Nearly Wordless Wednesday 5/26/11

 Teachers and staff (and the principal - she's on the far left) doing a kick-line, singing, and waving as the buses pull out on the last day of school. I'm in the middle of the line, three to the right of the big green guy. The buses honk and the kids scream - it's quite a scene! Thanks to Mrs. Igor for snapping the pic on her phone. :)

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

What I'm reading...

Nerd alert! Today was the last day of school, and by 5:00 p.m. I was already reading Debbie Diller's Math Work Stations book. I know, I know... give it a rest, right?

However, I'm following along with a "hosted book study blog party" (via my teacher blog), and the discussion on the first chapter begins on June 1st. I like to be ahead of the curve, so yeah, I plunged in tonight! :)

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

What I'm reading...

 

On the couch next to me right now - hilariously written!

 

Finally started this last Sunday night when I couldn't sleep.  I'd had it in the house for a couple of YEARS, but for some reason it never "spoke" to me. However, I ended up HOOKED from the beginning, and read 70 pages the first night!  I expect that we'll go see the movie as son as school's out, which is barreling up fast.

 

Also quite hilarious; read it in one fell swoop last night. 

My current professional reading. I've had it since last fall, but have been too overwhelmed to even think about changes in the literacy structure in my classroom (especially with this year's new curriculum adoption). However, now that I'm thinking about next fall, I'm ready to take it on. I read about half of it last weekend, and am definitely thinking in new directions.

I've got more contemporary fiction, professional reading, trashy mysteries, and classics lined up and waiting... can;t wait for the summer to arrive so I can plunge in!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Favorite Things - Homemade Salad Dressing

 

For the last few months I have been making salad dressing weekly, and I've reached the point where I pretty much ONLY like (and consume) homemade dressings. Bottled dressings all taste too sweet or too chemically to me now! GrandmaT has a favorite bottled dressing she uses, and Mr. Mamie is about 50-50 in using homemade or bottled, but I'm 100% homemade now. 

The one I ALWAYS have one hand is this Greek Salad Dressing - very simple to make and REALLY good. I make a double batch almost every week, which gives me enough for both green salad in my lunch at school five days a week as well as green salad at home most nights.

My other favorite is a Cafe Rio-style creamy tomatillo dressing from Kalyn's Kitchen.  I usually make it with buttermilk and fresh jalapeno peppers, though it's almost as good with regular milk and green Tabasco sauce.  This is so yummy that several teachers at school are now making it after seeing and trying mine from my lunch!

LOVE the homemade salad dressings - totally  favorite thing!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Favorite Things - Bed Faeries

 Every night the "bed faeries" come and turn down the covers on our bed... I love walking into the room and seeing this, it's just so comforting and nice.

(And I really love the bed faeries' boss, Mr. Mamie....)

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 5/4/11

 Starring line up for allergy season - UGH!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Favorite Things - Front Patio

One of the nicest features of our house is a good-sized front patio. It is north-facing, so we can see the mountains, and it gets good light in both the morning and early evening.  We have a huge cottonwood tree and a red-tipped photina that has grown up quite nicely to provide shade and a wind break to the west.  Travellin'Dad and CrochetMom gave me a wonderful, large, round glass outdoor table and four awesome chairs (much nicer that I could have afforded) when they moved, and we've got a fabulous umbrella to go in the middle of the table. Mr. Mamie's favorite thing is our burnished metal tiki torch, for which I recently created a cool stand out of a basket (inherited from the Wombat), some lava rocks (free from the field next door), and some glass pebbles (also inherited from the Wombat). I'll have to take a picture and do a post on just the tiki torch!  We love to eat on the patio, including breakfast on school mornings in the spring and fall. Wireless computers and a good homework network mean we're connected outside if we want to be - so I can do my lesson planning out there, too!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Cooperative Learning

My class has a new favorite cooperative learning game - "Fan-N-Pick," which is a Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategy.  In the last couple of weeks we've used it both in reading and math.  Here's some shots of them playing "Fan-N-Pick" to put money amounts in order:

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Favorite Things - Frozen Yogurt

So glad frozen yogurt seems to be making a vigorous comeback! This was lunch one recent Saturday, yum!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 4/27/11

 Spring skies, the road home.

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Favorite Things - Cheap Books

I have a huge classroom library (as I have mentioned more than once), but I'm always looking for MORE BOOKS for the squirts.  A couple of weekends ago Mr. Mamie and I had a bunch of stuff to take to the local charitable thrift store donation station.  We don't usually go in the store itself, but that day we did, and SCORE! I got a HUGE pile of books for the classroom - lots of "easy readers," some read-alouds, and several good non-fiction books. The piles pictured above cost only $30 (most were 50 cents each, a few 75 cents), and if bought new, would have totaled  well over $150. Of course, I will only buy used books that are in very good condition, so plenty were rejected. But I still can't believe the amazing score of these books, and the kids were THRILLED when I showed them everything!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Menu Plan 4/25/11 - 5/1/11

I've been enjoying a four-day weekend for the Easter holiday, and am just now getting around to putting together our menu plan for the week (don't worry, I already had tonight's dinner planned and it's cooking away in the CrockPot as I write.

It's a pretty normal week, with exception of our anniversary on Sunday 5/1. We're down to the last month of school (we end on 5/25, and there are 22 school days to go... not that I'm counting!), so we've got the First Grade Music Program, swimming pool trip, park party, and a few other fun events going on (plus, report cards and a couple other not-as-fun things).

Monday, 4/25: Sticky Chicken, Garlicky Oven Fries,  Corn and Black Bean salad (leftover from Easter BBQ), Mom's Peach Cake (leftover from Easter BBQ).

Tuesday, 4/26: Cheap eat out - Mr. Mamie has class.

Wednesday, 2427: Mom's Tuna Casserole (from the freezer), steamed broccoli, green salad, Fudge Lover's Cream Cheese Cake (leftover from Easter BBQ).

Thursday, 4/28: CrockPot Honey Mustard Chicken, steamed green beans, couscous, Garlic Muffins, green salad, homemade vanilla ice cream (leftover from Easter BBQ) topped with fresh blackberries if they last 'til Thursday.

Friday, 4/29: Broccoli-Cheddar Soup, French bread, green salad (meatless meal), homemade vanilla ice cream.

Saturday, 4/30: Cowboy Spaghetti, Rosemary Focaccia, green salad.

Sunday, 5/1: Mr. Mamie and I will be celebrating our anniversary in Zion National Park, and will be eating at our favorite place, Oscar's Cafe!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Menu Plan 4/18/11 - 4/24/11

Monday, 4/18: Bowtie pasta with feta and grilled lemon chicken,  cheddar muffins (leftover from last night), steamed broccoli, green salad. Our pasta probably won't be bowties, but it will definitely be whole wheat - we have several varieites on hand.

Tuesday, 4/19: Mr. Mamie's class night, Barnsie for me. We're planning to eat the "Two-piece Tuesday" meal at El Pollo Loco. Two pieces of chicken, two small sides, and tortillas for only $2.99 - good deal!

Wednesday, 4/20: I will be staying at school to help with "Kindergarten Round-up." No, we don't spray weed-killer on the kinder kids! It's the screening process for the incoming students, AKA mass chaos. They are providing pizza and pop for the teachers helping at the event. Mr. Mamie and GrandmaT will be having a ham casserole from the freezer.

Thursday, 4/21: Spoonburgers (from the freezer) with fresh-frozen corn kernels added in, homemade wheat buns (from the freezer), steamed green beans, green salad.

Friday, 4/22: No school for Easter break! We're having a homemade pizza night. :)

Saturday, 4/23: Shredded beef tacos (from the freezer)  on corn tortillas with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa. I made this shredded beef last month the quick and easy way: Dropped a small roast into the CrockPot, dumped two cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes on top, and cooked it 'til it fell apart. Dead simple and totally yummy!

Sunday, 4/24: Easter bar-b-que at Casa Mamie - Basil Cheeseburgers OR Southwest Turkey Burgers OR Healthy Turkey Burgers (the patties are frozen in the freezer), OR Costco ground sirloin patty, OR veggie burger, OR hot dog (Hebrew National from Costco) OR Louisiana hot link (from Costco) - everyone can choose their own,  homemade wheat buns, potato salad (haven't decided which recipe yet), chips, fresh fruit (whatever looks good at Costco - probably strawberries), and Mom's Peaches and Cream  Cake.

Have a great week - I know I'm looking forward to nice weather and a four-day weekend!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Menu Plan 4/11/11 - 4/17/11

We did an inventory of the chest freezer over the weekend, and there's a lot of stuff in there that needs to get used! The freezer itself could use a defrost, and I want to have room to freeze spring/summer produce. So, we'll be eating from our stockpile, and I WON'T be doing much in the way of "freezer cooking" for the next few weeks.

This week's dinners:

Monday, 4/11: Chicken fajitas (from the freezer) with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and green onions; Mexican sour cream rice.

Tuesday, 4/12: Mr. Mamie's class night/my Barnsie night - cheap eat out for us; YOYO for Grandma.

Wednesday, 4/13: Beef enchilada soup (from the freezer), garlic muffins, green salad.

Thursday, 4/14: Easy cheeseburger casserole (from the freezer), French bread (from the freezer), green salad.

Friday, 4/15: Mixed grill (we have a ton of hot dogs, hot links, basil cheeseburger patties, Southwest turkey burger patties, and "healthy" turkey burger patties in the freezer, as well as a few veggie burgers from LAST summer), frozen sweet potato fries.

Saturday, 4/16: Sriracha Bar-B-Que chicken, couscous, fresh steamed green beans (from fresh beans in the freezer), green salad.

Sunday, 4/15: Beef and barley skillet dinner, steamed broccoli, cheddar muffins, green salad.

I failed to  do a menu post for last week. Some dinners of note were:

Western casserole (from the freezer), white bean chicken chili and corn muffins, goulash, Asian chicken and yellow rice (postponed several times).

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

WOW!

I was about to create a menu post for the coming week when I realized that I have 499 published posts. I quickly checked to see if anything is scheduled for the coming week - nope; apparently I am falling down on the job. So, that means I have reached post number

Wow... it's pretty hard to believe! The only thing that could be better would be if the SquattyWombat were here to celebrate with me. I DID IT, MOM! Miss you....

Mom and me, circa 1972

Image credit for "500!"

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)