Sun-POD

I cannot believe that it is February 28th! Here I am with a few of the girls who spent the night at Nancy's mom's. We had a great time!!! Lynn prepared Beef Bourguignon for all of us. There were snacks and wine galore! I brought some Foie Gras from Paris to share with our meal-yummy, yum, yum! Then we had birthday cake and de-caf coffee. We cranked the music up and danced in our jammies and talked until we couldn't complete our sentences then went to bed. We woke up this morning and had coffee and coffee cake and talked some more....

I got home around 1:00 to discover that my son, Tripp, had been throwing up all night-poor little fella'. He is resting now and I am catching up on the computer and blogging stuff since I haven't been around to do it all weekend.

So is March roaring in like a lion in your neck of the woods? We are supposed to get more snow on Tuesday of this week. March is also the countdown to my 40th birthday!!!

Sat POD

Saturday was consumed with the Odyssey of the Mind competion at TC Roberson High School. Here you see my daughter, Libby, holding the 1st place trophy with her teammates! We had to bee at the school by 8:00 a.m., they did Spontaneous competition at 9:20, Long Term competition at 11:30, then we went to lunch at a wonderful Chinese buffet. The awards ceremony began somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00. Then I headed down to my friend's mom's home about 45 minutes away for our "adult" sleepover party! Had lots of great photos from that-but OM was definitely the big deal for the day!

Fri POD

I met a friend for coffee at a new shop in town. Had to get some housework done for the book club meeting at my home tonight. Right after school was out, I took my son to have an ECG because he has been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Focalin for it. I am very hesitant about medication so I was insistent that we do an ECG to detect any possible undiagnosed heart conditions before agreeing to put him on anything. (You'll be hearing lots more about this in the near future, I'm sure).
As for book club-I made it an "English" theme to go with the book and served Lady Grey and Earl Grey teas, scones, Devonshire cream, Cheshire and Gloucestershire cheeses, and Jordan almonds. We had a great get-together and watched the Hitchcock movie version of our book club selection, Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. I fell asleep during the movie and everyone left as soon as it was finished-long week for all!

Friend Time

One of my dear friends that moved to Shreveport a couple of years ago is visiting town for the weekend. Today, my game night group (that Nancy started 3 years ago) got together to welcome her home. This means we have all gotten together a lot in the last couple of weeks-what a treat. I made this yummy crustless quiche to bring to the coffee. I used pre-roasted red pepper that came in a jar, onion, garlic, and spinach (about 1/2 a bag of fresh). I used a blend of Mexican cheese, mozzarella, and some colby jack. This was super easy to throw together and turned out great for those days you don't have time to mess with making a pie shell.
It is really turning out to be a fun week of friend time. I had tea on Wed, the coffee today, a breakfast w/another friend tomorrow morning, book club at my house also tomorrow, and a sleepover for all of Nancy's friends at her mom's home on Saturday night! Yippee! No complaining about "me" time for a while, I guess!

Three Cups of Tea

Had some much-needed catch up time with a couple of my dear girlfriends this morning. We shared tea and chatted about the usual-work, school, kids, etc. Speaking of Three Cups of Tea...hope you've read the book by that same title. It's wonderful!

Tues. POD-Olympic Glory

Libby and I spent the evening curled up in bed watching the Olympics. I fell asleep before the really big names even performed and honestly I would have preferred a photo of the Nordic Combined men's, but couldn't stay awake for it. This is a horrible picture (I know), but since we've spent so much time glued to the tv over the last two weeks, we had to have at least one photo of it for my Project Life album.

Week 7 Project Life update

Costumes, costumes, and more costumes

This time of year is a little nutty at a dance studio. Picking out recital songs and costumes is really more difficult than choreographing a bunch of dances! So that is what I have been doing all day- ordering costumes, changing those that were unavailable, and getting the notes ready to send home with the parents.

Happy Birthday!

As I mentioned in the post for Saturday, my brother in law and father in law have been in town this weekend to celebrate, Mike's (on L) 40th.

Couching it-POD Feb. 20

My kids love to fall asleep on the couches in front of the tv on the weekends. They don't have tv's in their rooms like some kids do but they do have their own den with a tv and computer. Their sleeping on the couch is such a common occurrence that it would easily get overlooked as a notable picture moment...

On this particular evening, my hubby and his brother and father who are visiting from out of town are having dinner at The Purple Onion in the neighboring town of Saluda, NC and enjoying the music of Kellin Watson. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to go, but the kids had their own plans and so I didn't think it was a good idea to go so far leaving one child at home, etc. At any rate, I had a quiet evening at home with Tripp and being a chauffeur for Libby.

Friday Play Date

Fridays are my day off so I usually meet girlfriends for lunch for an adult play date. It's a fun way to finish out the work week and kick off the weekend! One of our favorite spots to dine is Bluewater Seafood.

Cheers!

Today, I went to a luncheon at a friend's home to celebrate a 50th birthday...one of my friend's from my game night group. I have a couple of great pictures of the birthday girl and the hostess (who we also celebrated a 51st birthday for), but for some reason this photo just seemed so much more representative of the festivity of the occasion. I am enjoying the imperfect photos in this photo-a-day challenge and appreciating their importance even if they aren't the typical "great" shot. Cheers!

I've got work to do

"I'm Blushing"

Well, you may see by the look of my laundry room that I haven't opened the door for quite some time! My husband had a laundry chute put in on the main floor of our home so that the kids just drop their dirty clothes through the chute and it's gone, comes back to them clean from the laundry fairy I guess. In our closet there is also an opening into the laundry room-so unless we're all out of socks or unders it may be days before the actual door to the laundry room gets opened. I honestly don't remember the last day I did laundry so that goes to show we have too darned many clothes! At any rate, I am doing a few loads this evening out of necessity. It looks like it will take me days to catch up on this pile...Thank goodness for the wonderful smell of clean clothes.

Picture of the Day-Feb. 16

This was another "on my way to bed, what can I take a picture of nights". I tend to get home from work, eat dinner, and crash shortly after we've put the kids to bed.

My kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in the house and of course, a room I spend lots of time in. Here you see one of my very favorite things, my Aga dual fuel range. It's big and can handle lots of dishes at once. Since my hubby and I both love to cook and to have parties, this stove has been a well-used piece of equipment. I picked it because it looked "old fashioned" and gave this room so much character. It's a pain in the rear to clean (so I don't do it often) but it seems a small price to pay for how much we enjoy it.

Rebecca-Monday POD

It was my month to pick the selection for our book club. After sleuthing reviews on amazon for a bit. I decided to go with an older book that had great reviews, Rebecca. It's been really wonderful, such descriptive writing that totally transports you back to the time. It was another day off from school due to snow so I wasn't so sure I'd be going to work either. I spent the entire morning snuggled under a blanket on the couch reading and had trouble tearing myself away even when the sun came out and I decided it was safe to proceed with classes for the day. I have only a chapter or so left to read but I fell asleep on the couch last night while watching a back episode of 24 with my hubby. (That is also why I didn't get to post my photo yesterday). Happy Reading!

The greatest love of all...

(Gifts and cards-made from the pages of the Sweetie Book on House of 3)

The greatest and best love of all is the kind we receive from our family each and every day. The unconditional, very forgiving kind that accepts us just as we are. It doesn't come wrapped in cute wrapping paper or tied with a pretty bow. It doesn't come on holidays or in sappy Hallmark cards. It doesn't come with candlelight and romantic dinners. It's just there for you whether you are happy, or sad, or when you are being your most "un-lovely". You find it and feel it when you are giving it...So give it freely and abundantly!
Share the love, because love really is all you need!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Dinner Party

We had a lovely Valentine's dinner with some good friends tonight. The meal consisted of antipasto, seafood bisque, pasta with Italian sausage and a putanesca sauce, a salad, and some of the best foccaccia I've ever had. Dessert was a chocolate torte with strawberries dipped in chocolate and this yummy rose champagne that I take to any party where chocolate is being served.

and more snow....

My "prize" ring I won on Heidi Swapp's site (courtesy of Liz Eaton) arrived today! I love it and it looks really fabulous paired with my anniversary band....

The snow started falling before school even let out for the day. My son's best friend got dropped off since his school got out earlier than ours so he went with me to pick the kids up. We ran by the grocery store to get the supplies for Libby's Valentine's party, doubtful that we would even get to have it. Jim took the boys to see the movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympian: The Lightning Thief. In the meantime, the snow continued to pour from the sky and Libby did end up calling off her party. My girlz game night which was also scheduled to meet tonight had to be canceled, too.
The plus side to all this is that at least we will be home together and can watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Just waiting patiently for the fellas to make it back from the theater.

Evil Girl Scouts....

Blaming myself for ordering all these boxes of cookies is just out of the question. Blaming myself for eating more than a recommended serving at one time is also out of the question. It is all those evil little girl scouts fault for me blowing my low-carb eating plan! For some reason, every student at dance that I ordered cookies from brought them to me today. I had eaten sensibly, came home and ate a sensible dinner and then proceeded to eat 2 of the Caramel Delights, 3 of the Lemon, and 3 of the Thin Mints (not so sensible). I have lost all self control!
I love Girl Scout cookies! Who doesn't? I sold them as a girl and have been a firm supporter/buyer of them as an adult. I miss the old names though- Samoas, Tagalongs, and there are even a couple that I don't think they carry any longer...
I guess by now many of you are dealing with this very same dilemma. My suggestion is to just eat/share the box all in one sitting and be done with it. You'll not only finish the box and remove temptation, you'll also get the disappointment in yourself all over with in one fell swoop!

Enjoy those cookies and remember that life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks!

All my love...

These two are what it's ALL about! My son, Tripp, age 11, and my daughter, Libby, age 12.
I was making some cards for school today (thank you/Valentine photo cards for some of our supporters) and when I saw how cute the Valentine cards were at the Walmart photo site I decided that instead of having the kids make cards for family this year we would do a photo card instead. So, that meant I had to take a few pictures of the kids tonight. They were pretty cooperative and I am sure that any of you who have tried to take planned photos of children or animals know all to well that is almost impossible to do!
I won't send these to all the friends and family who get Christmas cards, but I think the grandparents will appreciate an unexpected picture of the kids. Hope you are feeling the love from those around you this Valentine's week!

Meeting & Dinner (Tuesday Picture of the day)

Parent-Teacher council meetings are a fun night that the teachers and parents at our school actually look forward to. Our meetings are the second Tuesday night of each month and we have gotten into the habit of going out for dinner after the meetings because they are usually pretty short and sweet. The definite attendees are always me and our school's office manager. Other teachers and PTC members join us from time to time. Last night we went to a new restaurant in our town, Iannucci's. It was wonderful! This is a family-owned and operated business that opened it's original restaurant in South Asheville many years ago and has now opened a second restaurant in Hendersonville. We are happy to welcome them to town. I am shown here with our 2nd grade teacher-a dear family friend!

What's In Your Purse?

I really did mean to take a cute picture of all of my Valentine cards with their suckers attached that I was giving to my students at the dance studio today...they turned out so cute. But, I forgot my camera. Then when I got home from work this evening I got sucked into a couple of projects, followed by a couple of tv shows and here it is 11:24 and no picture! Then, I remembered this cute idea off a scrapbook site....the picture of the contents of your purse. Cute, easy, and a real glimpse of "me".

So, here is what's in the bag: (the mono store site is under construction)
a big pak of Orbit Sweet mint gum
a cute little green room recycyled notebook 4x6 size-Medallion available at Target
a pad of checks without a cover
6 receipts (Walgreens, Ingles grocery store,Cracker Barrel, Mean Mr. Mustards, Janitzios, Bloomfields of Flat Rock)
3 shopping lists
1random note of information
a grocery store coupon
pocket posh crosswords book
3 mini Kleenex out of wrapper
an emtpy Stevia packet
an envelope with discount cards I'm selling for school
a gum wrapper
a bird sticker (?)
my favorite Wish Lollia handcream (smells like heaven) available at anthropologie
my Natural Life coin purse
a Cross pen (gift from my son)
a 6x8 green room notebook (Floral) available at Target
small Vera Bradley makeup bag (old pattern, the link is for a new one I like)
old Kate Spade sunglasses (out of their case-bad girl!)

Wow! Lots of stuff...
Have you cleaned out your purse lately?

Bonne Nuit!

Super Bowl

It's funny how even if you don't know who is playing in the Super Bowl until the day before- that you still end up watching this game! It's such a tradition, like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or fireworks on the 4th of July. It's just something so All-American, even with The Who playing, you cannot help but "celebrate". We pulled for the Saints and it was great that they won. Especially since it was their first win ever. Congrats!

Project Life Slideshow

Looks like Narnia

There were loads of cool and strange icy pictures to be taken over the last two days, but I could only choose one for the day...This is our giant weeping cherry. Seeing the trees and bushes all covered in ice makes it hard to believe they will recover and look so green and lovely just a few short months from now. We are truly in a winter wonderland! Despite the ice, there is a warm, loving feeling around our house. Today, I made Valentine's for my dance students. A lot of them! I just have to add lollipops and they will be ready for next week. My daughter is having a party next weekend so she painted cardboard and cut out 90! hearts and hand stamped "LOVE" on all of them to make decorations. I also printed out an adorable sweetie book from House of 3 that I am making into a gift for my hubby. After printing out this above photo, my Project Life book will also be up to date for the week as well. We are enjoying all the crafting time being out of school has given us!

I Won!!! Thank you, Heidi Swapp!

I am as overjoyed as a person can be right now! I won a contest for a prize and I didn't even know I had entered it! LOL! A few nights ago, Heidi Swapp had posted some awesome links to video tutorials for some of the great Valentine's day stuff House of 3 was offering. That same night, my daughter and I had worked on one of her banners-you might recall this post a few days ago. At any rate, that night was the first time I had ever recalled seeing an open comments section on her site and I just felt so inspired by her enthusiasm in general that I just had to take a moment to thank her! You might also recall one of my early posts way back in January mentioning the book 5 that I had picked up per her suggestion and just devoured. Well, I know I am gushing but as I said-I am completely overjoyed that I won something. This is what I won! Please take a moment and check out the artist's, Liz Eaton's lovely stuff on etsy and to also visit one of my favorite artists and idols, Heidi! Just so you know, House of 3 is doing Friday sale, $5.00 off a purchase of $9.99 or more so go get the stuff to make all those Valentine cards you need to have ready by next week!

Thanks so much...what a bright spot in this otherwise gray day in the winter wonderland that is western North Carolina!

Hanging with the Boys

I love this picture of my son and a few of his school chums. My children are privileged enough to attend a very small K-8 charter school, The Mountain Community School, here in NC. They are a close-knit family of kids. The middle school contains a total of 60 kids. Tripp, my son, the 3rd from the left in the above photo, is in the 6th grade. Every 2 weeks each grade "collects" points from their teachers by doing things like being on time, turning in homework assignments on time, etc. and the winning class goes out to lunch to a restaurant, Janitzio's. (Sort of our school restaurant-we all go there so often). Since I served on the board for the last 6 years, I have been going out to lunch with the teachers and principal long before my kids ever moved into the middle school. Now I am off the board and I still go just because I love to...difference is that now both of my kids are in middle school, so that means I also get to enjoy a lunch date with them! These boys bought mustaches from the gumball machine and here they are proudly modeling them for me!

Now, as a side note-Remeber, we had that big snow last Friday so there was no school on Monday or Tuesday of this week. More ice and snow on the way (I had to cancel my last class of the night and barely made it home safely) so it looks like no school tomorrow either!

L-O-V-E

It's February, so naturally we're all feeling the LOVE and thinking about Valentine's Day. My daughter, Libby and I made this adorable banner this evening after I got home from work. This is super fun and easy to do. You can make it as elaborate as you'd like, but we kept it very simple. The banner itself is a printable available to purchase at House of 3. We didn't print it on cardstock, so our first step was to adhere it to some, then we painted ours with Mod-Podge. (Speaking of which, visit one of my favorite blogs...www.modpodgerocks.blogspot.com). Next, we stapled the pennant pieces to some curling ribbon. Last, Libby cut a heart from some matching cardstock and glued on some chipboard letters I had in my scrapbooking stash. As I said, this was a quick little craft project for some mother-daughter bonding time. I am also making one and will probably do a few as gifts! Enjoy!

Project Life slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47041488@N05/show/

Icy Perch

One more snow day for us...

but the birds didn't let the ice and rain stop them from scavenging for food. We have thrown out tons of birdseed on top of the snow this weekend and even did the special treat of eggshells. It was a beautifully frosty morning for birdwatching. The photo of this female cardinal was actually taken through the window but still turned out very well, I thought.

Instead of composting our eggshells we rinse and drain them, place them on a baking sheet and dry in a 200 degree oven (does anyone know how to make the degree symbol with your keyboard?) for about 10 minutes. When they are finished you simply mash them into small pieces and put them out in a shallow dish or millworm feeder. This is a great treat to put out before spring nesting season. The shells help the mother bird replace the calcium lost during the last egg-laying season.

Lemon Poppyseed muffins

Happy February-this marks one month of blogging for me!
No school today so that meant I had time to make a more labor-intensive breakfast. My son loves lemon poppyseed muffins but I had never attempted to make them at home. The recipe below is definitely a keeper!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

The only change I made was to use confectioner's sugar instead
of granulated for the glaze.

They were delish with a cup of this tea!