best.day.ever.

according to my 6 YO son.

Wake up... Donuts with Dad at his school
come home
Batting Cage with Dad and his older brother
grab pizza
come home
Train meet in Allentown with mom
happy meal at McD
come home
dinner (did I mention he likes to eat?)
Family movie - Free Willy 4 (he's got this thing for whales right now)

As for me....I want to get out of my slump.

the jellicle moon was shining bright

and jellicles came to the jellicle ball.
We all went to see CATS last night at the State Theatre in Easton. All 5 of us... not an inexpensive adventure, but worth it. The boys were entranced. Although DS2 said that there were moments he didn't like, but his favorite was McCavity. And admittedly, the whole meaning was well over the kids heads, but I'm determined more than ever to take them to as many live performances of quality as possible.

Last week DD and I went to see ASOs condensed version of Carmen. DH directed the chorus so the only cost for us was the babysitter for the boys. She loved it.

After looking at the page for the company that put on the show I noticed that they were at the Flynn theatre on Valentine's Day. I had a friend from HS that used to do stage managing at the Flynn (among other art venues in CT and VT) who just passed away last month. As I was at the show last night I imagined him running it, without knowing that were he still alive he WOULD have run it just a week before. I believe he's running some bigger shows right now. I also felt this presence of a former colleague of mine giving me props for taking the kids to the theater. She was quite a classy lady whose son is a dancer on Broadway. So Mike and Rho... thanks for the visits last night. I know you were smiling at me.

Day off today and we had a little bit of snow... and I have a headache for the I can't tell you how many day in a row... I remember mom having headaches a lot... now I'm feeling your pain....

sticky

so I wanted to make a breakfast food for DD and her friends that were staying over.
There is a local philly pretzel company that has this cinnamon butter. (YUM x 3000) and i was thinking it would be great in a cinnamon bun......

So I had thought on going to buy some of the dip but didn't get to it before the store closed. I forgot about it... DD didn't

This morning I asked what they wanted for breakfast and she said those buns you were going to make...I hadn't made the dough.... ugh

What to do??? (cue light bulb going off)


1. Preheat oven to 350° F

2. Make cinnamon butter... found a recipe on the web... doubled it... next time I tweak it it will be a little less butter...like this maybe

3/8 pound of room temp butter
1/2 c brown sugar packed
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream all ingredients together whipping until light and fluffy

3. Mix topping
3/4 c brown sugar
4 T melted butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup
3 Tbsp honey (I used buckwheat)

Mix together until well blended and pour into a 9" square baking pan.

4. With two packages of refrigerated crescent rolls. (you can buy it without the perforations...I didn't have this on hand tho) I split the dough in half (if you buy the crescent roll for the rolls it comes out in 2 pieces kind of)

push all the perforations together to make a larger piece (i did half the package at a time)

spread cinnamon butter on the dough and roll the dough short end to short end. CUt the 'log' into four equal pieces. Lay pieces on side in the pan containing the topping mix. Repeat with other half of dough and other package.

5. Bake in 350 oven for about 28 minutes.

6. Let cool some before turning out of pan!


7. Eat and enjoy......

the parade of doll clothes

DD's AG Elizabeth will be busy modelling over the next few days. Now that I've found the card reader for the camera, I can take some shots other than with my phone.
This one is from the phone though.


Summer Fun Ensemble by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer
Yarn: Top and pants Paton's Grace shoes-some remnant
Color: Sky teal
Needle: US3 US8
Recipient: Daughter
I didn't do the ribbon on the pants and I put my own belt from yarn in until I could go out and find ribbon to fit through the loops. I'll replace it though I'm sure.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the slippers... handfulled them in the kitchen sink... but they are so darn cute!

There are more clothes to come!

We went to Mama Nina's for her birthday dinner yesterday... I was stuffed and brought enough home for 2 more meals...

I can't believe she's 11. I really like the young woman she is becoming. So proud of her!! I love you sweetie

swinging to the right

ok so he can't pronounce da Vinci... but if this guy believes it... I may be in for a change



I have stuff to show you... but maybe tmrw or later...

do i need any more reason

to teach the national anthem at school?


So this doesn't happen from any of MY students! COme on... at least learn the words. It's a 2 minute song and you're on national TV.... how pathetic!

great vw commercial!

ice

two more days off from school. Can't do a thing but bake, eat, knit, watch movies.


so tired of winter.... glad Phil saw no shadow... the hope for spring grows by the day.

Yesterday i made a pair of pants for DDs American Girl Doll.. wish I had bound them off differently, but they still work. CO 4 times for them. Here's a picture... details will follow when I finish the outfit

It all started with the retro cardi... that still needs buttons... Also made a flouncy lacy skirt... that needs elastic... maybe I should do all that today so I can update this blog.

she decided she wants to do her room a la 70s hippie.... found these sheets at Garnet Hill. She opted for the white with the matching comforter cover. Since she has a full comforter on a twin bed, I bought a new duvet in twin size also.... from overstock.com. That came today.

Shoveled out heavy icy slush... did the neighbor too. will be a nice surprise for them when they get home. He helped me out last Thursday by lending his muscle when I needed to get to work.

Off to make the kids lunch.. they came to play while I was out working... although DD did help shovel a bit.

snow......

i've had enough... i love the beauty of it, but really.. I'd rather enjoy the long summer days without kids pining to be OUT of school.....

So.. this week, we went to school late Monday because of cold. It was -5° F in the town I teach 2 hours after school was supposed to begin... brrrrrrr
Tuesday was a normal school day.
Wednesday we got out 2 hours early because of impending snow, which came to my home, but not to the town where I work. At my house 3".
Thursday, 2 hour delay. At home there was an additional 9.5", which meant my car didn't clear the snow in the unplowed alley. In the town I teach, maybe 3". So I left the house at 7:20 am, after shovelling, and by 8:10 was on the street in front of my house (just trying to get out of the alley).... got to work by 9:00 to start teaching at 9:30. It's usually a 35 minute commute.
Friday another normal day.

It's killing my instrumental lessons... kids forget their instruments, lessons are shorter than they should be. My 7th grade class has been shortchanged by about 30% of class time.

And my own children are crazy. My son informed me that he hasn't had a full week of school in 7 weeks. It's flurrying as I write this post.. and there's a storm predicted for mid-week.

I'd post pictures, but I've misplaced the card reader for the olympus... guess I should start searching for it!


Sorry, but I'm ready for spring.......

another year older

I am thankful for being able to celebrate yet another birthday... a few days before mine came a old high school friend passed. I'm still having a hard time digesting it. So when my birthday came, I said a little prayer of thanks that I was here celebrating it with my family. And another prayer of thanks that I had the day off even if it was because of snow.

DH has come through his knee surgery with flying colors. He went today to have the stitches removed and got the news that he is SO good, he doesn't even need PT.... Even more reason to give thanks!

Tonight a colleague invited me to go to a concert with her. PMEA district 10 chorus.. It was really wonderful. I so enjoyed it and for that I'm thankful.

Ok... I know it sounds a little like Thanksgiving... but I realize that I am sometimes a bit whiney... and need to be more grateful...

Find something in your life to be grateful for. You'll be surprised how happy you become!

thrifty

I needed to take the clarinet to get worked on and between here and the shop is a VIA thrift store so the car headed that way on the return trip, even though it was snowing.

No fibery finds but....

a beautiful mug for 99¢ love the shape and color. There were 2 more, but they weren't in such pristine condition.

glow sticks for next Halloween (yes I was thinking ahead.. hope that doesn't make me a hoarder) 300 10" with connectors for $5.97 They were a HUGE hit this year and I paid about $1 for 20 sticks

But the best find of the day by far, a 1.5 qt Calphalon infused sauce pan for 2.99

DH was happy with the last find. He'd like a set of cookware like that as would I without paying the original price tag. Guess I need to keep my eyes peeled. It gives me a reason to thrift.

Came home and took the kids sledding so that DH could get some quiet rest. He's recuperating from orthoscopic surgery on the knee.

DD and I made manicotti Friday for dinner... with crepes as the shells ....really yummmo. The recipe may become a staple!

1-1-11

Happy New Year.

WE spent the start with my best cousins. I love them so much and we all get along so well. I am such a lucky girl. The kids all play great together and we all just enjoy each others company like crazy! How fun!

I started a beanie for DS1 this afternoon... then we went to the movies. DD and I opted for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader we were NOT disappointed... I loved the movie. The boys went to see TRON. The young boys loved it... the older one, not as much. Of course he took a nap during the movie, so he really has no right judging it!

Anyway, much to my surprise, I finished the beanie this evening. It was 2 color work and looks like this:

Pattern: the skull beanie
Yarn: 100purewool single ply
still working on knitting down the stash
Colors: negro, crudo
Needle: US9
Recipient: DS1

Hope he likes it. He's sleeping now and I just finished it about 20 minutes ago.

now back to the regularly scheduled socks for DH with the Noro sock yarn (which I don't like at all) on my lantern moon ebony sox stix (which I love so much)

Have a healthy new year! I'm hoping my broken toe mends really fast. I can't believe how much the darn thing still bothers me.

preparing

my big fat Greek dinner party

Hors d'oeuvres:
garlic hummus & red pepper hummus (χούμους)
with warm pita triangles (πίτα)
olive tapinade (ελιάς)
dolmadas (ντολμάδες)
mozzarella cheese balls for the kids

crudité (λαχανικά)

Entrée
Caesar Salad (Σαλάτα Caeser)
Lentil Soup (φακές σούπα)
Spanokopita (σπανακόπιτα)

Dessert:
Greek butter cookies (μπισκότα βουτύρου)
Greek lemon cake (κέικ λεμονιού)- yes in the bundt pan have to pay tribute to the flick somehow.... now how to fix the hole????



it's the family of an old student of DH that we've grown accustomed to/fond of


Hope Santa was good to you.. I'm still recovering!

Merry Christmas

to all!

and to those that don't celebrate, have a wonderful time with family and friends.

I plan on visiting with MANY friends..... organizing a bit..... baking... playing.... knitting.... planning... it will be a VERY packed 10 day break from school..

I pray that the new year brings peace to all....


Just a few quick pics to put you in the spirit
DD's new stocking. She picked out the sweaters that she wanted included. The lining is a cute Christmas flannel print that is red green and white and has Christmas balls on it and says from me to you... maybe I'll get a picture of it later.















Greeting you at the front door of my house
To your left














In front of you






To your right
The windows have wreaths and candles but were in a shadow when I shot these pictures and there are icicle lights hanging from the roof of the porch and a pointsettia flag. It looks simple but nice!


The Girl Scout leader got a smaller version of the wreath on the door.


I'm making something for mom and my SILs as I type... felting in the washer. It's a very small but useful gift.

Gotta run and clean....

Happiness and Joy to all of you!

3 days

left and a broken toe.... smacked the foot on the privacy panel in the bathroom and broke the second to last toe on my right foot.. man does that smart!

the stocking will be finished tonight and the girl scout wreath as well... maybe DS2s hat.

but now.. to put the kiddos to bed.

4

and so much left to do...

on the docket for tonight... DDs Christmas stocking while DH wraps. Good news is that DS2's big gift will arrive in time to go under the tree... I was really sweating it out, especially when I got an e-mail today that they still didn't have it and did I want to cancel my order (that I placed 12 days ago....and they charged my CC for 10 days ago) It's sold out everywhere so I was desperate.

Cookies left to bake and some craft projects left to do... it really NEVER ends does it???

5

the number of fingers on one hand
the number of toes on one foot
the number of people in our family

how many days left until Christmas.... ACK!!!!!!!!

What a great weekend... Friday night was the MoCo dinner dance.. the theme was China. Culinary mix of Chinese and American food. Entertainment was Chinese dancers. DH gimped on the dance floor with me for a bit.. what a trooper.

Saturday brought playing Santa... finishing up the last minute shopping. I must be crazy. Next year, I swear it will ALL be done online!!!!!!!

Although I found a nice JCrew sweater at the thrift store and it was the right color tag so it was 75% off.. bulky 100% wool.. should yield some nice stuff :) and a set of Crate and Barrel 7" discontinued Christmas plates new in the box for $5. I may gift them... very cute. There's a set on ebay for $30.

Saturday night brought the Boksan's party. Thanks to our awesome friend Heather we were able to go. She had the kids over to her house.... our 3 and her 2 to play for a few hours. The hostess at the party gave out wine this year as a gift.. and her sister made little cute cozies for each bottle. caps and capes some bags, som with caps and scarves, one had a santa suit on. All knitted. VERY cute!

Sunday, ah the day of rest. Not quite! DH left for church early and I got up shortly thereafter. I ordered more gifts online, made chocolate pretzels with the kids, peanut butter kiss cookies, wrapped teacher gifts, made a gift for the GS leader, helped decorate the tree, and made this Eucalyptus wreath for my mom to give my SIL.

I hope she likes it. She didn't want mom to spend a lot... I understand now why they're $50 and up... never again!


Also have some knitting to show:

Pattern: Maggies Mitts
Needle: US3
Yarn: Recycled Abercrombie and Fitch and 100Purewool
Colors: Smokey Black and meloncoton (think Flyers)
Recipient: Mr. Beaman

This is DS2's classroom teacher's gift. Also from recycled sweaters. I bought the little red balls at Target in a container that looks like a round ornament. There were plenty in the container for the GS leader's wreath and a larger one for us to hang here at home (just need to get the balls on it and a bow!)

Now to address the Christmas cards.. I've had them for a week. DH sent his to Argentina and did no more :-/

And I have a few more things to make... some things for the girls. They're on their way, just need some extra time... and more cookies of course!

cusp

the hour is bridging the cusp of two birthdates of very important people in my life.
December 6, my grammy.... I hope that someday I can be like her. I miss you grams.

And my dad. Not a day passes that you aren't in my thoughts... miss you too! You both impacted my life in ways you may have never realized.... thanks.......hasta la vista!

just an old bag

well I have 3 bags to show you actually

the latest is for DS1s teacher... this one she'll be getting as a gift ;-)


Pattern: Bag it Up! by Vicki Mikulak Holiday Mystery Gifts 2009
Yarn: Recycled Abercrombie and Fitch sweater 80 wool/20 nylon
Color: Oatmeal
Needle: US 10.5
Lining: Cotton Flannel from stash
Recipient: Mrs. Austin

The sweater cost me $4. As you can see, the yarn felted up very nicely... and this yarn is really soft. And I have 3 full skeins left. So for $2 worth of yarn I have this bag. I wanted to line it to put a couple of pockets in and stiffen up the bottom, but I had nothing to stiffen the bottom with. So I cut out the fabric to line it and lo and behold in among the toys laying around from DS2 was this piece of plastic packaging from an over the door wreath holder that the boy had taken out of the Christmas box to play around with, and left it lie (as is his usual MO) I took it as manna from heaven and checked and low and behold with about 1.5" cut off the length would be the perfect size for the bottom of the bag. Thank you very much :) Before I added the lining I cut letters from a navy felted sweater and appliqued them on the bag (the teacher's initials) as per DS1's request.


This WAS the purse she was going to get... I don't like the shape so I don't know what will become of it! It's too wide and not tall enough... lesson learned from Paton's chestnut merino.. so sad.

This little bag fits in my möbius purse to put whatever in that I don't want to lose!
Also Paton's merino in chestnut brown with worn denim trim

It's from the Bordhi book. I learned to make it from the bottom up so I can use that technique for toe up socks someday.

Speaking of socks. I finally spent a gift certificate DH and the kids got me eons ago at yarn market for a set of Lantern Moon onyx sox stix and a skein of noro kureyon sock yarn. I'll make DH a pair of socks.. Doubtful they'll be finished in time for Christmas. I still have DD's teacher's gift and some AG stuff for her to make. But maybe by 3 Kings day.. if I'm lucky.

OK... off to do some school work. I graded all my papers, now I need to plan for the week. I'm off Friday to go to my own children's parent/teacher/student conferences. These 4 days can't go by quickly enough My concert is Thursday night.. I'll be so happy when it's over!!!!!!

today

I think I really should go tmrw.... we were at a birthday party today so we couldn't make it. But it looks like fun!