Woken by Ice

I'd heard the forecast and anticipated at least a late start Tuesday morning.  After having a 'touch of something' in my system for a few days, I was craving extra sleep.  So at 5:47 a.m. when my phone rang twice, my text messages came through twice, my alarm sounded 10 minutes later, then Macks alarm rang 30 minutes later along with the sound of ice-rain on the windows, I knew I'd never fall back to sleep...

Mike chose NOT to portray He-Man on the interstate today and worked from home.  He soon found himself installing our new printer.  You'll notice Jayson is nearby with an instruction manual.  This kid is a bit of a wizard when it comes to technology and mechanics.  Look at his face of confidence ;)

Yet I managed to get him in the kitchen browning sausage for me.  I'm in charge of Wednesday Night Youth Group dinner and it's biscuits and gravy for 25.  

Belly UP!

I don't have a lot of photos of all 5 Boyd Babes in the same room, however this photo sums each of them up pretty accurately.  

And seriously, does anyone remember this game?

I totally do. 

Thinking Grandma Green's house?

Anyway, Aunt Dolores gave it to the kids at Christmas and playing it made me feel like I was 10 years old again

Kinda-sorta hoping for a regular school today tomorrow; yet kinda sorta for hoping for at least a late start...

Pioneers, Wheelchairs and Crafts

I absolutely LOVED Pioneer Day at the Scott County Park mini-Living History Farms when I was in 4th grade.  Everything from the clothes, the authentic sack lunch and the games. 

I didn't mention that along with everything else Valentines Day 2018 came with, Maisie had Little House on the Prairie Day at school.

She was wishy washy about dressing up, but after Grandma offered to make her costume she all aboard.

And as we're strolling down memory lane, who could forget the yellow ottoman in the basement that when flipped on it's side became a wheelchair?  

Unknowingly I purchased an ottoman from online garage sales about a year ago.  It didn't take the kids long to discover it was also a wheelchair just waiting to be discovered.

We've begun a new chapter in our life.  It's called daily crafting.  And when someone discovered she didn't get to participate in the Bob Ross painting lesson, volcanos were a quick solution.  

 Painting class...

So without further explanation, let me introduce you to Maisie and My YouTube Channel.  

It's called Fun, or Not Fun.  We evaluate toys, games, crafts, etc to determine whether they are 'fun or not fun'.  We aired our first episode this afternoon (as I'm battling a stomach virus of some sort and take to take a tiny cleanup break halfway through).  

You will see our first episode posted in a separate post.  Please subscribe to our channel and follow.  As Maisie informs me, the more followers you can get, the more money you make.  She's honestly hoping to become famous enough for Squishy Manufacturers to send her squishies to evaluate.

Iron-On Pencil Case

Happy V Day!

Whew, what a week!

Not only were my classes able to raise $1200 for post prom through a Valentines Sugar Cookie Sale (by making and decorating nearly 800 sugar cookies), but we pulled off our first Ladies Night Valentines Dinner for the local Lions club at the local winery.  Only 4 of my students able to attend due to state wrestling and the peak of flu season, but in this situation it came down to quality over quantity.  

After all day together (plus the additional 4 hours of after school time) we became a little delirious with one another.  

Here's my crew posing in front of a leaky ceiling in the back room.

Our 'kitchen' workspace.

Two pieces of cake were dropped on the floor.  Ugg! 

We located a broom and dustpan to quickly clean the mess before guests arrived.  

Did the students toss the cake in the trash? 

Nope.  

They saved the 'floor cake' to inhale on ouer way back to school.  Another student ended up eating 4 pieces of cheesecake on the way back.  

Oh, to have that metabolism again...

This was our first time working with Beef Tenderloin.  

I was terrified of overcooking it in an unfamiliar oven.

Once I saw blood and an internal temp of 140 degrees, it was like a weight had been lifted.

Praise Jesus!

 The backroom not only had a leak, but also traps.  

It was a fabulous teaching moment.  

And apparently someone has a friend named, 'Steevo'.

Have I mentioned we were totally delirious?

Then I came home to this...

Clearly Ross is in full swing with Youth Group and heading to Branson for a long weekend with his buddies in April.

Peace Be With You.

And lastly, we were finally able to begin our Protein Unit in Foods 2.  My students couldn't help but capture me in my prime during a lecture.  

Oh kids... you're my favorite.

Reading Silently

The feeling when you've finished your last day of ITBS and you have to sit quietly for everyone else to finish...

Squishy Galore

The mall is a funny place.  I remember being a kid and wishing I could live the mall and own all it's contents.  As I got older I quickly learned the mall is an over-priced, ever changing beast who lures in teenage girls who are desperate to spend their babysitting money.  

So when our teenage neighbor mentioned the mall had a squishy kiosk, Maisie and Molly decided we needed to investigate. 

The photos are actually from our second visit to the kiosk.  The first time I got suckered into buying Maisie the 'milk carton' squishy.  

In true mall-fashion, the place is crazy expensive and the two ladies running the kiosk seemed sketchy and distracted, so we took the opportunity to squeeze EACH squishy at least twice.

Then Molly had to go potty 'really bad'.  We took a restroom break before going BACK to the squishy kiosk for 5 more minutes.  

And yeah, it's flu season.  I can't help but wonder how many skanky hands have been squishing those squishies.

Honest confessions from the mother of a squishy lover.

However, the girls were invited to a birthday party and took part in a sour candy challenge.  And no, I wasn't the random mom who hung-out during the party to cause extra stress on the hosting mom.  

I was asked to stand and help with the pizza.

Molly's face during the challenge cracked me up.

The way this girl has cracked her shell in the past couple months has been incredible.  It's like a part of her that's been hidden has finally broke through and it's radiant.  She's fun, has a quirky sense of humor, loves to be involved, is making more and more friends, is going out for soccer in the spring and believe it or not, is a people person (not necessarily outgoing), but she's getting there.

And Sid the Science Kid is still at it.

Today was an early out due to snow, so we drove out to Winterset for gelatin, pineapple and Tonic Water. 

Seriously, through hell or high-water, We Will Do Science.

Earlier this week this kids asked if they could get chocolates for Valentines. 

I responded, 

"ONLY if Aldi's sells chocolates.  Ross, if Aldi's sells Chocolates, want me to pick you up a package for Cadi (with a D)?"

There was no comment, only a sigh.

However, Molly found her Valentines at Aldi's on Sunday and already has them ready to go.  

Incase I wasn't clear about Maisie's love affair with Squishy's she came home with this worksheet from the 100th day of school.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

My Sweet Slimy Girl

10 years ago I had a bun in the oven.
We had recently found out it was a girl and I quickly realized just how badly I wanted it to be a girl.  We learned of her existence on our 3rd anniversary.

Little did I realize we'd cloned a little girl who would constantly remind me of myself.  I clearly remember LOVING science experiments.  I was fascinated with hands on crafts and eventually realized I loved creating things in the kitchen and learning of ingredient reactions and results.

So this girl of mine and I spent the afternoon experimenting with a drink lab.  The photo below as actually taken in the pantry with the lights off.  It was all about a vanilla shake and a black light reflecting the casein of the milk proteins in the dark.

 It was cool

Remember the days of heating a marshmallow in the microwave until it swelled to the size of a volleyball, then having to scrub the impossible-to-clean bowl afterwards?  But the slightly over-burnt, golden-edged, crispy marshmallow was totally worth it?  Yeah, we did that today too.

However, Maisie being Maisie decided she wanted to knead it with powdered sugar to see if she could make it 'edible slime'. 

I love her thought pattern.

A couple weeks ago she was excited to try her hand at 'butter slime'.  Being the curious scientist mom I am, I drove to the West Des Moines Walmart to buy the glue and clay we needed for the experiment.  I could have swore we had the StaFlow Starch already.  It wasn't until we got home and I couldn't find the Sta-Flo did I panic.  We substituted borax and it was a disaster.
BUT, as I noticed the dog treat tub was empty this week, I discovered the missing Sta-Flow Starch bottle had been sitting in the wrong basket!  I know... me and my baskets.

In the meantime, my little Science Kid has found a new way to experiment with slimes...

 All it takes is a cooling rack.  Super satisfying to watch.  She'll do this for hours.

But that's just the beginning

Once is falls into a heap; you can squeeze it.  And it creates air bubbles.  Not unlike bubble wrap! 
I know!

I struggle to 'play' anymore.  Barbies, Dolls, School... however this girl totally takes me back to childhood and makes me want to explore, to experiment and to believe in the magic this world has to offer.

Sweet Girl, I'm Wildly Convinced You're Uncommonly Beautiful.

Catering, Smoking and Barbie

They always say, "Find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life". 

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

My Culinary Arts 2 Class was asked to prepare and serve a meal to the St. Charles Lions Club Ladies Night Valentines Dinner at the Madison County Winery on Valentines evening.  I presented menu options to club and their final selections were:

Peppercorn Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Honey Glazed Carrots

Decadent Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate Cake (for the guy who doesn't like cheesecake)

While pricing the ingredients, I found myself at Costco and realized just how much faith this club has in us.  

We'll be serving around 35 guests....

However, my Culinary Arts 1 Class began serving a Thursday Lunch Bunch meal to staff for $5.  The invitation and order form is sent via email and staff is able to select 'order' toppings/flavors for their meal. The students are in charge of the planning, cooking, packaging and delivery.
It's a win-win for all.
Our First lunch was AWESOME!  We have been studying vegetables, therefore the menu was Baked Potato, Garden Salad and a Pudding Parfait.

We're starting soups on Monday, so the next staff lunch is sure to be incredibly wild and crazy!

Back to the Valentines Gala.

I've been testing Chocolate Cheesecakes at home for reference.

The kids are nothing short of spoiled these days.

After school snack...

And lo and behold, Maisie has a new friend.  This friend is a fan of Barbies AND is the sweetest little thing to Jay.

My heart is stolen (once again)

Not sure what Maisie's attempting... perhaps a chest roll? 

And my pubescent teens who I'm not sure what to do with.

Thank God they're cute or I'd have to surrender them to the wolves.

 I almost forgot to mention the Culinary kids also prepared over 750 lbs of meat for the I-35 Wrestling tournament a couple weeks ago.  There were smokers, pork, beef, beans, corny mac and cobbler.  There was chicken.  There were beans, corny mac and cobbler.  It was INCREDIBLE!

The guy who brought the smokers wrote the corny mac recipe on the board for th ekids.  

His spelling left me a little concerned.

And at the end of the day, there's nothing better than watching two of my loves keeping warm in my bed.  

There's No Place Like Home.