Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #116

Messy Messy Fail - I literally just finished making a somewhat heinous looking Little Einstein's rocket cake.  I bit off more than I could chew on this one.  Cake cracking issues, frosting issues, you name it - it went wrong.  I'm really not even sure how this cake is going to taste.  I made sure to have lots of ice cream though, because everything tastes good with ice cream.

Tidy Victory - I have been trying to upload all of our old movie videos from the video recorder to my computer.  To my dismay, it seemed as though several were corrupt.  After many hours trying different ways to import the videos and researching online, I figured it out!  Somehow these older videos were .mpg files and they needed to be .mov files.  I have begun the slow process of converting them, but I am THRILLED that they are not gone for good!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #108

Messy Messy Fail - We are winter break from school this upcoming week, and I will say I am embarrassed about the condition I left both of my classrooms in - disaster.  I had a guest conductor in at both buildings on Friday to complete a workshop with some of my students who will be participating in a side-by-side concert shortly and it was quite the whirlwind getting to both buildings on time.  Let's just say I'll be going in for a little tidying up during my vacation.  

Tidy Victory - Last year, I tried making it a goal to do a small organizing/purging project a day.  Be it my makeup drawer, a bookshelf, etc., I wanted to make a little difference one small step at a time.  Sometimes I did my project for the day, sometimes I didn't.  I came across this blog project from Susan at Organized 31 - 31 Days of 10-Minute Purging Tips and I was really inspired.  You can start with her first post at the above link and she gives you a task every day - very manageable (10 minutes or less!) yet very effective.  I'm going to try this and attempt to get rid of some more nonsense in my house!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #106

Messy Messy Fail - The snow has nearly melted away, which means the snowmobile trails are closed AGAIN until further notice.  Because don't you know this is what happens - you get new sleds and it's a lame-o winter.  I can't even believe I am complaining about having no snow.  I'm really not crazy.

Tidy Victory - I have had an idea for a post for literally nearly a year now - to interview one of my favorite Etsy shops - and it finally happened!  I do not want to give away too much too soon, but if you are interested in crocheting and/or starting your own Etsy shop, you need to stay tuned folks!  :)

My Word for 2016 - Ahead

Messy Messy Fail - I know that I definitely have food in the refrigerator leftover from Christmas - I spotted some sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes and the remains of a leftover roast in the back of the fridge.  Good thing garbage night is tomorrow evening.

Tidy Victory - We had some friends over to celebrate our Christmas together quite late on Friday and I made a terrific somewhat authentic Mexican dinner - hard and soft shell tacos with my own taco seasoning (I just cannot use the packets anymore, so salty!), Paula Deen's mexican rice and this delicious recipe for restraunt style refried beans.  Let me just say there were no leftovers.  

Be ahead of the game. 

Think ahead.

Be ready.

Be early.

Do you see the common theme?

Punctuality is not necessarily one of my strong suits.  I am a procrastinator tried and true.  ESPECIALLY if it is something that I don't really want to do.  

But you know what?  That's a terrible excuse - I can be very lazy and that's the truth of the matter.  

Therefore, my word for this year is AHEAD.

Anticipate what is coming and be ready.

Think about the future and plan accordingly.

Do not set it aside for later, do it now.

Some of my specific goals include:

• better meal planning - I typically plan ahead for a week in advance, trying to go to the grocery store only once a week.  However too often we resort to running our for a quick pizza or sub. 
• keep our wipe off calendar in the kitchen updated - it's pointless to have if we don't use it properly!
• try to stay tidier - I'm always in a mad rush the night before our house cleaner comes to get clutter out of the way
• finish the task at hand - I am notorious for starting something then getting distracted by something else
• try to keep a "big picture" view - what will the consequences of my choices be and how will they affect others and not just myself

How ironic that my word for the year is being posted at the end of January ;)

What is your word for year?

Did you set specific goals for yourself?  I'd love to hear about them!

Click here to see where I like to par-tay!

9 Ways to Help Your Child Be Successful On Their Instrument

Messy Messy Fail - So I now have three key chains - one for my house keys, one for my high school keys and one for my new middle school keys (yay for a new classroom room!!!!).  I used to keep all of my work keys on the same key chain but now there are so many, too many for one ring.  You can imagine how many times I've left a set of keys at another location - that would be three times.  Lots of extra traveling looking for keys this week.

Oh Hey, Friday - How Great Is This

Messy Messy Fail - Who knew the melting point for white chocolate was so low?  Not this girl!  Apparently the temperature for your double boiler to melt white chocolate should only be 110 F.  That doesn't sound like a "boil" to me - that's as hot as my shower!  And "burning" the chocolate doesn't mean it's brown and crispy, but thick and grainy.  I "burned" two batches while trying to melt them, that's why there ended up being only one white chocolate truffle :)

Does that looked "burned" to you, cause it is.

Tidy Victory - On the flip side of that situation, I was able to pull out some dark and milk chocolate chips that I had left over - they melted fine in my double boiler.  They turned out delicioso for my cake balls! ;)

I just can't say enough how nice it is to be spending time at home with my boys and husband for the summer.  We've gotten to do lots of activities together - story time at our local library (they let me back in), shopping at My Happy Place (Wegmans!) and Sam's Club, and picking out flowers to add to the garden.

It's been a great second week and I've got a bunch of random things to share:

<One>  This Thing - Who knows that this is?

scroll down..................................

If you guessed fish turner you are correct!  If you did not guess that, clearly you need to be more educated on your kitchen utensils ;)

Who knew such a simple device could make me so happy?  I've wanted one for quite some time - I have a huge pancake turner that can be too big to use and my large replacement OXO spatula I mentioned in this post, but I wanted something long and slim.  I found this at the Kitchen Collection in our local mall - perfect!  It was only $5.99 and it's red to boot (I enjoy red kitchen appliances, don't ask me why).

<Two> The Library - What a great place!  We attended a Wednesday morning story time with some friends - the toddler sat for TWO ENTIRE STORIES!  It's amazing what a difference a year can make, because that certainly never happened last summer when we went.  He did interrupt a few times to ask Miss Claire (the librarian) if he could sit in her lap, but other than that we were without incident.  After story time we went downstairs to the children's section and played with puzzles and rented a new Thomas the Train DVD.

<Three> Yankee Candle Sun & Sand Candle - My husband thinks I'm crazy to be burning candles when it's warm out, but I NEED things to smell nice.  I have scented things in our bedroom, my car, my classrooms at work - it brings me clarity and keeps me peaceful.  I've really been enjoying this scent from Yankee Candle so far this summer - I swear I can hear the ocean if I put my ear up to the jar!

The name of the candle would suggest it smells like sunscreen, but I swear it doesn't.  The Yankee Candle website notes orange flower, citrus, lavender and a powdery musk.  

<Four> Summer Projects - So I cannot just sit around playing and blogging all summer - I have to get some work done, too!  I'm planning some big cleaning/organizing projects for the summer including:

• Reorganize the downstairs pantry
• Reorganize gift wrap section/containers
• Paint & redecorate our bedroom
• Place printed pictures in chronological order in photo albums

<Five> DIY Shower Paint Paint - I saw a post about this originally here and I pinned it here.  Sounds like a fun idea for the bathtub, and since I'm always looking for new bathtub entertainment, I'll be giving this a try this week.  We have a three piece tub without grout so I'm not worried about the food coloring staining.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for stopping to check out this post - I've got some more coming up for the week including about how my hanging baskets turned out and a possible Amish Friendship Bread round-up!

Have a great week!

Linking up with......

Hello, Spring!

Messy Messy Fail - What a rough week back to school this was - I cannot describe in words how hard it is to get students refocused after a week off when they just had another week break four weeks prior.  Had to give out many reminders about when lessons were, how to rosin their bow again, what the purpose of their bow was, etc.  My phrase for the week was "Be engaged during rehearsals people".

Tidy Victory - I've got my new glasses!!!!  Love them - Anne Klein AK5027 in Mocha Horn.

I am currently out of town at an intensive weekend retreat for the local youth symphony that I serve on the board of directors for, so while I wait for the little musicians to start arriving, I'd like to share a weekend wrap up of things that have been on my mind this week with you all!

<One> Spring is Here - there are little crocuses opening up and daffodils ready to pop all over the place!  That's the sure sign around here that spring has sprung.  I'm watching my tulips that I replanted on the side of the garage carefully so I can dump my special deer/rabbit deterant on them - maybe I'll get to them quick enough this year!

<Two> Concert Time - The school musicals are pretty much finished, but now comes the spring concert season.  I already had my middle school concert before break (who performed FABULOUSLY I might add).  Next week I have my beginners concert which is one of my favorites.  All of my string students who I started last October get to pick a 1-2 line solo from our method book (we use Essential Elements) and they all play Twinkle and Bile 'Dem Cabbage Down together.  For some students this is their first time ever on stage, so this can be a particularly harrowing event for them.  But they always do a great job, and it's not necessarily about how well they play but that they are able to get up on stage, perform and complete the task at hand.

<Three> Spring Cleaning/Haul Out - As I have previously mentioned we do have a house cleaner who pays her magical visit every other week, but I like to do some extra spring cleaning tasks myself.  These include washing curtains (or hanging new ones in our bedroom!), vacuuming mattresses (and possibly purchasing a new one for us woo hoo!) and washing the couch cushions.  The insides of the window casings need a good cleaning out from all the winter grossness that has accumulated in them, and I know a few screens will need to be replaced from little toddler fingers poking through them.

<Four> Summer Concert Tickets - We always like to hit up a Dave Matthews Band show over the summer, and we just purchased some tickets for their Pittsburgh show at the beginning of June.  We definitely prefer the outdoor concerts whenever we can swing it.

<Five> Closet Switch Out - I'm almost nearly sure it's safe to put the big, puffy winter jackets, hats, gloves, snow pants and boots away and get out the galoshes, rain coats and baseball caps again.  To help save on closet space we rotate these two seasons of outdoor wear.  My most favorite nice weather footwear?  My Sperrys that I purchased last year - I am now a believer.  

Is anyone else ready for some nice weather?  Enjoy your weekend!

Katie

Goals for a Teacher's Christmas Vacation

Messy Messy Fail - the 9284897345892098 dirty dishes I left in my wake after making a fabulous Christmas dinner.  Thanks to my husband for cleaning them up!

Tidy Victory - We cleaned up in preparation for our house cleaner coming while we are out of town.  Yes that's right, we clean for our house cleaner.  But I'm sure she still thinks it's horrendous :)


It's really good to have goals.  Especially if you are looking to get something done during your time off.

So, I present a list of 5 organizing goals for my next week at home.

<One> Organize the spice "black hole".
Because it literally is a black hole that I shove every bottle of seasoning I've ever purchased.  Time to purge.

<Two> Organize the baby's clothes that no longer fit.
He's into 9 month clothes now, yet I still try to shove him in 6 month clothes.  I'm a terrible mother.  But everything stretches with a few good tugs!

<Three> Reorganize the pantry.
I originally had dedicated certain shelves to baby food, baking items, sauces, etc.  Now it's just whatever shelf was closest to me when I was unloading the grocery bags.

<Four> Reorganize & clean the finished section of the basement.
It looks like Christmas threw up in there.  End of story.

<Five> THE BIG ONE - Clean up our bedroom.
Our bedroom is the last room in the house to receive any attention - not painted, same curtains as when we moved in, my pre-maternity clothes strewn across the floor.  MUST BE CLEANED WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

Perhaps I will post some pictures when I tackled #5, however embarrassment may settle in and I could wimp out.  We'll see what happens!!

Any other vacation goals floating around out there?  Do share and get organized with me!  :)

Katie