My new little addition....

Yesterday and today I have been busy organizing my scrapbooking room (formerly Lyndsay's room) to make room for my 2 new additions.....a laptop (Lyndsay's old one) and a brand spankin' new HP Photosmart All-in-One! I love having the ability to journal, print pictures and scrapbook all in the same room. It is my little oasis...a place to unwind, print pictures, read email, scrapbook and relax....my little room, complete for now.

Typical Boston December...

Thursday of this week was spent on our feet in Boston, walking the streets, jumping on and off the "T", browsing the amazing selection in Downtown Crossing, reminiscing about the year Lyndsay spent here in 2005-2006. We (Jim, Lyndsay, Taylor and I) were joined by Karen, Kali and Elena, and later, Jim's cousin, Father Don. We got soaked as it was raining/sleeting most of the day, but our moods were light, because this was, after all, BOSTON; one of our favorite cities. Here are some highlights of our day....

Jumping on the "T" at Riverside for the ride into downtown Boston....

Walking around snowy, wet, freezing Boston and taking pictures.......

Visiting our must stop-the Holocaust Memorial-eerie and even more hearbreaking in the misty weather.....

Dinner at Al Dente in the North End...look at Don's bowl of minestrone!

Strolling around Quincy Market and listening to the violinist in the Rotunda....

Lunch at Know Fat.....yum!

Strolling the North End with a stop at Mike's Pastry for hermits....

Twas the Night Before Christmas......

The last few days have been everything I had hoped for...a wonderful 2 days spent in NH visiting Mary, Anna and Claire at their new Exeter home;

Opening gifts with the cousins and Dabi in NH;

A walk into downtown Exeter and a photo shoot at the town gazebo;

The hysterical interpretation of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" narrated & directed by Taylor and starring Anna, Claire, Molly and Rebecca;

a Christmas Eve with just "us" having our favorite appetizers and playing The Name Game, laughing until our stomachs hurt;

and a busy, fun-filled, gift-opening, family visiting,

eating fest of a Christmas Day.

A few days of counting blessings, and distributing gifts to those we love. Today, Boxing Day, offers us a time to begin again a HEALTHY eating pattern (please!), clean up ribbon and boxes, pay bills (ouch!) and play with our new presents. Lyndsay is off to the dentist, Joe preparing for an evening of snowboarding, Taylor is off to visit friends.....and for me maybe a trip to Costco this afternoon to have a look-see at their printers. :)

I hope all of our friends and family had a wonderful Christmas and look forward to a happy New Year.

The Name Game

After a delicious SNSC dinner of baked brie with apricot glaze (appetizer); gorgonzola, pear and pecan salad; seafood lasagna, tiramisu; and Mexican coffees, we hunkered down for one of our favorite new games..THE NAME GAME. It is a game our friends the Gage's taught us; it was invented by their nephew (Dartmouth grad!) one night during a lull in a family get together.
Here's how it works....Every person writes down any 10 names...friends, family, famous persons, celebrities, etc. Any name is "game". Once they are all thrown into a hat, teams are randomly chosen. (2 teams divided evenly) Taking turns, one team member has 2 make their team guess as many names as possible that they choose out of the "basket" in a minute. They are not allowed to use any part of that name, and you are allowed one "pass" per turn. It is SO fun, and can be quite strategic depending on your luck on teams, especially if you write down a friend that only a teamate may know. It's a little bit part charades, a little bit of Taboo, a little bit Outburst. A lot of fun.

SNSC Prep

It has nearly been a year since Jim and I started our Saturday Night Supper Club (SNSC). Inspired by Food Network and a particularly fun NY Eve last year, we were interested in a supper club where we could talk, cook, eat, talk, eat, etc. Rather than just having friends over for dinner, we actually prepare the courses in each other's homes. We are assigned a course to bring; hosts prepare the main dish/beverages, one other couple brings the salad course, one the appetizer course, and one the dessert course. The Smith-Horns, the Cocuzzo's, the Maychek's and us have so much fun, and we generally spend hours and hours at each other's homes on our SNSC evening. We watch each couple prepare the course, enjoying libations, and chatting. We all learn from each other, and we are not afraid to try something new or make mistakes.
Tonight Jim and I are hosting, and what you see in the picture above is my "Emeril" prep ahead of time. I always chuckle at how good Emeril looks only because of the sous chefs who prepare his ingredients for him, down to the salt and pepper. As opposed to Rachel Ray who does all her own chopping, etc. Well, with lots to do to get ready, I did my prep ahead of time. The plate holds chopped onions, garlic and roasted peppers for the seafood lasagna, the bowls hold butter, olive oil, garlic and parsley for the garlic bread.
Next up is the prep for the Pomegranate Martini's.....mmmmm mmmm.

"This is the bestest day of my life!!".......

This is what one of the preschoolers (4 y.o.
little Frankie) said at the end of our day today.

Was it because Christmas is very near?

Was it because his other preschool friends were handing out presents to him?

Was it because we had lots of fun snacks to eat?

Was it because we made gingerbread houses all morning, with enough candy to build skyscrapers?

Or mostly because MOM and DAD were there sharing in his joy?

Whatever the reason, it is hard to not feel like a kid again anticipating all the joys of Christmas when you are surrounded by 10 preschoolers who BELIEVE.

It is a precious to see; one of the many things I am thankful for this Christmas season.

Pictured above are some of the gifts I received from my little students...and the joy on their face when you open up a present made by their little hands....is priceless.

I had a really good time.....

at our staff Christmas party (Center School). It is so nice to connect socially with people you see in the hallway every day, as well as the people you work with in the classroom every day. Believe it or not, there is NO time to socialize in a classroom. (I know you are thinking I am exaggerating, but it is true.) Every minute of every day is spent doing something with our students, and this pretty much goes for every grade, but especially special needs students (which is where I work) who are ages 3-5. There are no breaks in preschool, and the teachers even eat lunch with the students. I love every minute of it, but it is nice to go out, have fun, (maybe a glass of wine!) and talk about everything and anything with my work friends. I brought a pasta salad that has been my "go to recipe"...one that I know by heart, and bring a lot of places. It always gets raves, and I thought I would share it with you. I originally found it on http://www.allrecipes.com/ but have adapted it somewhat.

Orzo Pasta Salad

• 
  
  1 box orzo (16 oz.)


• 
  
  1/4+ cup olive oil


• 
  
  1/4+ cup balsamic vinegar


• 
  
  10 oz feta cheese, crumbled


• 
  
  1/2 cup pine nuts


• 
  
  1/2 cup dried cranberries


• 
  
  1/2 to 3/4 cup diced red onion


• 
  
  3 very large handfuls of fresh arugula


• 
  
  1 cup (not packed) fresh basil, slivered or 1T dried


• 
  
  Fresh ground pepper to taste

Boil pasta until al dente, add salt to cooking water. Drain and add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Cool slightly, and add chopped onion. Toast pine nuts in dry skillet until golden brown and add to orzo mixture. Add cranberries. While orzo is still warm, add the arugula and stir until somewhat wilted. When cooled to slightly warm/room temperature, add the feta. Add basil, and ground pepper. Adjust olive oil (add more if pasta is dry) and add more balsamic vinegar if desired.

This is just the most delicious salad. It is best eaten at room temperature. Joe and Taylor beg me to make it, so it is definitely a kid friendly recipe too.

I hope you like it!

My shrinking paycheck....

Well, the phone rang AGAIN at 5:05am this morning, letting me know that there was another late opening for Ellington Schools, which means I don't go into preschool today. I miss my students (and the $$ I am not making) and can't wait to go back tomorrow. This is the 4th late opening in the last 2 weeks!

It was nice to sleep in a couple of extra hours, especially since Joe, Taylor and I were out at 9pm last night trying to scrape a thick coating of ice off the driveway and sidewalks. We were completely soaked to the skin from freezing rain, but we did manage a small improvement to the traction on the driveway.

Mikko followed us around, barking furiously at the shovels. How soon she forgot what shovels are. It was hard not to grumble about living in New England on days like this....especially since tomorrow's wind chill will be below zero. [[shiver]]

Joe and Taylor were thrilled to have school start 2 hrs late, of course. Taylor has a bad cold, so a short time after she left for school this morning, the high school nurse called and said Taylor wanted to come home. Taylor had a slight fever and a terrible head cold...I loaded her up with some peppermint tea with honey, tucked her in on the couch and gave her some laundry to fold! LOL

I spent the day finishing up the homemade ornaments for the Chicago clan.

It was quite fun to do, and despite one small injury when one of the glass bulbs smashed in my hands, it went fairly smoothly.

Here are 3 of the 4 finished ornaments....

Taylor helped me wrap a few last minute additions, and then I packed up the box for mailing. (Shh...don't tell, but we are the LaPoint's Secret Santa!)

Tomorrow starts another round of ornament making, as I am going to whip up 10 more...one for each of my preschoolers.

Time for bed....goodnight.

The Elves are hard at work.....

Santa's elves (well, that's me today) were hard at work this afternoon making gifts for little children in Chicago. I decided to make altered journals for the 3 of them...

I started with a basic plain notebook, and glued patterned paper on the front.

Then, I added embellishments....their initials, stickers, flowers, quotes, ink, ribbon, etc. It was lots of fun trying to match the "look" with their personalities.

Here is Sophie's journal:

Here is Paris' journal:

And finally, here is Chaz's journal:

Tomorrow is ornament making day....can't wait!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Taylor's making molasses cookies.... Christmas cards are arriving and hung on the door frame....
The Nativity is set up.....
Cinnamon buns (l0 fat, of course:) are cooling by the Advent Wreath...
Have yourself a merry little Christmas...make the yuletide gay....

Brrrrr...

The lights were beautiful last night at Evergreen Walk, but it was SO cold. After one time around the big circle (LLBean to Bellini's) we were frozen solid. Came home, lit a fire, and enjoyed some delicious snacks.



We woke up to more snow/sleet/freezing rain. Jim left a bit ago for the airport to head out to sunny San Diego. I think he was glad to go after 4 rounds with the snowblower in the last 4 days.



Last night I finally finished a project I started a couple of weeks ago. It was fun, but time consuming, and my scrap room is a disaster!


I made Advent Stockings, one for each day of Advent, to hang on our half wall. Joe and Taylor and I have taken turns hanging them. Here are some shots of the process and results... I printed out the Nativity Story in 25 text boxes, printed them onto transparencies and then cut them out, and placed them in order from Dec 1st to Christmas Day.
Planning to make a big pot of chicken barley soup today....get some laundry done, and enjoy one more day of being snowed in.....

Trader Joe and ho ho ho!

We spent a few hours this morning shopping at one of my favorite places...Trader Joe's. Jim and I got up early, filled our bellies with a scrumptious breakfast at Chuck Wagon (cranberry-walnut pancakes....to die for) and headed into W Hartford to TJ's. Corbin's Corner was a madhouse....but we found a parking spot and made our way inside. This is the one store I would love to be locked in accidentally overnight. I could browse to my heart's content! Each visit yields something new and interesting. Today's theme was peppermint..yum. We found some peppermint marshmallows and peppermint candy that supposedly is the old fashioned soft kind. Can't wait to float one in a steaming mug of hot chocolate.Thinking about making a homemade hot choc mix and including some of those TJ marshmallows for a nice little neighbor Christmas present.
After we spent way beyond our budget, Jim found a Starbucks gift card in his wallet, and not knowing how much was left on it, took a chance and got us each a nonfat gingerbread latte....and the total we owed....32cents! :)
Tonight after 5pm Mass we are walking with Mikko thru Evergreen Walk and then home in front of a fire to wrap a few presents, drink a glass of wine and enjoy our favorite TJ find....English cheddar with caramelized onions...mmm mmm....

Hello....

My first blog! It is hard to believe not more than a year ago, if you had asked me about a blog I would have said "a what?" not knowing for sure what you meant. Now, after many months of reading other people's blogs...I'm starting one of my own! Wooo hooo.
Today was the THIRD day this week with no school for me. It is thrilling to hear the phone ring at 5am with the news, but will ultimately be deflating when the sorry paycheck for this week is distributed. But it couldn't have come at a better time...lots to do to get ready for Santa!