Memorial Day Weekend at the River

I love getting away for a weekend with my family.

 My parents have a place on a river not far from Houston. We spend a lot of time there and its most fun when the whole family comes. This year we headed up to the river with my cousins and their boyfriends, my aunts and uncle, my brother and a couple of his friends, and of course my parents.

We took up my cousin and her boyfriend Friday night. It was great because they helped keep Jack entertained during the car ride and kept me from pulling my hair out. Jack and Andrea sang a "One Direction" song to each other. It was so cute!

Because it is a river and Jack is only two and I don't particularly want him to get eaten by an alligator, we got a couple blow up pools to keep in the yard of one of the houses. I don't know if Jack liked them more, or if the women did!

"Mudding" or 4 wheeling is part of the fun at the river. And with that comes a lot of well....mud! But that is half the fun of it. (Well for the men, and youngsters. I on the other hand, fully expect to go "mudding" and return without an ounce of mud on me. It drives my husband crazy, but trust me ladies, it can be done. Simply jump on the back of the 4 Wheeler and every time your husband; starts to accelerate, spots a mud puddle, steers towards the direction of a jump start screaming bloody murder. If needed use mild explicits.) As you can see below, there is quite a difference between my husbands first "mudding" adventure and the (ahem) adventure he had with me...

 Besides the "mudding" my husband brought our boat up. That is always a good time, for about an hour. At least for me. After an hour I am hot, thirsty, and for some reason usually hungry! UGH! All the youngsters love to go skiing and tubing. Again, I keep my adventures pretty contained, and in this instance contained ON the boat. This is also the first year we let my precious son ride on the boat. He liked it enough, but that little two year old was mad that we wouldn't let him drive the boat!

After all that "mudding" and water sports it is time to feed the heifers. And after I fed the kids, my husband and Jack we went and fed the cows and longhorns that my parents have.

Great time at the river!

Love, 

Tam

Hidden Veggie Pancakes

You know I love to hide those veggies! This recipe is super quick and easy!

Boil 2 cups of cauliflower, drain but save the water. Puree using the leftover water.

Set aside and prepare pancakes of your choice. I used Aunt Jemima's Whole Wheat Blend.

Add two teaspoons of ground cloves and ground ginger and one tablespoon of ground cinnamon to mixture.

Stir in pureed cauliflower and cook as usual!

TADA! Jack LOVED them, I actually had to limit him to three a morning! I have to admit, I had a couple too! They were yummy....

End of Year Freebie!

Quick update....

As I am working on the last week of school plans I cam across the Time Capsule I made and did with my class last year. We will be doing it again this year and I thought I would share.
Last year we gave each student a brown lunch sack and let them decorate it with markers and stickers. That is what they used as their "capsule". I kept my classes and they came back to me the first week of 5th grade to collect them. I liked doing it that way, so I knew they wouldn't cheat! And I think they enjoyed it more! It also gave me a chance to see them again in the new year!!!

Time Capsule:
4th Grade Time Capsule

And the peer interview:
Peer Interview

Hope you can use!

Special Visitor

Jack came to visit me last week in my classroom. He was in heaven because he could actually touch and play with the computers! Had to share!

Diet Water

I love water but sometimes it needs to be spruced up a bit. I am loving my new water....and my friends have gotten hooked on it too.

Ingredients:
Water (duh!)
Half a lemon
Blackberries
4 Strawberries
Mint leaves (to taste)

TADA!

I love it and I drink more water. I will keep the fruit in it all day and just keep adding water. Very easy!
DRINK MORE WATER!

Stay on Target

End of year....teachers are tired and the kids know it! So they try to push it. Students AND teachers need a daily reminder that school is not over until the very last day. (At least my students do, and I do!) I put this bulletin board up behind my desk. Great visual for the kids...and ME!

The board says "Stay On Target Still ___ School Days Left!"

I made an arrow with construction paper and pipe cleaners...hey I'm not an artist!

What is "not on target"? Not studying for tests, talking too much, no materials

I used tacks so that I could line it up first. Then I stapled it down. Learned this the hard way!

Here is the big picture! Only 9 days left!

Floral Chandelier

I have to share this amazing floral chandelier that we (Busy Chick Planning) made for a wedding party. We used it as the "chandelier" above the dance floor. It turned out beautiful! We will be making custom wreaths...so email busychickplanning@gmail.com for pricing and info!