The End is Near!

The school year is quickly coming to a close. About 13 days left before summer break. I am spending a good deal of time cleaning and sorting and throwing away in my classroom. After 24 years as a classroom teacher --about half in second grade and half in fourth grade--I will be a Title One reading teacher next year. Whoo Hooo! I am excited! I've wanted to do this for a long time!


Thank a Teacher today!
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Personalized Pillowcases

My friend, Olivia, is getting married in July. We held an Around the Clock bridal shower for her this week, so a gift was in order. Now I know her wedding colors are yellow and gray, and I happened to see some that I really liked when I was fabric shopping one day. So, I chose 1:00 a.m. As my time and whipped up a set of pillowcases.


And to make them His and Hers I machine embroidered a message on each one.


Hers--Andrew Loves Olivia and His--Olivia Loves Andrew. Sweet Dreams!

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Viva Las Vegas Part 2

Sooooo, we had one great day in Las Vegas, then Friday morning we set out to visit the casinos on the strip. The Venetian was just across the street so we started there.


The paintings are beautiful!


And the sky looked so real that you could almost see the clouds moving.(but it is just painted.)


Then we set off for Caesar's Palace.We stopped for a quick photo op. Here Mom is with her DIL(Gay) & SIL(Bud)


It was gorgeous!


It was about here that I started feeling ill. we found a spot to sit and have a water and watch the free show.(no good pics). After that Bud walked back to the motel to make sure I made it to bed where I spent the rest of the day. I rallied enough to see a show that evening.


It was a good show. then we headed to the Bellagio to see the water show.


Very Cool!
and it was time for me to head back to bed where I stayed all the next day until about 3:00. Bud and I then took a bus tour so that I at least got to see the entire strip and the Las Vegas sign. We then met my cousin and her husband for dinner at a nice Italian Restaurant. I was too ill to enjoy the food. :( Next up was....


We LOVED Home Improvement, but I didn't really enjoy him in person so much. He was a little crude but really it was more that he just went in so many directions. His opening guy was almost better.
The next morning it was time to head home. I enjoyed the trip, but I spent too much time in the motel room sick.


At least it was a fantastic view!!!

I ended up missing almost the entire next week of school since I had come down with influenza and sinus infection while we were in Vegas.

Thanks to Dean and Gay for a great vacation! But I might need a Do-Over! Just sayin.....

(And to those of you who asked...yes, we saw some of the Pawn Stars, but I don't watch it so I'm not sure who they were.  They were filming that day so some of them were there.)

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Viva Las Vegas!!!

The last day of January a big storm was predicted for Iowa. I guess we forgot to tell Mother Nature that we had plans to fly out to Vegas that day! My sister decided to spend the night with us so we were on the same path that morning. We left our house about 3:30 a.m. for a 5:30 flight. As we left home for our 45 minute drive we began to see flurries, and the roads got worse the closer we got to CR. We checked in and boarded the plane on time. We were really patting ourselves on the back for choosing such an early flight and getting out ahead of the storm. Long story short....we backed out, waited to be de-iced, pulled in to wait for visibility, pulled out, waited to be de-iced, pulled in and waited for visibility, and FOUR hours later deplaned and they CANCELED our flight!!! Sometime in that four hours we found out all schools in EASTERN Iowa had been canceled for the day.


As you can imagine MANY flights were canceled. So now our conundrum. Bud stood in line for a while as Kathy got on the phone. Again, long story short we ended up taking the last three seats to Denver at noon with no connecting flight. FOOLS??? Well, we were meeting Mom, my brother and SIL, and Dean told us to get to Denver and we'd figure it out from there. We got to Denver and headed straight for the counter...no flights. So, we changed airlines, bought new tickets, crossed our fingers that our luggage would actually get their, and took off. We landed in Vegas six hours late, but our luggage DID make it! We started out at Señor Frogs at Treasure Island where we stayed.


The next morning we headed for Hoover Dam. We took the tour which was very interesting.


Next we stopped by the NASCAR Track. We just visited the gift shop and headed off to the home of Pawn Stars where, believe it or not, we waited in line!


They were filming that day, but I'm pretty sure no one in our group made it on film! I was not impressed, but it was not all about me!

Next up was the free show at The Rio.


After a seafood buffet we headed downtown to Fremont Street for the light show.


There were ALL types of people on Fremont Street!


We headed back to the hotel exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Part 2 tomorrow.......
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Roasted Brussel Sprouts....EWWWW!

We have been trying to eat healthier since Christmas although we often fall off of the wagon! Anyway, we're concentrating on eating more whole foods and less processed stuff, and fewer carbs.

Now, a little background may be necessary. We like to eat. We most often choose not so healthy fare...burgers & fries, casseroles, bread, bread, and more bread. And we LOVE desserts! Bud especially loves ice cream, and I'm always happy to join him in eating a bowl!

So, we have added more fruits and veggies into our diet. And some of those we've never tried before. The mangoes we tried were tasty, and Bud loved the pomegranate salad. Tonight it was brussel sprouts.

Lately I keep seeing brussel sprouts mentioned on some of the blogs I read. So, that was our "treat" for supper tonight.


This is the recipe that I followed:
1 lb. brussel sprouts
2 T coconut oil(melted)
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash brussel sprouts and cut off any yellow leaves. After cleaning the B brussels sprouts, halve them and place in a large bowl. Pour the vinegar over them, making sure to fully coat them. Allow to sit for 5 minutes to absorb the vinegar. Pour the melted coconut oil over the sprouts and coat thoroughly. On a baking sheet, place the sprouts face down in a single layer. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Place the pan in your preheated oven for 10 minutes and then turn. This will ensure even cooking throughout. Cook for another 15 minutes.

Let's just say I've tasted better grass clippings. They were strong smelling, and disgusting!! We won't be having them again in this household. Bud's word for them was, "putrid"! And that's coming from a guy we've always said would eat $&@t if you gave him a slice of bread!

So, who out there LIKES brussel sprouts and how do you eat them?
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To Blog or Not to Blog????

I started this blog in 2008 to keep a journal of sorts about our life. I had been reading several blogs and thought one of my own would be great fun! I started out slowly with short posts. I sometimes tried to be creative.....maybe not always very successfully. I've shared lots of family activities, recipes, crafts, and sewing projects.

My blogging has dwindled a lot lately for several reasons. 1. I don't enjoy blogging as much on my iPad, and I sometimes even have trouble and give up! I used to blog on my school laptop, but I don't bring that home as much anymore, and the desktop is too slow and inconvenient. 2. I'm not sure who, or IF anyone is really reading it besides me.



3. The lack of comments is discouraging. While I think my family reads it, it is hard to tell because they rarely comment on the blog. They may often say something in person, but not on the blog. The person that comments the most isn't a family member! (Thanks, Laurie!).

So, I have to decide if I should continue with my blog, and if so I feel like I need to make an effort to blog more often.

Thoughts? (Family?)


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A Barn Raising!

My grandson Nate had a birthday that I missed as I was too sick to sew! FINALLY, I got it done.

It all started with this pin on Pinterest.


I knew I wanted to make one and turn it into a barn! Bud bought and cut the PVC pipe following the direction on the blog Angry Julie Monday. I however, purchased fabric and began the task of making it look like a barn sans pattern! Here it is with the roof completed.


Of course wouldn't you know that without a pattern to follow I didn't buy enough fabric. Luckily they had more to match when I went back. I spent a lot of time measuring, sewing, trying it on, and tearing out.:(. But in the end he loved it!


I put hay bales and a kitty on one side. Along with a window. You can see the pitchfork on the front, but what you can't see is the window and cornstalk behind Nate.


And on the other side there are more cornstalks and another window.


If you could look closely you would see John Deere fabric above the door. That was added just for Nate as he is such a John Deere kind of guy I wasn't sure he'd like it without it! (He only wears John Deere clothes.).

I hope Nate enjoys it for a long time and then keeps it for his kids to play in someday.
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