Smoothie!

William made a fabulous blended smoothie with no recipe (imagine that!) He invented the Chai Berry Smoothie. I dunno, maybe it's already been invented but it was SO good! Here's his unscientific recipe so you may have to tailor to taste since there was no measuring tools used. :)

Chai Berry Smoothie

1 Blender

4 oz half n' half*

1 cup 2% milk

2 medium size scoops vanilla ice cream* (can be substituted with yogurt)

1 & 1/2 of frozen mixed berries

1 full scoop of  vanilla Chai powder (Big Train Brand is the best..from Smart&Final)

Blend

Add handfuls of ice to create thickness

Serves two best with a dollop of whip cream and a straw

*I didn't say it was healthy, though :)

First Field Trip

The 5th graders went on their first field trip yesterday. We went to see the super-cool Chinese Acrobats at the Amador Theater. It was a fabulous & entertaining local performance. We've been studying the Olympics this month, so the Acrobats were our morning "Opening Ceremonies" and we have an Olympic competition in the afternoon. My mom was kind enough to let me borrow her camera since I still can't find my battery charger thingy. Not sure how I'll survive this year. You can tell I haven't been posted much since I don't have pictures. Hopefully that will change soon!

Fabulous Deal!

So in my previous "Autumn" post, I mentioned a few coats from jcrew I've been eyeing. And a few days ago, a teacher e-mailed me about their 15% off for teachers with an ID badge. I had no idea about this great deal until this week... probably a good thing. Anyway, I went to the mall on Thursday for some retail therapy after school.... I know.. I should get a better "de-stressing, relaxation habit".. but anyway...

 I wanted to try on the coat since online it had gone on sale..by alot. It was originally $275 & there was NO way I could qualify that to my hubby. So it was online for $199, but when I went into the store..they had it for 25% off that price. I was able to order it in-store from the catalog and they gave me the teacher discount too. Plus there was literally only ONE left in my size in the color I wanted. In addition, I had a $50 gift card from a birthday gift...so a $275 coat became an $88 coat in a matter of moments! VICTORY in the retail battle for great prices but great quality... unfortunately my hubby wasn't as thrilled since I still don't get a paycheck until late September. Grr...

My Parents' New Home

My grandparents' home is now my parents' but boy, did it get more than just a face-lift. We've been over there often now that they are settled. We enjoyed a Sunday BBQ and a William-Mom tutorial session while Dad-I watch Project Runway. Good times. It's in beautiful Castlewood and it's so peaceful. It's away from much of the hub-bub of the suburbs too, but still very close. Because it's situated right into the Pleasanton Ridge area, there are lots of wild creatures: vultures, squirrels, turkey, deer...etc. I'm sure lots of miniature creatures too for some of these animals to prey on. Well, the deer and turkey are quite a nuisance to the golfers and home owners. And today, my husband and father had some male-bonding time with these wild, unruly inhabitants. William brought his b-b guns over and they practiced their aim to "scare" these annoying turkey away from the backyard. I, not present at this event, but instead working hard in my classroom after school, only heard of their adventure and now desire to buy better equipment for next time. Shheeesh. 

Mama Judy

She's been in the hospital since Sunday night & I just spoke with her for the first time today. Thankfully, she sounds fabulous and seems to be doing much better. She's able to keep food down and her voice has life to it. She's had visitors and callers. We appreciate so much your prayers, notes, and e-mails. And we are happy to report that the plan is to get her home by Wednesday with some meds. What a big scare, but hopefully she's on the mend from here on out!

Mama Update

Judy has spiral meningitis. The hospital finally admitted her into the hospital after the second spinal tap late last night. I'm so thankful they were able to find out what it was, but what is was is NOT very good. Please pray for Mama Judy for this illness can be very dangerous. Thankfully it is the viral form which is less severe than the bacteria form. Treatment for the viral form is only directed at the symptoms, typically. Please pray! We are all very nervous and worried.

Please Pray...

My mom-in-law Judy Swenson is very sick. They, being the doctors, believe it to be some viral infection but they haven't been able to locate it in her body. They have completed many tests, including a recent CAT Scan and Spinal Tap. She's been under a great deal of stress lately emotionally, spiritually and physically so her immune system seemed to be down. Thankfully, some of William's siblings still live down in Orange County and have been able to get her to the E.R. We thought she was getting better early today, after going to the hospital yesterday to get re-hydrated--she was starting to eat, sleep, normalize, etc. But this evening, she couldn't stop vomiting and Ruth took her back to the E.R. The hospital wasn't allowing her to stay, but William finally got ahold of Judy's doctor who is hopefully working this out. Please pray for physician care immediately, that they are able to calm her body down, keep her hydrated, and get her the things she needs to get over this!! Lord, heal Mama!

Is It Friday yet?

This week is the first 5 school day week and boy, is it long. Last night, I was so tired... the kind of tired I feel on a Friday night. Much to my dismay, I realized it was only Wednesday night. William took a "nap" around 5pm, but ended up finish that around 6:45AM! We're both exhausted this week. We have forgotten how taxing schooling, work, etc can be. Summer was good. On Tuesday, I attempted my first jog with our dogs. They did well & were able to mostly keep up and trot in a straight line. We'll see if we keep this up...

Motown

William and I were so privileged last night to be invited to my parents' shindig. Castlewood was having a Motown night with dinner & live entertainment. It was a blast, although we were the youngest people there by far! My mom kept leaning over to check on us & our familiarity with songs. I knew almost all the songs and most of the lyrics. Although, I didn't know all the hand moves, like my mom did! She use to dance with her friends with the radio in the garage... and she wonders where I get that from!! The entertainment was fabulous. A traveling group that performs as if they were the artists of yester-year: The Temptations, The O.J.s, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandelias, etc. We were so glad to get to dress up and go out again. It has been awhile. What a wonderful evening!! Plus it was the very first time we had been to Castlewood since our wedding, so we definitely enjoyed reliving parts of that. :) 

Autumn

I can't wait for the coming season. As I plopped into my scorching hot car after school today, I gave a mental scream, "When is it going to get CHILLY?!?!" I hate getting into my car at the end of the day--way too suffocatingly hot! Autumn is such a great season for many reasons. The changing of the leaves from green to orange, red, brown, and yellow hues.  And the smells are amazing: crisp, cool breezes; jack-o'-lanterns; spiced breads; pine trees dampened by the dew... and let's not forget about my all time favorite: Pumpkin Spiced Lattes!! So beautiful! I want to wear pants, long sleeves, coats, jackets, layers and the like. I have been eyeing this and that at j.crew for awhile now. I'm trying to figure out how I can work them into my closet without my dear husband noticing. :) I've got to do more nannying!! And with school full swing and the dogs--I-gasp!-- haven't had any time to go shopping. And blessing for my wallet, most assuredly. Both of us have really buckled down and seem quite focused on school and home. It's great for now, but I'm sure I'll be itching for an escape trip sometime soon! And I'm still working on our anniversary plans--nothing booked yet. What are your Autumn plans??