school

MaceMallows

May 5, 2011 By kelly 2 Comments

Macey has to do an entrepreneurial project at school. She has to come up with something homemade to sell. So, she decided on marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows, of course. When she told me about it, I was pretty excited because I love to cook and create new things in the kitchen. I also enjoy working with my girls in the kitchen. So, I set about to find a great recipe for homemade marshmallows. My old friend Google led me to The Smitten Kitchen blog where I found a great recipe along with helpful notes for making delicious homemade marshmallows. Score!!

I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up the various ingredients. When I got home, Macey and I got to work in the kitchen. These marshmallows are really easy to make. I’m glad I had the recipe notes from The Smitten Kitchen because that prepared me for the mess. Macey couldn’t do everything, but the recipe had plenty for her to assist with in the kitchen. She helped grease and sugar the pan, she measured and poured, etc. We had a great time creating these marshmallows together. I really couldn’t get over the simplicity of making them. By my own admission, I am not the most talented cook in the kitchen when it comes to candy. I can create all sorts of wonderful dishes and I enjoy baking too. It’s just that I have never found my niche with confections. Fortunately, making marshmallows is significantly more simple than making, say, divinity candy at which I abysmally failed at my first attempt. (oops) Making marshmallows was definitely easy and definitely messy. Macey and I would both agree, however, that the mess was worth it. The clean-up was actually a good bit easier than I anticipated. Just be ready to use HOT water to get the remaining marshmallow “goo” out of the stand mixer bowl. (And, a shout-out of THANKS to Mickey for helping us clean up after the preparation.)

We made the marshmallows last evening and let them set overnight. I cut them this morning and, of course, we had to taste them. Well, to be perfectly honest, we tasted the “goo” last night once the marshmallows were poured into the pan to cool and set. So, we already knew it was good. However, I must say that they got better once they cooled and set. Oh my good gracious, they are fantastic!! My friend Jamie said the following to me in a blog post: “And be prepared to never want to buy another store marshmallow again. Homemade ones taste exactly like store bought ones, only fresh. I can’t explain it, but you’ll understand when you eat one!” Jamie…you were RIGHT! I may never buy store-bought marshmallows again. These were incredibly easy to make and they taste amazing! YUM!!

Macey has decided that her marshmallows will be called MaceMallows. How cute is that?! We now have to come up with cute packaging and a label for them. She will take them in next week and I think I am more excited than she is! I am hoping to get by Michael’s today to find some fun options for her MaceMallows. This school project is definitely one that we have all gotten to enjoy!

I will take a picture of her MaceMallows soon to share. I tried taking photos with my iPhone this morning, but they didn’t do it justice. So, I’ll get out the “big” camera later and see what I can do. 🙂

Happy Thursday,
Kelly

PS: The recipe can be found by clicking through to the springy, fluffy marshmallows blog entry for The Smitten Kitchen. I am so glad I found this blog. I have bookmarked and will be checking back frequently!

It’s Book Fair Time!

March 9, 2010 By kelly 2 Comments

How many of you have fond memories of the book fair from when you were in school? I always loved it. I don’t remember there being an actual “book fair” on site, but I know we got those cool order forms and I always picked out the books and posters I wanted and put in a campaign to convince my mom that I needed every single last one of them. I mean, the kitten posters were the cutest things EVER. Who didn’t need one every time? Seriously. 😉

Last week was book fair time at Mariana’s preschool. She didn’t actually go to the book fair, but Mickey and I went and did some fun shopping for her. She got some really fun books like Clifford the Champion, Katie Loves the Kittens and Dinner with Olivia. Mariana loves books and loves to “read.” She rarely lets us read to her these days. Instead, she prefers to take the books and “read” them herself which means that she makes up the stories as she turns each page. The cutest part is when she turns the page around to show her “kids” just the way her preschool teachers do. Love it!! It’s really cool to see her have such an interest in books and to see her creativity and imagination in bloom.

Macey’s book fair is this week. Today we get to go have lunch with Macey and then visit the book fair as a family. This is something we do twice a year at her school and we all look forward to it each time. Last week her class got to go to a preview of the book fair and the children got to create their wish lists at that time. Macey’s list includes the following – Library Mouse – A Friend’s Tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick and Pinkalicious. This time, there aren’t any chapter books on her list, but that could be because she has a ton of them already. She loves reading all sorts of books. Macey loves reading and enjoys reading to us too. She especially loves when she checks out AR (Accelerated Reader) books from the library each week because she likes to see which grade level she read each time. It’s really amazing to me to see both of our girls blooming in their love of reading!

I’m just as excited as the girls about the book fair. Yes, we already have a library full of books at home. We have plans to donate some of them. Our friend Annie is serving as a missionary over in Kenya and she has requested books for the orphanage where she is serving. So, we are going to go through our books shortly and find a way to get them over to the orphanage in Kenya. It’ll be a great opportunity for me to go through the books with the girls and determine which ones to send.

We also donate at least one book to the classroom each time. The teachers fill out wish lists and we choose at least one book from the list for the classrooms. The teachers are always appreciative and it feels good to give back. So, book fair really IS a fun time for the whole family. I can’t wait to go again today!

Happy October!!

October 1, 2009 By kelly Leave a Comment

Okay, who can believe that it’s already October?! Seriously. This year is FLYING by at the speed of light. The years definitely seem to get faster the older I get. I guess that’s true of most of us, right? I just can’t get over that today is October 1st because it seems like it was less than a month ago that we were in the midst of summer. Fortunately, October means Autumn and I do love this time of year. It’s been a little bit cooler here lately and it’s so nice. The leaves are starting to change, it’s football season, it’s almost time to pick apples and pumpkins…ahhh! This time of the year is truly great. My only problem with fall is that it leads to winter. 😉 So, rather than dwell on dreading the cold, I’m going to enjoy all the great things about fall and have fun while it lasts.

This coming weekend, my good friend Christie and I are going to the small town of Gay,Georgia to the Cotton Pickin’ Fair. The CP Fair is a huge craft fair that is held twice a year and is so much fun! Christie and I are going to leave early on Saturday morning and head on down to the CPF. Can’t wait!!

Mickey is running in our church’s annual road race that benefits Habitat for Humanity this weekend. He’s going to do the 5K race and then he and Macey are going to participate in the 1 mile fun run. I’m sure they’ll have a blast!!

In BIG Mariana news, she has finally given up the pacifier. Yes, she turned three in May, but she was still taking the paci at sleep times. Well, she’s been talking lately about giving it up, so we followed her cues and, sure enough, she’s all done with the pacifier. WOO HOO!! It’s been almost a week and she’s been such a champ about it all. GO MARIANA GO!!

Last week, Macey participated in the Boosterthon Fun Run and Roll at her school. It’s a great fundraiser in which the students collect pledges and then run laps around the “Boosterthon Speedway” to collect money for the school. The track is about 1/16 of a mile and they cap the laps at 35. So, Macey’s goal this year was to do 35 laps. And…she did it! She also did a couple of cool down laps. She was SOOOO proud of herself! Her pledges are still coming in and are due at school tomorrow. She’s thrilled that she not only set her goal, but met and exceeded it!

Mickey is doing well with transitioning to working at home full time. It’s really been a blessing to have him here. We’re gradually figuring how how flexible his hours can be, etc. It’s a process, but it’s all going beautifully thus far.

I should get going so I can get myself and Mariana ready to head out this morning. I’m going to work out at the Y while she plays with her BFF William.

Happy Thursday!

nga_fall This is a photo I took in North Georgia last Autumn. We were on a hayride at the time.

Four Days ’til First Grade…

August 6, 2009 By kelly 1 Comment

Macey starts first grade in four days. Well, technically, less than four days now since the day is almost over. The big day will be here before we know it. Wow!

Today we got to meet her wonderful teachers. Macey tends to be a bit reserved in new situations, but she was definitely happy to meet her teachers today. She’ll warm up in no time once the routine of school gets going, I’m sure. Her teachers are wonderful. So positive and sweet! We are all excited about the coming school year with them.

What do y’all remember about first grade? I have pretty fond memories of first grade. My teacher was Mrs. Lee. She had long (REALLY long) red hair and was just as sweet as could be. I had to miss a couple of weeks of school due to being hospitalized for pneumonia that year and I remember that she drove out to visit me at my grandparents’ house. That was the year that I had my birthday party at the zoo. My mom came and picked up all the girls in my class and we rode the 20+ miles to the zoo all piled into the back of a pick-up truck. (Yes, these were the early 80s.) My friend Robin B. moved away that year. I was sad that she left, but I remember being happy that I got her Social Studies book. (Those books were distributed when I was in the hospital and I didn’t have one when I returned.) That same year, a girl in my class named Stacy forgot to wear her shoes to school one day. She had to stay inside and not go to recess, so I stayed inside with her. She remembered that even into high school. It was a good year. I admit that I don’t remember many little details, but I know we had fun. I’m sure Macey will have fun too. I love that she is still at the age and stage where she gets genuinely excited about school and looks forward to it so much. I actually hope that continues for her.

This is such a milestone. It’s a “number” grade and they learn so much more than we used to at this age. Macey’s ready. She’ll do awesome. And, I am looking forward to every little bit of it.

So, here’s to first grade…in four days. 😉
Kelly

The state of things…

April 1, 2009 By kelly 5 Comments

Good morning!
Well, there are is some good news to report from our home front this morning. The leaky pipe in our basement is fixed. YAHOO!! The plumber finally got here three hours after he said he would yesterday, but at least he got here and got the leak properly fixed at last. That’s great news!
In not so great news, the water heater is still having major issues. The pilot won’t light and stay lit. Mickey has tried and tried and TRIED, to no avail. He called the manufacturer of the water heater this morning and they said that they wouldn’t come out to look at it, wouldn’t touch it, etc. given the situation. Okay then. So, we called a local company and they are coming out this morning to have a look at it to see if it can be repaired. Maybe it can. This water heater was just purchased in December, so it’s not old at all. We would hate to replace it, but it may come down to that. If it does, well, it does. We’ll see what the day reveals. We’ll do what we have to do.
We were all able to get warm baths this morning, so that was nice. REALLY nice! Required a lot of water being heated on the stove and hauling it upstairs via buckets and big pots. Hey, whatever works, right? 😉 Oh, it was sooooo nice to get that bath this morning. I felt absolutely amazing after that and still do.
Decided to keep Mariana home from preschool today. She is doing pretty well on the whole after her surgery on Friday, but I am thinking another couple of days at home would be good for her. She is still pretty tired and not quite back to 100%, so less is more for now. Her class is having their Easter party and egg hunt on Friday, so we really hope she can return for that.
Next week is spring break for both girls. We are probably going to head down to my mom’s for several days and be there through Easter. That should be fun! We’ll get to visit family and have fun hanging out down in South GA.
I haven’t been working out lately for a variety of reasons. I really miss it and I know I really NEED it, so I hope to get back on that very soon. Maybe tonight. I need to get back to Boot Camp. Stat!
I have gotten the nicest emails from the mother-of-the-bride from the wedding reception I photographed a couple of weekends ago. She is a preschool teacher at our church and is one of the sweetest people I know. They are absolutely thrilled with the photos and the DVD from the reception. Yay! That makes me so happy!
Remember, PLEASE, to keep Stellan and family in your prayers.
Hope everyone has a beautiful day today!