A tasty treat!

Jim has a tree over flowing with these: apple pears/Asian pears.  A week ago I brought them over to my friend, Martina (from Austria).  She showed me how to make a very easy treat using these -- Asian pear apple strudels!  I'll show you how easy!

 Clean, peel, core and thinly slice 4-6 small Asian pears:  (I snuck in some regular apples I had on hand to use them up!)

 Thank Trader Joe's for these lovely easy to pick up in the freezer section puff pastries!  Then roll out on a board with some flour.

 Fill with some Asian pears, sprinkle a bit of sugar ( hubby suggests brown sugar, I used raw cane sugar) and cinnamon:

 Roll up, close up ends by pinching.  Put into 350 degree over for about 30-40 minutes:

 Wait for top to get a bit golden brown:

 Then take out, slice...

 And serve with some ice cream or whipped cream (I prefer whipped cream!) on the side:

It was wonderful!!!  Thanks Martina!  This week the weather has been a bit more "fall" like.  I am usually in a mood to bake when the weather is cooler... SO, Monday it was pumpkin bread (thanks to Jen Robinson for my favorite go-to recipe), Tuesday was chocolate chip cookies (thanks Toll House for the recipe on the package), and tonight was apple strudel.  I'm thinking I need to go easy on the baking or I may need to join the gym this fall!

2 Happy Gram Day!!! (But business as usual)

So at the end of each school day MD gets a "happy gram," if he has had a good day.  A good day would mean that he starts off the day with his name clip on "ready to learn," and they can earn the right to move their clip up (yay!) or move it down (boo!).  Today, he was able to earn his way all the way up to the top of that list after recess when his teacher asked him to move his clip up.... to "outstanding day."  When you land on this and stay there the rest of the day, you earn 2 happy grams!!!  He was so excited to show me when I picked him up today!!!
Check it out!!!  (so why the excitement?  If he collects 20, then he can exchange his happy grams for a prize in the treasure box.  He has already selected a prize this week and earning lots  more for the net prize!)

 But business as usual... I say!  Although we were excited, we still had work to do!  Here they are doing  math homework -- E too!  :)

 MG is working on her first school book report -- a comic strip version.

 She also turned in her 2nd. wild word.  What is a wild word you ask?  It's basically a way for the children to learn a new vocabulary word each week.  Last week was insipid!  And this week, she chose crude... see her illustration?  It's her crudely making her bed in order to go play!  We had fun making a lumpy bed, rug, and a messy closet door shoved with clothes!  (yes, she actually cut out small pants, shirts, and socks!)

A new experience and a new do

Her new line... The Girls Rock Charm/Pendant:

 We made it in time to wear to her friend's 9th birthday party.  She wanted to wear the new skirt I made her (I found a maternity shirt at Target on the clearance rack for $5 and cut it out to make her a skirt.  She was planning to wear it as her Halloween costume... but it turned out so cute she's wearing it every chance she gets.  And it was such a simple project!).  Since it was a black skirt, she picked a nice vibrant shirt to wear.  I think this shirt is from her BFF, Annamarie.    Doesn't she look adorable?!

 So the party started off at a pizza parlor... then the girls moved next door for a pedicure and a manicure!  She was very excited... her first ever!  :)  Here they are choosing their colors:

 Then she was lucky enough to be seated next to her pal from preschool!

 Starting with a manicure:

 Hello, Olivia! :)

 Then a pedicure:

 Now to dry off!

 Birthday girl, Cassie!  Thanks for the fun experience, Cassie.  Morgan loves showing off her nails to everyone!  She wishes she could wear open toe shoes to school to show off her toe nails -- specially since she choose her school colors!

 When we came home... we found that they boys and Dad were headed to the park so we met them there.  I had to snap a picture of MD... His first ever SHORT hair do.  I was shocked when Vince cut it and I actually cried in front of him (bad mom!)... But I am slowly getting used to it.  I think it suits him just fine.  He is getting used to it too.

Swimming Lessons Update

It's a new season and they are off!!!

And they are loving it!  They swam the length of the pool without stopping (and without the kick boards!).  I took photos after they were in the pool for over 15 minutes swimming numerous laps and were exhausted so their teacher took pity on them and let them use kick boards after awhile. :)

He has the same teacher so he's in heaven -- having a blast and doing so much now!

Can't wait to see the progress!  AWESOME!!!

He's been busy too

This little guy ges everywhere with me when M&M are in school.  I try my best to give him some time to do things that are geared just for him.  His favorite activity of the week is attending story time at the local library.  Ms. Karen is pretty good.  She keeps them entertained during her stories and she keeps them focused by singing songs that allow them to stand up and wiggle about after each story.

 He is pretty attentive to her stories... but we will need to attend more to help him stay focused.  :)

Check out some of his awesome artwork and WRITING (eeek, I am so excited for him!  He draws a picture, tells me what it is, I write on a piece of paper, and he copies my writing! It's so great!!!)

He drew a picture of Pikachu and some fire type Pokemon for Cousin Peter:

 He drew a picture for Ma:

 And a picture of Thomas the Train for Cousin Ryan:

 He drew another picture for Ma -- it's of the two of them holding hands!  So CUTE!!!
( I love his BIG green (his favorite color, of course) eyes and Ma's big purple nose!  hahaha!!!)

A nice day...

He did this:

 She spent an hour on this:

 While he wrote a letter to his buddy, Braden:

 Then I made this for dinner -- thanks Matt for the recipe!

(It was a quick pasta dish using a rotisserie chicken from Costco.  1) brown the skin of the chicken and set aside to crumble later on top of the dish, 2) saute garlic and onions, scrap off the good stuff left over from the chicken skin, 3) add shredded chicken, 4) season with salt, pepper, red chili flakes, 5) add chicken broth, 6) add cooked pasta of your choice, 7) add more chicken stock or pasta water if needed in the end.  I served the pasta with a side of spicy Italian sausages (which MD and I LOVE!), yummy green salad that Clare tossed together and some steamed broccoli and cauliflower... YUMMY!)

Special Helper of the Week

He had a fantastic week being the special helper.  His favorite part was being line leader.  "No matter where I am, when it's time to line up, I get to be first... no matter what!"  (hey, that's pretty exciting stuff, I tell ya!)
This is his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lozoya.  She makes it fun to go to school!  :)

 We came in on Thursday to read a book to the class.  It is a way for each student to bring in some family members into the classroom to introduce to the class.  I read, Bob and Otto by Robert Bruel.  This book was given to MD by the Varnell family... waaay back when he was perhaps 2 years old?  It is one of his favorite books.  Mrs. L thought it was pretty special... as it is a book about friendship.
Isn't this a fun looking room?!

 Here is the wall where his poster was placed:

 A closer look:

  What a great way to start the year off for him -- being the FIRST special person of the week!

 Remember when he did this on the first day of school?

It was for this beautiful poster she put together!

Here is a photo of us on the first day of school.  It's great that this poster is right by the door for all of them to see when they first arrive and when they leave the class at the end of the day!

I KNOW he is going to have a fantastic year!!!

On Friday