Leap Day

Happy LEAP day!  We're celebrating with some froggy cupcakes for after school snack and our Young Women treat tonight. It's 60º out and a beautiful day. Hard to believe it's still February!

I don't know about you, but I'm happy to see February go. Not my favorite month...  Spring Break is in 10 days. Yippee!!!!!  I hope life is good in your little corner of the world. :)


(Cupcake idea found here.)

Lockdown

It all started with an anonymous call to 911 last Friday morning stating that someone might have a gun at the high school.  

The school went into lockdown and the police were brought in. Some classes followed the specified protocol and the students spent the next two hours sitting against the wall, away from the door, in the dark. Sam, in P.E. at the time, was herded with the rest of his class into a remote corner of the girls' locker room. Other classes were a little more laid back, but no one was allowed to leave their classroom. 

Some students passed the time by texting or updating their facebook pages. All lockers, students, and their belongings were searched. An automated phone message from the district office let parents know what was going on and asked us to please not call or go to the school. 

Nothing suspicious was found and it was over. They sent students to their regularly scheduled class just like any other ordinary day -- if you can call armed policemen roaming the halls ordinary.

Then another anonymous call to 911, this time from within the school, said that someone had been seen with a gun. The hallways were again off limits. It was during lunch and Savannah had left campus with a friend and they couldn't get back in. I gladly called and officially checked her out for the rest of the day. 

The person who made the phone call was found. They admitted to the earlier phone call as well. Another automated call to parents informed us that there was no threat.

I don't know why someone would do that, causing such inconvenience and fear among so many others. But I'm so thankful it ended the way it did. From what I'm seeing on the news this morning, some others aren't so lucky.

Before and After: The Music Chair

Today we bought Sterling a desk. He's been begging for one, saying he needs his own place to do homework and write music. A new home furnishings consignment shop just opened up in my little town and they had a desk that was just right. Jeff and I picked it up today and put it in the perfect spot in our music room. Once the weather warms up, we'll paint it a glossy black and it will look great with the piano in there. (That before and after will come later.) For now, the blonde wood finish will do and Sterling is completely thrilled with his new desk.

But the desk needed a chair. I gladly gave up an old dining room chair that's been taking up space in my bedroom. The seat was recovered several years ago to match some throw pillows that we don't use anymore and I was pretty sure Sterling wouldn't be thrilled with the floral print. What to do? Well, with an old white sheet, a vinyl stencil, some black paint and about 2 hours, here's what we came up with...

Before and After:


Pretty cool, eh? I'm always happy with a quick fix and Sterling loves it! Yippee!!

Punctuation Saves Lives

This sign hangs outside an office in Jeff's building -- A pretty clever and funny way to make a very good point! :)

Recipe: Peasant Bread

We're loving this recipe I came across for peasant bread. It's pretty quick and easy to throw together and it doesn't matter how it looks. Just break off a chunk, dip in butter or oil or balsamic vinegar and enjoy. Or eat it plain like we do - there's plenty of flavor from the italian seasoning and salt.

Peasant Bread

2 1/4 tsp. (1 package) yeast

1 T. sugar

4 c. flour 

2 c. warm water

2 tsp. salt

1 T. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 425º.

Mix yeast, sugar, salt, and water until dissolved.  Add flour and Italian seasoning.  Mix with spoon.

Spray hands with non-stick cooking spray.  Divide dough into 2 balls and put on oiled/sprayed cookie sheet.  Cover with towel and let raise 20-30 minutes.

Pull in sides; brush top with melted butter.  Sprinkle with salt and Italian seasoning.  

Bake at 425º for 10 min; then bake at 375º for 15 min.

Dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar garnished with grated Parmesan cheese.

(Recipe Source) 

The Blank Page

You know how sometimes a page in a manual or book will say, "This page has been intentionally left blank?" I think it's so that you won't worry your copy is missing important information or that something has indavertently been omitted.  Apparently Sterling has his own reasons for the blank page.  He has been compiling a collection of his music compositions and here is what I found the other night...

Front:

Back:

Yeah, we laughed about that.  What a crazy kid!

Speaking of Authentic...

"The problem with quotes on the internet is you can never be certain they're authentic." 
--Abraham Lincoln

On My Fridge

Do you see it? I know I shouldn't laugh, but I did. (It's better than crying, right?)  I like how "they" at least tried to be sort of subtle about it. Good thing I'm not running for a popularity contest around here! :)

I Have a Joke For You

What do you call a pig with no legs?

Give up?

A Ground Hog.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Happy Groundhog Day!

Cilantro Ice

We love cilantro around here.  Unfortunately, whenever I buy it from the store, so much of it goes to waste! The recipe I buy it for usually calls for a small amount and then, despite my good intentions to use up the rest, all too often it ends up going bad and ending up in the trash.

The answer?  Cilantro ice! I tried this as an experiment 2 or 3 years ago and it works like a charm.

Step one:  Chop up a bunch or two of cilantro.

Step two:  Place 1-2 Tablespoons of the chopped cilantro into each well of an ice cube tray and add just enough water to cover.

Step three:  Freeze. When completely frozen, pop the ice cubes into a ziplock freezer bag and store in the freezer until you need them.

When you have a recipe that calls for cilantro, add a cube or two or three...  The cubes will thaw as the other ingredients are added and stirred.  As my kids would say, it's easy-peasy-rice-and-cheesy!  Enjoy! :)