This Memorial Day ...

Remember those who sacrificed for our freedom.

Image from: http://history.knoji.com/the-history-of-the-vietnam-memorial-wallthe-three-soldiersvietnam-womens-memorial/

End of Preschool Show

Indulge me... I'm his mother.  Here is a video from Nate's end of preschool show.

"Just Double the Recipe" Or How I Completely Over-Pancaked!

Nate has been asking for pancakes for a few days.  So I waited for the weekend and got cooking.  I decided that maybe i could make my life, and our very hectic mornings a little easier if I made some extra pancakes and put them in the freezer.

Right.

So I doubled the recipe.  I go to pancake recipe is from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites.

It made a rather large bowl of batter...

So I poured and cooked.

and poured and cooked some more...

And ended up with a HUGE stack of pancakes... more than would fit in a gallon ziplock bag!  Yikes... I think I over-pancaked!

Teacher Gifts -- The Manicure Bouquet

Nate's last day of preschool is Wednesday (OH MY GOD!!!!) (SOMEBODY HOLD ME!!).  I have to say I am completely delighted with the way this year's teachers' gifts turned out.  I had search Pinterest for ideas and found this one that I really like:

Source: sheskindacrafty.com via Molly on Pinterest

I thought the idea was cute and the free printable pretty much sealed the deal.

But how to package it was the question?  Then it hit me... I had vases and filler left over from Jon's Suprose 40th birthday party centerpieces.  What if I made maicure bouquet?

Remember the Manly Bouquet I posted last year? 

Well I took this idea, as my jumping off point.  I took 2 of the leftover vases from the party and crammed them full of the leftover green paper filler.  Half a block of floral foam in the neck of the vase made a sturdy vase for the skewers.  I glued/taped various manicure tools (nail polish, nail file, buffer, hand cream, top coat, tissues, etc) onto the skewers and then pushed them in to the floral foam.  I covered up the foam with a little more paper filler.  Some ribbon scraps and the printable from the original Pin and the Manicure Bouquets were complete.

If I can find a shot of the whole thing I will post it later.

The teachers LOVED them and that kind of makes me feel like a rockstar! 

Books, Books and More Books

I surprise many people when I say that I am a librarian but I don't get to read a lot of books.  I know that is it antithetical... books are my livelihood... I should be reading all the time right?  Well not really.  I am not that kind of librarian.  I am an academic librarian which means I don't do book clubs, story times, make suggested reading lists, etc.  I am an academic librarian which means that I find journal articles in databases, have mastered the APA citation style, and I can unjam a printer in less than 30 seconds.  Also, I am not permitted to sit in my office and read on the University's time.  Plus I have a kid so not a lot of free time for leisure reading. 

But, lately, I have been doing this thing where I turn the TV off and read a book.  It is marvelous, you all should try it!  Anyway, I am completely on a roll and I finished the follwing books in the last 2 weeks:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee

And just today I started Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

I would highly recommend all of them!

 

Mother's Day 2013

Jon and Nate surprised my a week before Mother's day with my gift... a brand new VitaMix!!!

I was completely floored!  I had no idea.  It completely lives up to all the hype.  I made whipped cream in 30 seconds, and it can clean itself.  I LOVE IT!

On actual Mother's Day, we took Nate on his first trip to Hershey Park.  I was cold and windy but a good time was had by all.  Jon even took Nate on the Super Dooper Looper (its goes upside down!!!) and he loved it.  Thankfully Nate inherited his father's constitution and not mine... I throw up at the thought of going upside down.

 

 

 

I didn't feel like carrying my big camera all day, so iphone pics will have to do.  In other news, I actually rode the ferris wheel with Nate... which was terrifying and I will probably never do it again.  Rides are SO not my thing!

Scenes From the Garden

The 2013 garden is planted and things are starting to come to life.  This year I planted:

• tomatoes (3 different kinds)
• green peppers
• zucchini
• cucumbers
• pumpkins
• garlic
• lettuce
• ghost pepper (hot, hot HOT)
• Strawberries

Plantings

Since we are so close to our frost date, I decided to risk it and planted all of my flowers for the front steps.  Red petunias and gerbers daisies.  Pretty.

A Good Day

I took a vacation day yesterday because I needed some solid, uninterrupted time to get some shit done.  I was wonderful.  I was tired at the end of the day but not exhausted.  I accomplished everything on my list, I finished my book, and I slept soundly.  Plus I got to indulge in some of my favorite things (me things, to go with my me time)

A Mocha Cookie Crumble Frapaccunio from Starbucks

A fresh haircut with a new BLOND streak

And a new summer purse.  I used this free pattern and it came together so nicely.  It is fully reveserable too!