......so proud!!

This is some exciting news! Jennifer has become a stylist for Stella & Dot, a jewelry company. They have awesome pieces, some very trendy, some vintage, some simple. Take a peek at her website to view the jewelry and get more information.

We had a lot of fun over the weekend playing around and trying on the different pieces, we even took a few "style" shots. Doesn't Jamie look cute in this necklace?! Well, she looks cute anyway...

Her cousins also got in on the act, modeling different pieces for us. It was just like playing dress-up.

Good luck, Jennifer! I'm so excited for you and your new adventure.....

........busy, busy, busy

Mr. G.

Just popping in for a quick "hello". We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family. It's such a let-down after they all leave. (How would you feel saying "good-bye" to these two sweet faces?!) The house goes from being busy and noisy to very still and quiet. So, I jumped right in to decorating for Christmas. I still have quite a mess, so I'll update soon. I need to make a path to the bedroom so I can get some sleep!!!

Little M.

out of this world.....

creative work of some of my students who attend another class during the

afternoon, aren't their planets cool?.............they were made of paper mache and painted, they were so proud of them.........

we made "Stone Soup" today in my class. we've been reading re-written versions of the fable and comparing them. i surprised them today with the ingredients and everyone helped! we got to smell that "yummy" soup cook all day in the crock pot. we ended up having to make the "Button Soup" version, because I forgot to bring a river stone. i actually forgot the button too, but luckily had an extra sewn into the inside lining of the jacket i wore today!!! (shhhhhh...please don't tell my students-they think i used the "magic button")

need to go record grades, because at 3:00 pm tomorrow----nothing school related until next Monday!!!!

this weekend.......

Jamie sent me a pic of Grayson with his decorated tree. He was so excited to help! I love this photo---thank you, iphone!!!

I did a bit of scrappin'. You can see the results at the end of this post.
(Oh my, after previewing this, I realize how messy my desk is!!)

Trimmed my hair a bit, saved some $$$

Wrapped belated birthday gifts for my great-niece and nephew.
They both turned 1 in October.

Melody loved hanging out on the table to see if she could possibly get into any trouble!!!

She would have, but Kelsey rescued her, she spoils her......

Another completed layout.

I got a lot accomplished this weekend, more than usual. Did a bit of Christmas shopping, both in stores and on-line. Baked some cookies, put some in the freezer to save for the kids visit at Thanksgiving, otherwise they would all be eaten by the time they get here.

Thinking about putting up my Christmas tree so it will be ready to decorate after Thanksgiving. Grayson said he wanted to help...........Jamie used to be my big helper, she must be passing on her talents to him!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

it feels like Christmas.........

I will warn you, if you're not interested in scrapbooking--you can just skip this post! After a typical, long Monday at school I stopped by Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries, planning to make Taco Soup for dinner. By the time I got home I was too tired to cook, so I saved the Taco Soup for another day. I was delighted to see the above package waiting for me on the dining room table. I had ordered the monthly scrapbooking kit from Cocoa Daisy a few weeks ago and had been patiently waiting for it to arrive. One of the kits was "school" themed and had several pieces designed by Ali Edwards (I love her stuff!). So I popped a frozen pizza in the oven, and in a few minutes---dinner was served! After we ate I dug into the package and found ALL of these goodies inside, so fun......

.....and these, too!!!

I can't wait to play with all of the products, it's like being a kid, waiting to play with all of your new Christmas toys!!! (I know, but I warned you not to read unless you really understood what scrapbooking was all about!)

Here's a layout I started last night and just put the finishing touches on. It feels good to have time for scrapbooking again.....

bits & pieces.....

I don't usually decorate for Fall. It' so close to Christmas, I would rather save my energy for putting up the tree, wrapping packages, shopping, baking. etc. This year I broke my rule just a tiny bit. We have secret pals at school and I received a huge basket filled with Fall/Thanksgiving decor. So, I put together a table arrangement for the dining room table. Of course, first I had to get rid of all the paperwork, bills, papers to be graded, catalogs, (you get the idea). It defeats the whole purpose to decorate and still leave all of our junk laying around....Anyway, it makes the house look a little more festive.

Also on my "to-do" list: laundry.....

Baking snickerdoodles for Kelsey, of course, Roger and I had our fair share too....

A little scrappin'...Here's my table while page is in progress:

Page layout completed.....

And another page complete....

Now if I can get papers graded, decide on what's for dinner, and get a little knitting in, I can call it a day!!

that smile....

My baby girl, now a senior. What can I say? The last of 4 is about to leave the nest and I'm not sure if I will know how to act. I've been raising children for 36 years, I'm not sure I know how to stop. I'm excited for her, of course, but know it will be another adjustment for me. Guess that sounds selfish, doesn't it? As much as I will enjoy having her room spotless--because I will be in total control of it (hee, hee)--there are still things I will dearly miss......

not having to wake her up several times each morning to get her out of bed...

hearing her in the kitchen cooking Ramen noodles...

watching her play and cuddle with the kitty...

listening to her animated conversations on the phone...

empty hangers in my closet where she has "borrowed" a piece of my clothing...

numerous pairs of sandals waiting at the front door...

Wednesday night dinners together at Senor Salsa...

She has started working on her college application forms, so it makes it seem like its really going to happen. Its easy to be in denial--it makes it easier to handle as a mother. Guess its time for me to "grow up", huh? Kelsey, I'm proud of you and know you will do well, whatever you decide to do. I know you'll make it happen.

Love you, Mom

yummy, yummy.....

This is so good, and so easy! Got the recipe out of Food & Family magazine.....



Catalina Cranberry Chicken



4 lb. bone-in chicken pieces (I used boneless chicken breasts)

1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

1 bottle (8 oz.) Catalina Dressing

1 env. dry onion soup mix

Heat oven to 350*. Place chicken in large baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover dish with foil. Bake 1 hour, or until chicken is done. *I mixed mine up the night before and put in fridge. It was ready to pop in the oven when I got home from school. So, so tasty.

more layouts...

Scrappin'

relaxes me...

calms me...

inspires me...

and makes me happy.

Fall....

Usually, I spend time taking a lot of Fall photos......but, with all the rain we got and getting back into the swing of teaching, I just didn't get to it. I'm really sad that I didn't make it happen, I really enjoy the colors of the season. Plus, it gives me new photos to scrap and enjoy. We usually make at least one trip to Eureka Springs during the month of October, we didn't make that happen this year either! So, I settled for shots around the yard, not the best by any means, all of our "country" trees are brown.....

But, we sure had a ton of leaves!!!

my little morgan.....

A new layout I just finished of Morgan. The pic is from a couple of months ago--he's almost ready to turn a year old--I can't believe it! On a sadder note, my laptop crashed-Roger took it to get it fixed and they had to send it in!! I've only had it for 3 months so I'm not very happy about it. It's one of those things, you don't realize how much you use it until it no longer works!! Oh, the joys (and headaches) of technology..........

Tomorrow, Tomorrow....

Here's a sneak peek at one of my pages I'm sharing tomorrow. It's all about Grayson's silly little faces. Originally, I was snapping pics of the boys playing hide-and-seek behind the curtains. Then, Grayson decided he wanted to pose for the camera and make funny faces!!! So, what else could I do? I'm a grandmother, so I took lots of pictures......... You can see, I still have quite a mess on my desk, gotta pack it all up so I can have some creative playtime tomorrow. Really looking forward to it.....

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Girlfriends.....

Gotta have 'em, gotta love 'em. Can't wait to meet up with "the girls" this weekend to scrap, eat, drink, laugh and play catch up on all of the latest family happenings. I always look forward to spending the day with them---we can solve all of the world's problems in ONE day!! (ha, ha!) See you Saturday, girls.....
I'll share some scrappin' layouts soon.....

It's a small world......

23 third graders + 23 pumpkins + 6 school days + 14 bottles of paint + 9 colors of paint + 26 different paint brushes + 30 markers + 7 days worth of newspapers + endless splatters = one messy classroom and one crazy teacher!

We painted pumpkin globes! The kids had a great time with this project, but I was happy to send their little worlds home with them and get the classroom back to "normal".

Big Kids.....

It's so difficult to get the big "kids" to pose for pics lately. I was so happy to snap these quick shots of Caleb and Kelsey. He was so sweet to come home for the weekend to help us celebrate Kelsey's 18th birthday--of course, it included a big birthday dinner out for all of us! Who would turn that down?

I was able to sweet talk them into a few snapshots as we headed to the car....

They're my two "funny ones".....

I hope they never stop laughing and enjoying life...

Thanks for the pics, kids!
Love you guys bunches!!!

Lil' Trick or Treaters....

Here's what you get when you mix an astronaut costume with an excited 3 year old, who is ready to hit the streets......

(iphone quality photo)

And here is what you get when you mix a martian critter with an 11 month old who is ready for bed!......

Seriously, aren't they the cutest grand kids, ever!

My baby is 18!!!

Here's my birthday girl, Kelsey. I can't believe she is 18---she's having a hard time processing it, too!! I'm not too sure she wants to be"grown up". Sounds good when you're trying to get there, but what do you do when you finally arrive? It's going to be really hard to let her go away to college. I'm trying to convince her to stay home the first year and commute. I'm pretty sure I'm losing that battle....

Happy 18th Birthday, Kelsey! I love you bunches and am very proud of you!!!

Believe it or not...

Believe it or not, here I am! The picture above shows what I've been up to lately. Halloween, you say? Well, actually, no. That's a new friend I found this weekend to help me in my classroom. We're studying the human body--isn't he/she cute! I asked hubby if he thought Ken doll clothes would fit him.....

And this is what I face every evening. A stack of papers to grade. That's the part I'm having a difficult time fitting into my schedule. My family has been very patient as I have logged hours and hours in my classroom getting all settled in. I'm finally sliding into a nice routine--all except for the paper work. Maybe I'm just not as fast as I used to be!! This is the first Sunday I haven't gone back up the school to work in my room since school began in August. I'm trying very hard to get my weekends back!