What I did this weekend...

Isn't that very "teacherish" of me?

1.  I went to the annual Sheep and Wool Festival in these parts.  It was lovely.  I spent money.  I pet sheep.  I drooled over yarn yumminess.  I was crazy jealous of all the spinners I saw.  I had a wonderful, wonderful time.

2.  I registered for my beginning knitting class.  I have the book, the yarn (purple wool), and size 9 circular needles.  Bamboo and not metal.  I am seriously nervous but the nice older lady at the shop told me that if I can crochet, I can knit.  I want to believe her.  The other (much younger) worker person told me that she had a student take beginning knitting last month and is taking a beginning sock making class tonight.  There is hope for me, I think.

3.  I. Finished. Babette.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;)

See:

I am very, very happy with her, although the border is a little wonky.

Anyone wishing to leave me lovely comments about my Babette may (please) feel free to do so.  :)

I took the day off today and I realized that I only have nine, NINE more days with my kiddos.  That makes me sad.  I predict many tears on May 18.  :(

miss raven is doing well.  she has been very playful of late and this pleases me.  I am looking forward to spending much time with her this summer.

Now.  I am off to make coffee and to try to figure out what is going to fill the void left in my crafting life with the completion of Babette....

Today...

will be bulleted for your reading pleasure ease.

You're welcome.

:)

• Today was a good great day.  We had an all school assembly and, since I knew it would be Christmas-themed, I went all out.  Santa hat, Christmas pin, and ornament earrings that flashed on and off.  Oh.  The kids L.O.V.E.D.  it.  I so rock and am the coolest teacher on my hallway.
• SS was there today.  This is the second day in a row which means that she will probably be absent tomorrow.
• I found out after school that SS's mommy complained about me (again) to the principal.  Yesterday I was in a generous mood and gave out candy in math.  I rarely do that because I don't want to deal with the sugar high so candy in my classroom is a BIG treat and a BIG deal.  Anyway.  I made them wait until the end of the day to eat their candy (remember...I don't want to deal with the sugar high).  SS got a lollipop and had it in her mouth when mommy came to pick her up.  Mommy asked where she got it and SS told her that I had given it to her.  Mommy said "Oh, that was so nice.  I hope you told her thank you."  They met the principal on the way out and he made a comment about her having candy.  He asked where she got it and SS told him that I gave it to the class.  Before he could say anything, Mommy says, in a very sarcastic tone, "Yeah, she gives them candy and then sends them home for us to deal with."  Um.  Yeah.  I have no words.
• Totally random.....I am currently eating dessert....Pumpkin spice pudding.  O.M.G. so amazingly delicious.
• My babies are just about finished with their picture frames.  In case you didn't know, they are all painting/decorating unfinished wooden frames (from Michael's) for their parents for Christmas.  I took all of their pictures and printed them out at Walgreens.  I have six kids who need to finish up tomorrow and then they will wrap them on Thursday.  They are pretty excited and have done such a good job.  I'm really proud of them.
• I got my first Christmas present today!  One of my students gave me a gift card to Target!!!!  Whoo-hoo!!!!  You know how much I love me some Tar-jay!! :)
• As you know, the scarves are FINISHED!  As promised, here are some pictures!  Enjoy!

 The NINETEEN scarves

 redskins fans

 eagles fan, packers fan, um... origami fan

 for the girls

 more girls

 the last of the girls

 the two jumbled scarves pictures, just because

I really, really hope the kids like them! :)

Good night!

A Day Late...

and a Yarn Along short.

or...

EEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!  Bugs!

So, I obviously missed Yarn Along yesterday.  Guess what I forgot to take to school?

my camera

Told you I would.  Although I did remember my lunch.

I remembered today so, without further ado, I give you...

a finished object!

The kids love it and race to get to the back so they can sit in the comfy chair with the "special" blanket.  I love it.  :)

We survived the day of clay.  There were a few mishaps, like the cherub who thought it would be fun to make a burrito instead of an insect or the angel who thought it was absolutely necessary to pout because her insect wouldn't stand up (Super teacher to the rescue!).  I still have clay under my fingernails and I will be finding "eyes" (beads) for the conceivable future, but they loved it.  Here are some pictures of stage one:

Ok.  So they aren't exactly famous sculptors but do me a favor and pretend you can tell that they are insects

and not weird looking reindeer....

Stage two is next Thursday and it is the painting stage.  I'm a little worried what the burrito kid is going to think of next.

:o/

I got my first "polite" parent complaint today.  Apparently I gave WAY too much homework last night for one mommy.  Here's how mean I was:

12 math problems (simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication)
2 Bible verses to write 2x each
5 history questions to answer
1 spelling list to write 1x
1 science quiz to study for

I am so incredibly heartless that I gave the students a 35 minute study hall instead of a 20 minute one.

You can see why I was wrong, right?

;)

Oh...one other thing...the mommy in question picked her darling up from school right at dismissal time (3:20) and she was the FIRST child picked up.  Someone please tell me how the child had to stay up past her bedtime to complete her homework?!?  What, does she go to bed at 5:00???

When I told my principal about this he rolled his eyes and said that the mom had better not complain to him about it.  I found out later that, not only did she call him about the "excessive" amount of homework, she also complained because her child's shoes and socks were wet.

Um. 

IT HAS BEEN RAINING FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Genius.

I love my job!

Today I learned that animals with backbones are called "verbebrains"

Good to know.

I love my job!!!!!!!!

Good night!

:)

Just a couple of things...

1.  My next door neighbor is OBSESSED with his yard.  Seriously.  And it must really, really irritate him that my yard is more of a jungle than a yard.  I would like to let him know that, if it bothers him that much he could be a real sweetie and just take care of it for me.  lol!

2.  Remember my birdie placemats?

(Stay with me.  This will make sense.)

Check out the new button over there ~~~~~~~~~~~>

Feel free to click on said button and visit that blog.  Funny?  check.  Entertaining?  check.  Enjoyable?  check.  Try it, you'll be glad you did.  By the way, that is where I won the birdie placemats.  Told you I would tie it all together.

3.  I ran some errands today.  As always, I try to please miss raven's finicky tastes.  Currently she has decides that her food can neither have any kind of fowl or any kind of chunks.  Anything beef or pork and in the pate form seems to be what is working for her at this time.  I do my best to oblige.  I had to go to Target to get food for her majesty as well as a few other items.

You may be wondering why I chose to blog about my (boring) errands.  I will tell you why.  I don't want you to wonder forever.  There are two reasons:

     a.  I tried on two bathing suits today both in the size I thought I had worked my way back up to.  To my surprise, they were too big.  WOW!  and yea me.

     b.  As I was leaving the shopping center I stopped to fill up the truck at the new Safeway gas station.  The price listed was $2.47 with members getting three cents off.  That should have made the gas $2.44.  They were running a grand opening promotion, though, and I only paid (are you ready for this???)............................$2.37!!!!!!  WOW! and yea me again!

4.  Ta-Da:

5.  miss raven is snoring in my ear right this very second.

6.  :)

7.  the end.

p.s.  ok, it was more than a couple.  sorry.

Ten (random) Things Tuesday!

Because I like to be random, that's why. :)

1.  Dunkin Donuts blueberry iced coffee.  Y.U.M.

2.  This is for you, BFF:

3.  Behold, the spare room:

(please ignore the piles of stuff on the desk.  thank you.)

4.  Yes?

or

5.  No?

You be the judge. :)

6.  Since this is ostensibly also a crochet blog (bwahahaha--who are we kidding?  I blog what I want.), here are a few pictures of my most recent finished object:

This is one of standard favorite things to make.  It is so easy and really works up quickly.

7.  I LOVE my new chair!

8.  Behold!  My bathroom:

I so love the shower curtain.  Thank you, Ikea!! :)

9.  I have ants.  I hate bugs in the house.  Any suggestions on how to get rid of the little nasties without harming the little diva?

10.  I love summer! :)

The end!

so here we snow again...

yes. that is snow. more snow. because, you know, this:
just wasn't enough.

have i mentioned that i am not particularly fond of snow? recently, i mean?

my roommate and i ventured out today. she drove. i am a chicken. i'm not ashamed to admit it. bock, bock, bock. that's me. we went to Barnes & Noble (because she's nice like that and took me there so i could get the latest issue of my crochet magazine. i promise to make you a hat soon!), Wal-Mart (that was interesting. i did get the fixin's to make an interesting "baking" project tomorrow, because, well, you know, no school....again.), Home Depot (shovel? hahahahhaha!!!! ice melt, yes!), and the grocery store (oh! the lines!!!!). we made it home safely (because she is a rockstar thankyouverymuch.) and commenced with yet more shoveling. you know, because we haven't done enough in the last two days. i am happy to announce that, for a brief moment today, we could actually see the road! now, it looks like this...again.

because i was bored today (and, do you know, i couldn't remember what day it was!), i made these:

peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting. thankfully we were able to give away all but the two we saved. you know, for us. can i just say that they were, perhaps, one of THE best things i have EVER baked? E.V.E.R. they aren't "pretty" but what they lack in looks they beyond make up for in taste. peanut butter and chocolate? can't go wrong with that!

miss raven is doing well. i knew you would want to know. she is the sweetest little girl ever. she has been so happy that i have been home for all of these days. she is NOT happy about the tiny little patch of grass i have cleared for her. she looks at the mountain o' snow and is very angry with it. as angry as a nine and a half pound chihuahua can get. which, let me tell you, is pretty angry. she is not angry in this picture.

she is just cute. ;)

disclaimer: yes, that is my bed. yes, it is unmade. yes, i should have made it, seeing as how i have been home for the last five days. no, i don't care what you think of me or my housekeeping skills. :P

thanks to all who have been commenting lately. it warms the cockles of my heart. wherever they may be. i've never quite figured that out. do you see them in this picture?

yes, i made this. you know, for single-awareness day on sunday.

anyway...keep the comments coming. i need something to read while i am snowed in. still. it's the groundhog's fault. really. i think i hate the groundhog. really.

Here comes the sun...

The snow finally stopped. After 31 straight hours. Yes, that's right. 31 STRAIGHT hours of snow.

We dug out this morning. Well, sort of. We still can't get the vehicles out, really. There is a path around them (I am a rockstar, thank you!) but I am afraid that when the plow finally comes through it will just push all of the snow back against the cars. Ugh.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath:

That, my dear readers, is my neighbor's car. Seriously.All my hard work!!! :)

I haven't been completely lazy, lo these many days off. Wanna see what I've accomplished? Well, aside from all the laundry that I've done...

My new summer shawl! Oh, how I double {heart} this pattern! It is so easy and goes so quickly. I've made two of them before but have given them away. This one is staying with me. It is pink after all. :) Here is a close up of the pattern:
It is so open and airy and PERFECT for the summer! I've also done this: you know, seeing how it is Single-Awareness Day next Sunday.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday!!! My 'Boys aren't in it this year so I will be rooting for the Colts to beat the Saints. My roommate doesn't like football [I pray for her. ;) ] however, because she is *ahem* trapped at home, we are going to have our own mini Super Bowl party. Pizza, guacamole, brownies. Yep, we are good to go. :)

No school tomorrow. No big surprise there. Tuesday isn't looking good, either, and we are supposed to get MORE snow on Tuesday night. Another 6 to 8 inches. Seriously?! Doesn't someone else need some snow? Really? I'm good at sharing.

Snow Day?

Grrrrr.......snow on the weekend bites. No kidding. I so wanted it to snow yesterday so I wouldn't have to go to work.

So, snow today. It is pretty coming down and let me tell you, it is COMING DOWN. The last I heard, we are supposed to get up to 6 inches and the way it is snowing right now, I believe it. miss raven decided she needed to go out a little while ago. When we first went out this morning it wasn't snowing. Just really, really cold. So when I took her out the second time, well, let's just say she was (un)pleasently surprised.

I believe the message she is trying to get across here is: "No, mommy! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!!" I said yes and so this is what happened next:

You don't need to see pictures of what happened next. That is private. ;) She was very happy to go back inside:Upon removal of her sweater and necklace (that's what we call the leash. it sounds nicer.) she ran directly into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed, and burrowed under the covers. When I got into the room I got the "I can't believe you did that to me!" look. I can guarantee that it will be quite some time before she needs to go back outside. :)

Here is the latest project I finished:

I didn't take a full-out picture because it was rather long and I wouldn't have gotten a good one. The yarn was really soft and surprisingly easy to work with. The pattern calls this a scarf, but I chose to use a thicker yarn so that it would be a shawl. I didn't make it as long as the pattern calls for because again, it was a thicker yarn. The pattern called for six rows of edging but I only completed three because I was almost out of yarn. It turn out really well, was super easy once the pattern was established, and the recipient loves it. :)

I wanted to start on a pair of socks next and I actually did attempt them. I had to put them away, though, because I was getting frustrated by them. Instead I started yet another shawl. I love the yarn--it's a dark pink, and I love the pattern. No recipient in mind....yet. :)

As previously promised....

.....just a few days late. :)

Here is the finished project I mentioned last week:
Notice raven sitting nicely to the side. She thought it was a blankie for her. ;)

It is my first attempt at a log cabin design and I am really liking it. I now have plans for some of the leftover scrap yarn that I have. :)