Beautiful!

My favorite time of year ... ???

Dad informed me today that I hadn't updated since last Sunday. I've been super busy, but not a ton to share on the blog.

It's my favorite time of year; I love the cool weather, the changing leaves, the fact that my kids are well "trained" after 9+ weeks together, and there are lots of fun things to do in town.

What I don't love is the end of first quarter; report cards are always the most difficult to fill out the first time around. The craziness that comes with the Halloween party is enough to drive you nuts. The soda machine in the lounge wasn't taking my money Friday on party day. Thank goodness Mitzi saved me with a Diet Dr. Pepper she had stashed away. Parent/Teacher conferences are this week. It will mean two 12+ hour days Monday & Tuesday, kids Monday-Wednesday and then Thursday off with kids to have conferences. I have 28 booked this year. It's going to be a wild week, but I'm excited to share all the great things I'm seeing with parents, and thrilled that we can start to make some changes after the parents see the things that are worrying me.

Friday will be a vacation day to reward us for working two nights this week. I hope to work hard this week so that I can really enjoy the day off & attempt to keep that day work-free! Keep checking back for more updates ... and make sure you're checking the daily photo blog. I've been successful in keeping updated, and I'm proud of that fact!

Just another afternoon on the deck

Went over to play with Miss Ellen this afternoon ... and to get some photo help from Molly.

While we were waiting for Molly to finish working in the yard, Ells and I sat to have a little chat out on the deck. This is good stuff!

You should make these cookies ASAP! You'll thank me!

Each month at school, a grade level is in charge of lounge duty (cleaning at the end of the day, starting the coffee, running & emptying the dishwasher). When it is your month for lounge duty, you are also in responsible for planning a treat day! Even though it's a bit of work, treat day is always fun and everyone enjoys it! We actually make the time to hang out in the lounge and enjoy each other's company and the good food, too.

Last Monday, I had to start looking for things to make. I made my famous Icing Rice Krispie Treats. I also made a 5-ish layer dip (beans, sour cream with taco seasoning, salsa, shredded cheddar, cherry tomatoes and olives). Then, I started flipping through our Oak Hill cookbook. It was published for the 20th anniversary of our school. Parents & staff donated their favorite recipes.

I found this recipe that needed just a few easy ingredients. We've had the children of this recipe donor bring these cookies for our 4th Grade Market ... and they are YUMMY! I didn't think they'd be as easy as they were!

I made a batch for our treat day. I saved a few to take to Mom & Dad. I also saved a few for me. Shhhhh ... don't tell! They were so good that I ran to the grocery store again Sunday to get another box of the lemon cake mix. I took them when I got together with friends Sunday afternoon. The recipe made between 20 and 25 cookies, depending on the size.

These might be my new go-to cookies. I usually have butter & eggs in the fridge. Cake mix and rice cereal is easy enough to get. You should make them. Seriously. Now. You won't regret it!

If this doesn't make you smile ...

... I don't know what will! :)

Spent the evening with Ellen ... and Minnie was MORE than thrilled to spend the night around her. You never know what kind of leftovers you can find on her chin or shirt sleeves :)

I know this picture is blurry, but it's a great representation of what happens when these two "cousins" get together.

"Mimmie! Get down!" *giggle, giggle*