If I Were President

Avery came home from school today with a homework assignment, to write a paragraph about what she would do if she were President. Some of you may remember this same assignment from when Samuel was in Kindergarten. I want you all to know that Avery came up with this all by herself. She wrote:

If I were President I would help all the people.

I would talk in a microphone and people would

listen to me. I would walk with families and kiss

all the babies. I would keep everyone safe.

And I would be very nice to people.

She's quite a clever little thing when she wants to be... I think that pretty much sums up the President's job. She also wanted to write that she would marry and bury all the people, but I explained to her that 1) She didn't have anymore room on her paper to write anything else, and 2) Those are two services usually provided by someone like Pastor George (our Pastor), and not by an elected political official. I think she was a little relieved. :-)

100th Day of School

Yesterday was the 100th day of school. Each child was asked to bring a collection of 100 items from home to show their classmates, and to bring their 100 items in something fun that pertained to their item. Avery brought 100 pony tails holders in a make up bag to school. She came up with that on her own. Her teacher told me that Avery was the first child to ever bring pony tail holders on the 100th day. And Samuel brought 100 books. He also came up with that on his own. I was a little concerned at first about how exactly he was going to take 100 books to school. But, we decided to pick out the 100 smallest books that he had in his room, and then we piled them into a magazine rack with a handle on it.

Samuel's teacher loved his collection of 100 books, and she asked Samuel to read one of his books to the entire class. His teacher said that he spoke so softly though, that some of the kids couldn't hear him. So, she handed him the microphone to her classroom's karaoke machine. He held the microphone and read his book, and his teacher said he did great! In fact, she asked the principal and vice principal to come into class and hear Samuel read too. His teacher said that he really seemed to enjoy himself. After he read his book to his classmates, he also read their assignment from their text book. His teacher told me that she was very proud of him.

And today, I went on a field trip with the entire 1st grade to a gymnastics place here in town. It was exhausting. In fact, I lost my voice... But Samuel had a great time. His teacher took all of these pictures of Samuel, because I was manning a "station" and couldn't go from one station to the next along with Samuel. I think you'll see from these pictures that Samuel's teacher has grown to love Samuel just as much as we do! She told me after the field trip that "His smile gets me every time. I just want to squeeze him!"

And now I'm off to fill the homework folders for Avery's class. It's just another typical busy Friday around here... Hope everyone has a great weekend!

$40 Salad Recipe

Have you heard the story about the mother and daughter who ate lunch at Neiman's one day? You know the story, where the daughter loved the cookies so much, and the waitress told the mother that she could purchase the recipe for $2.50. And then the mother discovered after the fact that she had been charged $250 for the cookie recipe. So, in order to "get back" at Neiman's, she was giving away the recipe for free to as many people as she could. I've made those cookies, and let me tell you, they're not that great. I'm not sure the recipe is even worth $2.50...

Well, not that long ago I ate a salad at a restaurant called Buca di Beppo. It's an Italian restaurant where everyone at your table dines family style. My friends and I shared a warm spinach salad, but when I got the bill at the end of the meal, I was shocked to see that the salad cost $17.99. Regardless of the price though, it really was a good salad. So, a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to bring a vegetable dish to my Mothers of Preschoolers brunch meeting, this salad immediately came to mind. The cost of the salad never even crossed my mind, unfortunately. I went to the restaurant's website, and found the salad...

"Baby spinach tossed with a warm balsamic vinaigrette, red onions, tomatoes, spiced pecans and goat cheese."

Yummy in my tummy! I sent Hector (poor guy) to the store to get the ingredients. And since there are 80 women in my group, I doubled everything on the list. When Hector came home from the store he told me that he hoped the women in my group would like the salad, because the ingredients cost $40. Oh my! I thanked him profusely (especially when I realized that I could have bought the salad from the restaurant and spent less money) and brought my $40 salad to my meeting the next day. Well the women did enjoy it, and I received so many compliments it wasn't even funny. After my meeting I went to grab my salad bowl, and it was completely empty. It looked like someone had taken their index finger and ran it along the inside of the bowl. :-) There wasn't a single speck leftover. And when several of my friends emailed me after the meeting asking for the recipe, I forwarded their emails to Hector at work, and I made sure to state, "You see, the women did love the salad!" :-)

There's really not a recipe though. I just went to the website, read the description, and made it. It seems quite simplistic, but it's the combination of flavors combined with the warm dressing poured over the goat cheese that makes this salad simply divine. But since so many ladies asked for it, I thought I could at least come up with my own recipe, explaining everything that I put into the $40 salad. By the way, you can cut this in half to make the much more affordable, $20 salad version!

In a large salad bowl combine 2 large bags of fresh baby spinach leaves, 2 pints of grape tomatoes, 1 medium red onion (cut into julienned strips), 2 cans of spiced pecan halves, and 2 containers of crumbled goat cheese. In a small saucepan combine equal parts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 cup of each), with 1 - 2 cloves fresh minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon Italian herbs. Warm it over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously. You can also use store bought balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing if you do not want to make your own dressing. Pour a little of the warm dressing over the top of the salad, and lightly toss. You more than likely will not need to use all of the dressing. So, pour a little bit at a time on the salad, toss, and then add more if needed. You can always add more, but you can't take it off once it's on the salad. :-)

And let me just tell you something about this recipe... When the warm dressing mixes with the spinach and wilts it ever-so-slightly, and the goat cheese begins to melt and gets all ooey-gooey, it really is worth the cost!

Bon appétit!

Samuel's PTA Program

Samuel's PTA Program has been scheduled for Thursday, February 19, at 7:00 p.m. Samuel won't tell us what the program is about (it's a surprise!), but he did tell us that he does not have a solo line this year. Some of you might remember that Samuel had a solo line in his Kindergarten performance; In Kindergarten "I learned how to tie my shoes." I realize that most of you will not be able to attend, but I wanted to at least let you all know that it's coming up...

Missing...

Missing:

One Very Large & Very Friendly Maine Coon Cat

Last Seen Wearing Pink Collar With Green Tags

If Found, Please Call...

Yesterday after lunch, I realized that I hadn't seen Lid'l Lee for a while. This was nothing out of the ordinary though. I figured she was either in the back of the house, assuming her usual mid-day slumbering position on Samuel's top bunk bed, or she was outside roaming the neighborhood, possibly sunbathing on one of our neighbor's sidewalks. It wasn't until around 4:00 p.m. as we were getting ready to leave the house for a Super Bowl party, that I realized she wasn't anywhere to be found. I called out for her, but she didn't come. We left for the party, but I wasn't too worried. Lid'l Lee always comes back.

When we got home from the party, and she was still nowhere to be found, I started to get a little worried. I stayed up until around 11:00 p.m., walking outside and calling for her. Still, no Lid'l Lee... I stayed up most of the night, going back outside frequently. By 6:00 a.m. I was in panic mode. I drove around the neighborhood. I came home and Hector was getting ready for work. He told me as he was leaving the house that I should get together some information to go on a "missing" flyer to put up around the neighborhood. I told him that I was going to call our local animal shelter too. I called, and they were not open, so I left a message. I tried to come up with what I wanted to say on the "missing" flyer. Some of my first few drafts went something like this:

Missing: One very spoiled, very fat cat. We call her Lid'l Lee, although she doesn't respond to anything.

Missing: One very well-fed and very well-loved cat. Looks like a mix between a raccoon and a wild African cat. Has a curious looking black tuft of hair on her back side.

Missing: One, 17 pound fur ball. Last seen on Saturday morning, sporting a large belly flap and dainty pink collar. If found, my husband says "Finders Keepers" applies. Congratulations!

Our cat has to be the most spoiled rotten cat ever. She can drive me (and Hector) crazy at times. Lid'l Lee is a "talker." She likes to let everyone know when she's entering and exiting a room, especially when it's 2:00 a.m. "Meow, meow, meow. I'm leaving the room now. Please wake up and acknowledge the fact that I am leaving the room. You can go back to sleep now. Meow, meow, meow." This cat will sit in front of her water bowl, even if it's full, and meow until I empty out the old water and fill up the bowl with fresh water. This is the same cat that figured out that if she claws on the outside window screen of our master bedroom, that we will come open the front door for her to let her inside the house. She doesn't do that on any other screen of the house... just our bedroom screen. The same cat that bums food and treats off of our neighbors, only to come home, eat some more of her own food, and then throws it up everywhere. And she never throws up on the tile or hardwoods. It's always on the carpet...

You know that saying, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone."? Well, for a split second this morning as I was typing up the flyer, I found myself thinking "Woo Hoo! Freedom!" But that thought literally only lasted a second, because I immediately thought of how difficult it was going to be, telling Avery after school that Lid'l Lee was gone. It was at this point in my morning that I started to cry... I missed Lid'l Lee, but Avery was going to miss her even more!

I got up from the computer and took Isaac into his room to change his diaper and get him dressed for the day. And then, I heard something. A scratching noise. When I opened Isaac's closet door, there was Lid'l Lee looking at me right at my eye level, perched on top of some storage boxes. I guess when I picked out Isaac's clothes yesterday morning, Lid'l Lee thought it was a good idea to go hang out in his closet. I figured she must have been in there for around 20 hours. Crazy cat! She jumped off those boxes and ran straight to her food bowl. She scarfed down several big bites of food, drank her old water without even meowing once, turned around, and started walking off, and then threw up all over the carpet. Ah, I'm so glad Lid'l Lee wasn't really missing. Just think of all the good times we would have been "missing" out on... :-)