Pioneer Matt

Follow the link to check-out Matt's page at MNU.


I'm proud to say I dress this man. What a good-looking guy.

Celebrating Early

My blog is already celebrating Thanksgiving. Just go with it. I grow weary in selecting different templates just to not like them once I get it all loaded or notice that they have a strange saying on them, etc. So because I like these colors, we're now celebrating Thanksgiving for the next month or so. That's the next time I get days off of school too so I might as well count down to it anyway! And...what's a song that just says...It's Fall!? Don't know...but this is my Fall playlist. Feel free to make suggestions.

Impromptu Breakfast Party

Matt gets home at around 4am from a trip to scrimmage Cowley County followed by a film break-down session with the other coaches. He then informs me that we're hosting the team film session at 10am. No problem. I really like having people over to our place...a little more than 6 hours notice would have been appreciated...but no problem. I wake up at 8 to head to Price Chopper and decide on a menu. Keeping it simple, orange juice and a couple different types of muffins. I used a mix that I've had in the pantry for awhile for Caramel Apple Muffins. I didn't get to try any of those but they looked and smelled good.
Then (keeping in the spirit of Fall) I used a recipe from allrecipes.com for Easy Pumpkin Muffins. These were SUPER easy and turned out to be a hit! I made 3 batches and they all vanished. What I didn't realize is that I guess I should have planned something for lunch too! Film session where they break-down film and talk about a SCRIMMAGE lasted over 3 hours. Guess this is serious business!!

EASY PUMPKIN MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I didn't use cloves because I didn't have any and I don't care for cloves).
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

What We've Been Up To...

A quick re-cap of what's been going on the past few weeks. Really I've just been too lazy to load pics from my camera each day (or week...or month) which leaves me with little to write about without pics.
More Home Improvement Projects!

Look at that cute backside first of all! He, he! Matt hung up the custom blinds we ordered. We had hoped they'd arrive in time for Papa to be able to assist with this during their visit...the blinds were delivered the day after they left. But Matt did a super job. It took him significantly less time to hang these than the living room blinds!


They began working on our basement! We wanted to get the basement finished ASAP after moving in. I was afraid if we started using it unfinished, it would always remain that way. While neither of these pics are great shots, they are putting in a 3/4 bath, a 4th bedroom, and a family room area. We are pumped! More pics when they get more exciting.
We've moved on to the "Food Prep" unit at school. As frustrated, angry, and stressed as sewing with the small children that I teach makes me--cooking has the opposite effect. I don't know if I just feel more confident because I taught Meal Management last year or what. But I love the Food Prep unit.
Apple Pizza ready to go into the oven! (Cinnamon on apples--they aren't that brown).

A culminating activity for the 6th grade Food Prep Unit is the "Manners Meal" where we invite the core teachers to join us for lunch. The students make all the food, send out invitations, and greet & serve our guests. The teachers then rate the students on proper etiquette and manners. I was SUPER nervous about pulling off this event. But it turned out awesome! The kids were so cute and did a fabulous job. And the food was really good! Yea! I love the staff at my school. They were so great with this project with the kids.


Now the 2nd quarter begins, I get new students, and we start again. And we have to sew again. I'm giving this a second chance...surely it will go smoother this time now that I know what I'm doing a little more! Right?
As you can see, life is pretty much about school. I get up, I go to school, I come home I go to bed. Repeat. I think I'm just gloomy about it because it's dark when I go and it's nearly dark when I get home. It will get better. I will master this...some day.

Grandmama & Papa's Visit

We were so excited that my grandparents made the trip up to see us from Tulsa, Oklahoma last weekend. They brought me an outdoor rocking chair for our deck and helped us out with a lot of projects around the house. We really enjoyed their visit! We showed them around town including my school and MNU campus, as well as Legends and Nebraska Furniture Mart. Grandmama made a "Smilebox" capturing the moments of their visit. Come again soon!

Make a Smilebox slideshow