Well Hello, 2012

So my winter break was last week, and I really could have used that time off to update here a little more, but it flew by. So here I am with my 'resolutions' for 2012.

First and foremost I hope 2012 brings the birth of a healthy, happy baby. Everything else takes a backseat to this. I have seen too many struggles with pregnancy/ birth complications and sickness to not be worried about my own little one.

I also want to get back into attending church regularly. We have a great church community, and I want our child to grow up with a strong faith. Unfortunately the location is not entirely convenient and Adam's side work keeps him pretty busy. I volunteered in the children's ministry last year but with starting a new grade level/learning a new curriculum, and becoming pregnant I didn't feel the same level of commitment. I'm really hoping to renew my own faith and (at least) listen to the sermons online weekly.

Being pregnant has made me lazy tired. It has been way too easy to go out and pick up dinner or order food in. I plan to cook at home at least 4 nights a week (We go for dinner with my parents every Monday, weekends, when Adam is busy or away, can be used for left overs or a special/cheap dinner). We used to meal plan, but then we wouldn't follow the plan. So instead I went through a few cookbooks and just pulled out some recipes that sounded good. I chose three for this week and can be flexible with the day I cook them. It seems to be a much better solution for us.

Along with the other baby resolutions, I really want to control my spending. Adam and I have been tracking our expenses in a google docs spreadsheet since November and I can clearly see where I am spending my money (aka swiping my credit card). Not good. We need to save money for babyStybs and Target appears way too many times on the sheet. We have talked about only using cash for our spending, but we haven't tried that yet.

And finally, I plan to keep the house (mostly) cleaned. I know once the baby comes this resolution may be over and done with pretty quickly, but for the next three months at least I can keep my school stuff/mail/ dishes/ clothes picked up and organized. This one is going to be hard, it's just so easy to ignore all the stuff around here, but I did successfully organize the coat closet.

I hope your New Year has started off on the right foot.

Christmastime is Near

As I prepare for our winter rotation tomorrow (where I get to teach about where chocolate comes from, and the kids get to enjoy hot chocolate) and count down to 3pm on Friday I am still don't believe Christmas is this weekend. All the shopping and wrapping is done, but I have yet to make any cookies. :( I am looking at all the Christmas cards coming in, but we didn't send any out (again!). Sorry. But at least it will be a nice break and I can spend some (more) time preparing for baby.

While we can't celebrate in school, almost all of my students are telling me that Christmas is Sunday, and talking about Santa and what presents they are getting.

On Friday I will finally be spilling the beans about my little bean. This week I finally got some of the girls saying "you look like you have baby" but I've just brushed them off. I wanted to read "Our Teacher' Having a Baby" by Eve Bunting, but it is out of print. My school library does not have it, and the public libraries don't have it either. To order it at Barnes and Nobel would cost me $40, and on Amazon it costs upwards of $90! So while it was the perfect story (I mean, the students are in First grade! That's not a coincidence!) it was just not in the cards for me to use it. Instead, I'm making my own book. I still need to put it all together, and print it out, but here's what it will say:

Mrs. S---'s Surprise

My name is Mrs. S---. 

And this is Mr. S---.

We met in College and even graduated together!

We got married in 2009.

This is our cat Grover (he thinks he is a dog!).

There are just 2 people in our family… but I have a surprise!

I am going to have a baby!

This is a picture of my baby. We do not know if it will be a boy or a girl. We will find out when the baby is born in April.

I'm going to include pictures of Grover, Adam, and the baby bump. I wonder how many of my students will say "I knew that" when I read this book. I also wonder how oblivious they are to my big ol' belly....

I mean- REALLY?!- You don't notice how big it is? Or you just think I'm fat.. which I totally get.. but come on- that's a baby!

Valentine's

Valentine's Day celebrations started Friday with dinner out for my brother's birthday. I am unfortunately a horrible sister and did not get any pictures of him, or the cake, or the family (other than Kaelyn and JJ before dinner). But I did get Kaelyn and Madison on video talking to each other. [It won't load here.. boo..]

Saturday Adam and I went for pho, and then I stopped by the liquor store for some pink champagne.

There are two glasses filled, but I ended up drinking most of the bottle myself while Adam had his Whiskey Sours.

Yesterday I made cupcakes for my class party today. Just plain old Funfetti cupcakes but I added the festive heart on top.

Today Adam surprised me with roses he sent to my school. The sneaky Valentine's hater asked for my address weeks ago saying he needed it for some benefit thing. I totally bought it! I knew he was cooking Tandoori Chicken for dinner tonight, but I was surprised when I walked in and saw more presents on the table.

Then I was treated to a delicious Indian dinner, with traditional Indian music playing in the background.

This was by far the best Valentine's day ever.

Oh Christmas Tree

I took down our tree yesterday. I would normally wait until New Year's to take it down, but since I'll be in Pittsburgh that weekend, I decided to bite the bullet and just do it now while I have the time.

Goodbye Christmas Tree

Goodbye Christmas Stuff

Presents Part 2

The Kindle cover came yesterday and Adam wrapped it up for me. I'm usually the one to wrap the presents because 'I know what I'm doing'. But I think he did a really cute job, with a bow and everything.

 He didn't want me to wait until Christmas to have it so I opened it right then. Guess the color: Blue, Pink, or Green? Remember I said NO brown, orange or red...

 

And the answer is...

BLUE! Adam said this way if he was caught with it at anytime it was Masculine enough for him.

My Kindle looks perfect in its new home :)

And speaking of early presents, Laura, Jamie, Adam, And I went in to get my parents (really my dad) a new TV. I wonder how he knew what it was before he unwrapped it?

We took it over last night she he wouldn't be opening it in front of everyone and having that over shine the other gifts on Christmas Eve. He love it by the way (and mom FINALLY admitted that the old TV was crap)

Happy Holidays!

Christmas presents

I am lucky enough to be able to go to the NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day up in Pittsburgh.

Because of the cost of the ticket, hotel, food, and other warming accessories (like my "F-Uggs" aka fugly fake uggs) that will be necessary, we decided that this will be my Christmas present. I was fine with that, it will be pretty expensive.

Adam got a netbook to help him with his writing as he runs around from event to event and travels out of town for something or other (did I mention he is now writing for 3 sites, and is an editor for one of them?). Plus, on black Friday he ordered a lot of new clothes to replace his old ones that are wearing out.

Well, I don't know what happened or if someone said something to him, but Adam decided that he spent way more on himself than we would be spending for me to go to the game. He decided I needed another Christmas present. After trying to surprise me and then worrying that I wouldn't like what he chose, he told me he ordered a Kindle for me! And the best part is it arrived Tuesday, just 2 days after talking about it!

I couldn't believe how small it was, and how clear the text was as well. That's the actual screen, not a filmy clingy sheet as I thought it was.

It is so much different than a standard book, but I think I will like it. So far the books I have looked up were $12.99, which is much cheaper than a new release at $24.99.

I'm so excited Christmas came early for me this year, but the real surprise is the case Adam ordered. I told him to surprise me with the color he chose (but told him not to get orange, brown, or red). Maybe I will save that surprise for Christmas morning.

Anyway- do you have a Kindle? What are your thoughts about e-readers?

Christmas Cookies Take 2

So after the first attempt to make Christmas cookies (which ended up turning hard and not staying soft like usual) I finally had the ingredients to make the Holiday Cookies recipe from my cookbook. It was pretty simple to make, took some time chilling the dough, but it rolled out nicely (once I discovered that saran wrap will substitute for parchment paper just fine... in this situation...). They looked good on the cookie sheet, but got very brown in the oven. But no worries, I just covered it up with icing.

However, when I tasted one of the cookies I was very disappointed. It was an egg-less dough and they taste like pie crust. I guess this isn't an issue if you like pie crust, but I do not- it is the one thing left on my plate after eating pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. So I guess I will be giving these away to family/ friends and will continue the hunt for a tasty and easy holiday cookie recipe.

Gifts

Gifts are done! They are all wrapped and under the tree... well the table that holds the tree.

Since we won't be at my Grandmother's in Gettysburg this year, I ordered a floral arrangement to be sent to her on Wednesday from GiftTree.com

She reminded my mom that I had not missed Christmas with her in 25 years, so I hope this makes up for it a little.

Christmas Cookies

I feel like I have been MIA for a while, I have been so busy. Monday I had doctor's appointment in the morning, then tried to get some Christmas shopping done and ended up taking a 3 hr nap. Then Tuesday I took a 2 hr nap after work. And yesterday I stayed at school until 7:45 (yes I was there longer than 12 hrs) for my class' winter concert. It was cute but I spent most of the time trying to catch falling kids from the risers, running to take some of them to the bathroom, and helping the late arrivals get on the stage. Did I mention that I was not required to do any of this?

So yeah, that brings me to today. It started snowing and while all the counties around us closed, had a delayed opening, or closed early, we did not. So I wound up driving home to a slippery un-plowed neighborhood at 5:00.

But on the bright side I am baking Christmas cookies!
I wanted to use my new Ikea cookie cutters,

But the recipe calls for cream cheese and I don't have any. And the regular sugar cookie recipe is too sticky to attempt to roll out (even though I tried).
 So I am left with simple round cookies, but they still taste good :)

BARK

It all started with my peppermint mocha.

Then came Adam's peppermint bark cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory.

And I saw it everywhere. 

I had to do it.

I made peppermint bark. Very simply actually.

 Select your chocolate. 

I don't really care for white choc. but I wanted to keep somewhat traditional.

Bash up the candy canes.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. 

I melted the white choc. first so I wouldn't have to clean the bowl. I melted half the white, then half the dark, then mixed the remaining of each bag to make my own 'milk' choc.

Spread onto a cookie sheet (lined with wax paper or foil so you can take it off easily)

Then sprinkle with candy cane bits.

Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Break apart and serve.

Now if I can keep it away from me so I don't eat the whole batch I think I'll be fine :)

It's a Wonderful Christmas

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like whatever you do and whatever you say is not good enough? Yeah, that happened at 3:30 yesterday with a phone call from an angry parent. It was a situation that was out of my control and every answer I could give was not anything that made her happy.

Luckily I was able to let go of some of the frustration last night. My dad had received tickets for the National philharmonic Orchestra with Michael W. Smith. After dinner at Cheesecake Factory, My parents, Adam, and I went to the concert. It was filled with a mix of original instrumental arrangements, classic Christmas carols, old Michael W. Smith music, and new Christmas songs from his new album "It's a Wonderful Christmas".

 

Unfortunately, after I took this first picture of the orchestra and the two DJs from a local radio station, the announcement was made that photos and video were prohibited. *sad face*

But is was a great concert with beautiful music. It really put me in the mood for Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Grover!

I was out shopping and happened to go into petsmart, hoping to find a little stocking stuffer for Grover. After being wooed by Lola, a grey kitten waiting to be adopted, I went to the cat towers. Adam and I had been talking about getting one for him to curb the scratching on our couches. We hadn't bought one yet because they can be so expensive. So when I saw the big one on sale for $30 off, I called Adam. The sale ended today, so we agreed to buy it. I am so glad Adam had taken my car down to Richmond this weekend, because there is no way this tower would fit in my car.

 He was very curious and began sniffing as soon as it came in the house.

Within 10 minutes he had killed the feather toy.

I guess he likes it!

Getting into the holiday spirit

With a tasty Peppermint Mocha this morning.

Mmmm...

Grover's favorite new hiding place:

 

 I bet he's thinking that if he can't see me, I can't see him. He is such a toddler.

We lost 2 black and 2 silver snowflake ornaments last year. Let's see how many he knocks down this Christmas.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Thanksgiving was so nice. I loved seeing Kaelyn and Madison playing with each other- well Kaelyn trying to play with Maddy who just sat there with a confused look on her face, probably thinking 'who are these crazy people?'

 The pies actually turned out well. The pumpkin was delicious, I mean how can you go wrong with the Libby recipe? The Apple was very good too, just a little soupy- it didn't set like it should have, but it still tasted great.

I woke up today knowing I would be cleaning the kitchen after all that baking from yesterday. While I was at it I got it into my head to clean the whole house. I spent an hour (the whole length of Live with Regis & Kelly) cleaning the downstairs, mostly scrubbing the bathroom shower with a Magic Eraser. I then made my way through my office, bedroom, kitchen, upstairs bathroom, and living room. It was worth it because I wouldn't allow myself to set up the Christmas tree until I was finished cleaning.

Now that Thanksgiving is over I am ready for the new Holiday. The tree is finally up, as are the stockings.

 I want a real tree, but this little table topper was a good purchase last year, it doesn't scream 'fake' and held up pretty well in the closet all year.

 Our 'New Home' ornament my mom got us when we moved

Grover's ornament I got at Target after Christmas clearance last year

yes that is Grover's stocking in the middle :)

Now to do some shopping. I did a little Black Friday Online ordering for my trip to Pittsburgh for the Winter Classic, but I need to start thinking about everyone else... hmm, what to buy, what to buy...

Adventures in Pie Baking

Adam made the pie dough with my mom Tuesday night. I brought it back here yesterday so we could work on it this morning before heading back to my parents' later for Thanksgiving dinner. There were 4 balls of dough,  2 for 2 pumpkin pies, 2 for the apple pie. Well, as Adam put it, we were 3 for 4 or 75%, meaning: "WE PASSED!"
I don't know why but the dough just kept sticking, no matter how many times I turned it and added more flour to the counter and the rolling pin. So we decided to scrap the last one that didn't work out (we ended up running out of flour anyway) and make a crumb topping for the apple pie.

Here's what our dining table looks like when we clear out the kitchen to work

And the (hopefully) tasty pies

and the homemade whipped cream

We followed the Libby pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the can, and used Adam's grandma's Blue Ribbon apple pie recipe.

I said it yesterday and I will say it again- I can't wait for Thanksgiving dinner!

Ready

I am so glad this crazy work week has come to an end. I could have sworn today was Friday.. and Tuesday was Friday... and Monday was Friday...

Anyway I am ready for tomorrow :) Adam is making the pies in the morning then we will be heading to my parents' for delicious food. I helped my dad set the table tonight, complete with 2 chairs for Kaelyn and Maddy.

And appropriate silver plasticware for them.

Including the young ones, there will be 14 of us. I think this is the most we have had at one table in a while. We usually split and put 4-6 of us in the kitchen. It'll be tight, but fun too. I can't wait!