What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's here!

That day when the week is half over, but I still have two more days until the weekend begins.

Ya know...Wednesday.

I'm linking up with this kind of love.

This has been one of those weeks where things are up and things are down just as fast.

So, here's to the ups...

I'm loving that people loved my Faux Turtles!

I made a bunch more tonight for some more sharing at work.

I'd better head to Sam's Club again soon!

I had some extra time after school yesterday, so I decided to do some organizing.

Yes, my colored pencils are sorted by color.

Don't judge.

I adore seeing the multitudes of writing paper sorted and stacked so neatly.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I LOVE coming home to an already cooked meal after a long day.

3 lb. roast, carrots, red potatoes, and a bunch of garlic.

Handsome Husband was a happy dude.

I'm glad he is because he's been pretty sick lately. :(

Long live crockpots!

As my nuggets were changing into their gym shoes today I noticed that one of them had kick-butt socks like me.  We had to commemorate it together. :)

I loved seeing her face light up when I noticed.

I hope your weeks are going swimmingly.

Are you ready for Christmas yet???  Huh, huh, are ya?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Laters!

Mrs. B

Christmas Vacation Partaaaayyyy

This weekend was the annual screening of National Lampoon's: Christmas Vacation at my parent's house.  Here are some photos from the evening:

Wes and John.  I was playing with my new camera, but John always seems to be on the lookout.

This is his "Blue Steel" look.

Meghan and Baby Jayde.  Happy early birthday (tomorrow!!  12-12-12!) to Meghan!

Don'tcha just wanna smooch on those cheeks??

(I mean Baby Jayde, you goober.)

Goodness gracious!  I love that little one...and the dude in the background.  (That's my pops)

April was hiding from me every time I whipped the camera out.

Punk.

My mom's nativity.  Cuh-ute!

My folks talking about Handsome Husband's outfit.  

They're cute, huh?  

My mom dressed as Ellen and my dad as Clark Griswold.

And Handsome Husband dressed like Cousin Eddie.

Dickie and all.

Leigh!

Handsome Husband bought dad a moose mug for the occasion!

Yeah, pops!

Baby Jayde slept for a while with "Santa".

(No joke!  Dude's Santa!  I even went to lunch with him last week!  As evidenced below.)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

I am excited for my D-M family Christmas this coming weekend and a kinda-sorta-not-really 10-year reunion at the local pizza joint on Saturday.

Laters!

Mrs. B

P. S. The Faux Turtles were a hit at school today! I got a few "Oh My Goodness!" emails.  It gave me the warm-fuzzies.

Melt, Squish, Sprinkle, YUM!

So, as I mentioned before, this weekend was the annual National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation viewing at my parent's house.  

I searched my brain and Pinterest all Friday night and Saturday morning trying to come up with something other than the old standby (chocolate chip cookies).

It got so bad that when I suggested ideas to my mom and she said, "Ew," that I burst out crying and didn't stop for a while.  (Don't worry...I got a nap yesterday.  It helped.)

Finally, I decided to make those Hershey's-Kiss-inside-a-round-pretzel-with-an-M&M-squished-in-the-center-thingys.

Off to Sam's Club I went to get enough without spending a fortune.

Chyeah...I got distracted.

I saw a ginormous box of Rolos and thought, "Holy easy, Batman!!  I can make faux turtles!"

I'd seen these beauts floating around on Pinterest but didn't find separate caramels and chocolates...so...Rolos it was.

I got the MONDO-sized box (36 ct.!) at Sam's Club along with a 2 lb. bag of pecan halves.  (approximately $20 and $16)

I also grabbed some coarse sea salt and parchment paper from my local Martin's.

Then, I preheated the oven to 250 degrees.

(If you can't tell...I have a new camera! :)  I know I said it already...but I'll say it again!)

Then, I lined some cookie sheets with the parchment paper.

After that, I used 10 rolls of Rolos to fill both sheets.  I put the top on the bottom for absolutely no reason.  I think I just liked the way it looked.  I probably had SOME method for my madness, but I truly can't say.

This was a 10-roll job.

This treat was (of course!) made "with" wine.  AKA "Cook's little helper."

Next, I put a pecan piece on the top.

Then, I threw the trays in the 250 degree oven for 3 minutes.

When the three minutes is up take the trays out and squish the pecans into the Rolos.

Once you have squished them, sprinkle some coarse sea salt on them to yum them up even more. Make sure you put them in the freezer (or a cold garage, in my case) to harden them up before packaging.

Now for the packaging...I plan on giving these away for Christmas presents at school...

I got some cello bags and Christmas cardstock at Michael's on sale.  Score!

I can't wait to play Santa!

Have you made anything fun lately??

Laters,

Mrs. B

It's Friday, Friday...

I can't believe that another Friday is here!

This school year is just flying by.

ONE:  I enjoy watching my kids grow each week and see the lightbulbs go off over their heads.

(If you've never seen a kid "get it" you really should.  You can see the confidence and personal empowerment coming off of them in waves.  No joke...it's pretty awesome.)

I write the writing lessons for all of second grade and it feels REALLY GOOD to have the other teachers reporting that their students are making a lot of progress.  Mine are, too!

TWO:  After years of chronic dry eye (sounds trivial, but it's super annoying to have to peel your contact off of your eye each night and check to make sure the surface is still intact) my eye doctor decided to plug the drains in my eyes and...voila!  Slick as a whistle.

TWO B:  He fixed my contact prescription and I can see clearly now the rain is gone.

THREE:  Our classroom hamster Hermie died this week.  I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was.  The kids handled it well (it happened at my house).  Handsome Husband was tender as all get out.  He was cuddling her as much as he could.  He also eulogized her in a text to me and took care of her when she was gone.  Man!  I picked a good-un.

FOUR:  Tomorrow night is the annual National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation viewing at my parents house.  I love hearing my dad say every line right before the characters say it.  He stays glued to a chair laughing the whole time.  It's an excellent annual get-together.  Many of our friends come over to enjoy it as well.  There will probably be pictures :)

FIVE: My mom is flipping funny.

My dad has been reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies.

He's pretty cool.  (She is, too.)

I hope you all had a great week, too!

Laters!

Mrs. B

Cancellation Season Sadness

I have a confession to make:

I LOVE HORRIBLE MOVIES.

Like, DVD-buying, TV-movie-special-watching, Handsome-Husband-coercing, repeat-repeat-repeat-veiwing love.

I love the fact that I can go to a store, throw one of them under something else and make it out of the store with only the cashier judging me.

TV is another story.

Apparently, I love horrible TV as well.

My track record for the past two years proves it.

See, the thing about a bad movie is that it will still get made, you can get your hands on it and you can watch it until you wear it out.

TV just doesn't work that way.

If there aren't enough people who like it, it gets cancelled.

Yeah...a lot of my shows get cancelled.

Last year, I was WICKED excited to see that there was a Bones spinoff and a Criminal Minds spinoff.

I NEVER miss those two shows, so I was excited to get to watch more.

The Finder was about an eccentric man who was obsessed with finding things.

The lead actor (Geoff Stults) is easy on the eyes, too.

No one knew it would be, but it was also one of the last things that Michael Clarke Duncan worked on.  Love him.

CANCELLED

I loved watching this show simply because I love a good mystery.

I enjoy watching a case come together.

And, yet again:

CANCELLED

I really liked the premise of this show, no matter how far fetched it was.  

It may have been funky, but the show kept me hanging on each week.

It knew how to do suspense.

And then:

CANCELLED

SHEESH!

I for sure thought that this year would be better.  So, I began watching two new shows.

Kind of creepy, a little eye candy, some good twists, a good cast.

U.G.H.

I didn't watch it at the start of the season, but got into it on HULU.

It was a bit demonic, but the mysteries were pretty good.

So:

CANCELLED

I started watching this show because I really like Meryl Streep and it stars her daughter...how could I go wrong?

Apparently, I could go very wrong.

I liked listening to her have conversations with herself in her head (since I do that every-so-often as well) and...eye candy...need I say more?

So, it was to be expected:

CANCELLED

Dudes, for serious.

I was a good girl this year, Santa, I swear!

Thank goodness I have my old standbys.

I wonder if this "streak" will continue next year...I hope not!

Have any of your shows been cancelled????

Laters!

Mrs. B

Wednesday Wuvin'

I'm hooking up with This Kind of Love to present...wait for it...

What I'm Loving Wednesday!! (Or "Wuvin'" as I so awesomely put it.)

(I hope you liked the little How I Met Your Mother reference there.)

Sometimes it's hard to come up with positive things, especially when we are oh so busy.  

I'm loving that Handsome Husband has been super supportive lately.  My classroom hamster Hermione came home with me over Thanksgiving break and has stayed home.  She is about 1 1/2 - 2 years old and at the end of her time with us.  Handsome Husband has been taking her out and holding her everyday so that she knows that we love her and that we are trying to make her as comfortable as possible.  He has done this without me asking.  Such a kind-hearted man.

I'm loving that there are 2 1/2 weeks left until Christmas break!  Luckily, my nuggets (who seemed to be on break already last week!!!) have been amazingly on this week.  I love it when I see little lightbulbs going off over their heads.

I'm loving that my princiPAL is amazingly supportive even when parents (who are NOT a part of the classroom) think the worst of me.  Thanks, Boss!

I'm loving that we (meaning I) got the Christmas tree up.  I love seeing the 2 Christmas ornaments that I am a part of on the tree.  I say 2 because I still haven't gotten mine from my parents (I've only been married for a year and a half...give me a break!! :)) and he had a bunch already.

I'm loving that my students are fighting over who gets to hold my hand on the way to the bus after school.  

I'm loving that Christmas movies are on TV whenever I don't have anything to watch.

I'm also "wuvin" that you took the time to read this.

I hope your week has been wonderful as well!

What have you been loving?

Laters! 

Mrs. B

St. Nick Six

So, on Saturday, Handsome Husband and I decided to partake in a little race called the St. Nick Six. 

It is a race put on by Handsome Husband's elementary alma mater.

Our friends April and John decided to come out and trot along with us as well. 

The gang :)

Different angle

I was kind and removed the picture of John that was here. 

It would make a GREAT meme.

John and April

 April came out and ran (and beat me!) even though she felt horrible.

Handsome Husband and I.

My hair looks wicked funny here.

Probably because I woke up 45 minutes before this picture was taken and just fluffed it a bit.

Great fire truck!

Cute.

We enjoyed a post-race beverage and meal at Brothers Bar & Grill.

John and I had the Fried Egg Incredible sandwich.

Amazing!

It was breakfast but in sandwich form.

2 fried eggs, bacon, and American cheese on Texas Toast.

Yummers!!

I was more than an little excited to see that they serve a real-people-sized cup-o-joe.

It hit the spot!

Handsome Husband thought it was funny that his shadow had a beard, too.

He teaches second grade and is easily amused. :)

Here are some highlights from the race (my point of view):

I started off the race trying to keep pace with April.  She kept trying to tell me just how slow she was.  Slow my big ol' butt!  She left me in her dust after about 2 minutes.

I will use the (tired old) excuse that I had surgery on my legs last year and still don't have my strength back, but I think I just need to get off my butt.  I ran most of the way but had to walk a bit to stretch my legs.  Whatevs.

I finally found my stride at the 2 1/4 mile mark.  Yeah, we were running a 6K which is about 3 3/4 miles.  Oy.  It took a while but I managed to get to the point where my body said, "Hey!  I remember this.  It's not so bad!"  (Ask me how my body feels today.)

I felt like laughing and crying at the same time when a mother pushing a three year old who probably weighed a good 30-40 pounds in a stroller passed me.  Dang nab it.  Run, chunky butt, run!

I did laugh a bit at the end, though.  I was listening to Pandora on my phone (the Maroon 5 station) when a catchy little tune came on.  I realized it was "Loser" by Beck as I was coming up to the finish line.  Really?????  What is that junk?  It made me giggle, though, so it was worth it.

Toward the end of the race I kept checking for the bike that follows the last racer to make sure it wasn't me!!

It wasn't, but I have quite the pulled foot muscle as a reminder.  I was even going to try my hand at running tonight until I realized that I can barely walk.  Bummer.  There's always tomorrow!

How did your weekends go??

Laters, 

Mrs. B