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

Do these pants make my butt look big?

It's my favorite time again, sewing time. Feel the sarcasm. Only this time...I get to do 3 different projects simultaneously instead of the same thing for all classes like last year. And, oh yeah, the kids are like 10 years old, too! Background knowledge about me...sewing is not my favorite. I think sewing is a "nice to know" not a "need to know." What? But you teach FACS right? Yeah, but step into this century. I teach lifeskills...and there are a million other more important lifeskills that rank above sewing. I always tell the 6th graders that in FACS class we learn the skills you need to be a successful adult. One girl asked me, what does sewing have to do with being a good adult? Exactly! In other words, who sews? So we try to focus on time management and problem solving rather than hard-core sewing-ness. My district is pretty staunchly old-school when it comes to FACS...so we will sew. But I won't be a super-advocate for it. Not dissing on sewing, just saying "nice to know" not "need to know."
So I spent the weekend practicing the projects and making detailed instruction sheets and video clips.

8th graders make PJ pants, which are really fun to make. 7th graders make aprons, which are not so fun. 6th graders will make locker caddies (hanging pocket thing for locker) which are cute...but I know they're going to be super-confused...because they always are.

Got a little tricky here. In the pics where I needed two hands and I had to set the timer and balance the camera under my chin. Nice. Wish me luck!!

Fire Pit Fun!

Time for SMORES!!!

Getting all set up! Some of Matt's birthday money went toward our "Fire Pit Extraordinaire" area. So after weeks of "window shopping" and researching which type we wanted to get, we pulled the trigger. However, it was then too dark to actually try it out in our "Fire Pit Extraordinaire" area. It's kinda scary-dark in that corner of the yard. So we went for the patio this time.

Now we're ready. I did not know just how long it takes to get a fire going. Matt said he didn't realize how "city girl" I was. I really thought you could just throw a match onto the wood. Like a candle I guess? I didn't know! Matt laughed his head off.

Looking good.

Yummy!

And a great ending to all camp fires...

Trying to Keep Up!

Here's Matt mowing our yard for the first time (several weeks ago) full of vigor and energy. We were surprised that it only took an hour to push mow (I'm telling you, this yard is stinking huge) and figured it would be good exercise. Not quite two months later...we now pay Matt's friend to mow the back. We think we can handle the front?

Welcome Fall...Kinda

Matt says it's not Fall yet...but with Labor Day being the "unofficial" beginning of Fall, in my mind it's Fall. And I love the fall decorations in the house since they are the same tones as our decor. So, HAPPY FALL!

I welcomed this new season by turning off the AC and resolving to use our attic fan. Ah, open the windows and the fresh air flows in. That was great for like 2 days. Then it was more like, welcome home from work, pass out from the heat inside the house. So I will leave the fall decor up...but turn the AC back on.