Update: The Shower Curtain

Waaaayyy back in August, I messed my cotton/linen shower curtain up by washing it (see my blog about it HERE). For Christmas, I asked Momma Claus for a new shower curtain and, here it is! My brother so kindly bought us a new rug to go in the bathroom as well. Much, much better!

P.S. The beautiful washcloth on the counter (which matches perfectly with my new decor) was handmade by my dear friend Roxy. You can see all of her items for sale at her etsy site: http://birchtreestudio.etsy.com.

Office Redo

It was time!

One of the things I wanted the most for Christmas was to rip up the carpeting in our office. It was a light color and getting grey and stained in some areas. Since our house is hardwood throughout, I knew that there was a beautiful floor hiding underneath that nasty peach carpet. The fact that my brother was coming out to visit for a few days, clinched the deal; Pete and I decided to take advantage of his strength and willingness to help. The job only took one day!

BEFORE

Mmmmmm..... Cupcakes!

It's that time of year! Baking, baking, and more baking! Tomorrow is my last day of school before Christmas and I promised my students (all two dozen of them!) that I would make cupcakes.  Last night, I made 34 cupcakes (25 for school and 9 for us at home). Tonight was "Decorating Night." Here they are!

Mmmmmm..... Pies!

My father is so hard to shop for for Christmas. The stuff he wants is "big ticket" kinda stuff and well, Pete and I don't have that kind of cash. After thinking and thinking about what I can get him for Christmas, I remembered how much he likes pie. Homemade pie. Fruit pies. Well, my mom doesn't really cook or bake all that much so the pies my father gets are usually from the Wal-Mart bakery (yuck). Sooo.... I decided the best gift I could give him was four homemade pies!
From left to right:

I made an apple pie (using Macoun apples -- what a great flavor!), a pecan pie, a cherry/blueberry pie (that boiled out while baking; it was mess central!), and a pumpkin pie (custard style. Passed down from Pete's grandmother). These babies are all wrapped (Saran that is!) and have been put away in the freezer. I'm going to give them (frozen) to Pop for Christmas.

What a wonderful way to spend my snow day today!!

Yeah, I know......

I've been BUSY!  School has been NUTS! I've been practically living there.... Once things calm down (i.e. Christmas vacation) I promise I'll post more!!

25 and I'm Still Alive!

I am at 25 students and have lived to tell about it! Hooray. Knock on wood, my three new ones this week are pretty good and have transitioned nicely. I am feeling the pressure however, especially since our buzz-word this year is "accountability." How ironic.

Rough Day

I got a call last night about one of my student's 3-year old brother who got run over with a lawn mower. His foot got caught and was distributed all over the lawn. The family dog got a hold of some of the pieces and my student (his sister) saw the dog with a piece before the ambulance arrived. It was an emotional night and morning. She's doing okay though. Read the story HERE. 

At lunch, I found out I'm getting ANOTHER student. That makes 25! I'm going to check over my contract later on to see what the wording is because 25 is my cap. We'll see!