Hey 2012..what's up?

So 2011 was quite  a year for me.  I switched jobs, went on an amazing weekend getaway with my best high school girl friends, and had the sweetest baby girl (who by the way is currently napping so sweetly on my lap), and turned 30... I wonder what 2012 has in store...

I don't make resolutions because I don't keep them.  I like to think in terms of goals, some long-term, some short-term.

Here are a couple of goals I have for the year.

1. Read more- I want my students to read every night, so I need to as well.
2. Check out more books from the library.
3. Find some non-fiction books I like
4. Go on vacation
5. Find a great face cleanser
6. Do more DIY projects (thanks to pinterest, I have quite the list)
7. Don't leave my clean laundry folded up in baskets...put it away!
8. Wear more dresses
9. Fix my hair at least 4 days a week (lame I know, but I suffer from the just put it in a ponytail syndrome)
10. Enjoy it!

You may think some of my goals are lame, and you may not understand why wearing more dresses would be a goal, and that's okay.  They are my goals, lame or not...I hope whatever goals or resolutions you make for the year that you are successful and that you live life to the fullest every single day.

I think I'll go read now and think about making a best of 2011 post, because there aren't enough of those. :)

Happy New Year!

Baked Mac and Cheese

Here's one more recipe that is pretty standard in my house.  I remember having this as a child for holiday's at my grandma's.  A few years ago, my mom gave me the recipe and I love making it!  Make a salad and you've got quite the meal (bonus it's still good reheated)

Baked Mac and Cheese

Preheat oven to 350

You will need....

1 Box of Penne noodles
1 egg
1 small can of condensed milk
2 cups of chedder cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the noodles as directed.  In a baking dish alternate layers of noodles and cheese.  The top layer should be cheese.  In a small bowl, mix the condensed milk and egg together.  Pour over the top of the macaroni and cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until top layer of cheese is golden brown. 

The condensed milk adds a great taste of sweetness to the mac and cheese.  If you like cheese, don't be stingy--sometimes I add a little more than 2 cups depending on what we have at home.  (Cheese is one of my food groups, so I never skimp).

When you want to reheat, add a little milk to the dish and heat in the oven until it is warmed through.

BEST MAC AND CHEESE EVER!

Christmas in a Crockpot

For Christmas Eve festivities a few years ago, we decided to do "Christmas in a Crockpot."  All the food we ate was cooked and served in crockpots...made it easy for us because no one had to slave over a big fancy meal and it was delicious!  I love these recipes because they are easy and flexible to your tastes...I don't measure a whole lot, I just add stuff until I think it tastes good. :)

So get your toothpicks and your napkins ready, here are some of our crockpot favorites...

Meatballs

1 bag of frozen meatballs (you could use a homemade recipe if you have one..I'm all about easy and homemade meatballs are messy)
1/2 a bottle to a bottle of ketchup depending on preference
1 bottle of BBQ sauce
1 jar of grape jelly

Put meatballs in crockpot add rest of ingredients cook for 4-6  hours.  I don't usually add much ketchup, I like the flavor of the bbq sauce better.  Also, I never understood why all these meatball recipes called for jelly...I thought it was weird, until I tried it.  It's good folks!


Lil' Smokies

enough packages of lil smokies for your group
1 bottle of BBQ sauce
a cup of grape jelly

All the ingredients in a crockpot cook for 6 hours on low


 Cheesy Salsa Dip

1 jar of your favorite salsa
16 oz of velveeta cheese cubed

mix it all together in your crockpot  and cook on low,  Serve with your favorite dipping chips.


Now this last recipe wasn't for Crockpot Christmas but we enjoy this in our house throughout the year.


Roast

Your favorite cut of roast
1 package of Italian Dressing
1 package of Ranch Dressing
1 package of Au Jus
1-2 cups of water (depending on how much gravy you like)

optional--add carrots and potatoes


put roast in crockpot (we've done it both frozen and thawed)
add the rest of ingredients and cook on low 8 hours

The delightful smells of this roast will make your mouth water and your house smell WONDERFUL.


I love my crockpot, even though I'm a freak and worry about it all day when I'm not home, I still love it! And I mean I'm a freak, I envision these horrible scenarios about how I'll be in the middle of teaching and my principal will come to my room and tell me I have a phone call and it will be the fire department because my crockpot will have exploded and caught my house on fire.  Is this irrational or do others have these same issues?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

Happy Crockpot-ing!
 

Where Have You Been?

I know that I don't have many readers so you probably don't really care where I've been but I'll tell you anyway.  BTW--imagine Mrs. Weasley reading the post title. Did you? :)

I'm currently sitting at home holding my sweet baby girl, Maggie, who was born Oct. 1st (3 weeks early).  She is the sweetest little girl and I have been completely in love with her since the moment I saw her.  Her big brother adores her and gives her the sweetest little kisses on her head a hundred times a day.

While we were a little surprised that she came early, I'm grateful that she came when she did and was perfectly healthy.  I'm now able to take 3 full months off from work and spend loads of time with both my kids and I feel so blessed that I get this extra time with them.

I hope to blog soon about her first month and her  big arrival.

Happy Announcements!

Well where do I begin?  These last few months have been pretty exciting...just in the last three weeks, I've been to three weddings for three wonderful friends, how lucky am I to be able to celebrate with them in this new part of their lives?

I've posted before about some changes that I was looking forward to.  I never really said what those changes were...they had to do with my job and I wanted to be discreet and see how things panned out before talking about it.  So here goes, for the past seven years I have taught elementary music, a job that I never thought I would love so much.  In that time, I've completed a Master's Degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in classroom teaching and then last fall I completed my certification for Early Childhood Education. Sooo....next year, I will be teaching Kindergarten in a building I have worked in for the last seven years!  I'm really excited about this change, because I think professionally and personally it's important to learn and grow, and without change, that can't happen.  Since finding out I was offered the position, I've been through a variety of emotions; joy, excitement, fear, guilt, nervousness...all which I'm assured are completely natural. :)  Really though, I'm so excited to take this on.  I'm looking forward to having one classroom with one group of children and Kindergarten is such a COOL age.  I've been thinking and planning non-stop.  I'll be working with an outstanding team that I am fortunate enough to already call my friends and staying in a building that is near and dear to my heart.  I couldn't be luckier!


Can you believe there is more news??????

Our family of 3 will be a family of 4 in October. We will be welcoming a little girl into our home and hearts and I cannot tell you how beside myself with joy I am.  A baby is always a joy, of course, and I can't wait to see what this little one brings to our family.

So you can say I'm a little giddy right now.  Keep following me here and on plugged in parents to see what's going on with my new position at work as well as adding a new family member to the mix.  I'll update more, I promise. :)

Catching Up

It’s been a long while since I have blogged and I promised myself that when I started this blog I wouldn’t let that happen.  So in an effort to catch up a little bit, I’m going to link you to a blog post that I have recently written for Plugged in Parents.

I think this is a blog that parents and teachers alike can relate to; dealing with discipline.  It’s not easy, that’s for sure.  In this post I share some ideas and strategies that I have learned and have found to be successful at both my home and classroom.

Do you have any fool-proof strategies that work with your kids either at home or at school?  I’m looking for positive, constructive ideas.  No berating or negativity here!

Find the link to my post at Plugged in Parents HERE!

Books I've Read...Books I've Loved...

Over the last month or so, I've had a lot of time to catch up on reading, and while my "To Be Read" pile/box is still looming over me, I've found some great treasures.

First up...                                          The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

This is the second book in the series the first is The Dark Divine.  If you haven't read them...go get both of them now.  Really...GO!  The pacing, the voice, the characters...HELLO DANIEL...all make both of these fantastic reads.  I'd been waiting for months to read The Lost Saint and it did not disappoint.  Check it out!

Next up...                                        Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

I simply cannot rave enough about this book! I LOVED it.  If you are looking for a fun, captivating, paranormal read, you must get this one.  Evie is under the protection of the IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agreement), her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, and her best friend is a mermaid.  If that doesn't have the makings of a great story, I don't know what does.

And finally for today...

                                                              Matched by Ally Condie

Let me just say this about Matched.  Not often do books move me to tears; TV shows, movies, commercials, songs, yes...I'll cry at anything but not usually books.  I cried like a fool in this one...like sobbing and sniffling...it wasn't pretty.  Thank you, Ally Condie, for Matched. I loved it.  The pacing catches you right from the beginning and you are immediately drawn into this society where EVERYTHING is decided for you: your job, your spouse, how many kids you will have, even down to what and how much you eat. I read this book cover to cover in less than a day.  If you like The Hunger Games, I think you should check this one out.

So there you have it...completely unofficial, random thoughts about a few great books I've read.

Writing Notebooks for Youngsters

My latest blog on Plugged in Parents is about encouraging writing with your young children using Writer's Notebooks.  If you have school-aged children, you may have seen them before...did you ever think about getting one started for your pre-schooler?

Here's a snippet about how my four year old uses his notebooks.

I’ve let him pick out his notebook, he has a Toy Story one, and two different composition notebooks he likes to use.  If you plan on trying a notebook at home, make sure your child is involved in the process.  Allow them to choose a notebook and let them decorate it with stickers or drawings to really make it personal.  Also, this should be fun, so give your child an opportunity to experiment with a variety of writing tools: pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, and fancy pens. That freedom gives way to creativity and expression.

He loves tracing right now, so I might write his “big name” and have him trace the letters.  Some days we talk about shapes, I draw a shape and he traces it and then colors it.  Some nights, I get special requests, like draw the Mickey Mouse Choo-Choo Express Train, so I draw and he colors.  It isn’t always structured like that though; sometimes he just wants to draw.  He likes drawing pictures of people he knows, and on a page that may look like just scribbles, he can tell you exactly what everything means.

If you want to read more from my original post click here!

2011...What's UP?!?!

So it’s 2011…important for a few reasons.  Number 1, I turn 30 in July.  I know, right? I don’t look a day over 25 or that’s what I tell people when they ask me how old I am.   I’m being silly, it’s not so much the number, it’s the changing of the decade thing that gets me.  I’m not going to be in my 20’s anymore….I’ll be in my 30’s.  Maybe I’ll just rock 25 for a few more years. J

In some ways being 30 makes me nervous and my stomach aches just thinking about it.  Although, a friend of a friend told me last summer that 30 isn’t so bad—think of all the stuff you’ve done up to this point…you’ve worked hard to get to where you are so who cares.  I don’t have to put up with the drama anymore, I’m past that.  That’s a nice feeling.  Maybe I need to adapt to her way of thinking a little more. Embrace it…yep, that’s what I’ll do…OR what I say I will do and then freak out a little on the inside.  That’s probably more like me.

Another reason why 2011 is important to me:  I did something the other day that could really be a big change for me, a good change, but a big one.  I’m keeping quiet now, because nothing is for sure.  I don’t know what will come from this; I’m hoping that it will be a great opportunity for me. So we’ll see.

So here’s what I’m looking forward to in 2011

1. Prince William & Kate Middleton’s wedding….I’m a royal nerd…no pun intended….but I CAN’T WAIT!!!!
2. Summer vacation
3. Girls trip to Chicago to celebrate the big 30 for all of us
4. Above mentioned possible change
5. NKOTB/BSB concert coming to St. Louis

Prom and Prejudice

Are you looking for a fun YA novel to read?  Check out my review on YABC of Prom and Prejudice. I LOVED it!!!

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.
Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway? Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making? ~From Goodreads

Click here to read my review!