Thursday, June 25, 2009

While the Mouse is Asleep....

The Cat Will Play!


This is what I found awaiting me in the bathroom when I woke up today. It seems Bearded Kitty got into a little mischief. DD taught him how to open doors, and he's taken it to the next level. He's opening cabinets and pulling things off the shelves! Since DD is almost 14, I thought I was long past this stage - but I might have to get some of those baby locks if this keeps up!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Let Them (ME!) Eat Cake

Day 2 of Summer Break was spent doing more paper shredding. I filled another entire big garbage bag...the lawn and leaf type, 33-gallon jobbers. It's all ready to go out to the dumpster, and I'm DONE! Another exciting day! Actually, I need a few non-exciting days so that is just fine with me.

Onto a much more fun subject.........CAKE, more specifically Birthday Cake. I'm thinking about having DD make this cake for me for my birthday on Saturday. Doesn't it look yummy?!?!



Oh, the gooey, chocolateyness of it! And, it's super easy to make. Click here for recipe. I hope she'll whip up one of these delights for me! I might even invite you all over to share a bite if you're lucky.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Summer Break - Day 1

It's Day 1 of Summer Break 2009, and what am I doing?.......shredding papers! No kidding! That's what I'm doing. How exciting, huh?

So many other things that I'd rather be doing, but one of my "summer" goals is to get my office straightened up, organized, decorated, etc, and in order to do that, I've got to get rid of some of these mountains of papers.

It's not quite THAT bad, but I've already filled one garbage bag, and I've got another one halfway there. And, those are just papers from my files. I haven't even started on the top of my desk yet.

Oh, and when I'm done with the paper shredding, I get to move on to sorting books! WOOHOO!!!

I'm an organized person. How in the world did this happen?!?!

What became of those lazy days lying in the sun at the lake?

Friday, June 19, 2009

YIPPEE!!!!!!!

I'm All Done!



School's Closed For Summer

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Today's the Day





LAST DAY OF SCHOOL THAT IS!!!!!


Did you hear the big cheers coming from DD as she finished up her last History assigment? She's done with school for two months.

Me??? As a teacher, I still have one day of school left to take care of report cards, attendance, and all of those loose ends. Then, I'm off until August 17th. Love having the time off! Not so fond of NOT having a paycheck for TWO MONTHS!!! Good thing DD likes beans and I like rice!


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What Will We Do Next?????


In the hopes of someday being able to wear one of these in public again (well maybe a one-piece anyway...), DD and I have been working out with some of the shows on Fit TV. And, today we did.......drumroll please.......





BELLY DANCING





Now, don't laugh. OK, you can laugh because we sure did. Our version of belly dancing probably looked more like a couple of Tootsie Rolls melting in the sun than any kind of belly dancing you've ever seen, but it was fun AND it was a good work out AND most importantly it was done in the privacy of our own home so nobody was harmed or scarred for life by watching us.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

You Can Make This!

This is a duplicate post from my crafting blog "Oh It's Sew Cute". I usually wouldn't do the exact same posting on both blogs, but I LOVE THIS SITE! I visit it at least once a day (I think it's a sickness, really.....)

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One of my absolute FAVORITE websites is YouCanMakeThis.com .

This site is chockful of patterns and instructions to make everything imaginable. They have sections for applique, cooking and baking, crafts, crochet and knitting, digital scrapbooking, tons of sewing items, embroidery, quilting, papercrafts, clay, and on and on.

From the "About Us" section of the website: "YouCanMakeThis.com was created by a stay-at-home mom who wanted to provide a place where women could learn how to make items for their homes and families. The site is unique because the eBooks and patterns are written by "everyday" women. The step-by-step format of the eBooks enables even the most craft-challenged person to experience the satisfaction of creating something beautiful.

YouCanMakeThis.com provides easy to follow how-to eBooks on a variety of projects. The eBooks feature detailed ste-by-step instrctions and photos that walk you through the creative process."

I LOVE that this site is written by and for "REAL" "EVERYDAY" people just like me!

They are adding new things all the time. There are blogs and free newsletters with loads of wonderful ideas to get your creativity flowing. And, PICTURES galore!

All of the patterns come to you via the web so you can start to work on your project as quickly as you download the instructions and/or pattern. No driving to the store! The patterns are fabulous and EASY to follow, even for beginners.

One of my favorite features of the site is the "I Made This" tab where others display pictures of what they have created using the patterns from this site. It is so fun to go in there to see what everyone has been up to and get some creative inspiration.

If you sign up for their fabulous FREE You Can Make This e-newsletter, you will get a FREE video and e-book bundle (valued at $75.) Just click on this box to take you there and sign up for your FREE goodies.

You can make this!

Did I mention it's FREE?!?!


This purse was made using one of the FREE e-books that I received when I signed up to receive the YCMT newsletter:



So Cute! So Easy! So Fun!


I just cannot say enough good things about this site! You just have to go and check it out for yourself!!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

DD's 8th Grade Graduation


DD graduated from 8th grade yesterday. Our charter school/homeschool program held a ceremony for all of the 8th grade graduates in our region. There were about 30 other students along with her. It was a short and sweet ceremony with a couple of the 8th graders speaking, the Head of Schools giving a brief speech and the presentation of the gratuates. All in all it lasted about 35 - 40 minutes.

I just finished looking through the pictures and realized that I don't have any of Grandmother, Grandpa or Dear Aunt, but they were there REALLY they were. Unlike DD's father, who was a no-show. What a piece of work! Seems he hit a deer and messed up the car. That resulted in him being too busy dealing with that to attend his only child's graduation (even though he has another car). URGH! It was probably a much more pleasant time for everyone with his absence, but it's the principle of the thing.

On a more pleasant note......Here are some of the better pictures of the event:

The graduate being a goofball


DD getting her "fake" diploma (I have her "real" one)


Mom and graduate (Yes, DD is taller than Mom now by 3 inches)


DS and DD


And, finally, DS holding Mom's purse while she was posing for pictures with her other students


After graduation, Dear Aunt treated us to a celebration dinner at DD's favorite place, Sweet Tomatoes. YUMMY!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Library Shelf - Help Yourself


I have stacks upon stacks of books just waiting to be read. So what did I do yesterday but go to the library book sale for the $3 a bag sale and get ANOTHER bag of books. Gotta love those books!

Up next in the just finished section of the Library Shelf is "Help Yourself" by Dave Pelzer. This isn't one that I got at yesterday's book sale, but one that I've been reading for the past week or so.

From the back of the book: "In Help Yourself, Dave Pelzer explains how we can move beyond a painful history, harmful negative thoughts, and innumerable setbacks by taking control and being accountable for our lives."

This is not necessarily a book for those who have been hurt in the past, but for everyone because we all are bombarded every day with negativity from the world around us.

In Part One (Get Rid of the Garbage in Your Life), he stresses the importance of solving an issue before it explodes. "Even the "best of friends", the "perfect parents", the "perfect marriage", if there were two people stranded on a deserted island they would eventually get on each others' nerves. As long as there is more than one person in the world, there will always be trouble in paradise."

He takes snippets from his own personal history as well as those of others such as Oprah Winfrey and Colin Powell who didn't let their meager backgrounds hold them back from going for their dreams. He ends with this, "If you carry a bad attitude, you have no chance of being happy, let alone living up to your full potential and achieving your greatness."

This author is something else. How he could go through everything that life threw at him as a child, turn it all around and wind up guiding others to find the hope and happiness in their lives is just simply miraculous. The horrific abuse that he suffered at the hands of his mother is chronicled in the books "A Child Called "It" and "The Lost Boy". Simply amazing that he came to be a man full of inspiration and gratitude. He DEFINITELY doesn't believe in feeling sorry for himself.

I'll sum it up with these two sayings from my own personal arsenal of words of wisdom:

It's all in the attitude!
Attitude = Amplitude

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Where Have I Been?

No, I didn't fall off the face of earth. No, I didn't get abducted by aliens. No, I'm not in the hospital. It's the end of the school year and I've been WORKING, WORKING, WORKING! The first four weeks and the last four weeks of the school year are BUSY TIMES. Oh, I'm not complaining. I know how lucky I am to be one of those teachers in California that still has a job. Plus, I'd much rather be busy than bored. Our last official day of school is June 18th, and my last work day will be the 19th. Then, I'll have so much time I won't know what to do. Just kidding....I'll be crafting and reading all summer long. And, tending to that darn money tree that has yet to bloom.

DD will be graduating from 8th grade next Monday. Then, it's off to high school. Actually, she won't be OFF anywhere. She's still going to be homeschooled. She just won't be an elementary school student any more so she won't be in my "official" class as I am only certified up to 8th grade. I'll still be her teacher though as all homeschool parents are their child's teacher, but she will have to answer to another teacher in addition to me for high school. Confusing enough for ya?

Here's a good one: DD absolutely LOVES playing with the Community Band. She LIVES for Monday nights when they practice. Now, her graduation ceremony is scheduled for Monday night. She asks me at least once a day if she can just skip graduation so that she won't have to miss band. OI! I'm all for enthusiastically pursuing your dreams and passions, but I'm drawing the line on this one and I say, "NO!" Band happens every week. Graduation is once in a lifetime!

I am the "official, certified" teacher for eight of the 40 8th graders who will be graduating on Monday night. I wanted to give them all a little something, but what can you do when you have no extra cash. Well, since I'm the queen of turning nothing into something right out of thin air....here's what I came up with:

At Dollar Tree, they had a package of 12 of these cute little handled boxes. They were plain white so I got out my trusty stamps and stamped a confetti pattern all over them with blue ink (our school color). Then, I designed a little tag on my computer that reads, "Reach for the Stars! Congratulations" That is tied to one of the handles with some skinny blue satin ribbon. Next, I cut blue tissue paper into squares. I put little bags of M&M's in the center of two tissue paper squares and tucked them inside the handled boxes. There you have it. Graduation favors for all 8 of my students. Total cost...$2!