Mad-Town

This past weekend I packed up the Pilot and ventured down to Madison. I wish I could get down there more often. I miss Katie! We have fun when we're together...crazy with 3 kiddos! :) The boys will make excellent husbands someday....they had absolutely no problem shopping! We ate at Ella's deli....and went on the carousel. Delaina and Austin ran around the yard on Sunday....the weather was perfect all weekend. Here are a few shots...

♥

Betty Crocker...

...is what Katie called me when she was over a few weeks ago. Austin and I were getting dinner and dessert ready. Together we made a fabulous creamy chicken casserole and strawberry shortcake completely from scratch. YUM-O! Boy was it delicious.

Betty Crocker? What? How do you figure that one? I asked her.

Kelly, you are a baking-cooking maniac. I can't remember the last time I made anything.

Katie has officially lost it.

Me? Betty Crocker?

Ha!

That's a good one.

I try, but I'm no Betty.

Ok, ok, so I stepped it up a notch and ordered 4 cookbooks from Amazon.com in one sitting. One I haven't received yet. It was a pre-order, and I should be getting it soon as it comes out on October 27th. I'm taking my cookbook and high-tailing it over to the Mall of America on November 21st for a book signing to meet the woman/author I've been 'stalking' online - Ree Drummond. Her site, The Pioneer Woman, has been one of my favorites for months now. I have no idea how I found it but I am so thankful I did! I can't wait to get the cookbook.

Gotta love the self-timer.

Here are Austin and Delaina, the little munchkins after dinner. We went traipsing through the garden looking at pumpkins and picking grapes.

Love is in the air....

Times Are A-Changin'

When it comes to teaching high schoolers, there is so much involved that 'matters' to them...academics, parents, friends, acceptance, athletics...the list goes on. I am not just a Spanish Teacher...but a nurse, a counselor, a mother, a teacher, a mentor...and that list goes on. So when I have a student that is having problems in some aspect of their life, I try and help. I do what I can. But when I try and do all I can and it hasn't made an ounce of difference, that is frustrating. I want to shake life by the shoulders and make it black and white, but that doesn't work. Sometimes I succeed, but other times I fail. And I have to be OK with that. I have to be OK with the fact that I did my best and that is all that anyone can do.

So often I wonder why todays' teenagers don't get along like the teens from my era. Why are things so more complicated now? Is it because I'm at a smaller school and everyone knows or is related to everyone else? Or are the teens of today different? Maybe both. Actually, I'm convinced of it. It has to be! Drama over the littlest things. Kids who don't want to do homework because they are lazy. Kids who spend time bouncing between their parents' homes because they are divorced. And, they forget their homework at the other parent's home. And the parents don't get along so they put the other parent down right in front of their children. Kids who lack respect and manners. Kids who swear like it's part of their vocabulary & most likely is at home. They've been taught that its OK to swear because their parents model it. And the underage drinking. Whoa. Stop right there in your tracks, mister. Underage drinking. Yes. I mean no. It should't happen, but it does waaaaay more than we like to think. Kids who don't bat an eye at staying up all night to play video games. The damn video games. WE WILL NEVER, EVER OWN THEM IN THIS HOUSEHOLD. They are the DEVIL, and I DESPISE them. Sorry, had to get it out of my system.

But, times they are a-changin'. Today's youth is not the same as the youth of my time, that is for sure. Either that, or I'm sitting on the other side of the fence as an older, wiser person and a parent and not liking the view. Don't get me wrong! We do have some fine, respectful, intelligent teens out there. Just that there is no balance...I wish there were more of the good ones. Having said that, my boys (& future children) will be on a tight leash when it comes to homework, the opposite sex, drinking, and video games. Tight. No slack. These words may come back to bite me in the ass, but hey, I'll do my darndest!

♥

One On One: UPDATED

I added the photo of Ethan and Granddad. Just got it tonight! :) ♥