It's Cookie Time!

We made some conversation heart cookies while we were snowed in, yesterday.

Buttercream Frosting:
4 c powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened (DO NOT substitute some wanna be butter product, here.)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/4-1/2 c whipping cream ---and that is how you get perfect buttercream frosting. Yum.

Combine the sugar, butter, vanilla and almond extract in the mixer, and slowly drizzle in the cream until the frosting is at the desired consistency. Continue to mix on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Mmmmm, eat some right off the spoon.

ok, let's be honest, I licked the frosting right off the paddle on the kitchen aid on it's way to the dishwasher.

The girls dumped 1/2 a container each of pink, red, and chocolate sprinkles on their cookies (which were more like sprinkles with a little cookie on them), and I made these for my friend Tia, who recently welcomed a baby girl to her home:

Tia-there are cookies coming your way as soon as your street gets plowed ;)

a few pics of the baby shower decorations coming up next.

Um...

That's not right.

Oh and our snow total was 20 inches in Bella Vista!
20 inches in 9 hours.

Again, not right.

Mission 10 and California Trip Catch Up

Here are the race pics that I never got around to posting

The 10 mile racers:

Back Row: Paul, Zac, Loren

Front Row: Me, Erin, Melinda, Stephani, Caroline, and Amy

Mark and Josh ran the 5K with Taylor, Garrett, Parker, Zach, Tyler, and Brock.

Garret came in first in our group for the 5K. He tried to be cool and act like he was only doing it for extra credit for his PE class...but I think he was impressed with his time, I know we were!

Go G!

Josh and amy also ran the 1 mile fun run with Steven. It was so cute!

Taylor, Me, Amy pre race and freezing! (see that cute white jacket? Yah, it finally warmed up after the race started, so I took it off at mile 2. It's lost now. Boo.)

Me, Paul and Tay gettin' fired up!

Stacy (go Hollister psycho runner's group!), Me, Amy, Melinda

Paul standing by as bodygaurd ;) while we show off our Purple Pinkies...End Polio Now!

THIS is the reason I signed up for this race.

Rotary is committed to getting the Polio vaccine to the ends of the Earth, and created the Purple Pinkie Campaign as a fundraiser for their determination to End Polio Now. I support that.

If you live in America, you really do not have to worry about your child getting Polio.

You have Rotary to thank for that.

I LOVED the course: 3 miles flat/rolling, 2 miles up a crazy hill, turn around, 2 miles down the crazy hill, and 3 miles back to the finish line. Having only run one time in the 2 weeks prior to the race (Thanks for nothing flu, sinus infection, and bronchitis. You are not my friends. Please do not return to my home ever again. Ever.), I had set a goal to finish the 10 miles in under 2 hours.

It's my blog, I reserve the right to brag. I finished in 1 hour and 46 minutes. PR for me? Yes! My pace was a consistent 10 1/2 minutes for 10 miles! I'm a pretty slow runner, so this was a pretty big deal for me. Plus, I came in first out of my family...which was an even bigger deal for me ;) A BIG thanks to my family, and Paul's folks for coming to cheer! Racing is a lot more fun when you have loved ones waiting at the finish line. (How sweet is Corbin snuggled up and sleeping under his turtle blankie on my mom's lap?)

The post-race feast took place at Running Rooster. (thanks for buying, Dad-o!)

I got all of my favorites there: the spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, french fries, apricot milkshake, a big fat chocolate chip cookie, and a my other favorite: a second big fat chocolate chip cookie.

You'll notice I am wearing shorts in those pictures.

California was BEAUTIFUL.

Like, perfect.

We ate outside, sat and chatted in the sunshine, watched the birds, felt the breeze.

I am trying to remember that it will not feel like Hell has frozen over forever.

The 18 inches of Freak Snow that fell last night and today will melt.

Right?

I say it, but I don't even know if I believe it anymore.

The rest of the visit was just lovely. I helped my mom sort through a fazillion pictures, put them into frames, and covered an entire wall in the hallway with them. It looks great.

Corbin enjoyed my parent's toy closet, and had 100 books read to him by everyone.

We dined at the place where you go to eat food dreams are made of. Well, my dreams, anyway.

Corbin was PERFECT on the flights. He just sat there, holding his toys. Once we took off, he would fall asleep peacefully in my lap. I couldn't have asked for a better baby, and we still managed to get crusty looks from other passengers. A silent 20 month old on a 3 1/2 hr flight (followed by a 1 hr flight), you can't ask for anything better than that. It makes me sad that the mere presence of a child on a plane disgusts some people.

One day that I was there, my mom and I had lunch with my friend Annie, (and I finally meet her husband who dropped her off for her "date" with us) We enjoyed Erik's Deli outside (did I mention the weather was perfect?), then did a little shopping at the Gilroy Outlets, where I scored some freaking cute Aeropostle Bayla Skinny Jeans for $10 (woot) and a pair of $19 Ashley ultra skinnies. (Two pairs of jeans for $30? Double Woot.) They were so cute, we picked up a pair for Taylor, too.

Funny story: I first tried on jeans at JCrew ($60 and not as cute) but they were out of the color I wanted in the size I wanted, plus....$60? At an Outlet? Really?

I came out of the dressing room and wandered around the store looking for Annie and my Mom to get an opinion on the jeans.

Annie: Uhhh Megan? Where is your purse?

Me: Huh? What? I don't know. It's in there. Back in the dressing room. Do you like these jeans? Are they worth it? Annie? Where'd she go?

Mom: [laughs] You are not in Arkansas. You can't just leave your bag in a dressing room at the outlets!

Annie returned, carrying my bag, "I'll just hold this for you, while you shop, Sweetie."

Oops.
I guess I've been away too long?

Usually, I leave California feeling soooo glad that I don't live there anymore. Not that I don't miss my family. I do. Too much. But I usually can't get past how crowded, expensive, unsafe, and busy busy busy everything and everyone in California is, to have any desire to ever even consider moving back there.

This time was different, and I was pretty sad to leave.

I had a REALLY nice visit with my family (missed you, Scott and Kristie), we spent one evening just looking at my parents old pictures, talking, playing Farkle (ahem 6,000 point record holder, right here, folks), and laughing at funny youtube videos. I wish I could have stayed to spend more time with them...especially since I returned to Snowmageddon and we were all on house arrest for the week that followed. Next trip to Ca, I am bringing the whole family, and I am staying longer than 3 days.

I Chose My Love and I Love My Choice

For the past few years, I have been saving.
About a year and a half ago, I really started saving.
Cash.
In an envelope. Stashed.


I wanted to surprise Aaron on our 10th Wedding Anniversary with a vacation fund. I know you probably think it is totally lame and unsentimental to give my husband CASH for our Anniversary, but it isn't like that, at all.


It's an act of love, as all $2915 that I have saved, so far, has not come out of a paycheck.
It isn't money that I just moved from one bank account to another and it isn't from my preschool, either. It is cash I have saved from babysitting, our summer garage sale, birthday money, etc.

{See that, HolleeAnn? "never underestimate the power of small change. Cha-ching!" hahaha}

It is one thing to have money in your account. But that money has been spoken for.
Budgeted for living expenses, college funds, retirement, food, new car, whatever. We have a vacation fund. This will just be like icing on the cake and mean we can do extra fun things on that vacation.

"This is found money, Jerry!" -George Costanza

I also had a plan that the money that I end up saving by using cloth diapers would be deposited monthly and added to this little fund. Cuz that way, when Aaron asked 'where all the cash came from', I could honestly tell him 'it is a reward for all the $#!t I have had to deal with!'


So yeah, I have a money stash.
I also realize that this makes me sound a little bit like a granny-with-getaway-cash-under-her-mattress, but whatever.

I wanted it to be a surprise, and if it went into the bank, it wouldn't be.

And weird, tacky, unsentimental, lame, crazy, or not...wouldn't YOU love for someone to give you $1000?

I thought so.

Unfortunately, 5 months early, my Big Secret came cRaShInG dOwN last night, when I was foolishly adding some money from babysitting yesterday to the stash while Aaron was home.

(Do you see where this is going?)

Since I knew I was getting close to my $3000 goal, I (again, foolishly) decided to count it.

(Don't do it, Meg! Don't count the money!)

There I was, counting out the bills, like a little kid does when she is saving up for a new toy, when in walks Aaron.

And I am standing there with an armfull of money.

I think he thought I was planning to run away, or something.

BUSTED.

Happy Anniversary, My Love.

He loves my unsentimental, lame, thrifty, crazy-paranoid-granny of a gift, and we looked at a map and, like we often do, we started talking about where we are going to go on our Big Trip.
And more than the actual gift, he was surprised by my ability to keep it a secret for so long.


He decided it wasn't fair for him to be the only one receiving an early present, and told me he bought tickets for us to go see this, on Saturday!


I LOVE this musical. Can't wait! I hope the roads are clear enough by Saturday to get to Fayetteville!
Happy (Early) Anniversary to him.
Happy (Early) Valentine's Day to me.

"Ain't no Sunshine when she's gone...."

For the fun of it, I typed "kasey" into the search field on my blog.

It pulled up like 50% of my posts, and I noticed a pattern.
Every time I had a mental/emotional breakdown/crappy day (usually brought on by lack of sleep, bad luck, overscheduling, hormones gone haywire, or poop being discovered somewhere in my house other than in a toilet) and I blogged about it, the post that followed the meltdown almost always had a sentence involving the word "Kasey" and at least one of the following words:

rescue

saint

escape

motivate

awesome

love

run

laugh

eat

fun

fix

party

angel

work

happy

give

Well.
That just about covers it, doesn't it?


Not really.
There is so much more that could be said.

If any girl deserves a day where everyone gets together simply to celebrate your existence, it is definitely Kasey.

She is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Happy Birthday, Bestie!
You are loved and appreciated very much!

aaaaand to the other 5 readers of this blog,

Happy Kasey Day, Everyone!
Actually, it's Kasey Week....and since February is short, we should really just make it Kasey Month.

Sorry, Jimmie. I know your birthday is coming up next week...we'll save you some cake.

Wah Waaaaaah

What?! More snow?

Friendly Frogs: For the Birds

Catch up time.

Check out what the Friendly Frogs did in preschool on the last Wednesday in January.

Literature:

Book: The After Christmas Tree By Linda Wagoner Tyler
Book: Usborne Discovery Birds by Dorothy Gillian
Book: Cardinals, Robins and Other Birds by Golden Books
Book: I Love My Nest by P.D. Eastman

There are so many books about birds available at the library! I picked up these listed and several others and had them available for the children to read in the Peace Center, and as our table activity while we wait for all the children to arrive in the morning. The After Christmas Tree is a favorite of mine that I read with my students as well as with my own children every year in January.

Share: Bring something that is white

Art/Science: A Bird Has...

we learned traits that are common classifiers for birds, and glued them to a poster diagram. I labeled each part for the children.

Dramatic Play: Bird Watcher prop box (bird cage, identification chart, binoculars, an assortment of bird calls, safari hat)

Sensory: feathers

Cooking: Bird Suets

Mix: 1c shortening, 1c crunchy peanut butter, 1c cornmeal, 2c rolled oats, 1c bird seed, and 1c sunflower seeds
Pack into cookie sheet or molds and freeze until ready to use

Math: Guessing Jars

I put 5 colored feathers in one jar, and 12 decorative eggs in another jar. The children sat at the table and passed them back and forth, examining, counting, and estimating how many of each item was in the jars.

Science and Dramatic Play: Puppet Shows and Bird Identification

I now have a huge collection of bird puppets (thanks Mom, Melinda, and Amy...hollah!). I set up the puppet theatre and taught the children about the birds they chose to play with while they let their imaginations do the rest. They learned to identify the owl, peacock, penguin, bluebird, hummingbird, eagle, flamingo, pelican, bluebird, parrot, cardinal, duck, woodpecker, etc.

Language Questions: What do birds eat? Where do they live? What is your favorite bird?

Snack: "bird seed" snack mix (cereal, goldfish, pretzels, mini marshmallows, teddy grahams, dried fruit, etc) and hot cocoa just like the family in The After Christmas Tree enjoyed

Music and Movement:
Way Up in the sky, the little birds fly.
Way down in the nest, the little birds rest.
With a wing on their left, and a wing on their right,
The little birds sleep all through the night.
Shhhhh…..they’re sleeeeeeeping!
The bright sun comes up, the dew falls away.
“Good Morning! Good Morning!” the little birds say



Gross Motor: Hide and Seek Egg
I borrowed this rad Egg toy from my friend, Darcie. You push a button on it and it makes funny noises to help the children find it. They loved it, and ran excitedly through the house searching for it, pausing frequently to listen for it's silly sound effect clues.