My Brother's Wedding (part one)

So tomorrow is my baby brother's wedding. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner. My brother is one very blessed boy. (Actually, we were all born into an awesome family) But tonight was all about Andrew and Erin. My mom graciously opened up her house to 85 people. Yup, 85 people! And most of them were from Erin's side of the family. We ate outside and it was beautiful. Here's my photomentary.

Getting ready

Look at all of the homemade rolls...YUMMY!

Some of the yummy homemade pies

This is my parent's garage that was transformed into the serving area

This is the driveway where we all ate (see the 1st picture)

Cousins Isabella and Gracie Jane meet for the 1st time

My dad giving a speech

Cutest baby ever!
All of the people
The happy couple
A.I. +E.B. (it looked better in person)

The Human Spirit

I am often amazed by the power of the human spirit and how people overcome tragedy or withstand adversities that come their way. Many of you know about Ellie the strength of Ellie during her fight and her family today amazes me. Now there are some more people who are in need of prayer. Watching ER I was brought to tears once again as Angela Basset said

"When your parents are gone you're an orphan.
Spouse dies you're a widow or widower.
But when you lose your baby there's no words for that"

Wow! What an amazing statement. Losing a child is so unnatural. Parents should go first.
Melanie and Nick went through an awful struggle only to lose their precious Anna. Please go before God on their behalf and ask him to comfort them. Melanie was such a warrior for her little girl.

A lot of people have heard about Nie Nie. I love Stephanie's appreciation of the small things and how happy she was in her life. Please pray for Stephanie, Christian, and their 3 children. Stephanie's sisters have been awesome warriors on her behalf, stepping in to care for their nieces/nephew as their own.

I am not a big fan of religion or religious people. I truly believe with all my heart that the truly religious follow this verse:

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father
means caring for orphans and widows in their distress
and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James 1:27

Have a great weekend!

Some quickies

I love quickies :)....quick lunches that is...since I'm a working girl who has to get up o so early I LOVE food that is healthy and quick. So here are some quickies.

Egg roll (baked, no MSG) strawberry and raspberry salad(organic)
and snap peas.

Chicken salad (veganaise, chicken, celery, and LOTS of dill)
on whole wheat with organic pears.

Organic peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat
with organic kiwi and tangerine. (sorry about the flash)

Gratitudes

I try to do this every week in my journal so I thought I would start sharing my gratitudes here. It's also part of my quest to be a more authentic person :)

1. A great church where I have heard God speak to me volumes. It's not perfect.But neither am I. And I'm learning to listen to God's voice and obey and let go of what I want.

2. Even though times are tough and even though my boss is crazy I have a job. And its an awesome job. I have the sweetest classes and I love every single minute (of working with the kids) That's me being brave an holding a baby chick. (I'm scared of birds)


3. Spending every Thursday with my sister, Nick, and the cutest baby ever.

4. Having a best friend who keeps it real.

5. Realizing that no matter what I do and who I am I matter to God and He cares about me.

6. Cheap new shiny shoes. My little girls love these shoes too :)

One word meme

For some reason I like these things...a lot...maybe too much...especially reading other people's

Where is your mobile phone?purse
Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? caring
Your father? kind
Your favourite thing? fries
Your dream last night? never remember them
Your dream goal? authenticity
The room you're in? comfy
Your hobby? reading
Your fear? the unknown
Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
Where were you last night? bed
What you're not? materialistic
One of your wish-list items? community
Where you grew up? safe
The last thing you did? facebook
What are you wearing? favorite dress
Your TV? addicted
Your pets? sick :(
Your computer? apple
Your mood? stressed
Missing someone? katie
Your car? blessed (to have one)
Something you're not wearing? shoes
Favourite shop? target
Your summer? birthday
Love someone? really
Your favourite colour? green
When is the last time you laughed? today
When is the last time you cried? yesterday

Young Amercians

Yesterday I was so excited on my almost hour commute I saw the longest lines to vote as the polls opened. I feel like apathy is disappearing. I was excited all day long because people were voting, even if they didn't vote for my guy. In kindergarten, we have been working on elections for over a week. Learning about the candidates, how voting works, and learning to be young Americans. We also had our own "heated" election.

The candidates : The Velveteen Rabbit: sweet, caring, and "real"
Paddington Bear: loves marmalade , lots of worldly experience

Campaign Posters and necklaces were made


Each child had a state and different electoral votes...the ballots were cast





and the winner is....





The Velveteen Rabbit...which was not my candidate but the people have spoken :)

The preschool had a less involved election...we just made posters
It was duck vs dog (see them in the background)...dog won :)

Off the farm today:)

I'm sad :(

I am sad that we live in a great country and people are so ugly. It makes me more sad that a lot of the ugliness comes from Christians. Who said we had to agree on everything?

"Respect everyone, and love your
Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king."
1 Peter 2:17

Respect and love goes a long way. I heard the best message at church yesterday. What if Christian republicans/democrats said, " You know I know Susie and she's a (insert political party) and she's not so bad. In fact, she's a nice person" And we as Christians REFUSED to talk smack about the party. Disagreement is fine, being ugly goes against our core values. It goes against who Jesus is. When Jesus walked this earth he loved everyone. He sat, dined, and made friends with those were the least worthy. Today, he does the same. I am one of those...who does not deserve his love but his mercy is poured down on me. So what can I do in return... LOVE ALL

John 14:34 &35-Words from my master

"A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

I LOVE Halloween!

Kindergarten theme is always "When I Grow Up" I don't like the theme but my hands are tied :( Once I changed it to "Fairytale" which I think is more creative and fun and I got in "trouble". The bad thing about my school is the principal/owner is all about tradition. I had a train engineer, business man, teacher (doesn't she look like Sarah Palin), author/ballerina (cute!), bat (I think her mom forgot...oh well) and a taxi cab driver. I was the tooth fairy. Heather do you recognize the dress? We had a lot of fun.

This is my costume for preschool dress up. The theme was Time Machine so I used a leftover Fiona costume sans ears and was a Medieval (or as the preschoolers said a mean and evil) princess!

This girl HATES costumes so she'll never get a new one. Oh how I wish she did!

My kindergartners sewed these owls. I think they are SO adorable! I think we'll be doing a lot more sewing projects. We all had a lot of fun making these!

These kids are the sweetest!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

So I really wanted to go to the Obama rally today which was held like 7 minutes from my work. I don't want to talk politics or debate with anyone, but he's my boy and I wanted to see him. Sadly, work doesn't get done until 4 and shuttle service started at 1 and by the time I got off it was way TOO crowded. This is Florida and even if we are having beautiful "fall" weather my idea of fun is not standing smooshed with a bunch of sweating people who have been standing in the hot sun since 1 and didn't wear deorderant. So I did what I do every Monday and Wednesday I went to Zumba! And I got all sweaty, but I burned calories too :)

Zumba is high cardio Latin dance workout and it is SO much fun! I've done the DVDs off and on for years, but the instructor, Sharon at the Y is SO awesome! The hour goes by so quick!

Since we are learning about careers we had to make cookies in Kindergarten. Baker...career...yummiest job EVER! I found this great sugar cookie recipe. I'm not even a huge fan of sugar cookies and these were really good! Hence, another reason why I had to go to Zumba instead of Obama is I ate 3 cookies (YIKES!)

Mixing is always their favorite part :) That and
I let them taste the batter :)

And a nice end to my day was 2 great parents doing career presentations. I wish I had offspring just to put in Monica's drama class. She is so kid-friendly and high energy. And a dad who brings Universal swag isn't so bad either :)

Now I'm going to end my day with one of the funniest shows on tv....The Big Bang Theory. Seriously, this show is so great and keeps getting better. It's these nerdy scientists who live across the hall from a cute waitress wannabe actress. The interaction between the two worlds is REALLY funny! The actor who plays Sheldon is SO great that if I saw him in real life I'd have a hard time believing he wasn't this quirky guy. Tomorrow is bookclub and I'm giving away our book either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

This weekend the weather was GORGEOUS! So I did one of my favorite things...went to Sea World. Clyde and Seamore make me so happy :) The only problem was it was one of the trick or treating weekends so it was a little (well maybe a lot) crowded. But all the kids in their costumes were SO adorable. They also have a new cirque show...still in the Natilus Theater but new show. I liked to the storyline better, but there was too much going on at once.

Then, I spent sometime at IKEA and Super Target. I really wanted to get this lamp but they were out :(

That just means I'll have to go back. Actually, I'm going to do a little room makeover...maybe a $200 IKEA challenge.

Congrats to KatieD she's the winner of the book giveaway. There will be another one this week.

Nights in Rodanthe ****GIVEAWAY****

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love books. Nothing makes me happier than a REALLY good story. A story where you feel for the characters and fall in love with them. Nights in Rodanthe is a REALLY good story. If you are a person with a decent heart you probably cried as much as me in the Notebook. Nights in Rodanthe is written by Nicholas Sparks, the same author of the Notebook.

I'm not going to give too much away, but this is the story of a mother and a daughter, father and a son, father and a daughter, and two lovers. Yeah some of these are the same people. But all of the interesting character dynamics and relationships are AMAZING! Yeah it is some what predictable at times, but it is a story of life, love, loss, and redemption. It's a book that will make you feel warm and happy, sad and tearful all in 200 short pages.

Now for some bad news...the movie is HORRIBLE...it is nothing like the book and I wanted to walk out in the first 10 minutes. But its kinda good news because I just saved you $10.

Now here is AWESOME news...I love this story so much that I want to pass it on so others can share in my love. So if you would love to read this AMAZING story just leave a comment. I'll do a drawing next week. And just for a little side note I'll be doing a book give away like every week or two so keep checking back!

Please Pray

A while ago I told you about my favorite blog...well Nate and Tricia are in need of prayer. She has developed cancer on her transplanted lungs. They tried a "chemo light" and it didn't work. So now she has to go for the big stuff. Please pray for Nate and Tricia and the wisdom of the doctors. Sometimes when stuff like this happens it's hard to see where God is...when that happens I think of this song :

Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
- - -
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Win this quilt

You could be the owner of this beautiful quilt. I really hope I'm the winner, but you can be too. Just go to here to enter.

Love this game

Today on Google there were how to instructions on how to play MASH. I must have played this game for hours, maybe even a day or two, if you add up all the time together. In case, in your childhood years you missed out here are the instructions.

I hope you all get mansions :)

Bad Week :(

So far this week my hard drive on my Mac crashed :( I have a horrible on its last leg PC that I am using. I HATE PCs :( Hopefully, I can get a good deal on a new Mac off ebay. Refrigdgerator was leaking water into the neighbors and I had to deal with my idiot landlord. That meant I couldn't cook my meals for the week when I had planned-so that has been all off. And I've lost my camera. I know its somewhere, but I have no idea where. So I can't take pictures on bentos. But on a happy note...we all thought my grandfather was on the brink of death but he seems to be making a great recovery! He is one VERY tough guy :) Well the oven is blaring at me...I have an old oven-it doesn't beep...it blairs. Hopefully, bentos will be back up next week.

PS-I changed my inspiration to green/healthy living...I'll try to put up more sites...if you have any good ones let me know.

One Word Meme

I saw this on another site...

You’re feeling: productive

To your left: a snoring Roxie

On your mind: completing my purging (of stuff...not lunch :) )

Last meal included: Pepperoni Pizza

You sometimes find it hard to: not to buy SO many books

The weather: steamy

Something you have a collection of: shot glasses

A smell that cheers you up: my mom's cooking

A smell that can ruin your mood: eggs

How long since you last shaved: today

The current state of your hair: wavy

The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): organizers

Your skill with chopsticks: moderate

Which section you head for first in a bookstore: bargain/fiction

Something you’re craving: First Watch Blueberry Pancakes

Your general thoughts on the presidential race: We Can Do It :)

How many times have you been hospitalized this year: none

Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: outside

You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: doula

Something that freaks you out a little: heights

Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Chewy Cookies

You have never: watched a Star Wars Movie (not interested)

You never want to: live where it snows

Twilight

Disclaimer: This coming Tuesday I start my summer job and will resume bento postings :) Stay tuned :)


This is the second in my series of alternatives to Harry Potter. If you are a girl especially you have to read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I know it's about high school, but the series is SO addictive. It's about a girl named Bella who moves to Washington to live with her dad. Bella is typical, unassuming, and clumsy. Bella meets a beautiful boy named Edward and beautiful family the Cullens. Bella soon learns that Edward and his family are vampires. And the plot thickens and expands to 4 books (the 4th and final will be release on August 2nd). When you start reading Twilight it is a little slow, but just keep with it. If anyone local wants to borrow my copies let me know :)

Quick Review:
Stars: ***** out 5


Summary: Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy, rainy Olympic Peninsula live with her father, Charlie. At school, she meets a group of five extremely beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. She meets Edward and starts to like him. It is then that she learns their secret they are all rescued vampires. The head of the family, Carlisle, trained them to reject human prey for animals. The Cullens welcome Bella, but the family is divided when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on Bella. The Cullens must protect the fragile human in their midst.


If you like: Harry Potter, Vampires, Anne of Green Gables meets


Smut Rating: I would rate Twilight PG for the violence and high school themes. The other books I would rate PG -13 because they have a little bit more adult themes.

Best Blog EVER!!!!

I want to share with you the best blog I have ever read. It's about a couple in North Carolina (Nate and Tricia) and their little baby Gywneth. It's isn't because of the great writing, although I think Nate writes pretty well and is even humorous. It isn't because they have ultra glamorous and chic lives. It's because daily their lives reaffirm for me the beauty of God's grace. Read this post to get caught up on everything and not have to spend hours reading to get the background, although I'm sure eventually you will. Everyday this blog brings a smile to my face :)

Please Do It-It's Free!!!!

Please, please, please join the National Bone Marrow Registry. It's quick, easy, and painless! And if you join through the 19th-it's free! It never costs for you to give bone marrow- the cost is with processing your kit. If you sign up online it takes about 10 minutes and then they'll send a kit to your house and you swab your cheeks with a Q-Tip and send it back to them. And best of all you could save someone's life!

This is SO me!

WHITES are motivated by PEACE. They seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good is more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for their strength because they don't easily reveal their feelings. WHITES are even-tempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason; but can also be indecisive, inexpressive, and silently stubborn. When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept and support their individuality, and look for non-verbal clues to understand their feelings.

What color are you?

Happy Earth Day!

I know it's a tad late. I had a fun day watching the Lorax (it was perfect for the kindergarteners) and talking about helping the Earth. We made recycled crafts. In preschool we just made the bugs which are from lids to juice bottles. And the kindergarteners actually used those spoons for snack so it was true recycling. And yes I let 3 and 5 year olds use a low temp glue gun :) I squirt the glue and they place the stuff on.

Reading challenge

Ok wow three posts in one day and NONE of them bento related :( Well right after I hit post I discovered a cool reading challenge here. And there is nothing I love more than a challenge. I am going for Quest the third. Why not? So here are my four books:



1. Mythology-undetermined yet
2. Fantasy-Peter Pan
3. Folklore-The Romance of Tristan and Iseult-Loved the movie so I am going to try to read this book
4. Fairytale- Princess Bride-I've had this book on my shelf for a long time and can't wait to read it
5. Midsummer's Night Dream

As I was making my list I realized the ones I had so far were movies so I decided to keep with that theme.

For Harry Potter Fans (part one)

So if you are a Harry Potter fan and you are wondering what to read now that Harry Potter is over- I am going to offer you three choices. These books are not like Harry Potter in the sense that none of them are about kids going to magic school. All three of these books are very different in writing styles and themes. Only one of them is suitable for grade school readers. I am recommending these three books because they are 1. All of them are a series (two are trilogies) 2. All of them promote the same kind of friendship as Harry Potter 3. All of the main characters are outcasts in their own way 4. All of the books contain some kind of magical or fantasy element.



Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart is the story of 12 year old Meggie. I love Meggie so much because she loves books. In fact I would say she more than loves books, she adores them. Cornelia Funke's writing in this book is amazing. As it draws you in as you learn that Meggie's father Mo can read characters to life from stories. It is obvious from her writing that the author respects and adores books as much as Meggie does. She even starts each chapter out with a quote about words or books. I love this story because as they set off to find the author of Inkheart the story becomes a world within a world. The suspense in this book is from the start and keeps you going until the end. The imagery in this book is amazing and will make you excited to read the second book, Inkspell (the third is not release yet). This is by far the most magical of the three and the least realistic. A book about the occult and sorcery it is not (although the villains are pure evil).

Quick Review:
Stars: **** out 5


Summary: Meggie is a 12 year old girl who loves books and lives alone with her father Mo. When a strange visitor, Dustfinger, shows up at Meggie's house-Meggie learns that Mo can read characters to life. Mo read Dustfinger out of the story Inkheart and read Meggie's mother into the story. Mo also release Capricorn, a villain who likes to murder people. Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger and Meggie's great aunt Elinor set off on an adventure to find the author of the book Inkheart so that he might re-write the ending. On their pursuit to find the author they are hunted and captured by Capricorn's henchmen.


If you like: Harry Potter and other magical stories, The Book Thief (Meggie and Liesel are the same in some ways) , If you share a great love for books.


Smut Rating: I would rate this book a PG for the violence in this book. I would compare it to the violence in any fantasy type book. I would for sure recommend this book for grades 4 and up because Capricorn the villain is just a wee too violent for younger ones. There are also some minor cuss words in the book.

Bento Free Week

So it's my Spring Break and while I've been having fun I realize that my body needs routine and I am kinda looking forward to getting back to school. I know in two weeks I'll regret saying that. So here's what I've been up to:

New Smyrna Beach
My opinion is this is the best beach in the Central Florida Area. The only down side is there isn't much beach-well there is, but no a lot of dry sitting part.

Frozen Gold
A trip to New Smyrna requires Frozen Gold. Skip the banana splits and the other stuff and just get some soft serve. My favorite is swirl. If you are a chocolate lover you could always get it dipped, but I think au natural is the best!


If you want to take some local flavor down to the beach for lunch try Heavenly Sandwiches. (Sorry for the bad picture)They have salads, wraps, sandwiches and smoothies. You can get anything to go. My advice: this place is run by true Southern beach people, which means they don't work very fast...okay they are S L O W. So make sure you aren't in a rush. Also if you are getting it to go tell them to go light on any sauce or dressing. There was way too much dressing on mine and it made my wrapper soggy :( Overall , the food was pretty good. Oh and the wraps are HUGE you could probably split one with your beach going companion.



Roxie and I have been spending a lot of time at Pawmosa Dog Park, which I think is the best dog park in Orlando, especially for small dogs. Sadly, for us there haven't been any small dogs.

My Favorite Day of the Year

My favorite day of kindergarten is the Ant Picnic. We conclude our insect study with a picnic, bug hunt and lots of playing. It is at one of the BEST parks in Orlando-Langford Park. Langford Park is downtown-off Central in the Thornton Park neighborhood. It has a huge field perfect for flying kites or water balloon fights (see below). It also has a nice size gazebo perfect for eating lunch. There are two playgrounds (one is for kids under 7), large sidewalks perfect for riding bikes, covered tables and not covered tables. They even have an inside area with VERY clean bathrooms that has kids nature classes during the summer. I LOVE Langford Park! Too bad I had a cold and didn't feel to well. I had a lot of fun, but I didn't play with the kids as much as I normally do. Reminding myself-you can't be 100% all the time :)

Decorating bug boxes

Hunting for bugs-on the right one of my kids is using a bug vacuum. If you ever go on a bug hunt you must have one-even I have my own :)

Water balloon fight!!!! No getting the teacher :)

Bubbles are just so fun!

Perfect ending to a VERY fun day :)

My Week

So I've been sick this past week, like cold of the century sick :( Because of my sickness I only made 2 bentos.
Contents of bento: Enchilada, orange, grapes and apple

I am really unsatisfied with so many things about this bento, but part of me needs to accept that I can do everything 100% all the time.

Contents: Tangelo, apple slices, caprese salad and lemon pepper chicken

Lesson from this bento: Don't try to be all decorative when you don't feel well. I really hate the way the lettuce looks under the chicken.


On the school front:

This week was full of lots of fun!

Super cute art work done by one of my preschoolers. I wish I could have a room FULL of children's art work.

Some of my kindergarteners really love learning to spell. I have a bunch of clip art glued on to construction paper and they practice spelling words. This is done in their free time when they could be playing toys or computer. I love kids who love to learn.

My kindergarteners are learning about insects. I had a create your own bug project. I only had two that were student done. It makes me so mad that parents don 't give their children the experience of doing their own project. How does a child learn? I could on about this subject for at least another 4,000 words. But I'll stop :) PS. This bug eats monsters :)