Hair Stylist to the Stars

Last night I found dark hair on Alyssa's bedroom floor. I knew it wasn't her's, because her hair is much lighter and Mike and Curtis were still on their fishing trip. My eyes fell on her two Dora dolls laying on the floor. I asked, "Alyssa, did you cut Dora's hair?" "No Mommy," was her answer. I said, "There's hair on the floor and Dora's hair looks like you cut it." She cast her eyes down shamefully and said, "I did it, I'm sorry." I said, "Where are the scissors?" "I don't know," was the answer. I again asked for the scissors and once again got the shameful look and she took them from where she had hidden them. I told her I was taking her scissor privileges away and that's when she started crying.

I guess I should be grateful that she only cut Dora's hair and not her own, her brother's, or a friend's. Hopefully this will be a lesson and no other helpless dolls will have to suffer needlessly.

Employee of the Year

Last night Mike received the Maintenance Employee of the Year Award at the school board meeting last night. He didn't want to go, but his boss, who is also a good friend, was really nervous about it and would have had to talk about him anyway. So we went. I was really proud of him, because he truly hates things like this. They gave him a beautiful plaque and he'll get $100 extra in his next paycheck. Mike is a great guy and doesn't always get the recognition he truly deserves.

My New Goal

Lately we have been in a rut. A dinner rut. So I decided that I would try at least one new recipe a week. Well I exceeded that goal and tried two new recipes. The first one I only liked a little, although Mike and the kids loved it. I probably won't make it again. The second one needed a little tweaking, but once tweaked.....YUMMY! I will make this again and again and I hope you will too. I will put what I did rather than the official recipe.

Mushroom Chicken with Zucchini

3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

cornstarch for dusting

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

6 Tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 package mushrooms, sliced

4 small zucchini, cut into 1 inch chunks

1. Dust chicken with cornstarch, until lightly coated.

2. Put oils into a wok or large skillet and fry chicken until done. Take out of the pan and set aside.

3. You might need to add a little more oil to the pan. Then add mushrooms and zucchini and stirfry for a few minuets. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stirfry until the veggies are done.

4. Return chicken to pan and coat with sauce, heat thoroughly and serve over rice.

Try this soon, you'll be so glad you did. If you like it saucier, add 2 more Tbsp soy sauce and 1 more Tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Teaching: A study in contrasts

I love being a teacher. There are so many wonderful things about this job. Usually this is where people laugh and say..."Yea, you never work weekends, you get summers and all major holidays off. Of course you love your job! What's not to love about your job?" Mostly I agree with all those people who say that.

Here's what I do love: I love my students and each class is different every year. All those personalities combine in a magical way. Sometimes that magic tends to be a bit black or maybe dark gray, but it can be magical. I love when the lights go on and they understand some new concept I've taught or we read a truly wonderful book that makes us laugh or cry together. I love discovering each of my students' strengths and cry sometimes over their weaknesses. I love being part of a classroom of learners. I love when we create poetry or art that is fabulous. I especially love when I find some new aspect of one of my students: perhaps they are the poorest reader in the class, but the art they create is beautiful. I do love not working weekends or holidays or during the summer, although summer is getting shorter and shorter as they extend the school year. I love being with my own children. Except for a few days here and there when they aren't in school, neither am I.

Here's what I don't love though.... I hate having to make CPS reports. I hate spending 30 minutes filling out the form and then spending 30 more minutes on the phone, recounting exactly what I put on the form, only to have them never to investigate what I report or find that the allegations of abuse, neglect, etc are unfounded because they waited too long to come out to see the bruises on the child's body. I hate the standardized testing. I can almost see these people in rooms maniacally rubbing their hands together cackling about how to fool 7 and 8 year olds. Approximately 6 hours of testing is far too much for children, even spreading it out over a six day period is insane. Another thing I hate having to deal with a system called, "No Child Left Behind". How can a child that has had severe brain trauma either at birth or born with some sort of problem be expected to pass a test so insanely hard that most "normal" kids struggle with.

So being a teacher isn't all its cracked up to be. There are wonderful aspects to this job, and like all jobs frustrating ones too.

The Thoughtful Men In My Life

One of Mike's friends from work who is in one of the Twenty-nine Palms wards invited Mike and the kids to go camping. It is a camp out sponsored by the Cub Scouts for families. I was gearing up to go, not feeling very happy about it, because I love sleeping in a tent, on the ground, with a bunch of people I don't know, but I wanted to make my family happy so I was going to grin and bear it.

Last night, Mike, bless his heart said, "How about I take the kids and you get to be all by yourself for a night." So he and the kids started planning our their menu of the food they would eat and Alyssa was getting really excited about this. She has never been camping in the tent, unless you count our front yard.

A few minutes later I heard Curtis softly talking to her saying, "Alyssa I think you should stay home with Mom. She'll be all by herself." I overheard this and said that I would be fine. I told Curtis that it would be fine if they both went camping. Alyssa looked at me and said, "You can be in charge and you will be not scared. Right?" I assured her that I would be just fine and since she put me in charge I wouldn't be scared.

I appreciate Curtis for thinking of me, but think it is really interesting that while he was not ready to throw himself on the sword and stay home with me, he was willing to sacrifice his sister for the cause.

You Can't Be Afraid If You're In Charge!

A few weeks ago when Mike and I went away for our anniversary, Christy spent the night here with the kids. It was very windy and Alyssa is terrified of wind. The kids didn't want to sleep in their own beds, so at first they decided they would sleep in our bed. That lasted just a few minutes. It ended up with Christy sleeping on the couch, Curtis on the love seat, and Alyssa on a bean bag. When the lights were out and they were all laying there, with the wind blowing loudly, Alyssa asked, "Who's in charge?" Christy who was probably very tired said, "Why don't you be in charge Alyssa." Christy said it got very quiet and they all went to sleep. The next morning Christy complemented Alyssa on sleeping so well. Alyssa said, "You can't be afraid if you're in charge." I thought it was wonderful that she made that connection.

Happy Aniversary

On April 8th, we celebrated 15 years of marriage. There have been wonderful experiences, two beautiful children and a wonderful new home. I am thankful for my husband and what a good man he is. He's a great dad and does so many great things for our family. I appreciate him.


The weekend before our anniversary my sisters, Christy and Maury watched the kids, so Mike and I could go away. We just went down to Palm Desert and stayed at a Marriott there. (Thank you Priceline! We got a hotel room for $65.) Mike took me to my favorite restaurant, Kobe's. It is a Japanese steak house that I love. It is kind of like Benihana where they cook the food in front of you. We also went to see, Monsters and Aliens in 3D. We had a fun night away and I know the kids enjoyed the spoiling they got from their beloved aunties!


Our actual anniversary was on a Wednesday. It was spring break for the kids and I, but not for Mike. So we decided to make it a family celebration. I made a special dinner of Mike's choosing: homemade egg rolls, vegetable fried rice, sparkling cider, and my special chocolate cake. Mike loves this cake more than anything else. I agree it is pretty good. You should make it as soon as possible and taste it!

Chocolate Brownie Torte

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10 inch spring form pan and lightly coat pan with cocoa powder (you can also use the Pam spray for baking with flour in it.)

2. Combine 1 3/4 C. flour, 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. Beat 1 C. softened butter with 1 3/4 Cup sugar with the mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in 2/3 C. light corn syrup. Add 3 large eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. At low speed beat in dry ingredients, alternately with 1/2 C. milk.

5. If you want, at this point you can add 2 C. chopped pecans. I usually leave this out, because my kids hate nuts.

6. Spread batter into pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 55 -60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

7. For ganache bring 1 C heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add 1 8 oz. package semi sweet chocolate squares, shopped. Stir until melted. Cool completely.

8. Remove ring from pan and remove cake from bottom. Place on cake platter and tuck strips of waxed paper under the cake. Pour ganache over tope and spread with a metal spatula to cover top and side of cake. Let stand until set. Serve cake with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.