Monday, February 25, 2008

Happy Birthday


Happy Birthday Sister Baby! Today is my little sister's birthday. We celebrated yesterday after church at my parent's house. My parents cooked a fabulous lunch and a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. My dad is a diabetic and you would never know that the cake was low fat/reduced calorie/low sugar. It tasted just a yummy as the regular high fat/calorie cake. For each of our birthdays, my dad bakes a cake of your choice. My sister said surprise me so he fixed what he has been wanted to try, his low sugar carrot cake. For some reason, I didn't take one picture yesterday.
Hope your week is off to a great start!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Friday Fill In

1. The escape of daily chores and responsibilities is the best thing about traveling.
2. I love a good cup of hot chocolate when I'm cold.
3. I often use my camera.
4. I'm reading The Amen Sisters by Angela Benson right now; I really am enjoying it.
5. Money is something I dislike talking about.
6. When I visited Disney World I most looked forward to seeing Epcot.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching my DVR shows tomorrow my plans include a stamp camp, dog birthday party and Bunco and Sunday, I want to celebrate my sisters birthday.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Holiday Boards

I attended a home party for Uppercase Living and fell in love with their products. They offer decorative lettering for your home. They have quotes and sayings and a few graphics to adorn your walls or anything else you can imagine with their product. Think a giant rub-on that won't damage your surface. The demonstrator was holding a workshop to make holidy boards. She had the rub ons and the painted boards, all you needed to do was pay your money and show up to assemble. Since I love to decorate for the holidays I jumped at the opportunity to make them. Here are a few that we made. Valentine's Day
July Fourth

Thanksgiving
Christmas It says Peace on Earth
Anytime

Easter

Halloween

They do have a website. Click here. You can also custom order your own saying or greeting. Also, the website can help you find a demonstrator in your area.

Monday, February 18, 2008

February Book Winner

Congratulations to Kristie! She is the winner of this months Book Exchange.

Thank you for playing this month and be sure to stop by the first Monday of March to see what book is up for grabs next month.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Friday Meme's

Friday Feast
Appetizer:
Name on thing that is unique about you.**I have a high level of patience

Soup:
Fill in the blank: My favorite ___hobby__ is __scrapbooking__ but I like __stamping__ too.

Salad:
What type of wood do you have for your home's furnishing?** I like lighter woods and painted wood and husband likes darker woods.

Main Course:
Who do you talk to most often on the phone? **It's a toss between my sister and LC.

Dessert:
What level of responsibility do you have in your job? **I'm a seond grade teacher and have to make sure my students meet the grade level expectations.

Four Foods on Friday #17
1. What's your favorite potato chip? Baked Lays
2. Do you use butter, margaine, both or neither? Both
3. What is your favorite mixed alcohlic (or virgin) drink? sweet tea
4. What's you favorite vegetable and how do you prepare it? Sweet potatoes-either in a casserole or just bake it with butter and cinamon.

Friday Fun
1. What was your favorite outside childhood game? My sister, neighborhood friend and I played Charlie Angels on our bikes.
2. How about board games? Do you have a favorite? Clue, Sorry and Monopoly
3. Do you play any PC games? Online or offline? If so what is your favorite? If not, is there one out there you want to try? Cubis and Cubis 2
4. Gaming Stations-there are so many out there and I don't know jack about them! Do you have one or more and which ones? XBox, XBox 360, Playstation,etc. My son has a gameboy, PSP and game cube. I don't play any of them. We are thinking about a Wii for his upcoming birthday.

Friday Fiver: When the sun beats down
1. Favorite shoes~flip flops
2. What time does the sun set near you?~right now about 6
3. Do you like spending time in the sun? Yes, I was a sun worshipper in my teen years.
4. Do you burn or tan? I usually burn the first time in the sun each season and then start to tan.
5. Monopoly: yay! or no way!~ yay!

Friday Fill In

1. Snowdrops are a sure sign of Spring.
2. I'm going to look for new jeans this weekend.
3. Amazing Grace is a song whose lyrics have meaning to me.
4. Just one sip and I was hooked.
5. Home with my family is where I'm happiest.
6. I believe that love is a necessary part of life.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Target tomorrow my plans include a basketball championship game and then shopping and Sunday, I want to go to church and then play in my scrap room.

It's been a fun and busy week for me. We had a field trip, party and many guest speakers this week at school. We celebrated Education Go Get It week. We had guest speakers from the Spanish news station, police department and fire department. Today the students got to dress up as a career that they would like to be when they grow up. We had many give aways of pencils, bookmarks and t-shirts from local colleges. So looking forward to my weekend.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day


Have a lovely day with your loved ones and friends!
XOXO!
*************
My sons team won their basketball game last night and we are playing the championship game on Saturday at 10:30. Please say a prayer for these guys. They have had an incredible season.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Basketball Season

What a day! Today we had a field trip to the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. It was cold this morning walking out on the trails with the students. No one got lost out in the forest! This is one of my favorite field trips we take during the year. But I'm exhausted!Tonight is play-off game #2 for my sons team. Saturday started the play-off games. We won on Saturday so we play again tonight. We play a good team so I'm alittle worried but I know our guys will do their very best. A neat thing~we play in my old high school gym.My son manages to get a lot of rebounds during the game. It doesn't help when we bribe him with a dollar a rebound! I know we are bad parents! But its enough motivator to get him in there and get the ball. Basketball is not his favorite sport but he plays pretty well. We have had a fantastic coach that takes the time to teach the boys skills and strategies and is not all to concerned if we win but if we do a great job and use teamwork. I think because of that we have gone so far when we play with this coach.Go Bulls!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Valentine Treats

I finished up my Valentine treats to co-workers and sons teachers. I took the big chunk chocolate bars and covered with pretty patterned paper. This is very simple and very cute. There is still time for you to make some for your valentines. Look at this pile of chocolate. Yum! I used a variety of paper from my stash.
I used my sizzix to cut out the 24 tags and then stamped the greeting and picture and inked along the edges. I used a SU set. Then used ribbon from my stash to tie on the tags.
Next I took the tags and adhered the tags to the candy bar. I have several male co-workers and had to find some papers that weren't too girly. I found this lovely plaid and polka dots. I hope they like it. I asked DH if he would like to take some to his work but he thought it would be funny giving valentines to the ladies in his office. He didn't want to send out the wrong message. I just love him!

I hope you are having a great day and would like to know what you are making for your Valentine treats this year.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Valentine Cupcakes

These are quick and easy. Bake using your favorite cupcake recipe. And then go crazy with the sprinkles!


Cupid's arrow hits the mark with these heart-shaped treats. To create the heart shape, place a small marble or a 1/2-inch ball of aluminum foil between each liner and one side of the tin (a great job for kids). This will push the paper into the batter to form the notch in the heart.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Thrifty Finds



I don't think I have shared these items with you yet. I purchased these before Christmas and just never got around to posting them. I found this sweet plate with a Bless This House saying. I love the pink flowers and looks lovely in my living room. The seashell collection is going to my classroom for my students to examine up close with loupes. I have a Science center in the classroom and they love looking at objects up close and writing about them.

We have had a busy weekend with a basketball game, baseball practice and other errands that we needed to get done. I thought I was running from one place to the other all weekend.

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Friday, February 08, 2008

Friday Fill In

1. I'm looking forward to going to California this summer to visit my girlfriends.
2. San Francisco is a place I always wanted to visit and haven't made it there yet.
3. I've fallen in love with flavored water.
4. Six of one, is always good for great fitting t-shirts.
5. Addiciton is all around us in one form or another.
6. The kids crack me up!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to starting my new book, tomorrow my plans include a basketball game, running errands and Sunday, I want to go to church and then finish my Valentines for work.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Thursday Thirteen~Shows at Disney

Ok, I'm almost done talking about Dinsey for awhile. Well, until I start making my scrapbook and then we will relive all those special moments. I know I'm a Disney Freak! For todays Thursday Thirteen I want to share a list of shows or movies that don't move that I think are so enjoyable and a must for your trip to the magical place. I've grouped them by park. Enjoy!

Magic Kingdom:
1. Philamagic~A great 3-D movie that has characters from lots of Disney movies and great special effects.
2. Country Bear Jamboree~Most people think this show is hokey but I love it. Your foot will be tapping to the country tunes played by the Bears.
3. Tikki Room~We couldn't get to this one on our past trip. The birds are very entertaining.

Epcot:
4. American Adventure~A great history lesson on our country's progress.
5. Talk with Crush~Our first time to do this one and we will go back. Crush can some how see who he is talking with and has some really good questions.

Disney Studios:
6. Lights, Motor and Action~A great car and motorcycle stunt show. The boys were on the edge of their seats. Very loud and fire explosions, what every boy likes!
7. Beauty and the Beast~A great mini version of the show.
8. Voyage of the Little Mermaid~A great mix of real characters and puppets.
9. Indiana Jones~A fun stunt show.
10. Muppets 3-D~I love the Muppets and this movie is great!

Animal Kingdom:
11. Flights of Wonder~A informative bird show.
12. Finding Nemo~A very interesting presentation of Nemo.
13. Festival of the Lion King~The show rocks! It has everything from dancing, music and gymnastics.

Monday, February 04, 2008

February Pay It Forward Book Exchange





For this month I am giving away one of the first books I received in a book exchange. I really enjoyed this book. I discovered that my local library had a copy of a movie made from this book. I watched the movie after reading the book and I will say I enjoyed the book far more than the movie. So if you win you could check you library and do the same, compare the two. I enjoy doing this with books. So do you want to know the title? Here it is!






I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith


From Amazon:
Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author with a severe case of writer's block. Her family--beautiful sister Rose, brooding father James, ethereal stepmother Topaz--is barely scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on. Bravely making the best of things, Cassandra gets hold of a journal and begins her literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts. She writes, "I have just remarked to Rose that our situation is really rather romantic, two girls in this strange and lonely house. She replied that she saw nothing romantic about being shut up in a crumbling ruin surrounded by a sea of mud."
Rose longs for suitors and new tea dresses while Cassandra scorns romance: "I know all about the facts of life. And I don't think much of them." But romantic isolation comes to an end both for the family and for Cassandra's heart when the wealthy, adventurous Cotton family takes over the nearby estate. Cassandra is a witty, pensive, observant heroine, just the right voice for chronicling the perilous cusp of adulthood. Some people have compared I Capture the Castle to the novels of Jane Austen, and it's just as well-plotted and witty. But the Mortmains are more bohemian--as much like the Addams Family as like any of Austen's characters. Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmations, wrote this novel in 1948. And though the story is set in the 1930s, it still feels fresh, and well deserves its reputation as a modern classic. --Maria Dolan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.





Here are the rules to enter. Yes, there are some rules!



If you win this book you must host a giveaway on your blog. If you don't have a blog then you will give the book to a local shelter, library, etc.






You do not need a blog to participate. If you don't have one just please leave your e-mail so that in the event you should win I can get a hold of you.






You need to leave a comment to this post by Sunday, Febraury 17 by midnight. I will randomly draw a name on Monday and post the winner here. Also, I will contact the winner by e-mail or blog.






Please click over to Overwhelmed with Joy to see the many other book exchanges happening this month.






Thanks for playing and Good Luck!

Bloggy Giveaway

Congratulations to Ducky Girl! She is the winner of the Yankee Candle tarts.



Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered a chance to win.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Friday Fill In

1. Once I was lost.
2. I'm sick of being sick.
3. Today at work I had fun with my students.
4. What's all the hype over Britney all about?
5. If I make a mistake I try to fix and learn from it.
6. When I woke up this morning, I thought BRRR it's cold.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a movie from Netflix, tomorrow my plans include brunch, basketball game, baseball practice and a birthday party at Itz and Sunday, I want to go to church and then to our friends house for a Super Bowl party.