Aren't you a little young for that?

Yesterday in Sunday school, my little buddy J says to me...
J: "Teacher, I have groin pain!"
Me: "You have what?"
J: "Groin pain."

I ignore this for a while, until it comes up again later...

J: "Teacher, I can't color cuz I have groin pain!"

I look to see him point at his shin....where his "groin pain" was....yep, you guessed it - he meant GROWING pain!

That makes more sense...that guy is never-ending entertainment.

Who is Booty??

I've been a little lax in my kid-quoting lately...well, I've been posting them on facebook because I know my fellow teachers-to-be appreciate them probably more than any of you...but anyway, here's a few that stuck out/entertained me lately...

At church yesterday (Halloween) I was asking the Sunday school kids what they were going to be for Halloween...

Kid #1: "I'm gonna be Aurora, and (my brother) is gonna be Buzz Lightyear, and Daddy's gonna be Booty!"
Me: "...Booty?!"
Kid #2: "Yeah, Booty!....no wait, WOODY!"

hmmm....

The other day at school I was orally testing some of the students in math when the principal walked by. One of the students cringed and had a terrified look on his face.  Knowing that he was a pretty good student and rarely ever gets in trouble, I asked him...

Me: "What's wrong buddy?"
Him: "It's Mrs. B...."
Me: "Yes...so?"
Him: "She FIRED one of the kids at the school!!"

I don't know what that means...but it kind of reminds me of the story about the nasty substitute who was as mean as a witch...can't remember the name at the moment, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Last night (Halloween) I helped my parents hand out candy.  We enjoyed messing with the kids by adding rubber rats, dog cookies, and cloves of garlic to the candy....One kid who was probably 8 years old, picked up a dog bone and went to put it in his mouth, until his friend looked at him and said "Man, that is an epic fail." haha. These kids are beyond their years!

Here's a picture from last night...don't mind the demon eyes...that always happens.

Jumbo Jack-o-Lantern Cookies

**Disclaimer** This is not a light recipe...although I did use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" margarine sticks instead of real butter...and it turned out just fine.

Also - the pictures are taken with my phone, and aren't the best - but I promise I didn't burn the cookies!

At the church I work for there is a children's choir.  Every Tuesday the choir gets together for snack (it's right after school), singing, and games.  This quarter, my own classes have unfortunately fallen on Tuesdays and so I can't be there to practice with them....However, I still take turns providing the snacks, and it's my turn for this week.

So, I made these Jumbo Jack-O-Lantern cookies...it was my first try and I think they turned out very well.  They taste something like a combination of chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bread - both great  flavors and combine well.

Here's the recipe: This was originally taken (I believe) a couple years ago from a Taste of Home magazine. I have had it in my recipe file but haven't gotten around to trying these until now....

Ingredients:
1 c. butter softened (I used margarine, worked well)
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 c. quick-cooking oats (I only had about 3/4 cup, so I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour, and it worked just fine)
1 tsp. B.S. (Baking Soda, I think I'll abbreviate this way from now on)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. canned pumpkin (Now I have extra canned pumpkin, any ideas what I can do with it - besides pie?)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting (I used a basic buttercream for the green and store-bought black (because how do you make black frosting!?), but you can do whatever you want)
-The original recipe used orange frosting, but I found it hard to see on the cookies, and used black for a more traditional jack-o-lantern look.

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugars.  Add egg and vanilla.
2. Combine flour, oats, B.S., Cinnamon & salt, add to the creamed mixture - alternating with pumpkin.
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4). Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheets.
-Spread the cookies out into oval (pumpkin) shapes, and add an extra teaspoon of dough at the top for a stem.
5). Bake at 350 for 16-19 minutes.  Let sit until removable and cool on a rack (if you don't have one, paper towels work great - that's what I do)
6). Frost the "stems" with green frosting and create faces with the black!

These are fun and festive cookies - even coming from someone who's not big into Halloween, I bet the kids will love them!

By the way - these cookies are very large!

Light Pasta Carbonara

Well friends, as is typical of me when I'm in the midst of a quarter, I don't have much time to blog...however, in those *rare* moments of procrastination I still visit this site and contemplate whether I have enough news-worthy to share.  I do have a couple belated happenings recently that I should write about, but I'm feeling uninspired.  As I currently struggle with an assignment for my Teaching Science Methods class, I decided to start sharing some of the cooking I've been doing recently....I don't have pictures of these first few, but perhaps I'll start taking them in the future....

As many of you know, in the past couple years I've tried to really tweak (tweek?) my lifestyle to make it more healthy.  A large part of that for me has been changing what I eat...I've discovered a love of cooking and playing with recipes to try and make them "lighter".  However, I also love to bake...my downfall.  These days I mostly bake for different events, or for friends, so as to be a blessing to others - and prevent myself from eating them all!

Most of these recipes will be ones I've taken from magazines and simply changed a bit...I don't expect a movie deal out of it (...Julie/Julia reference, in case you're confused) but there might be some of you out there looking for lighter recipes, and for that reason, I'll share...

The first is Pasta Carbonara - a traditionally highly fattening dish - made of pasta, cheese, bacon/prosciutto, and egg.  Now, I must admit, I've never had the real thing, so my version probably pales in comparison, but for a lightened up version of comfort food pasta, I thought it was pretty good! I got a recipe from a website that I can't seem to find at the moment....and changed it a bit, so here's my version...

Ingredients:
Water (for boiling pasta)
about 4 ounces of whole wheat linguine (or you could use spaghetti I s'pose)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (The original recipe had 2, but 1 is plenty, even though it doesn't look it initially)
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
5-6 slices turkey bacon (turkey bacon has 65% less fat than pork bacon, and although traditional pasta carbonara calls for prosciutto, turkey bacon allows for that same salty taste without all the fat)
3/4 c. frozen peas (thawed)
1/4 c. white wine (I used cooking wine, but I'm sure real wine would be better)
2 large eggs
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese (more if desired)
Black Pepper (to taste)

1). Boil water, add pasta.  Most whole-wheat pastas cook for 6-8 minutes, read the box.
2). Pour EVOO in medium skillet over medium heat.
3). Add bacon and garlic, cook, stirring frequently, until bacon begins to crisp (adjust heat so garlic doesn't get dark, but lightly browns)
4). Add the peas and reduce heat, or remove pan from heat momentarily.
5). In separate large bowl (yes, large, you'll be adding the rest of the ingredients later) whisk the eggs with the parmesan and pepper.
6). Add the white wine to the skillet, and then the pasta (after draining it, obviously). Increase heat to medium-high.
7). After pasta is heated, remove and discard garlic.
8). Add skillet contents to large bowl with egg/parm/pepper mixture.
9). Fold together well to cook the eggs.

Enjoy!

P.S. Leftovers are decent, although the consistency is hard to recreate.  They ended up begin rather clumped noodles when reheated.

Roar!

This Sunday, I taught my K-1st grade Sunday school class the story of...Daniel in the Lion's Den. A SS classic, it's true. In an effort to jazz it up a bit, we made Lion Cookies! Although they didn't quite turn out as well (looking as much like lions) as the perfectionist in me wanted, they were still pretty darn cute. I even managed to snag a couple pictures with my phone....

The kids got to frost and decorate the cookies...then they were very torn as to whether or not they should eat them!

Awkward Side Effect to Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

Conversation I had with one of the first grade boys yesterday:

B: "Miss H. what's a breast?"
Me: *stares at this boy for a full minute that felt like forever* "Uhmmmm, where did you hear that buddy?
B: "On the radio they said it was breast wariness month."
Me: "Ohhh....Well.....*long pause, scan brain for politically correct answer* It's a part of the body. You should probably talk to Mommy more about that, ok?"

Fortunately he was satisfied with this answer. That being said, I was not expecting that question and upon further reflection I think I should have gone with a "chicken breast" explanation. However, in the moment, I did my best.

Yikes!

Duh!

Yesterday, TUMC (the church I work for) hosted an all-church picnic. First of all, can I just say that picnics with old people are never a good idea? The potluck food was a disgusting mix of bean concoctions and mayonnaise-based noodle salads...all of which looked quite repulsive. Second of all, I was in charge of the "games". Well, I don't know if you know this - but old people HATE having fun! That is correct. I set up the games and got all ready...and not a single person would even entertain the thought. They preferred to sit, complain about their aches and pain, and glom more mayonnaise onto their waistlines....

Needless to say, I eventually gave up on getting any real games going and just played frisbee with the kids. We also fed some bread to the ducks and of course, played on the swingset and monkey bars.

While feeding the ducks, I asked my friend Jonah, who is 5 years old, why one of the ducks was white, even though the rest were brown? He said, "Because God painted him white, of course!"

Silly me...I should have known!

His sister and I named the duck Rapunzel...Jonah renamed it Bob the Builder....either way, that duck was the most popular and is probably stuffed with enough bread balls to last it a week.

Roots Rock!

Well folks, it's true - I am now 25 years old...a true quarter of a century. How did I celebrate my day of birth you ask? I enjoyed a lovely Thai food dinner and cake with my family on Saturday...and then woke up with the sun early early on Sunday morning to run the Roots Rock half-marathon in Port Gamble, WA. Although I was hesistant going into the half-marathon (it's only my second one ever!), I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was my first ever trail run (instead of pavement) and it was so much fun. I was able to run the entire race (last time my dad and I walked a large portion of it). I even passed quite a few people! All in all, it was an incredible experience - I definitely understand the concept of a "runner's high". I hope to keep up my running practice, although it will be difficult with winter coming and the craziness of classes and work...but I'll do my best!

On another note, I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish by my 25th birthday. Unfortunately, a lot of them required money or a partner to do them with, and as I am currently money-less and partner-less...they did not get accomplished. So instead, I'm adding them to my list of things to DO in my year as a 25 year old...I plan to continue adding to the list and see what I get done before 26.

The one large thing that was on my list that I did accomplish was paying off all my undergraduate student loans...that was huge, and I'm so glad I did it. (Don't even get my started thinking about grad school loans...).

So far, here's my list for this upcoming year:
Skydiving
Being able to do a real pushup (guy pushup) consistently...I have no arm strength!
Shoot a gun
Get a bike
Finish reading the LOTR books (and eventually watch the movies)
Write my book

*there are more, but I can't remember them now! I'll add to this list as they come to me...*

Bears, oh my!

In keeping with the hiking theme, I have another adventure to share. Last week, my dad and I decided to take on a hike that we had done as a backpacking trip when I was a kid...(I was probably 11 or 12?). We did it a couple summers in a row actually. From what we remembered, it's a gorgeous hike in (all downhill) and a grueling hike out...uphill. However, we decided it was worth a shot.

Starting near the trailhead, there was snow!
Plenty of it. Apparently the snow is a little slow to melt this year...seeing as how it's August and it's still here! We crossed a few slippery snow fields before heading down into the valley - headed to Grand Lake. We were lucky enough to see a grouse, a few marmots, a 4-point buck, and of course plenty of birds and chipmunks.

After lunching at Grand Lake, we decided to trek up a little farther to Moose Lake (only about half a mile beyond Grand Lake). Moose Lake is also beautiful and was so quiet and peaceful. We wandered around the lake for a bit until my dad grabbed my arm and pointed across the lake - a black bear! There she was just hanging out by the water's edge. We stood mesmerized and watched her (I named her Georgina) for a good long while until suddenly, her cub came bounding out of the woods! With that she turned and headed back into the trees. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience...and made the uphill trek out totally worth it!

Missing $1.14

Last weekend my dad and I decided to attempt a hike in the hills just outside Sequim. It is my first hike in at least a couple of years probably. eek!

Well, things got off to a shaky start. After driving way back into the foothills, we came to a parking lot that (we thought) was for the area we were to begin the hike. However, there was a $5 charge! What?! The information we had about the hike specifically said there was no charge. But we just assumed we had misinformation, so we opened up the wallet...uh oh. We didn't have $5. We had 2 $1s or a $20 bill. Was it worth $20? really? After a bit of debate we ended up leaving $3.86...(the $2 plus all the change scrounged from the ashtray) and a note that said we would pay extra the next time we visited a state park! haha oops!

Needless to say, we paid all the fee that we could manage...and headed up the "trail" in the direction the arrow pointed. However, this didn't seem so much a trail as a road...a mostly deserted, gravel road, but still a road. We kept going, thinking that it would turn into a trail at some point...and eventually it did - after 4 miles!! Well, we added 4 uphill miles to the trip right now to start with.

After we walked up the gravel road and finally made it to the trailhead (where there was another parking lot that didn't require payment!! doh.) We headed into the woods, and up towards old copper and manganese mines - Tubal Cain Mine Trail. That was another almost 4 miles in. However, after we go to the mine area (where there was a bunch of old rusted carts and mining equipment) we seemed to lose the trail! We wandered around a couple different little trails that all seemed to come to dead ends....and finally decided it was time for lunch anyway.

After lunch, still confused and map-less, we wandered back down the trail hoping that we perhaps missed a turn-off. After conversing with two seperate sets of fellow hikers who were equally as lost, we went back in the original direction. Eventually we found the path and it led us across a creek...and then up, up up! Up we hiked, up and up, until we bust out into the sunshine with an incredible view of the mountain peaks, that felt close enough to touch! We continued up for another 6 miles or so, and made it alm0st to the top of Marmot pass before we started to run low on water and decided to head back.

On the way back, we speculated the whole way about how we could possibly snag a ride back to our other parking lot with some fellow hikers. However, unfortunately, at the time we arrived back on the trailhead...there were no fellow hikers to be found! We began the last 4 miles of the journey on the gravel road down the hill...not more than 2 minutes went by before a big truck came speeding down the road. The driver halted (in a large dust cloud) and asked (!) if we needed a ride! WOW. We gladly accepted, although it meant getting awfully snuggly in the cab of this man's truck...however, we were tired...and gravel roads are really not enjoyable like hiking in the forest.

Needless to say, we ended up hiking 19.4 miles that day...and we didn't get a parking ticket, even though we were $1.14 short on payment :S. All in all it was a great day. These pictures really don't do it justice, but I'll post a few anyway because the mountains were so gorgeous!

What do you call a seagull that lives on the bay?

A Bay-Gull (Bagel)!!

So this morning, I was sitting down at John Wayne Marina, enjoying some solitude and listening to a sermon from John Piper (I highly recommend subscribing to his desiringGod podcast on itunes). As I sat and listened I watched the seagulls meadering about and from time to time, attempting to get food. Now, the way they do this: they pick up a clam (or oyster, or pretty much anything in a shell) and fly up high and then drop that shell on the rocks along the shore, hoping to break it open to eat the meat inside. Unfortunately on this beach, the rocks that can be broken against are not close together. That means that the gulls must have excellent aim in order to truly crack open the shell on the rock. Today, I watched one (who looked younger than the others) try repeatedly with his target practice, never able to hit the rock and crack his breakfast open. After what must have been 5 tries, I watched him take his shell allllll the way up to the road and drop it! Success! The shell cracked on the road and he was finally able to chow down (I'm sure he was famished after the hard work to get his breakfast). All that to say, what a resourceful seagull he was, I named him Chet. He may, or may not, be appearing in my book (ha.ha.ha....someday I WILL write it!).

Doesn't feel like summer 'till you make a trip to the lake...

Yesterday, my mom and I made the trip out to Lake Sutherland and Lake Crescent to pick up my dad from his worship retreat. Afterwards, we had a nice picnic supper at Lake Crescent and soaked up a little sun. We even put our feet in the icy (and yes, I do mean ICY!) water. I love the lake, it is definitely one of my happy places....now, if only I had a jetski!

So beautiful and peaceful :)


My very white legs and feet were coooold in the water.

Longest Sand Spit in the U.S. is in my backyard!

Did you know that the Dungeness Spit is the longest sand spit in the U.S.?? I didn't! I've lived in Sequim since 4th grade (although I spent 6 years away and now am back) and I never knew this bit of trivia. Actually, apparently, Good Morning America will be doing a story on it upcoming as well. Well, how did I recently come to aquire this knowledge? For a while now, my dad and I have been looking for new challenges in the world of walking/hiking/running so last Friday we decided to walk to end of the Spit and back. Distance-wise, it is not that far (5 miles each way), however, walking on sand is an entirely different feel than walking on pavement or even dirt road. The walk was very enjoyable and we happened to go in the morning during low-tide and were able to see various seals, deer, sea anemones, dead jellyfish, and all kinds of other creatures. The lighthouse at the end is also very interesting, and is still functional, although mostly unneccesary these days with the high-tech equipment that most boats have. All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip and it's always nice to do a little exploring in your very own town!


This was taken heading down onto the Spit, it's too small to tell (taken with my camera phone) but there are two deer just waiting for us!


The lighthouse, we must be at the end! (actually, the lighthouse was originally built 1/16th mile away from the end of the Spit, but because the Spit is still growing, it is now 1/2 mile from the end, which is now a wildlife refuge).

Dad

If you are a member of the Lighthouse Association, you can sign up to spend a week at the lighthouse as a caretaker. Doesn't that sound fun??? I would love to do that...unfortunately the waiting list spans through 2011 already! Wow. Who knows where I will be by then?!

View from the top of the lighthouse. Wish I had a better camera!

NODM Half-Marathon

This post is exceedingly late in being written, however, a significant event happened in my life last month and I have yet to fully share it with you all. I walked/ran my first ever half-marathon! Now, as many of you are aware, I am not a runner by any means, never have been. However, over a year ago my dad decided it was time to change his lifestyle, in an effort to get off some medications and other things that were detrimental to his life, largely due in part to being overweight. He began walking 10,000 steps a day and significantly changing his eating habits. Because of his new life choices, he was able to drop 60 pounds and ultimately meet his goal weight - and get off those medications! In support of my dad, and also for my own health, I began walking with him when I moved back to Sequim last September. Together, we have stretched our walking distances farther than we ever imagined. We signed up fot the North Olympic Discovery Marathon (NODM) that took place on June 6th, and set that as our goal. Well that half-marathon has come and gone and it was an incredible experience. Of the 13.1 mile course, we were able to run about 4 of the miles (that's a big accomplishment for us! We had planned to just walk the whole thing...but got caught up in the adrenaline rush and ended up running some!). We finished in exactly 3 hours, which was an excellent time for us as walkers. Now, we are attempting to do another on August 8th in Port Gamble. This will be a challenge for sure, but definitely something we look forward to. So, what am I doing for my 25th birthday? Running/walking a half-marathon...suuuure, why not?

Yikes!

As I work towards my ultimate goal of being a first grade teacher, and having my own classroom of students, I come across many interesting theories and ideas about teaching. Today, I read this, and it definitely made me stop and think about what kind of teacher I want to be, and the impact that will have on my students and the atmosphere in my classroom...Author/teacher/psychologist Haim Ginnott says this, "As a teacher I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom."

ReNew VBS

Alright, I am aware that it has been a verrrry long time since I've updated this blog, but to make up for it, I shall today post an extensive amount of pictures from my most recent endeavor with the kiddos...VBS! Vacation Bible School, that is. VBS has been a hugely effort and time consuming project for me over the last couple months, especially since it was the first time I had ever planned something on this scale. After months of prep work, it all came down to reality last week. We ended up with about 30 kids (the perfect size for the amount of volunteers we had!) and the week went smoothly...for the most part. I will explain more in depth the these picture captions, but basically, our theme for the week was ReNew! Through study of the Parable of the Sower, we learned how to grow in our faith, have fun, and change the world all at the same time! Because of the "green" theme, virtually all of the materials we used were recycled or re-purposed. Either way, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll try and give you a bunch of them here and you can see what I've been up to for the last couple of months...check em out!

We headed into the sanctuary for singing!
Kia from local Nash's Produce came to teach us about eating natural foods instead of those foods filled with chemicals!
An important part of our mornings was tying on our workbelts to get ready for the day.
One day we made natural scupltures out of things we found in creation...wood, rocks, twigs, bark, etc...





Of course we had some yummy snacks....seeds trail mix (went with our theme!)
And what would VBS be without games?
It's harder to keep a seed on a spoon and run a relay race than you may realize!



Puppet show!
We even learned all about recycling...
We made recycled instruments
We painted a root system. "God's love takes root in you and me" and "We are nourished by God's love"



We had some kids from various places around the world with us.
We played our instruments during music time
We discussed our Bible story in small groups






I just realized that most of my captions are out of place and attached to the wrong pictures.....not going back in to change them because this is the longest post of all time....sorrrrrrrrry! But, anyway, you get the general idea, the pictures speak for themselves.

We wanted to do some community service, we had planned to repaint the skateboard park, but it rained!So instead, we donned our plastic bag head-coverings and headed out to pick up garbage at a local park.
My buddy Jonah in his paint shirt..it's just a smidge too big ;)

The last day we put on a presentation of The Parable of the Sower for our parents, sang them some songs, showed them what VBS was like, and ate a yummy lunch :)

THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so glad it's over, I'm so glad it went as well as it did. I'm still working on cleaning up...I've got fake flowers galore! Time to focus once again on my own schoolwork...just a few more quarter until I get to student-teach..can't wait!