Teacher gift

I finally had a chance to do something crafty a few weeks ago. I would love to say that it is going to happen more, but I doubt it. Right now I am knee deep in my Lamaze course design. It is fun, but very time intensive also.



Anyways, on to the craftiness. I found the idea on this blog http://creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com/2009/05/teacher-gift-framed-crayon-letters.html awhile ago and thought it would make the perfect end of the year teacher gift.



It is super simple to make and didn't cost me anything put a piece of paper and the frame.

Meal Plan Monday

Now that life has calmed down a little bit I am hoping to get back to Meal Plan Monday each week. My grocery budget was so much better and we didn't have that horrible what are we doing for dinner discussion every night.

Monday: chicken wraps (based on a recipe by Sam the Cooking Guy)

Tuesday: chili and cornbread

Wednesday: pork loin, baked potatoes, and veggies

Thursday: bacon cheeseburger pasta

Friday: hot dogs and beans

Sorry about not updating (LONG)

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Life has been very interesting and hectic around here lately and not always in a good way. I'm going to try and sum everything up in this post, but be aware it will probably be long and not always light hearted.

In March we found out that my dad has colon cancer. He had surgery in April and started chemo in May. It has been and continues to be a long road. He is doing as well as you can on chemo. We've been going down as often as we can which leads to a lot of travelling with three kids.

In April my uncle passed away suddenly. It was my mom's only sibling. It came as quite a shock and sadly we weren't able to be there for the service.

On a happy note I started my training to become a Lamaze certified educator. I attended a seminar in Buffalo the first part of June. It was awesome and I will dedicate another post to just that. Needless to say I am super excited about doing this.

Yesterday I found out that my dad's brother passed away. He had been sick for awhile and had some complications in the past week or so. It is hard because he is in Florida and no one had seen him for awhile. I'm glad that he is no longer suffering, but I feel for all of the family that is left behind.

Cooper was retested for his nut allergy yesterday and the results weren't good. He is still allergic so I guess we will spend the rest of our lives in a constant state of concern whenever he eats something or goes somewhere. I am grateful that it isn't something worse, but it is still a hard thing to live with.

On one other good note Jeremy is now on a day staff job! This means a consistent schedule and most weekends off. He will have to work a few late nights and a weekend here or there, but nothing too bad. I am so grateful to not have to do anymore night shifts.

Overall it has been a very rough 6 months or so. I am grateful for the good things and trying to deal with the bad. I am hoping to get better about updating my blog with some fun lighthearted stuff in the near future.

For those that are still reading, thanks for sticking around!

Tomato dumplings

This is a recipe that my MIL gave me when we got married. It is my husband's favorite meal and his request every year on his birthday. It is super simple and quick which I love.

Tomato Dumplings

2 c Bisquick
2/3 c milk
1 68 oz can tomato juice

Pour tomato juice into large pot and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, combine Bisquick and milk. It will be a little dry and lumpy looking.

Once the tomato juice comes to a boil, drop dumplings in. Usually the bigger dollops you put in the less "sinkers" you have. I usually get 8-10 dumplings per batch.

Lower heat to medium and let boil uncovered for 10 minutes then cover and cook for 10 more minutes.

Let cool slightly and serve.

Careers

When I was little I always wanted to be a teacher. I used to play school with all the books and papers and everything. Then as I got older I decided that I really didn't want to have all the extra stuff that goes along with being a teacher. So I was looking for a new career path.

In high school I was always the shy kid (still am really). I didn't join in much and hated speaking in public. I even failed my high school speech section. As I was looking through the course catalog for college communications caught my eye. I know, sounds weird for someone that hated public speaking, right? What drew me to that major was the options I had. I didn't have to pick a specific major right away.

I eventually chose Public Relations and while the professor wasn't anyone I really wanted to see again, the projects were great and I loved the writing aspect of the courses. I figured I would end up working in PR in the sports world somewhere. Then I took a public speaking course. I found out that I wasn't half bad at it and I had dealt with my fear. I competed on the forensics (speech) team and placed at every meet I went to except Nationals. I had found a new love.

After college I had a hard time finding a job in my major. I ended up working as an assistant to the Maintenance Supervisor at a pharmaceutical company. It wasn't my intended job, but I loved it. I am still heartbroken that my old boss lost her battle with cancer. She was such a huge inspiration for me and the guys that I worked with became like a second family to me. Sadly, when the Navy moved us I had to quit my job. I found out just after that I was pregnant. Because of Jeremy's job we decided that I would be a stay at home mom. It has been tough at times, but something that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Now that Jeremy's job is a little more stable (or as stable as it can be in the Navy), I have decided to pursue my career again.

I have decided to turn my love of public speaking, my desire to teach, and my passion for natural childbirth into a career. I am in the process of working on my certification to become a childbirth educator. I am really excited about this new opportunity. It is scary to kind of start all over again, but I am ready and hope that things work out for the best.

Necklace holder

I'm not a big jewelry person, but I do love wearing necklaces. I have quite a few that I rotate around. I have a really nice jewelry box that hubby got me when we were dating and I love it..for everything except necklaces. Those stupid little hooks and doors always got everything tangled and just annoyed me. I started just laying them on the dresser, but then the cat would play with them and they would get tangled or lost.

I looked forever to find something that would work and just wasn't finding anything. Then my MIL was making message boards and I had a light bulb moment.

It was so simple I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. All I did was take a small piece of foam board and covered it with fabric and batting. Then I bought small hooks and screwed them into the foam board. I have a picture hanger on the back. I will probably add another one because I have a few heavier ones that make it tilt if I take them off. It works so well. I can see all my necklaces and they don't get tangles or lost.

Kids music recommendation

I am always in search of kids music that doesn't make my ears bleed. I can't take much of the cutesy kids stuff. And I especially hate the Kidz Bop things. I don't think that allowing kids to sing some of those songs makes them ok.

I knew that our neighbors were musicians, but I never really knew that type of music they did. The other day we were talking and they brought over a kids CD for us to listen to. They thought our boys might like it. Boy were they right.

The songs are mostly original. All the songs have kind of a folk feeling to them, but upbeat and fun. My kids were dancing all over the living room and trying to learn the words to sing along the first time we listened.

If your looking for a CD that both you and your kids love listening too check out http://johnandtrish.com. The CD is called Big Rock Candy Mountain and they have a few snippets of songs on their website http://www.johnandtrish.com/newqstep/Big_Rock_Candy_Mountain_CD.html.

Added bonus is supporting local musicians!