the perfect birthday cake.

After laying Patrick down for bed about 45 minutes ago, I got ultra motivated to research and plan the menu for his 2nd birthday party next month.  Good food is essential, so I'm putting a lot of thought into it.  Last year's menu was amazing and will be hard to top, but I will try.  Now that his "buddies" are a getting older I have to have stupid kid food so their parents don't beat me - things like crackers & cheese, fruit skewers, and processed pigs-in-a-blanket.  But I'll do it, just for the kids.

For the adults on the other hand, I can go all out.  I found an amazing sandwich idea, but I'll have to separate all the ingredients so my picky sister-in-law doesn't cringe.  Picky eaters annoy the crap out of me.  (I still love you Jackie.)  I'm also thinking something like bruschetta and a really colorful pasta salad.

Despite my love for a good main dish menu, the cake is downright the most important item at a birthday party - it makes or breaks it.  Last year I did a yellow cake with chocolate frosting (I forgot the vanilla, remember?  I suck.)  This year I'm thinking something more autumn.  Spice?  Apples?  Something like that.  Here are a few choices that are to die for.

chocolate cake with whipped fudge filling & chocolate buttercream

Out of the 40 impressive birthday cakes I found on CHOW, this was my first instinct.  It screams party.  My only hesitation is the chocolate-drizzle cage - I could jack up the whole thing in a matter of seconds.

cinnamon-walnut bundt cake

I love this idea because it's different.  You don't see bundt cakes at birthday parties, but I think we could pull it off.  Once again, a hesitation:  walnuts.  Frikking nut allergies ruin everything.

easy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

My grandma is a carrot cake beast, so I could have her give me a few tips if I went with this one.  Most people love carrot cake, right? 

apple spice layer cake with caramel swirl icing

This sounds like it would taste amazing, but I'm not so sure I can get away with the look of it.  Knowing me, it would end up lopsided.  Or a big pile of mush.

chocolate rum tres leches cake

Can I put rum in a cake that kids will be eating?  Maybe I should just make the kids cake pops??  Come on, this looks incredible.  Chocolate shavings?  Yes please.  By the way, "tres leches" is spanish meaning "three milks."  Interesting.

pumpkin swirl cheesecake

Is the first week in September too early for pumpkin?  If not, I may end up doing this one along with another.  I just don't think I can say no (and I'm not a huge cheesecake fan!)


So what do you think?  I'm leaning towards the chocolate on chocolate up top.  Or the three milks.  Actually, what I really want it someone to whip one up for me right at this very moment.  Please and thank you.  Sincerely, your pregnant friend.

gearing up for school: part I

Here we go again!  No longer do teachers have those lovely three months in the summer...we're down to two.  What is with such early start dates?!  My high schoolers will begin in two weeks!  Two weeks.  It seems like yesterday I was saying SAYONARA PEEPS, only to see the cheerleaders out practicing on the playground today.

This being my 6th year of teaching, I like to think I'm getting better with time.  At this point, I feel like I've got a really good grasp on the teacher I want to be.  I've learned that my job is about my students.  End of story.  If I go into work every single day with their best interest in mind, I cannot fail.

At each new beginning in August I walk into my classroom and immediately feel overwhelmed - the blank walls, the musty smell, the fabric covering the electronics.  Where should I begin?  My first year it was easy:  the teacher store.  I loaded up on borders and cut-outs and name tags and welcome signs, spending over two weeks perfecting my classrooms aesthetics.  In the end I was never really happy with the way it turned out.  This year I haven't even touched the physical portion of my classroom (well, besides hanging my Hunger Games poster).  But I have been busy - very busy - perfecting some of the most important aspects of teaching.

Before decorating one bulletin board...

1.  Create an overlying theme.

My theme this year is for my students to be more challenged.  There is a reason parents pay thousands of dollars to send their children to my private school, and one of those reasons is to ready their kids for the real world, and we all know how challenging the real world is.  So I want them to be pushed hard to work at their best, to fall a few times, and to stand up on their own because they know their full potential.  (Building self-esteem is always in the back of my head.)

2.  Look up standards, get them organized.

I print off a new set of standards each year just because I end up writing all over them and checking things off, circling, etc.  Now that Ohio has the new common core standards, I will be piloting the science set and I'm kind of excited - I absolutely love the way they set them up.  I put them all in a binder and label each grade.

3.  Buy a planner and fill it in for the year.

This sounds fun, until you get to December and you're sick of it.  Some people use pencil because a lot of those dates end up changing, but I like my colored pens so I go for it.  I find that I have a much broader vision, "the big picture," for the school year once I'm done.

4.  Do the dirty work (paperwork).

Maybe this isn't as important in the lower grades (or maybe it is?) but getting your class descriptions down on paper is so important.  For example, all high school teachers at my school are required to give out a course syllabus for their class.  I take it very seriously and spent nearly two hours putting mine together.  I also made a condensed version for my 7th graders.  As for my 5th and 6th graders, I wrote out parent letters introducing myself (5th grade) and explaining my excitement for the year, the curriculum we'll be covering, and a portion for them to fill out and return to me.  Parent communication is huge in the success of a child.  HUGE.

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Now that the base of my school year is completed,  I feel confident of my vision and can now move on to creating a fantastic learning environment and maybe even find a few cool labs (and worthwhile homework assignments) for the first week.  They're going to be challenged, remember?

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Here are the links to my class syllabi & parent letters.  Maybe they can help someone!

Honors Biology Syllabus
7th Grade Science Syllabus
5th Grade Parent Letter
6th Grade Parent Letter

thoughts @ 27 weeks + a lot of links

• My first thought is the most important.  Why don't people put socks on their babies?  Just because the calendar reads August 4th doesn't mean it's 90° outside.  I am maddened when their chubby toes are hanging out in the cold air for all to pity.  Yes, they're yummy, those toes.  But they're also cold - we're in a bigass church for gosh sakes.  Cover them up.

• A music thought:  Taylor Swift has done it again.  Those of you with her album have already heard Red but gosh, it's good.  Like, really good. 

           

• The irritability I've been experiencing was starting to get on my nerves so I decided to make a change.  But what would I change?  What would make the biggest difference?  MY DIET.  This baby moves around so much to the point of being annoying - I think he's trying to tell me "NO MORE EGGOS, PLEASE."  I am listening, young one.  No more processed foods.  No more bad sugars.  No more high sodium. 

• To bounce off my diet changes, I found a stellar website - FitPregnancy - where you can find great meal ideas, snack ideas, and all kinds of articles, from intriguing to downright hilarious.  As I experienced some pregnancy insomnia last night at 1:30 am, this article on ingesting your placenta had me rolling.  But seriously, I really am considering eating my placenta.  See next bullet.

• Most of you know that I suffered postpartum depression after having Patrick.  Obviously this is a real fear for me now that I will be having another baby in the house and changes will be inevitable.  I wouldn't wish those feelings I experienced on my very worst enemy.  It was horrific.  So with that, I've been working on a plan to do as much preventing of PPD as possible, besides having prescription meds ready and waiting in the hands of our hott Target pharmacist.

• The very first part of my plan was to read about PPD and stories of other women who went through it.  There are a ton of great websites to peruse if you're interested or scared or whatever.  What I found out was that women suffer from PPD for their own reasons - I had to figure out mine.  It was easy - I grieved my old life.  That person died, and now I am a new person.

• So, what are my plans?  EAT MY PLACENTA, have my mother stay with us for two weeks, have our meals planned and ready to be made without a store run, have new toys and plenty of attention on Patrick (even if it's not from me), make sure my hubby is on board for supporting my breastfeeding plan, and have good magazines & books to keep me occupied while nursing.  Any other suggestions?  I'm desperate.

• On a lighter note, I am going to a bridal shower today.  We get to wear humongous hats and eat amazing food.  And Daddy is on toddler duty.  This thrills me.  Happy Sunday!

cincinnatti

One of my close friends from high school lives down in the Cincinnati area, and she graciously invited Patrick and I to come stay with her family for a couple of days.  We had a really nice visit, despite my toddler's increasing amount of tantrums and protests.  Parenting is getting harder and harder!  Or should I just say it's becoming more frustrating?  I'm learning how truly patient I am capable of being (or how fast I can fly off the handle).

Probably the best part of this trip (besides seeing Megan) was the food.  Now you all know I love my food - I never miss a meal, and I seriously appreciate some good eats.  We got spoiled by Megan's husband multiple times.  Our first night there he made us an Asian stir-fry with all the fresh veggies I brought them, and instead of rice he used quinoa, which was amazing (and so nutritious!).  My heart was beaming as I watched Patrick inhale all that goodness.  Then we all busted out our smart phones to figure out the correct pronunciation of it.  I always thought it was QUIN - o - UH.  Nope, it's KEEN - wah.  Stupid.

The next morning he made us egg, cheese and canadian bacon sandwiches on English muffins.  And even chicken sausage to go with it!  Megan got hers made in a heart shape.  (I know, who the hell is this guy?)

The suburb that Megan lives in has some amazing parks so she took us to one that was situated on a lake where you could rent paddle boats, walk trails through the woods, run around a splash pad, cook out in the shelters - it was just a generally beautiful place.

More good food included Dewey's Gourmet Pizza for another dinner (Pat and I got half garlic, half killer veggie minus olives - oh yeah, and a salad with peppercorn ranch dressing which is only my favorite of all time), as well as Graeter's Ice Cream for an afternoon snack.  There I had a black raspberry chip and Patrick had strawberry.  I cannot even explain how delicious this ice cream was.  It was so smooth and creamy, and the chocolate chips weren't chips but chunks.  OMG.

I know this sounds crazy, but I really enjoyed the car ride with Patrick.  I was a little anxious about how he'd do, but ended up loving the time we spent together.  He was a gem for the majority of both trips.  It's a 3.5 hour drive so it's no piece of cake.  What got us through?  This bad boy.

dual screen portable dvd player

I know most of you are going "WELL DUH I've had one of those for years."  It was $89.99 at Target and worth every penny.  This kept Patrick occupied for hours.  I bought his first real movie - Toy Story - but he didn't want anything to do with it.  We watched over 10 episodes of Dora the Explorer.  What a joy.  By the end of the trip home I turned on the radio on up front and jammed out to some country. 

And obviously we had snacks.  A lot.  My Patrick's newest favorites are all from a recent trip to Trader Joe's - mini peanut butter crackers, real mozzarella cheese sticks, and clementines. 

Thanks for an awesome gettaway Megan!  We'll miss you and baby Miles!