apples in my ears..

I'm pretty sure if you look closely you'll see remnants of apples in my ears...because I was up to them in apple making this weekend.
Saturday after soccer we ran to the orchard & bought a bushel & a half of seconds to make applesauce. I'm so glad I have a husband who doesn't mind turning the handle on the apple peeler/corer/slicer for 5-6 hours, because 6 hours later I had 13 quarts of 'big people' cinnamon applesauce & 8 or better pint jelly jars of baby applesauce. We peeled, we stirred, we sliced...my kitchen was a sticky mess but by 6 o'clock (we started at 11) the mess was cleaned up & my kitchen smelled yummy & was sparkly clean.
Then the phone rang...my dear friend, Laurie, had been out to a church friend's house & had picked apples. She left a huge Aldi's freezer bag full on my porch...uh, oh...what now? So I asked her about her apple butter recipe. Shonya, I left this in my comments, but here it is...
Peel, core, & slice your large crockpot full of apples (18-20)
Throw in 1/3 cup vinegar, 3 Tablespoons cinnamon, & 3 cups sugar
Cook on low overnight or on high for 6-7 hours. Then when mine had cooked I just threw them in the blender for a couple of seconds to make it all smooth. While hot, put in hot jars (I put mine in the dishwasher on 'dry' so they were hot when I took them out!), with hot lids & they'll seal themselves. Easy & yummy! Out of the 15 jars I had, I think only 1 didn't seal, so we'll just eat it first.
So Sunday, after we got home from lunch at mom's after church, I got the peeler/corer/slicer back out (have a new respect for that little gadget) & went to town. By 4:30, all 3 crockpots I had (borrowed 2 from mom) were hot & cooking & the whole mess was done & over with by 10! Yay!...I was grateful for the apples from Laurie b/c I really wanted to make apple butter but had talked myself out of it b/c I'd "run out of apples." He, he, he...I think I'm really NOT going to do the apple jelly...I was just going to make it with boughten apple juice but I think the butter will be enough for this year. Had enough apples left after filling the 3 crockpots that I made 2 more quarts of applesauce (one baby, one grown-up) for a total of a 15 + the baby's. Yay! A busy, apple filled weekend, but a delicious smelling one that I'll appreciate this winter! (& that Andrea's horses are appreciating now b/c they are getting all the peels & leftovers!).
Happy Monday everyone!

whew!

what a whirlwind day...its gone pretty fast, actually, just been busy & not nearly over yet! my schedule at school has been a little upsidedown-o, because one grade is celebrating johnny appleseed's birthday & another is practicing for a grandparent's day play. the teachers here are so good about checking in with me & making sure its okay that the schedule changes a little...its appreciated & i'm just grateful that they try and include their special ed kids as much as possible! it did mean, however, that my planning time was cut down by about 1/2...i'm working on an iep now, but the sped website is being a pill so i'm waiting for it to load the page i need.

anyhow, after work, mike & i are zooming out at 3:20 (as early as we can leave w/out signing out) so i can run by the store & get milk & a disposable pan to take supper to an acquaintance who had a procedure done this week. the disposable pan thing isn't a must, b/c i'm not too anal about my pans, but i think it sure does make it easier on the person you are taking it to, plus this is a lady i don't see too often so at least i won't be minus a pan for months (i'm not anal, but i don't have a lot!).
anyhow, provided i get that done at a decent time, i want to run to lauren's football game & get some good pictures of her before the weather gets bad...
then, tonight or tomorrow i'm headed to the apple orchard to buy apples for applesauce making! i've never done it before but i'm excited to try...i just love the smell of applesauce cooking. the kids have been making it here at the school & i'm just craving warm, homemade applesauce. if i get good at that, i might try apple jelly or apple butter...we'll see!
also on the weekend agenda--finishing the house (no, honestly!), running down to the kids' soccer games in the morning & church activities (& laundry that i've neglected for too long!).
its busy, but full of things that i want to do so i'm looking forward to it...
i'm ready to be away from my desk for awhile...the week's gone pretty fast but seems like i've gotten little accomplished, when in reality i've been working like a dog!

okay...nothing too exciting in the post today...just a catcher-upper & wishing you all a wonderful, restful, productive weekend!

LIKE IT, LOVE IT, LIVE IT!

NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Love this saying...have heard it before but have decided that its time to dust it off & make it my current motto. No one has permission to make me feel inferior--not because of my choices, my looks, the way I live, etc., because I don't give you permission.

Take that into your weekend and RUN WITH IT!

Love to all my hero friends who have lifted me up this week--your e-mails, hugs (cyberhugs), & love have not been unnoticed.

lightening up

i needed something positive in my day & here it is...

the 2 students that i have back to back from noon to 2:30 are both sick (doesn't bode well for my immediate future b/c i have 0 immune system, but oh well), so i have some free time on my hands! yay me! one of the perks of being a special education teacher--i mean, when as a general ed teacher is your whole class going to be absent??
i only have a 4" stack of paperwork to complete but for the next 5 minutes i'm allowing myself to not think about that (must insert here... i'm soooo glad my supervisor reads this blog --sorry erin).

i have a confession to make--i am a registry checker---i love to check my registries online & see what cool items are being snagged up. i try really hard not to do it too often so that when someone says they went shopping i don't know what specific thing they bought...
today however, i need the excitement so i'm peeking...(if you truly know me you won't be shocked--i also am known for unwrapping & rewrapping my Christmas & birthday presents so i know what they are--surprises make me nervous!). sidenote: my husband no longer keeps my birthday & Christmas presents at our house :(

have wednesday, everbody...the week's 1/2 over!!

do you ever...

...feel like you're being attacked? today, i do. so, i've decided i'm not going to allow myself to be under attack any more. i tried to be understanding about this particular situation, but i don't understand. i honestly, truly don't. its my own fault really for letting it go on for so long & allowing myself to inadvertantly participate in it.
so, even though this doesn't make much sense to anyone but probably me, my hubby & my sister, i feel better already for writing it. i'm free!

running round the clock...

as the title implies, i feel like we've been running round the clock for the last 2-3 weeks. moving home has been great but would be even better if we were ever there. people ask, "are you all settled in?" if settled in means i know where to locate my underwear & my dishes are all put away then yeah, sure, we're settled in. if it means that all of the boxes are unpacked and my house is cozy warm with the glow of sanity, then no, not so much. i'm about to go crazy with the boxes but i just can't get them tackled. last week i thought for sure i'd get them done this weekend. i had a yard sale at our house but thought i'd get 'em whipped sunday afternoon. no go...saturday my grandparents stopped by the house & asked if we wanted corn to put up. i put some up 2 years ago & my supply is depleted & even though i didn't really want to do it i wanted it for my freezer. i'll appreciate it later this winter & next (i'm hoping it'll last 2 years again like it did last time). so yesterday we went out to pick & bless their hearts they'd already picked it for us! blessings!! so i came home with two huge feedsacks full. we got one all done--mike shucked while i cut it off so it went waaaay faster. tonight we'll tackle the other sack. so, even though it didn't fit my schedule, i'm excited about having corn for the winter months (& we're having corn on the cob for supper!). but, needless to say, the boxes still sit in the house.
maybe tomorrow.....

work is insano...i should be doing paperwork right now but everyone deserves & lunchbreak & today i'm taking mine! i have 2 students to begin testing this week...something i've never done before, so i'm a bit nervous about that. paperwork is literally falling out of my ears...oh well, i can only do one day at a time.

i'm getting really excited for my baby to come & for the baby shower. i'll be right honest--i love presents & i'm excited to see the baby blessings that come for this little one. andrea told me emma put a lot of thought into her shopping yesterday & i can't wait to see what she came up with. i must say that i think its pretty sweet that andrea let emma think about & choose something individual that she thinks my baby needs...emma's thoughtful like that & she always has a reason for choosing what she chooses.

i'm exhausted today. my tummy's feeling a little upside-o...probably just from being tired. i'm trying to force down lunch but its not sitting so swell...hopefully it'll stay in until i at least get home.

seems like i'd have something more exciting to blog about since i haven't been on in a week, but alas, i don't. so enough rambling. paperwork, here i come!

have a great week!

baby, oh baby!

tonight my hubby says we can finish cleaning out the nursery & put the crib up!!! yay!! i'm so excited i can hardly stand it. i'm going to go through my totes (i have 1 neutral, 1 boy & 1 girl) & find the little outfits & sleepers that are 0-3 months & wash them in baby detergent!! i can't wait...i think i'm ready to start that 'nesting' stage or whatever they call it. we may even go over & get the changing table that's been hanging out in phil & sara's garage!!!

also have to run up to the church & pick up our paint mess from last night. we learned about "God made light and dark on day 1" & all the kids got a big white piece of posterboard & got to fingerpaint with black on it (they were gloved & gowned). every week we'll learn about another day of creation & will add to their posters until they have a finished mural in 7 weeks! exciting! they loved the paint & i loved the help i had with 22 little picaso's!!!

off to a good start today...feeling okay, not too tired, & had my first reading observation today & the reading coach told my hubby i was 'an old pro.' i'll meet with her formally later, but not too bad of a compliment for a first year teacher with a new reading series!

later, loves...come by if you want to play in the nursery tonight!

i forgot to tell you...

whew, you can tell the kids have been cooped up inside with the rain (& the teachers) b/c they are taking an extra long recess today. anyhow...forgot to tell you that we switched baby bedding sets. i've gone from not wanting one at all, to the farm themed one (which i still think is cute) & now to a noah's ark one. daddy mike really likes this one and it is pretty sweet. we were going to wait to buy it, but since noah's ark is what we originally looked for & couldn't find we decided to buy while it was there. so...i have a beautifully cute 9 or 10 piece farm animal crib set that i'd be willing to sell to anyone who wants it...i'm just going to ask what i paid for it--not looking to make money. i'm going to set it out at my yard sale on the 20th & see if i can sell it--if not, its off to ebay! and where did we find this noah's ark set?....k-mart of all places! i hardly ever shop there but am glad we stopped in. we bought the set & the mobile (they only had 1 of each) but they have some really cute matching receiving blankets & a couple other things that i'd love to have. hope you like it (& if you don't i don't want to hear it!).

have i mentioned i'm really really glad now that i let andrea talk me into painting my walls 2 shades of gray in the nursery instead of some loud color that only matched the bedding set we had? it's easy to switch decor with gray walls!

can't get the picture to upload so you'll have to click or copy/paste this link:
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_024W893650110001P?vName=Baby&cName=Nursery&sName=Bedding

crib & more...

yay! target had our crib on sale again this week & we finally got one. when they were on sale 3 months ago they didn't have any so we got a raincheck...well they never got any. mom called me yesterday to tell me they were on sale again so since they were they might have some in stock...called up there & they had one. i said, "put my name on that baby, i'm coming up!" so we had to make a run to ottumwa, which wasn't really appealing to me but got it done & over with. had supper at a yummy casual sit-down restaurant called 'tasos'...had enough chicken fettucini for my supper last night & mine & andrea's lunch today. wow! definitely worth my $9...& it was yummy & not too bad reheated (except i don't have a fork so i'm eating it with a spoon--has anyone else noticed i have a lot of silverware issues?).so the pepsi company is out to get my husband...every other soda he opens has a buy one, get one cap...i thought he was cutting pepsi but who can pass up that bargain?!! he's had over 1/2 dozen caps in the last 2 weeks...

anywho...jammed packed weekend coming up...schuyler homecoming friday night, beeler family reunification & relay for life & soccer scrimmage on saturday, & church goes to two services on sunday with a birthday party & board meeting following. we're hoping to have our house 'put together' so that when out of town beeler family stops by we can show a finished product & not boxes...we'll see. mike wants to go to the schuyler vs. scotland softball game tonight, but honestly i just wanna stay home! want to try to squeeze in helping andrea & vance seal siding for their house, because we know they'd do it for us...we'll work on getting that in, too...

phew, i'm tired from the weekend already & lunch is almost over. nothing too deep today...sorry. hopefully MIKE will get the internet hooked up at the house so i can catch up at home!

ho-hum, diddly um...

sooooo, mike & i have an ob appt in ottumwa at 3:15. i know, if the appointment's at 3:15 why am i at a computer (in memphis) at 2:45? we have a small situation in the county that's got us on mandatory lock down. translated=you ain't going anywhere, baby! (watch the local news...i'm sure it will be on there).
i called the office when the lock down went into effect & asked if this was 'just a drill.' uh....no. stay in your room with the door locked. you mean in my room that doesn't have a door lock? awesome. i feel safe here...i could always crawl in the big brown 8'x10' cabinet & hope no one thinks to look there for a big 'ole pregnant lady! sounds like i'm complaining but i'm not--i love that our school is putting the students' & staffs' safety first...this is just me finding humor in the situation!
okay...they need me & my brawn to get our students safely to the buses. i should leave for my appt. but kids first, right?

i'm alive...busy weekend followed by a busy day, with what is sure to be a busy week dogging behind. still no internet at home (MIKE!) so no time to catch up. sorry...hopefully soon!