Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

…that my students and their parents ~*know*~ me:

A gift tin full of cookie-makings…

…and multiple batches of coffee, Starbucks goodies, Pampered Chef items, hot chocolate mix, sparkly ornaments, and my magic-teaching-vitamins: peanut m-n-m’s. Also received (but the photos turned out blurry) nummy smelling candles and bath treats~

Yep, my Stars and their parents see *everything*!

Merry Christmas Super Stars and Super Star parents- thank you for making me feel so special!

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Need some holiday inspiration or just want to look at pretties that other bloggers have shared?  Take a peek:

~ A Storybook Life shares the most beautiful cupcakes (could you ever really bite into these without feeling guilty?)…

~ The Pioneer Woman Cooks fruit and crumbled left over chocolate chip cookies- should there ever *be* left over cookies in my house (um, never), this is the recipe I would try.  Those of you with better self control than me, give it a try and let me know how it turns out…

~ Check out Motley Mutton and the Gangly Goat’s felt animal necklaces (VERY CUTE!) at Etsy…

~ Saucy’s bake sale goodies at Bloggedy Blog Blog just might convince me to pull out the ol’ parchment paper one more time this month…

~ Should you ever want a strawberries and cream colored Christmas, head over to Everyday Beauty’s Pretty Little Christmas for ideas…

~ Heather Bailey shares a flower pinwheel pattern over at Hello My Name is Heather- check out the poinsettia!

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Tomorrow is my 39th birthday and I am THRILLED!  Wonderful husband and kids- *check*.  Terrific family and friends- *check*.  Awesome students and colleagues- *check*.  Roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food in our bellies- *check*.  Hope, optimism, healthy bouts of laughter, with some quiet time for myself thrown in- *check*.  Master’s Degree… uh…

Guess it’s time to start the New Year’s Resolutions.

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~ A Little Blog of Art features art/illustrations by Emma Block- my favorites so far are her holiday watercolors featuring ice skaters (along with some cute banners and ornaments), which you can find here…

Tags: Christmas, links, students

Multiple times.  Plural.  And while my blog-reading and blog-posting schedule will have to change a bit now that I’m back to work, I couldn’t resist subscribing to the following:

Confections

Raggedy Old Annies

The Shabby Nest

A Fanciful Twist

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Once I finish reading through the latest Artful Blogging, I’m sure I’ll have more blogs to recommend! I’ll also be pruning and updating my blogroll before school starts on Monday.

This afternoon our students get to visit with us in our classrooms for a short time! Yay! I’ll be taking their photos so I can make their center tags this weekend (having them for two days before school starts will also help me learn their names quickly), and getting contact/email/parent teacher conference schedules taken care of with their “special grown ups.” I’ll set out a coloring page for those students who want to take their desks and chairs for a test drive, and will be making quick observations and mental notes like the ones I mentioned here.

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Crayons! Thanks Sesame Street!

We’ve stalled a bit indoors as I won’t be able to set up the toddler’s playroom or my craft area until my kindergarten materials, books, and decor are delivered to my new classroom later this week.  Dear Husband checked the trees in our yard today instead, looking for branches that needed to be trimmed while the kids and I checked on the seeds that we planted for “filler-type” greenery and flowers for the remaining summer months.

The nasturtiums and pumpkins have sprouted, though I’m not sure if we’ll actually get any pumpkins grown in time for Halloween with such a late planting.  The kids were inspired by the pumpkin photos at Chance Family Happenings:

Dear Husband trimmed back some branches that were obscuring traffic/street signs:

…and he discovered a few branches that the electric company will have to come out to cut and remove (see where the power line is?):

Later this afternoon I’ll re-pot some of my indoor plants into larger containers, anticipating what new greenery I can find to put into the newly emptied pots!

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Thanks for being green, Kermit:

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~SmittenKitchen shares a recipe for Sauteed Radishes (yes, radishes!), Sugar Snap Peas and Dill

~Paper-and-String is working on Christmas in July (check out her trees, reindeer, and puddings)

~Doug has “heavier” reading on his summer book list than I do, but I’m intrigued after reading his thoughts on Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine.  NCLB is an issue that has ties that stretch much further than our classrooms, school district offices, states, even country.

~Dear Daughter enjoyed her birthday, but wanted a plain ol’ vanilla cake (with purple streaks swirled in) with strawberry icing.  Guess I’ll have to wait for another celebration to try The Pioneer-Woman-Cooks’ Yogurt and Orange Marmalade Cake.

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Happy Monday!

Tags: family, friends, links, photos, recipes

* We opened, emptied and broke down 20+ more boxes downstairs yesterday. Now there are piles of books, equipment, baskets and more books all over the place, effectively replacing the stacks of boxes. Messy, messy, messy, but still a sign of progress.

* Dear Husband will have an office this year. It might not be the largest place to hang his work hat, but he’ll be able to take some of his military decor with him to spruce things up a bit. Once I’m able to get into my classroom, all of my classroom materials, decor, and books will be out of our house as well. It will be interesting to see how the whole home decor thing works out afterward. No Army influences, no kindergarten themes- just who we are outside of the workplace with our family.

* I’ve found my seat cushions and Somerset Magazines.  They were in boxes marked “Baskets” and “Outdoor Storage.”  The seat cushions were used in our dining room year ’round, and the magazines were in my creative cubby space.  Neither were used near baskets or outdoor storage.  The box marked “Baskets” plural had only one basket in it.    I know.  I’m a nitpick.

* Amanda at GoodyBlog got my toddler’s attention this morning when she posted this:

Happy Tuesday!

Tags: blogs, family, video

Which would be a change for me, frankly! Not that all of my Mondays have been miserable in the past, but they’ve been, well…Mondaaaaaaaays.

Until this year. Since January 1, 2008, I’ve had some pretty terrific day-after-Sundays. I was contacted for an initial interview with my new school district on a Monday. The interview itself was on a Monday, and I was offered a job that very afternoon! Humorous emails have been sent my way, I’ve had great timing at the grocery store on early Monday mornings, and the toddler has even slept in occasionally…all on Mondays.

And then there was today, THIS Monday. When I checked my email I found a message from GoodyBlog, notifying me that I had won this:

A wonderful Father’s Day Giveaway was hosted at their site, so I entered. Once we get to our new home in Oz, a fifty inch plasma t.v. and surround sound system will be on its way to us, belated perhaps, but still very much appreciated by my husband. GoodyBlog and Shop.com, you are AWESOME!

See what I mean about Mondays?

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Check out the temp in my truck:

No matter! Inside, where the air conditioner is working just fine, it’s cool enough for me to crochet a scarf with left over baby yarn:

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I’ve enjoyed checking on my blog visitor information provided by Lijit and have to laugh at some of the searches that seem to bring people to my site…”freakyoldwoman” (huh?), “weird crafts” (hey, I think they’re pretty!), and “wanna-be-decorator” (nope, I’m not a professional!). A big *shout out* to Winter Park, Florida…Hays, Kansas…and most especially, Germantown, Maryland. You’ve been searching for ME, point-blank! Feel free to say hello sometime! It’s wonderful seeing that I’ve been visited by readers in Great Britain, Mexico, Canada, Australia~ welcome All!

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Selfishly, I’ve been feeling a bit bummed though. Some of my favorite writers/bloggers have chosen to move on to greener non-blogging pastures. Understandable, yes. We all grow, change, move on. But sad too, like when the last episodes of Mary Tyler Moore or M*A*S*H were broadcast. There I go dating myself again. Hopefully their archives will be left up so I can revisit from time to time. Recipes, crafting, altered artistry, poetry, criticism, edu-blogging. I’ve been an appreciative lurker. I’ll miss you.

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Thankfully…

* A Fanciful Twist (full of happy, vibrant creatures and wonderful photography~ I can’t wait to visit Vanessa’s Etsy shop to choose a favorite little magical tree or creature to purchase!)

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I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

It’s been a mish-mash kind of week: domestic goddess duties at home; the start of our relocation planning; strange encounters with rude people; filling out teaching applications; juicy news from friends and family; photo-journalism at home; longing for the same types of proof that spring has arrived that my favorite blogs have been publishing (alas, we get flowering shrubs here in the desert, not tulips or crocus or snowdrops); and a return to watching what I eat and making time to get on the treadmill.

I’ve been able to do a bit of exploring as well and have found some ideas and items to add to the online version of my Inspiration Binder. Here’s some of what you’ll find in the “flagged” column on my read feed:

(Art by Tammy-Fleetwood-Moody)

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I thought I was good at patriotic decor influences until I came across Karnas Hus. Nope, I don’t understand a word of it, but thanks to the author’s photographs, I “get it.” Interesting to see our nation’s colors and symbols used so beautifully in a country style cottage home… in someone else’s country.

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Casa Sugar did a quick review on the following book:

and I want it!

Not just because it has a wonderful illustration of “nasty urchins” on the cover (though that is certainly what grabbed my attention first) but because I love trying to identify flora I’ve not encountered before when we move to each new state. What are “nasty urchins?” Nasturtiums, of course, though I’ve had several kindergarten students throughout the years ask me “Teacher, teacher, when do we get to take the nasty urchins home to give to our moms?” at the end of our Seeds/Things Grow units. Nasty urchins go home right before Mother’s Day, by the way, just so you know.

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I’d like to go shopping at The Cottage. Soon. Here’s their blog with close up photos. I’m liking vintage looking (and truly vintage) furniture more and more…probably has something to do with the movers “giving our furniture character” each time we relocate.

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Di at Designer’s Block featured a beautiful French getaway recently, so I followed along, and found my own dream getaway-girls’-only cottage (sorry Honey!). Rock walls, clean lines, simple furnishings, twinkle lights…I can feel my stress melting away. I’m not entirely sold on the pink walls though, but there are some nicely photographed decor ideas to tuck away for future inspiration…

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I don’t like green beans. Never have. Ask my mother. She’ll tell you all about how I would constantly try to mask the flavor and texture and smell and existence of said beans with mounds of catsup as a child. It never worked of course, insert dramatic gagging followed with tons of eye-watering begging please-don’t-make-me-eat-this here. As a result, I didn’t like anything that remotely LOOKED like green beans…. meaning *asparagus*. Then Smitten Kitchen goes and writes up (and photographs) a Spring Panzanella, and my goodness… I might have to be brave… risk revisiting the childhood trauma/drama for a taste…or two, or three… It looks THAT delicious.

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Scribbit reminded me that I’m missing break up again this year. Remember folks, I’m an Alaska Girl…

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Inspire Company has a new online magazine- once you get there, keep clicking “next” to see each wonderful, crafty feature! I’m going to find some time this weekend to make a cake like the one outlined in the Creativity Journal (number 6).

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What’s been catching *your* eye lately?

Tags: books, family, humor, links

Miss me?

While I was happy to share the wonderful Muppet video clip on Monday, I haven’t written anything in the past two days other than grocery lists and email messages, which is odd for me. It’s not that I haven’t had scenes, situations, or thoughts to share, in fact I’m happy to catch you up in a sec… I suppose I just needed a little break from blogging. Now *reading* blogs… I’ve been up to the task, and have even been rewarded for my reading and commenting…

Hostess With the Mostess hosted a giveaway with Childish Clothing.com last week, and GUESS WHO WON? Oh yes, ladies and gents, that would be ME! Five hundred dollars to shop for my almost three-year-old, and don’t you know, it’s perfect timing since the last growth spurt made most of our boy’s wardrobe much too small. I’m making sure that the boy gets one of these:

It’s the shirt that inspired me to comment on the giveaway post in the first place- I’m such an Army Wife/Mom!

Sigh, here are the skulls that Daddy likes:

Just perfect for our toddler, who is ALL BOY!

Thank you again Hostess and Childish Clothing, you have made our week, and our toddler’s summer!

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Along with fun surprises, we had a not-fun one this morning. One of those that makes you wonder as a parent just *how* exactly your own parents allowed you to live past the age of, oh, thirteen…

I asked Dear Daughter to please wash my truck yesterday. Apparently she took my truck keys in order to stick them in the ignition so she could listen to tunes during her dreary task. An hour later (she washed the outside and cleaned the interior), she came back into the house, and since I wasn’t aware that she had taken the keys, I didn’t ASK HER FOR THE KEYS. This morning we headed out the door to run some errands, and guess what I couldn’t find?

And guess where daughter found them? In the ignition. With the ignition on. And it had been on, all night long. The problem was solvable, doable, but a pain in the sheer timing of it. Military Spouses, you’ll understand this one: guess where Husband is this week? Yep, out of town at training. For those of you non-military families, believe me when I tell you that Murphy’s Law LOVES to lurk around the homes, vehicles, and workplaces of military spouses and families. Just waiting. Yes, you can almost hear the theme music from Jaws in the background begin to play as soon as our soldier deploys or leaves town for training. Pipes burst, tornadoes hit, cars die, and basements flood as soon as we’re on our own. Add “teenagehood happens” to that list.

So after a phone call to Dear Husband to find out 1) where the jumper cables were and 2) just HOW I should use them to bring my truck back to life, I was moving vehicles, getting into the tool box, poppin’ the hoods, and making sure red went to red and black went to black (my husband warned me that “bad things” happen when the reds and blacks on the jumper cables are mixed up on the vehicle batteries). Ten minutes later, my truck was running, and I had cooled down enough to know that I could speak to Dear Daughter without bursting her eardrums or the windows of our neighbors. I even fed her lunch.

Good mommy.

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I’ve got the urge to make a banner…or two…or three… with inspiration from Holly at Decor8, and Candice at Peacoats and Party Hats, and easy directions from Beth at Stitch, Rip, Repeat. One for kindergarten, another for birthdays, and possibly one that says “Welcome Home!”

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Jenny and Doug, I’ve started thinking about the passion-quilt meme, really! It will be coming up in a future post!

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See you back here tomorrow for Show and Share Thursday- I think I’ll go make sure my keys are where they’re supposed to be!

Tags: blogging, blogs, family

Hello, my name is Michaele, and I’m an addict. A Vera Bradley Addict.

What’s surprising is that I wasn’t aware of the extent of my addiction until today, as I went through the hutch in our dining room to find Easter-ish or Spring-ish place mats or tablecloths for this weekend.

I kept pulling out set after set of VB place mats and realized that there were still *more* sets packed away with the Christmas decor! In fact, the photos I’m sharing today don’t include my VB tablecloths, napkins, table runners, purses/handbags, or clothing items… and the sets shown above aren’t ALL, since I’m using several sets in our barrister bookcases and throughout the living room and kitchen for spring accents:

I’m guessing my love of Vera Bradley table decor is linked to my love for quilts- each of these place mats are quilted with a coordinating fabric on the back. I’m always on the look-out for retired patterns and colors on Ebay, Petit Point, Black Walnut, and Maison Blue especially:

What’s not to love? They’re machine washable, patterned enough to hide a small stain here or there, and instantly dress up a table or other surface beautifully. With a toddler and busy family, EASE and FUNCTIONALITY are essentials in our home, but in case you were wondering, no, I simply cannot resist PRETTINESS.

No, no, I’m NOT a Vera Bradley salesperson or store representative- though I wish I were if it would get me a discount on the new line of RUGS available online! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

If you’d like something a bit more romantic, “foofy” even for table decor, try April Cornell, another favorite of mine!

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Easter/Spring Projects:

~Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home has made some beautiful egg-shaped pocket cards and walks you through, step by step…

~ Lisa at Celebrate Creativity in All its Forms shows us how to decorate a new vase, just in time for those spring bouquets, though I think I’ll use her techniques and advice on a few storage containers I’ve been saving up lately for my desk…

~ Terry at Bent Objects expresses some Easter humor with a chocolate bunny, some raisins and Raisinets, a nice change from the deluge of Peep dioramas that many others have produced this year…

~ Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen tells us how to make perfect hard boiled eggs (still on my to-do list for today!)

~ Angry Chicken shares a recipe for birds’ nests (edible!) that kindergarten teachers, their students and families are sure to enjoy!

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Recent Blog Discoveries:

ModernJune

Tammy Gilley Studios

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I forgot to mention that while I was playing with Scrabble tiles and tongue-twisters the other day, I also made a Scrabble rack to go with my Easter decor in the epergne:

Happy Spring!

Tags: Easter, links, recipes, Show and Share

Check out the latest edition of the Mommy Blog Carnival hosted by The So Called Me- I contributed this month and am eager to read many of the other posts that were submitted!

(Magnet from Ephemera)

Tags: blog carnival

*It was wonderful spending time with Shannon last week/weekend! Crafting, shopping, driving, laughing, and a few hysterical games of Trivial Pursuit with Dear Daughter were just what the doctor ordered. I shared photos of Rosie’s Workshop with you, but I won’t be done with her thank-you chipboard book until sometime tomorrow since I ran out of color ink for my printer. Funny how that happens right in the middle of some fun craft!

*Old Mesilla was windy and dusty for our last excursion, so much so that the weekend vendors stayed away. We visited a few shops, but mostly the kids ran, twirled, and otherwise stayed away from all things breakable:

…while Shannon and I ventured a bit closer to the pretties we found:

A shopkeeper even pointed us in the direction of a little nook inbetween shops similar to the ones that Tara had just posted about :

* It was incredible being part of Oprah’s “webinar” last night, with author Eckhart Tolle, discussing A New Earth. Incredible until everything crashed- my screen froze up, and nothing would load. Apparently with a global community of participants (over 139 countries were represented), the web slows down a bit. Okay, more than a bit. But it was still amazing. I still have to visit Oprah.com to download the rest of what I missed last night. New ways of thinking, paradigm-shifting… very neato topics. We’ll see what happens next Monday night!

* Catching up on my blog-reading, I came across a link to housemartin who posted something that made me think of my mother: knitting. Go look. I want the rug. You have knitting needles that size, don’t you Mom?

* Another link I stumbled across features sock monkeys, but not the old brown and cream ones- these are happy happy happy!

* Sally Jean has posted her list of suggestions for ways to celebrate March…

* And finally, right before the ol’ diet starts up again, Smitten Kitchen posts on homemade devil dog, ding dong, or hostess cake.

Tags: Hi Mom, links