Bulldog Bucks Store

The fifth graders at Grange Hall Elementary use a money system all year long called bulldog bucks. At the beginning of the year, they are all given a certain amount in an envelope. Throughout the year, they earn or have to spend it depending on the activity. For example, forgetting to turn in homework or bad behavior might cause you to lose $$, but following directions, helping someone, will cause you to earn $$. The teacher is in charge of paying or collecting from the students.At the end of each 9 week session in school, they hold a bulldog buck store, which enables the students to "sell" things to earn more money. Teachers and other students can buy your wares. This session's theme was handmade items, so everything had to be made by the kids. I saw scarves, jewelry,lots of treats,notebooks,pencil toppers,bookmarks etc. The entire cafeteria was filled with this mini "flea market". At the end of the school year, the fifth graders have a bulldog buck auction in which they get to bring all the money they've saved all year and bid on various items. (all donated by parents and the community) the prizes can be anything from a football to free tickets to Busch Gardens or a TV. It is a very cool thing and the kids look forward to it all year long. Sam and Bethany both have experienced it and now it is Felicia's turn.
Felicia and her good friend Natalie spent two evenings assembling their handmade items, which included brownies, cookies, bookmarks and cards,bracelets, pillows and a lollipop tree. They made a very colorful sign, as well.
The lollipop tree. For $25.00, you got to pick a lollipop. If it had a blue mark on the bottom, you won a prize.
The customers liked the brownies piled high with m&m's and the lollipop tree the most.

At the end of the day, Felicia and Natalie had made about 2,000 bulldog bucks !

Dinner with Friends

It was a long time coming, but after 2 reschdules due to weather and work conflicts, then one due to illness, we FINALLY were able to get together with our dear friends for our annual Christmas dinner/gift exchange we've done for the past 8 years or so.
We all had a great time and the kids thought it was fun to get a present in the middle of January !

At Work with Dad

It wasn't officially "Take your daughters to work Day", but the kids had off from school, so Steve offered to bring one of the kids to work with him. On Holidays, it's generally a little slower at the office. Felicia really wanted to go, so she packed a bag of things to keep her entertained, but from the looks of the photos she took, I think she was pretty well entertained without that stuff. I'm glad she took the camera, it gave me a peek into their day....
Felicia took about 60 pictures during the day. This is one of Steve at his desk.
Felicia on the computer
Felicia loved this
Tossing the football back and forth...

I don't know how much work got done, but they sure had a good time together !

Steve's 41st Birthday !

After a discussion with the kids last week, they decided that for Steve's birthday, they wanted to recreate the OHANA dinner we ate in Disney World in November. It was a delicious family style meal where they brought plates and plates of food to your table, as much as you wanted. we all really enjoyed that meal. Steve's day started off with a big homemade breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and biscuits. Then, he and I went out shopping and had lunch at Noodle and Co., one of our new favorites. In the afternoon, he and the kids played poker while I started the meal preparations.
As best as we could, we recreated this yummy meal, having steak bites, chicken, bbq shrimp,rice, lo mein noodles, fresh mango and some veggies and dip (we had salad and steamed veggies at the Disney Dinner ).
One of the most memorable parts of that Disnay dinner was when they brought out hot, wet towels to wipe your fingers off. Bethany brought these out to our table !
Ellie made Steve lots of pictures that she worked on throughout the day and a gift card to McDonald's.
Felicia got Steve CANDY for his birthday. His two favorites --
Reeses and Snickers !
Bethany and Sam chipped in together for a gift card to Subway so Dad can get some lunch during his workdays. Bethany also wrote him a separate copy of "My Role Model" as a gift. (This is a school project for her and she chose to write about her Dad).

and we all know how a good birthday ends--with cake and ice cream !

Canning

Most years I usually bake a lot of cookies, some to have for our family for Christmas and some to give away to friends and neighbors as a gift. This year I wanted to try making something different. I found a great recipe for a pepper relish that claimed it tasted just like the Harry and David brand, which I love ! The hardest part at this time of year was finding the canning jars. i had to go to or call at least 6 or 7 stores before finding some only a week before Christmas. The actual process was not difficult at all, however the pectin I bought (the stuff that makes the relish firm up) did not work, as my pepper relish turned out runny like salsa, but still yummy !
The first step was to cut up and add all the ingredients to a large pot and then bring to a boil.
simmering....
Once the relish was cooked, I filled the jars.

The final step was to put the jars in boiling water to seal the lids. I had to do this twice because all the jars wouldn't fit in the pot at one time.The whole process from start to finish was about 3 hours, which wasn't too bad except for the fact that I began at 10:30pm ! I finished this project at 1:30am, but I was happy with the results as were several of the recipients of this gift !

Happy New Year 2010

A new decade, another fresh start. Isn't nice that we get these? I feel ready to start over on Jnuary first, just like I feel when a new school year starts. Going forth, I don't know what the new year will bring. I only pray that God continues to bless our family with good health and keeps our family safe. To new beginnings....!!