My Favorite Blogs - Part 4 -- And Other Stuff

I've worked quite a bit this week. It's been fun and challenging, but mostly fun. I like being in a different classroom each time I'm at school and getting to know different kids. Monday I actually spent part of the day in Becky's class and the other part in Allison's class. Today I was the librarian. That was a bit more work than I'd imagined but I had a good day!

I did get to make Pumpkin Cookies this week. They are a favorite in our house and they never last long. Here's the recipe:

Mix the following:

1 1/1 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin (or pumpkin puree!)
2 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. slat
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Stir in 1 cup of butterscotch chips and 1 cup of walnuts, if desired. We do the chips but no nuts.

Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Depending on the size you could get up to 6 dozen. Enjoy!

I promised another blog recommendation. Faithful Froggers is another amazing blog. Heather is the mother of 5 children and lives in the Tampa, Florida area. She has a set of triplets, one of whom passed away about two years ago. His name was Jacob and he had a rare form of cancer. Heather is so open about her grief, but she is also extremely full of hope, full of joy, and full of faith. Her family adopted a beautiful little girl from Guatemala about a year ago and Heather shares her family's joy at having this special addition to their family. You'll feel like you know this family after reading just a bit of Heather's blog. And you'll feel truly blessed by her unwavering faith. So those are my favorite blogs for now. I'm always checking out new blogs based on the recommendations of other blog readers. I'll let you know if I come across any other great reads!!

I'm now reading the third book in the Twilight series. The movie is in theaters starting today. My friend, Natalie, and I have plans to go see the movie together. She's the one who got me hooked on them!! I hope the movie does the book justice! Don't bother to try and sign them out from your local library. There is no doubt a huge waiting list! I tried to sign out book three and there were eleven people already waiting - I went to Barnes & Noble and bought the book instead! Anyway, find the books if you can - you'll love them!!

Basketball is starting this weekend for Allison and Rebecca. I can't wait to watch the little kindergartners trying to play! Rebecca is an old pro by now - at her age it starts to get more competitive and really fun to watch. I'll try to get some good pictures to share.

Have a great weekend!

This and That

I'll get back to blogging about my favorite blogs next time. I have at least one more I'll share with you.

I worked a full day on Thursday and a half day on Friday with a little boy with Down Syndrome. He was very sweet. Everyone who knows this kid loves him. We'd walk down the hall together and all along the way people (kids and adults) would stop to say hi or hug him. He'd light up and share their enthusiasm! Being in the classroom with him was a bit of a challenge. I was at least the third person to work with him that week and he'd clearly had enough. He was stubborn about many things and I was completely unsure of how to encourage him to do what he was supposed to be doing. Finally, we took a walk down to the special ed room and got some help. He was very excited about having computer time and that became a great motivator for getting him to do his work. That was kind of a turning point for us. It was really all about us getting to know each other. He's a good boy and I genuinely hope I get to work with him again sometime. He pretty much won me over when I caught him staring at me early that first day. When I looked up at him I smiled. He smiled back real big and said, "You're pretty."

A friend loaned me a couple of books from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It's written for teens but it's so good it doesn't matter what the intended audience is! I know it's now a movie - at least the first book is - but really, when a book becomes a movie it's always a good idea to read the book BEFORE you see the movie! I read the entire first book yesterday (500 and some odd pages) and today have gotten deep into the second book. Good stuff. A little creepy but GOOD!

My big goal for the week is to make pumpkin cookies. My kids love them! Somehow I have not found time to bake them yet. This week girls - I promise!! Uh-oh, now I have to do it!

My Favorite Blogs - Part 3

Today you have to visit c jane enjoy it. This blog is written by Courtney - a new mom who lives in Utah with her husband, new baby, and is currently the guardian of three of her sister's children. Her blog is truly inspirational. Her faith is strong. Her love and devotion to her family is unmatched. There is so much I could say...I want you to know the circumstances that have led to her taking care of her sister's children...I want you to know how precious her family is to her...I want you to know all about the journey she's been on...but there is no possible way I could do her story justice. You have to visit her blog yourself to see just what I mean. Her blog continues to remind me of what is truly important - Check it out!

I also have to share these pictures with you. When Allison was teething her front teeth came in after the others. She looked like she had little fangs and her smile just cracked us up!!! Now that she has lost those two front teeth her smile is similar to the way it was - way back then!

Allison at 7 months with her goofy grin!

Allison at 5 years old with another goofy grin!

Since there's no school today the girls and I are lounging a bit. Becky and Allison are upstairs playing school and Katie has retreated to her room to read. They are still recuperating from the late nights we had in Rhode Island.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Our Weekend in Pictures

We were in Barrington, R.I....

Allison lost her other front tooth shortly before bed Friday night. She and my mom were being crazy and it came out. I LOVE her gappy, granny grin!!

Little Miss insisted on sleeping with the sleep mask she found in the goody bag provided by the hotel. I was surprised she actually fell asleep with it on!

Saturday night we went to the Providence Place Mall. This picture of the escalators may give you some idea of how large it is! It's also carpeted throughout which I found kind of interesting.

Now don't go thinking I've lost my mind! I had to take a picture of the restroom hand dryer. It was the coolest, most efficient hand dryer I've ever had the pleasure of using! And...it was a DYSON!!

Sunday we went to the beautiful Narragansett Bay where the shore was literally covered in shells.

I loved hearing the Sea Gulls cry and feeling the brisk sea breeze. Katie didn't seem to mind it either!

Becky found a perfect oyster shell - top and bottom. She brought it to school today to show her class.

And the reason we went to Barrington was for the soccer tournament. Our girls won the championship and brought home the Douglas Cup. They weren't scored on the whole tournament! And Katie scored the game winning, only goal of game four!! A great way to end a great weekend!