Teacher Gift

Have I mentioned how much I love BG's school teachers? Yes? Well, that's because they are great! I have been really impressed with what she has learned so far this year and am excited to see her progress the rest of the year. I think I'm as excited as she is for their Christmas Program on Wednesday. I wanted to give her teachers something for Christmas that would not only be useful for them, but cute as well. I debated on a gift of home baked goodness, but figured they must get tons of that already.

I asked around on Facebook for teacher ideas as well as Pinterest. There are some really great ones out there that I'm excited to use over the years. Many of the comments on FB followed the theme of either:

1. No candles, body lotions, or smelly products
2. Gift cards are great

I've also heard in the past that apple and teacher themed gifts are way overdone. So even thought I really liked the pencil cup holders and apple shaped candy holders, I resisted. Instead I went the gift card route. Who wouldn't like a Target gift card? Much classier than Wal-Mart, but just as flexible for the receiver. Did you know their gift cards are scratch and sniff? These ones smell like peppermint. MMmmmmmmm, peppermint........

I put the gift card in a Ziploc bag (along with some fudge, I couldn't resist) and made these cute little toppers for the bag. It says "Thanks for keeping my learning on Target!" I made the bulls eye with my Silhouette, but it could easily be done with by hand or with circle punches. I distressed the edge of the largest red circle so it would stand out from the red backing. BG wrote "from BG" on the back.

Pretty simple, cute, and functional teacher gift! What are you giving the teachers in your life for Christmas?

5 Things

Mama Kat is at it again with her Writers Workshop. Here's the prompt I chose this week.
2.) Five Things. List 5 things we don’t know about you, 5 things you’re knowledgeable about, 5 things you know nothing about, and 5 things you believe.

5 Things you don’t know about me:

1. I taught a class at a local university a few years ago and really loved it. I would love to teach full time.
2. I'm not sure I would make a good stay at home mom. It makes me feel like a bad mom that this isn't my goal. 
3. I crave chocolate at 2 pm everyday. 
4. I have terrible posture. I try to sit up straight but find myself hunched over a lot. 
5. I'm an efficiency fiend. Almost to a fault. If I can't multi-task/make something more efficient, I don't want to do it at all. Example: I have something that needs to be taken upstairs. If there is only 1 thing, I won't go. I need multiple items to make my trip worth it.

 5 Things I'm knowledgeable about:

1. Conference planning: I have planned many, many in my career, both big and small. I enjoy all the details of putting it together; mostly I like being in charge. ;)
2. Healthy Lifestyles: I really try to live one and teach my kids about them. I'm not always perfect, but think I do a decent job. I fight for healthy nutrition choices in my kids daycare.
3. Jewelry Making: It's been a while since I've done much with this, but I like making pretty things. I'd love to learn more.
4. Public speaking: I enjoy giving presentations on topics I know well. (Which does NOT translate to speaking/teaching in church)
5. Cooking: I really enjoy creating healthy, yummy food for those around me.

 5 Things I know nothing about:

1. Cell Phones: I have one, I use one, but I'm scared of them. My new iPhone arrived three days ago and I'm waiting for JM to get home from a business trip to set it up for me.
2. Football: Every season, I have to relearn the game to watch them. By the end of the season I can follow a game pretty well, but I lose it all between Jan and Sept.
3. Business: My hubby has started several and I love listening to him talk about what's going on, because it's all new to me.
4. The stock market: It confuses me and makes my head hurt.
5. Single Parenting: After three days of a business trip and I'm desperate for JM to come home. I'm very blessed.

 5 Things I believe:

1. I believe in God, my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, my Saviour.
2. I believe that most people are inherently good and doing the best they can.
3. I believe in choice, that everyone has the right to make their own and live with the consequences.
4. I believe that respect and good communication are critical to the success of a happy marriage.
5. I believe that teachers should be paid more for the incredible work they do.

Anatomy is hard

I continue to be amazed with all the things BG is learning in school. Kuddos to her teachers- they are doing a GREAT job!

Most recently, they are learning about the five senses. BG told me all about her eyes and how they are a ball. They view images upside down and the brain has to turn them right side up. Then she moved on to tell me about specific parts of her eye. She pointed to her eye to try and say the word "pupil", but what kept coming out of her mouth was another body part that also starts with P. I tried not to giggle as I helped her find the right word and informed her that she did not, in fact, posses that other body part. It gets confusing when it sounds so much like iris!

Did you know?

Did you know there are 206 bones in the human body. And the heart is a muscle, but it's not really shaped like a heart? BG learned these things in school and has been educating us.

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Did you know that chicken fat will stick to the ceiling for several seconds before succumbing to gravity? I know this because my sister and I used to throw chicken fat on the ceiling to see whose piece would stay the longest. This all happened while mom wasn't around (obviously). As an adult, I'm now horrified and disgusted that we did this. Sorry mom.

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Did you know that I'm hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow for 13 people and a baby? I had to count my plates this morning to make sure I own enough. I do, but they won't match. And we'll either have to wash dishes before dessert or eat pie off paper plates. Ditto for silverware.

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Did you know that I'm really excited for Christmas? I've been listening to Christmas music and am excited to map out my Black Friday shopping. I'm leaning towards going out at midnight then sleeping in.

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Did you know that BG wants 2 silver bells for Christmas? She has been learning Christmas songs at school and really likes Silver Bells.

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Did you know that Blanche can now say STOP. She loves to use this word. She also gets very excited when we go to pick up Sister from school every day. And her new favorite thing is the potty. She insists on sitting on it after every diaper change. She has even gone pee-pee a few times.

Popping the Question

Since I'm obviously lacking in blog-topic inspiration lately, I thought I'd participate in Mama Kat's Writers Workshop. The topic I choose this time around is
3.) Married? Tell us the story of how the question was popped.

JM and I attended college together (where we met). On one of our dates, we visited the Museum of Fine Arts. After looking around, we snuck into one of the conference rooms that had huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking campus. It was a beautiful view and we liked the secrecy of it, doing the forbidden! (We're not all the daring, so this is about as adventurous as it gets. We are rule-keepers.)
 
Later on in our relationship, he suggested we go back to the Museum and look around. I agreed. There were more people there and he kept trying to get me to sneak into the same conference room. I resisted and told him we should wait until the other people left. He pushed. I resisted. Finally, he convinced me to go into the room. I immediately walked over to the huge windows to admire the view. I heard rustling behind me and turned around to see him opening one of the cabinets. I was shocked the he would be so brazen as to riffle through their closed cabinets! Then I noticed he was pulling out a huge bouquet of roses.
 
He walked over to me and got down on one knee. He said some wonderful things then asked me to marry him. He pointed to the museum display box in front of me where the ring was placed with a card detailing it's history (in true museum fashion).
 
He thought I was looking at the ring when I actually hadn't even noticed it; I was looking at the view. I was a little embarrassed that he had to point it out to me. I found out later that he really had to twist some arms at the museum to pull this off. He even joined as an annual member.

Say Cheese!

We took family pictures and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. In fact, by looking at the pictures, you wouldn't even know the drama that was taking place during the shoot. Blanche did not like getting her picture taken. At all. I'm pleased with the results, I wish we had more time during the session. I thought it was a 60 minutes session, but it was 30 minutes shooting and 30 minutes to edit. If I had know that in advance, I would have better allocated my time for the pictures I wanted. 

Now we just have to choose which ones to print and put on the wall.

Sugar Rush

BG woke up the morning of Halloween bursting with energy. It may as well have been Christmas she was so excited. She got to wear her costume to school and came home and told me about the songs she sang and how she got to drink "Real root beer!" (Soda is not allowed at home.)

After school, she knew that she had to eat her dinner all gone or else she couldn't go trick-or-treating. She explained to Blanche about the dinner rule and tried to teach her how to say "Trick or Treat". The best we got was "teet".

We has a great time trick-or-treating. BG was constantly running ahead, but always thinking of her sister and getting her a piece of candy from the houses with too many stairs. Blanche loved walking around, picking candy, and putting them in her treat bucket. At one point, her bucket was getting pretty heavy so I tried to take it and carry it for her. She got pretty upset and was adamant that she carry her own candy.

All in all, a very successful Halloween.

The best part, was eating all their loot.