Lunch Lady

During the Saturday Night Live tv show Chris Farley does an interesting skit about the "Lunch Lady" at school and it's not shown in a positive way. I'm here today to show you that it's a good thing to be a lunch lady...at the school...once a week.

You first have to sign in so you can get your pretty little orange tag that says you're a volunteer...


Next, our school has a "backwards lunch" so the kids go out for recess first....I get to go out too!! Get Outside!!


Here's what you are flooded with when you are supervising recess... "Mrs. Peterson, watch me," "Mrs. Peterson, Look what I can do!" "Can you give me a push on the swings, Mrs. Peterson?" and even...Hi MR. Peterson. (Mister?)


After recess, I come in and serve the kids some lunch. Would you care for any Jimmy Neutron Broccoli?? (I'll say anything to get them to take some veggies!!) Nice hairnet, hey??



After lunch is served, I can sit down and have lunch with Anna, and supervise this...


It's a blast sitting at the table, you really get to know the kids! I tell ya what, I've heard some of the worst knock- knock jokes ever sitting at lunch!! Come on, it's fun to be a lunch lady!!! TGIF!!! Jill

Bella's Big Boyfriend, Bentley

OK....this is Bella (the dog.) I knocked Mom out of the way and took over the computer because I had to tell you about something VERY exciting! You see, I met this boy dog--he's so very tall, dark and handsome. His name is Bentley, and his Mom is friends with my Mom. They took us to the ballpark/soccer fields yesterday so we could play and they could walk. I just adore this boy dog!! We just drooled all over each other and chased each other around. Don't worry though, Bentley has been "tutored"--it's safe for us to play. I sure hope we can go again soon...maybe later today.

Oh, that handsome, young thing just wears me out!!

Wordless Wednesday

Open House

This is time of the year when we, as a family get to see our child's classroom and see what goes on during the school day. I have to admit that I love Open house because you get to see and meet all of those people that your child has been talking about.

We gave the boys an opportunity to stay home and just let Mom, Dad and Anna go but NO WAY was that going to happen. I think they wanted to see all of their "old" teachers- or maybe they wanted to see all of Anna's Kindergarten crafts....


or maybe they wanted to see her "friend" that helps her tie her shoes after rest time- "but, Mom, he's not my boyfriend." she says.


I think maybe, too, it was for the challenging Kindergarten computer games....


As we were ready to leave I saw one more thing that I wanted to check out...a book that the class had created. People, I tell you it made my heart overflow inside when I turned the page a saw this..... (notice my brownish hair)


I showed the picture to John and he said " Oh, that must have been BEFORE you had your hair highlighted!!!" Too funny! I love my "stick" legs, don't you?? Jill

Doggy Days

As you can still imagine, we are still adjusting to our new pup. She's doing awesome learning how to stay inside the "invisible fence" and she even slept through the cutting of her toenails!! I take her to the vet today to get her checked out...I'm looking forward to that. There are so many questions to be answered. For instance, why does she sneeze all of the time?? How much food do I give her?? These are just a few of them! Anyway,we had a super weekend with loads of sunshine and temps in the low 70's. Happy Fall!

Bella likes to watch the kids get on the bus......Bye kids!



I spend a lot of time here....I have a GREAT life!


Gotta love the reddish eyelashes...



Oh, and here's a girl that's not feeling very good...fever, sore throat.

I guess I'll have a buddy home with me today. As of this morning she is feeling MUCH better. Yea!! Have a great week!! Stay tuned for school "Open House" tomorrow!! Jill

Home

I think my friend, Ann, had it right when she said "She knows she's home." Last night was filled with lots of adjustments and lots of loving as you can see with our new pup, Bella. She slept thru the night with no problems! This is going way too well!



Bella made herself right at home in our living room. I think a trip to Petco is in order to get a dog bed for her--instead of her laying on my chair cushions!! We're having fun!!! Have a super weekend!! Jill
Yes, Annie Bananie is getting LOTS of attention too!!!!

Bella is HOME!!

Our precious Bella is home now! She's fitting right in with our family. She knew exactly what to do when she needed to go potty. Yea!! That was my biggest fear! She and Annie (Our 14 yr. old dog) have had a few scuffles but I expected that. All in all it's been a good afternoon! OH, I forgot to mention the ride home from the Humane Society was a breeze!! She likes to ride in the car! Whew!
She even likes her crate...she took a little snooze...

Bella

Well, do you think you know what's happening later today??? Was your guess correct?? I bet it was~~
It's a long, drawn out story but let's just say that a friend of a friend moved to town and wanted to get rid of their yellow lab. We decided that we would take it. Then we'll say that the friend decided NOT to give up the dog and some kids around here (mom too) were pretty sad about that. Then after a week and a half of spending the day in a super quiet house, with a deaf, 14 year old dog, I decided to visit our local humane society just to see what was there.

Needless to say, there were puppies galore, a few older dogs, and this one very cute 6 month old pup yellow lab pup that caught my attention. I read her information and found out that she was a purebred, she was good with kids, AND she was 98 % potty trained!!!! I knew that I didn't have it in me to get a young pup, because I would be up at night again-ugh! I went home and told hubby about this wonderful opportunity and he was "on board." After filling out the 2 page adoption application form and nearly having to have them draw blood, do a background check, etc. We were accepted to be her new family. I've been visiting her each day and "loving her up." I really do think the staff at the Human society is sick and tired of seeing my excited "mug". So, yesterday she was spayed at the facility and today I can pick her up. I AM SO EXCITED!! It's like bringing home a new baby!
I think John is grateful that it is just a pup and NOT a new baby!! hee, hee!

Here's a picture of she and I during one of our visits at the Humane society... This is BELLA



I'll post another picture later today after she gets settled in to her new home. Oh what a homecoming we have planned!! The kids are excited!! Jill

Works for me!

I walked into my friends home a few years ago and was overwhelmed by the delicious smell that came from her kitchen. She was making granola. I new immediately that I needed the recipe. It's so good to put on yogurt or ice cream...I've even been known to just grab a handful and plop it into my mouth!! Piggy, I know. Here's the recipe.

Granola
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
3/4 cup coconut
1 heaping cup of walnuts, chopped (I use pecans)
1 lb. 5 oz. canister of regular oatmeal

Mix all together and add

1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water

Stir

Put in a couple of 9x13 pans and bake @ 325 for 1 hour... STIR EVERY 15 MINUTES!!
Be careful that it doesn't burn in the last 10 minutes. Enjoy!!! Jill

Oh.....big news coming tomorrow.... here's a hint....









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Football

Last Saturday Luke had to be at the football field at 7:00 am for pictures and then had a game at 8:00. I woke him up at 6:15 so he could have some breakfast and be ready to go by 6:45. Needless to say, he was not a very happy camper to be getting up when it was still dark outside!! As he was stumbling through his room trying to find his uniform, he mumbled " I'm not sure about playing football, it gets in the way of too many playdates AND my sleep!" It didn't help either that it was 35 degrees out when we left the house that morning and kids were making snow angels in the grass, because there was so much frost. Oh Well, live and learn! Jill

Girlies

Does this picture seem like an oxymoron to you???? Anyway, they had fun, as you can see! Jill

Luke or Ben??

The other day I asked Luke how school was going. He responded with the usual..."good." Knowing that Ben had the same teacher a few years ago, I asked him if the teacher had ever called him Ben. He replied "No, not much.....only 3 times today!!!" I laughed pretty hard!!!! TGIF!!! Jill

He lost his way

Things around here are at a nice "cruising pace." Everyone is enjoying school and we're keeping busy, but not too busy. I had no idea what I was going to post here this morning until about 7:00 last night when I went into the garage to take Andrew to Youth group. I heard this buzzing noise as I stepped into the garage. As soon as I looked up, I saw that we had a visitor that was trapped in our garage...Mr. Hummingbird!

He was a BEAUTIFUL critter that had lost his way. Of course I ran and got the camera to capture the moment. Here he is...



Poor thing, he kept buzzing around hitting his little head on the ceiling of the garage. "Go up, Go up, to get out" his little bluish, greenish body was telling him, when he really needed to go down to fly under the garage door. All the excitement, I'm telling ya!

As usual, my hero, John, saved the day by trying to shoo him out of the garage with a broom. He was careful alright--these guys are delicate. Just as he was shoo-ing him out, the tiny bird landed on the very tip of the broom and John gave him a safe ride to the outdoors! Whew!! Can I really afford such excitement at the end of the night???? Jill

Works for me!!

I try to have a nice dinner on the table for my family each night. It can be a little overwhelming and frustrating to cook the meal for the family and have them get up, leave the table and then you're left with the mess. So, what works for us, is to have Mom cook the meal, and Dad and kids clean up and load the dishwasher.
Sometimes, on the weekends, Dad cooks and Mom and kids clean up-- it works for us!! Jill

I wanted you to see what's left of my kitchen after a whirlwind of kids came through and had breakfast. (Also, remnants of a busy weekend) Here's what I faced on Monday morning...and you wonder what I do all day! Make it a great day!! Jill

and even though we're busy today, please say a prayer for those who lost loved ones on this day in 2001. We still remember.....

HOME

Last week Ben was given an assignment in school to think about his favorite place on earth and write some facts about it. I asked him "What is you favorite place?", thinking he would say Noah's Ark Waterpark or Six Flags. He quickly replied, "Home." Wow, that just made me get all weepy and stuff, but I think a glimpse of our weekend will show you why...

We like to have people over...We consider our friends, our family.




Home is a soft place to fall....even for a TOUGH GUY. ( who caught 2 touch down passes on Saturday.)


There's always something to do when you're bored....



and last but not least...now say this in your best "Valley girl" accent and you will get the picture. "Wouldn't it,like, be SO cool to, like, wear my High school Musical jammies and watch High School Musical 2?





What a great weekend...except for the pterodactyl sized mosquitoes!! Jill

Oh, I forgot to tell you...

Guess who fell asleep on the bus coming home on the first day of school???

What to do, what to do???

So many people have been asking me if I have been enjoying being "child-free" during the day. All I can say is yes, yes and yes!! It's amazing that when I clean up the kitchen after breakfast, it stays that way!!! I can start laundry early in the morning and have it done by 9 a.m. because I'm not distracted!

Yesterday, I had chased the vacuum around the house and had gotten our daily laundry done so I felt like I could afford to pick up and go on an adventure with a friend. My friend and I traveled over the river and through the woods to a NEW place...I'm talking it opened last week new!! We ventured to....



Oh, we were SO smart. We bucked the system for registering for a membership. Instead of waiting in the LONG lines to get a membership before you even entered the store, we entered the store with the paperwork, filled it out as we shopped and then they processed our memberships right at the cashier as we checked out!! Yes, I have a college education and it was perfectly legal!!!!

We had fun looking at all of the different items that you could buy in bulk... a 15 pack of macaroni and cheese--love it!! We did see some strange and scary things too...imagine this.....right next the a "baby Jesus manger set."



Our shopping excursion lasted about 2 hours and we had planned to have a nice, girlie lunch but to tell ya the truth, we had a WONDERFUL selection of samples from just about every food aisle....we really didn't need any lunch!! Oh my, too much fun!! Here's what we bought...

I thought we did really well, we showed great restraint. I would and could have used the giant 3 pack of ketchup bottles, and the 300 pack of paper plates WILL be in my cart next time. For now I guess, we'llslam down the hatch, get in the car, and travel back to the country. What a FUN day!! Jill

Helmets are for more than just bikes.....

Does my very own son think I'm a bad driver???? I'm getting a little paranoid... Jill

Works for me!!

It's a tradition to have cookies made when the kids come home on the first day of school...Well, I made them and the kids loved them. I like to change the type of chocolate chips just to make it a little different. Here's a recipe that's really yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks of butter
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs

2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 pkg. of chocolate chips (I love the swirled choc./caramel chips)

Mix first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!! Jill

First Day of School...Peterson Edition

The first day is finally here! Everyone was up by 6:45 and raring to go. Andrew only has a half day but he was up with the rest of the crew anyway.

Anna was so excited about her first day of Kindergarten that she almost left the house without even using the bathroom.

Luke (3rd grade) was concerned about which door of the school he would be entering because he only knew how to find his class from the front door--"no worries," I told him. "Just find your friend, Jonnie--he knows where it is." Oh the comfort we have in our friends!!

Ben (7th grade) never has any worries or concerns so he just put on his helmet and made a few laps in the driveway with his scooter, (never once thinking that his hair would get messed up)and then piled on the bus.

Andrew (sophomore) FINALLY got on the bus at 10:20 this morning and now I have a VERY QUIET house. For the first time in 15 1/2 years, I am home all day ...ALONE... You would have thought that there would have been tears shed this morning but I can honestly say....Let the party begin!! I've already taken the doggie for a nice long walk and cleaned up my kitchen from breakfast so what's next??? One never knows. A shower might be a good option. Have a wonderful day. Here are some pictures from this morning.




and here's one more for the heck of it-

Sunny and Delightful!!

We had a gorgeous weekend here! So much so that hubby ordered 4 tons of white gravel and got those boys out in the yard to replace edging, weed barrier and add more gravel to our landscaping. They were troopers--it looks so nice...Way to go, guys!!



Anna went to the E.R. Saturday night with a fever and a strange bug bite that blistered and then kept weeping fluid down her leg. She was put on an antibiotic and all is better now.


On Sunday, we had a big kickball party with some friends at their house. What a blast! We've always played kids versus parents and truthfully we haven't had to work that hard to win. Well, after taking our Advil and doing lots of stretching we played and we LOST to the kids. Now before you laugh, you ought to know that many of these kids are in high school... and we are obviously way PAST high school. Even after the defeat, we considered the game a success because no one got hurt inspite of the fact that my hubby kicked a homerun and did a diving roll into home base to avoid being blasted by the ball. Wow, what a fun day full of laughter and good company!! Here are a few pictures...

The winners..


The losers...

Enjoy your Labor Day!! Jill