What's in Your Backseat?

I, like most people, tend to have some random junk in my car. You can just throw it in the trunk or the back seat where it's "out of the way".

You can actually tell a lot about a person by the stuff in their car. For example, in college, I was waiting in a friend's car for an inordinate amount of time, and found some interesting items. Some, I won't mention, but she did have a least 3 pairs of sunglasses. Some broken, some scratched, some new... and also some hats and some magazines...

However, my favorite find in a car recently was in my roommate's car. She had been home for Christmas, so I knew there would be something funny left over. And alas, this is what I found.

Two lovely teddy bears with homemade clothes made specially by Nanna. Amazing! They really are something, and not only were the clothes specially made for the bears, but they were glued to the cutesy bears. Nice resourcefulness.

And the best part of this for me was picturing little Betsy playing with her beloved teddy bears. Classic. Thanks for being a good sport, Betsy.

Money Bags

Because we have had lots of snow lately...

Because the snow has provided lots of home time...

Because I needed to feel domestic...

I made some money bags. My class is learning about money this week, and I will be giving out play money as incentives. Since I would hate for the money to get lost, I decided they could each use a personalized money bag.

When a child accumulates 5 pennies, trade it in for a nickel and k

eep saving, OR chose a prize from the 5 cent bin. And the same for 10 cents and 25 cents. They were actually very fun to make and turned out pretty cute.

What is odd to me is that I had almost ALL of the materials already. Makes it even more fun, since it was cheap.

Here is how they turned out. Still have a few more to finish...

Hope the kids enjoy their gift!

Becoming a REAL adult...

I have been in my own home now for about 5 years, I recently realized, which pretty much makes me a real adult. Don't you agree? Along with being an adult comes inviting people into my home. So, last week I had the honor of all four grandparents and my own two parents coming to my house for dinner.

The real challenge here is always making food that is near the realm of amazingness compared to all of them. No easy task, I tell you. So this is the menu I decided on: fried pork tenderloin (because everything is better fried) with baked potatoes, rolls and green beans. (Note please that I have no idea how to actually make green beans appetizing, seeing as how you could dip them in chocolate and they would STILL seem unappealing to me. Don't fret, I figured it out with some help.) And to top the meal, which was rather tasty, was the dessert that my mom brought. She made a delicious pineapple cake with vanilla ice cream as well as a strawberry shortcake. Nice choices. Throw coffee into the mix, and I am beginning to salivate all over again. (Can't have that, might get messy on the keyboard... sleeves are great help for this problem.)

Anyways, we had a lovely time enjoying each other's company, eating entirely too much, and discussing all the very much un-dinner topics (religious opinions, politics, the new health plan, and of course my marital status). But overall, a very fun time. Here are some pictures from the

night (because the first thing that happens as the door opens is incessant flashing).

I'm very thankful to have such wonderful people in my life, and especially blessed to have had them visit.

Weather and more weather

While I realize that it is February, I am getting a little bit tired of the "severe weather". First snow of the season actually came before the first day of winter... that's just wrong, right!?! And I am the first one to breathe a sigh of relief when I get to sleep in, but 10 snow days later and the sigh has turned into a groan.

And then this past weekend, a break in the storm clouds; it was in the 60's! UH-MA-ZING! I actually spent some time outside.

Side note: It is amazing how much a body can miss the out-of-doors when you are trapped inside.

Another side note: While on my walk, I pulled out my teacher voice on a dog. Yes, that's right, a dog. Headphones in, arms pumping, and a dog comes out of nowhere barking like mad. What do I do? I point my finger at him sternly and say, "No! You're FINE!" Then I realized he had a zapper on his collar and couldn't come after me. And I also noticed that the front door was open. I could imagine the reaction of the person inside the door. "Stupid girl." Indeed.

Anyways, back to my rant on the weather. The weekend was a tease! And when the weather is nice in June, where will I be, you ask? In-of-doors. It is a raw deal, Mother Nature.

Here's hoping that Mr. Groundhog was right and the winter end is in sight.