain to make! I had no idea it was going to be so time consuming. But, I must say that they turned out pretty cute! I found the template online and printed it onto green cardstock. The pain was cutting out all the pieces and assembling it. The body of the croc is a pillowbox to hold candy, so glueing that together was not a quick job.



I bagged them up added a bag topper that says, "This Croc Thinks You Rock". Cooper loved them.


Now, I just have to convince him that he has to give them all away...

Tuesday Treats - Holiday Desserts

If I am going to share the lovely pictures of the scrumptious holiday desserts, I should also share the recipes. What was I thinking?! Of course, you'll have to wait until December to justify making these. Hopefully you won't forget about them.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Ingredients
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate morsels (about 1 1/2 cups/375 mL)
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (3 cups/750 mL)
frozen pound cake or 1 1/2 (304-g) frozen pound cakes, thawed
2/3 cup (150 mL) thawed frozen cranberry juice concentrate
1/4 cup (50 mL) lemon juice
3 oz (90 g) vanilla-flavored almond bark
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1. For mousse, place white chocolate morsels and milk in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1-2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds with Mix ‘N Scraper®. Cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream with Stainless Whisk. Fold in whipped topping.
2. Trim crusts off cake to make an 81/2 x 3 x 11/2 in. (22 cm x 7.5 cm x 4 cm) cake. Place trimmings into Rotary Grater and grate evenly over bottom of Springform Pan. Press crumbs using flat side of Measure-All® Cup to form crust. Slice remaining cake into 1/8-in. (4-mm) slices (about 60 slices).
3. Combine juice concentrate and lemon juice in Easy Read Measuring Cup. Layer crust with one-fourth of the mousse. Spread evenly with Small Spreader. Arrange about 20 slices of cake over mousse, overlapping as needed to form an even layer. Brush cake with one-third of the cranberry mixture using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Repeat layers two times, ending with cranberry mixture. Top cranberry mixture with remaining mousse. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Place almond bark on microwave-safe plate. Microwave on HIGH 20 seconds, turning over after 10 seconds (do not melt). Hold almond bark with clean Kitchen Towel and create small curls using Serrated Peeler. Garnish cake with curls and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Run releasing tool around sides of cake before removing collar.

Creamy Eggnog Parfait
Ingredients
2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup Sugar
2 1/2 Tb cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
6 egg yolks
2 cups Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 tsp rum extract
24 gingersnap cookies


Directions
1) Microwave milk on HIGH 3 minutes
2) Combine nutmeg, sugar, cornstarch and salt in 1.5qt saucepan, whisk in egg yolks until smooth. Whisk milk into egg yolk mixture, cook over med heat 3-5 minutes until boils. Remove from heat. Transfer to mixing bowl; place a piece of plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate 4 hours until chilled. Fold in 1 cup of coolwhip and rum.
3) coarsely chop 16 cookies. spoon 1/4cup of custard into Martini Glass, sprinkle with chopped cookies. Top with remaining custard.
4) Garnish with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with nutmeg and 1 whole cookie.

Christmas Dinner

Yes, you read that title correctly. I am so far behind on sharing things that I even have Christmas and Thanksgiving pics still to share. After such a sad and heavy few days, I thought we all could use a break to look at something pretty. And, the table I decorated for a ladies' Christmas dinner was pretty. So, here you go!

I was determined to do something different because, well, I just like being different. The peacock feathers seemed like the perfect theme, until I started shopping for materials. Peacock feathers were no where to be found! Aack! I almost had to change my theme when at the last minute I pieced together a few items at Michael's. Whew! Crisis averted. I can't imagine how embarassing it would have been to decorate a Christmas table with red and green items. I know, it seems odd, but I would have been embarassed. I expect different from myself, and I think everyone else expects different from me as well.




I even got a bit crafty with my decorations. I saved toilet paper rolls for months to be able to construct my own napkin rings. Ha! I'm not cheap, just crafty. Well, okay, I'm a bit cheap. Let me explain... The event was a Friday night dinner and Saturday morning brunch. There were so many people to attend, that 35 tables for dinner was not enough room to get everyone in, so they added a breakfast also. That meant, I had to have two sets of china, flatware, linens, glassware, desserts, etc. The dinner ran so late on Friday night that there was no time to wash and re-use items. I had to clear off the dinner remnants and set everything back up again in 30 minutes so that it was ready when we arrived for breakfast the next morning. I found the awesome brown tablecloths and napkins at a steal of a price. I already had enough china, glassware and chargers. But, napkin rings?! Are you kidding me? Those things must be made of gold because there were no coupons in sight that made them affordable to me. So, I had to come up with an inexpensive way to have 16 napkin rings. Obviously, toilet paper rolls spray painted with metallic gold paint and dressed up with some beads were the perfect choice.


My only issue with the event was the centerpiece rule. It could not be more than 12" tall. What?! It was darn near impossible to work within these restrictions, so please keep that in mind when judging my work.


And, I was more than annoyed when I looked around the room and saw how many women had not worked within the rule limits. I'll show them! Next year I won't follow the rule either! Except, I know I will. I can't stand to not follow rules. I just like to make a show of being rebellious. But, one of the coordinators overheard me remarking on the height of many other centerpieces. She let me know that those women had "been talked to" and would not be bringing such centerpieces again next year. Sure...

No matter what you think of my decorating skills, my baking skills were an absolute hit. A hit, I tell you! I made two desserts for both events so that they ladies could have a choice. And, every single guest both chose wisely when it came time to serve desserts. They chose both! My kind of eaters!


The eggnog parfait was so yummy, but the raspberry white chocolate mousse cake was unbelievable. (Do you see those store bought cookies in the side of the pic?! I couldn't believe ladies were serving their guests store bought desserts. Uh-uh, not my guests! I was Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray all in one that weekend. Ha!

I know you want another look at that because I do to.


Aahhh.... The holidays are so great for guilt-free eating. Alas, it's February now and I'm lusting after just one Girl Scout cookie that can not be had. Oh, well. I can wait until December when my mad baking skills will once again be all the rage at the ladies Christmas dinner.

As my guests rolled themselves out the door after being stuffed with dinner (or brunch) from La Madelleine and sweets from me, there was still one more treat. My guests were given a loaf of cranberry orange bread that was, of course, super yummy. Ah.... my mouth is watering at the memory of all those goodies. Yum!


If you want to see how my work stacked up to the other ladies or you are just really bored and looking for something to distract you from reality, check out this link where I have pics of the other tables at the event.

Too Young For This

I have a terrible excuse for not blogging. Life. Life gets in the way. Why is that terrible?! Because this blog is supposed to document our lives. I'm not a scrapbooker and I don't journal. I want my kiddos to have this blog to laugh and cry and see memories of their childhood. What do they have now?! For all they'll know, we skipped months and months of 2010 and even January of 2011. They won't know the craziness of our lives. So, I find myself in the midst of too much life now, and I have to blog. There are lives being lived, and I want to get this down on "paper" so Abigail and Cooper can hear my thoughts and memories when I can't remember them. Not that I can remember much of them, now, but give me a few or 10 or 20 years, and I'm certain I won't remember them.

This weekend, life hit our home and not in a good way.  I should rephrase that. Death hit our home. But it's real life and not the part of life that I can shelter my babies from. So we're living it out. We're painfully living it out.

The principal of the kids' school passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. As soon as we were notified, Daniel shared the news with Abigail and Cooper. It was so shocking, that Abigail did not believe him. She thought he was kidding. Cooper did not comprehend the news. Still in shock ourselves, we didn't know what to expect from the kids. First, there was no reaction. We gave them a chance to ask questions and talk, but nothing came. They went about playing and enjoying their Saturday. Until dinner. It hit Abigail and she just burst into tears. So many thoughts were coming to her. She was heartbroken for Mrs. Owen's family. Mr. Owen maintains the facilities at school so the kids have been with him every day as well. Abigail was especially heartbroken for him. She cried for him. She cried for Mrs. Owens' mother who cooks lunch every day for the kids at school. She couldn't imagine what it feels like to have your daughter die before you. I was amazed that everything Abigail was crying for was not selfish. She never once mentioned missing Mrs. Owen. She was just heartbroken for the people who she knew were already heartbroken. And this momma was heartbroken for her baby girl. I couldn't stand to see her cry and truly ache in a way that I could not fix. Oh, sweet Abigail. Of course there were lots of hugs and we both agreed that Mrs. Owen was happy to be at the feet of Jesus. We wondered... Is Mrs. Owen singing praise songs or starting a pre-K Bible study? Knowing Susan, she already has lessons planned, Bible classes organized, and has hugged more kids in heaven than I've ever hugged on Earth.

Today, getting out of the car at church, a wave of emotion overcame Abigail and she realized that Mrs. Owen wouldn't be at church today. You see, Susan was not just our principal but she and Mr. Owen were Abigail's Sunday School teachers. I think they've missed one Sunday since class started in August. Abigail just knew that Mr. Owen would be there for her. I assured her that he would be home with his family and not in class today. Oh.... the tears flowed again. She's not going to be here, momma. No, baby, she's not going to be here. Yeah, I just shouldn't have worn make-up to church. I know I didn't make it through the early service with any left on my face. Abigail cried through most of the service. My child who sings embarrassingly loud and waves her hands as she praises every Sunday morning did not hardly mutter a sound this morning. She held onto me and Daniel. She cried. She laid on me. She didn't sing. She whispered to me that she was sad. I know, baby. I'm sad, too.

After the service, I took her to Sunday School class. Our children's minister and his wife were there to greet us. Abigail was glad to be in the classroom and almost seemed more at ease than she had been all morning. I knew she was in good hands and was also at ease leaving her there. She later told us that they had prayer time for Mrs. Owen's family and talked about death. Oh, my. I love being honest with my children, but this was almost too much honesty for me. We have faced death in the past year. Daniel's uncle passed away in April. But, that was cancer. We had time to prepare for that. It made sense, well, as much sense as cancer makes. This just doesn't make sense. A classroom of six-year-olds spent the morning talking about their thoughts on death. Instead of being hugged by the woman who hugs her six days a week, Abigail learned to grieve.

The rest of today brought tears and sadness. It was a lovely day of warmth with no sign of the frozen wind and snow and ice of the rest of the week. We played and rode bikes. And, we cried. These are some questions I was given today... Is Mrs. Owen going to be okay in heaven? Do you think Jesus can take care of someone who is that nice and sweet? Where is her body? When will I get to see if they are taking care of her? Will school be there tomorrow?

You see, Mrs. Owen is the founder of the school. She is the school. She has been the school for 26 years. As an adult, I know Mrs. Owen is the school. So of course the kids also know that Mrs. Owen is the school. Abigail's mind immediately processed that the school would not be there if Mrs. Owen wouldn't be there. I assured her that the school would be Mrs. Owen's legacy. The school will not go anywhere. At bedtime tonight, I don't think Abigail was completely assured of that. She asked me to walk her to class tomorrow and stay with her. Of course, I will walk her to class and stay and hold her as long as she wants me to. She hasn't wanted anyone to walk her to class since the first day of kindergarten. That says something. Her world has been rocked.

When her world is rocked, my world is rocked. Yes, I will miss this sweet woman who created this wonderful school that I've entrusted with the hearts and minds of my children. I grieve for her husband as I imagine being alone and not even knowing what to do with myself. I grieve for her family - a Godly son who is married to a sweet woman whom we've entrusted with Cooper at school. I grieve for her young grandchildren as I know the loss of a grandparent at such a young age it leaves you with no memories.

Selfishly, I grieve for my baby girl who has lost her happiness and innocence. She is aching from the sting of death at just six years old. I am grieving the loss of explaining why boys pull her hair as I instead explain that even grown-ups don't understand why God takes people we love when we aren't ready. My sweet, sweet girl. When you read this in 20 years, know that I am so sorry you are learning this now. I know it's impossible, but I wish you never had to learn this lesson. My entire being wants to take away the hurt you had as you cried yourself to sleep tonight. I dread tomorrow even more than you do, as I know it will bring more sadness that I can't protect you from. But, also know that I am so proud to see you living out everything that your father and I have been trying to teach you. We want you to love, and I see so much love coming from you as you ache for Mr. Owen and want to hug him and love on him. We want you to know God, and I see that as you tell your brother that Mrs. Owen won't be at school tomorrow because she loves God and has to be with Him in heaven. We want you to be compassionate, and I have seen so much compassion come from you this weekend that you almost don't know what to do with all the compassionate feelings you have for each one of Mrs. Owen's family members. Oh, you are so much more than I could ever have dreamed of. Sweet Abigail, I love you.