Baby Tat

This is what happens when your kid's great-grandmother is a former tattoo artist. Owen's right foot said "Mema," and his left foot said "My Boy." He also came home with a heart on each arm.

And now for random cuteness from Jack and Owen.

Thank you, Vanessa!

It's perfect!

Copy, Sort, Staple, Repeat

Yesterday, my desk was surrounded with kids wanting me to look at their art, asking me about late papers, and requesting seating changes. One little girl came up and yelled, "I stink!" to which I replied, "Well, take a shower when you get home!" to which she replied, "NO, my grades! My progress report stinks!"

Here is a glimpse of my desk. Nothing really interesting, but I was super excited to have all those sticky notes everywhere. Made me feel like a bonafide teacher.

Moments later, I felt like a bonafide rookie when I printed 120 papers that should have been collated into sets of five. I ended up collating two of the pages. So I had to sort the stack and collate by hand. I spend half my time redoing stuff that I screwed up the first time I did it.

It's all good though. Now I know how men feel.

(And now we'll find out if Nick reads my blog...)

Marge: Homer, those are elk.

I decided it is finally Fall: 1) I got a Country Living in the mail today, and it has its fall cover, 2) It is Fair Week, and 3) The high for every day next week is in the 70s.
In honor of such a glorious occassion, I hung the elk horns my dad gave me. Aren't they awesome? I had to put a ribbon on them to cover up the picture wire rigging I did (Why am I telling people that? I should just say, "I just happened to have a piece of ribbon the perfect length and the perfect shade of muted gold.").
Anyway, so this is my fall decor for the red sideboard. It was green when it was in our Big White House in L.R. My mom gave it to me a few years ago, and I love it. She also gave me the wedding clock. I don't know how to make it work for longer than a day though. I really need to get on that. I got the pumpkins from Hobby Lobby a few years ago. I've been ready to put them out since the beginning of August.
I just showed Owen this post and asked, "What do you think?"
He replied, "I think it's good."
So there you go.

Hanky Panky!

A few years ago I had (seriously) 27 tank tops in my closet and at least 7 pairs of flipflops. Now my obsessions lean more toward the domestic: tablecloths, dishes, sheets, retro fabric.

One of my favorite things to collect is handkerchiefs. I have stacks and stacks of them. I framed some for myself and loved them so much that I just had to frame a few for the booth. The five framed hankies pictured on my favorite quilt have now been gracing my booth for a few months. So sad.

Of my own hankies, my favorite is the Florida one. I've seen similiar hankies sell for more than twenty dollars, but I got mine for three. Normally, I won't pay more than three dollars for a hankie, but sometimes I just have to have one - like the teacher hankie. I think I paid five dollars for that one. My best deal was the Arizona hankie - fifty cents! And it is in super condition!

Home Cooking

We had a lovely dinner last night. I went to the farmer's market at 6 yesterday morning so I could get some blackeyed peas, bell peppers, and tomatoes before going to school. Using organic beef and fresh rice from a local ricer, I made stuffed bell peppers from my mother's recipe. I made the rolls using wheat flour (certified organic, of course) and eggs and fresh churned butter from a local farmer. My children helped prepare the bell peppers to be stuffed, kneaded the bread, and shelled the peas.

Just kidding. The bell peppers were Stouffer's, the blackeyed peas were Trappey's, and the rolls were Sister Schubert's. The whole meal took twenty minutes to make, from the freezer to the table. And Owen and Jack were so fussy they had to have applesauce because they couldn't possibly wait that long to eat.

Jack's Lucky Break

I'm home today with baby Jack. After throwing up on Miss Martha's purse last night at church, he needed a day to recover. Usually when we have down time together, I play things like "Let's see how long Jack will wear a Tutu" or "How does this hankie backpack look on Jack?" Today though, I'm giving him a break. So here is a glimpse of past adventures with Jack.