Charlie Brown Christmas...

You have to love this calm CD. I was first introduced to it by my good friend, Kami at college. And this year....after several years of listening to other peoples' copies, I have my own to listen to and enjoy thanks to my parents. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Christ the Lord is Born Today

A great song that says it all....
http://www.sovgracemin.org/media/mp3/savior/christ_the_lord_is_born_today.mp3

'Twas the Teachers' Night Before Winter Break

'Twas the days before Christmas
And all through the school,
The teachers were trying

To just keep their cool

The hallways were hung
With Chrismtas Art
(Some made in November to get a head start).

The children were bouncing
Off ceilings and walls,
And seemed to forget
How to walk in the halls.

When out of the teachers' lounge
With "Holiday Shirts"
And jingle bell jewels
The teachers looked festive
Enforcing the rules.

Suddenly, from down the hallway
There came such a clatter
The principal went in
To see what was the matter.

The teachers were hiding
And trying to refuel
On coffee and cookies
And treats from the Yule.

When what to their wondering
Ears do they hear,
But the ringing of school bells:
It's the children they fear!

More rapid than reindeer
The little ones came
And the teachers all shouted
And called them by name:

Walk Vincent, Walk Tanner,
Walk Tyler and Sammy.
Sit Jamie, Sit Laura
Sit Tara and Tammy.

To your desks in the room,
To your spots in the line,
Now walk to them, walk to them,
No running this time!

So straight to their places
The children all went
With fear of detention
Where they could be sent.

With manuals of lessons
Cradled in arms
The teachers began
To use all their charms.

But the lessons presented
All fell on deaf ears
The children were thinking
of Santa's reindeer.

With a toss of their hands
They put manuals aside,
Went straight to the cupboards
Where videos hide.

And laying their finger
On the TV remote
They sat back to write
Their last Christmas note.

But you could hear them exclaim
At the end of the day
Have a wonderful, happy, and LOOOOOOOOONG holiday!!

The Cookie Exchange...

I was able to leave school soon after the last bell rang and then I headed home to bake my cookies fr the cookie exchange that night. Well....something had happened...I didn't put enough flour in the batter. So rather than having nice peppermint patty cookies they were more like mint chocolate pancakes. But not to worrry, I was able to get into the Christmas cookie stores from my earlier baking day on Tuesday. So depite the problems, I still had something to contribute.:)
The cookie exchange itself was a huge success thanks to my friend Beth and her homemade hot chocolate making skills and everyone's fabulous cookies. For a little more fun, we also had a housewarming party for my friend Kelly. She was totally surprised, but knew something was up when she saw her sisters there... Anyway, It was a great time. Here are some of the pics from the party.

Psalm 63

My friend, Jim took Psalm 63 and made it into a beautiful song.

Oh God, you are my God and I long for you.

Oh God, you are my God and I search for you.

In a dry and weary land, only You can satisfy.

For your love is more than life.

Only You will I glorify!

I will praise You, Lord for all of my days.

And in Your name I will lift up my praise.

I will praise You Lord.

For You alone are God and You made this one Your child.

And I will seek you in Your sanctuary.

For I have tasted of Your glory.

And it is good...and it is good.

I will praise You Lord for all of my days.

And in Your name, I will lift up my praise.

I will praise You, Lord.

For You alone are God and You made this one Your child.

Major crashing.

The roof caved in.

My house needs Ty Pennington and an Extreme Makeover!

OK...looking good...

but then...

The beginnings of my gingerbread house...

The package has been shipped!

Again...Congratulations, Heather!

Isn't that ring around the moon enchanting? - Anne of Avonlea

Mr. Moon...Moon, bright and shiney moon,

Oh, won't you please shine down on me?

A beautiful night with a enchanting moon.

And the winner is....

HEATHER

Congratulations Heather on winning the 100th Post Give-away!

I will be sending out the package this week.

Thanks to all of you that commented in the past 10 days.

Please stop by again.

Jessica

Heather, Could you please e-mail me at jessitay_99@yahoo.com so that I can get the necessary information needed to mail the package? Thanks.

Thanksgiving Prep - Wednesday

The bread crumbs are ready for our favourite stuffing!

Thanksgiving Prep - Tuesday

Pumpkins of course for the Pumpkin Pie!

Don't worry Jeff, there will be whipped cream.

Thanksgiving Prep...Tuesday

The Cranberry Orange Nut Bread is baked and ready to go

on small plates along with the fruit cake.

The 100th Post Give-Away!

This is my 100th post and with that comes celebration. So in honor of this post, I will be giving away a small package of goodies. In order to qualify for the Give-Away, you must leave a comment during the next 10 days (11/15-11/25). (I am giving it 10 days because I know many of you will be busy with Thanksgiving preparations.)
Your name will be placed in a basket and I will draw 1 name. If I pick your name, I will post it on my blog 11/26/2006. Shortly after, you will recieve by mail the small package.

What will be in the package?
An altered CD (either Thanksgiving or Christmas in style).
A couple of photos from my trip to Europe.
A package of note cards.
Some edible treats of course.

Ahhh yes...Happy Birthday!

I hope you are having a great birthday mom!

Love, Jessica

A November Day at the Beach

The sky was so interesting Friday. It reminded me of a three tiered candle.

I am always intrigued by what I see in the cemetery.

This was on one of the grave stones.

It makes me wonder why the family decided to have it carved on it. It obviously means something...something perhaps we will never know, but at least we can wonder.

B-B-B- Bats

So the last 2 days of this week, I was subbing in third grade. I found out on Thursday that every 3rd grade class is studying bats. OK...very cool. We did this unit in Kindergarten and had a great time. We read Stellaluna and did a Venn Diagram comparing bats to birds.

When I got to school on Thursday, I found out that we would be doing the same thing, so I was ready to go. I had no idea what an impression it would actually make until Friday and today. At the beginning of the lesson, we sing a song called B-B-B Bats. I think this a great ways for kids to remember the facts that they are learning, so of course we sang it twice through... Little did I know that I would be singing the chorus to the song for the last 3 days. The last time this happened (when I got a song stuck in my mind), it was with last year's kindergarten class...with the song, Dazzling Dancing D.

Charlotte's Web

For reading Charlotte's Web, the third graders and I will celebrate

by watching the movie and having a yummy piece of the cake!

Good Job, Third Graders!

Lily

Has it been a while since you wrote to a friend?

Perhaps today would be a good day to send a note of encouragement.

An Autumn Walk...

He makes all things beautiful in his time!

A new month already and finally a chance to post...

I suppose I have hed several opportunities to post a new blog entry, but I have not felt like it at all or I have been just too busy with everything.

I finally finished all the hats and cards for the art show and am excited to see if they will sell. I certainly hope they will. I would like to have a little Christmas/travel money that I can use any way that I would like. Aside from the busyness of everything, I have been working everyday almost which is an excellent thing! God has provided in amazing ways for everything that I need. So now it is Sunday...a break from everything and I think I will finish reading my Gladys Taber book, Stillmeadow Sampler while drinking a a mug of vanilla nut biscotti coffee.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Alphabet Meme

I saw this on Plastic Tupperware Queen's blog site and I thought that it looked fun...
A - Accent: Western New York (I guess I have an accent according to my friends.)
B - Breakfast Item: yogurt
C - Countries you would love to visit: Italy, Hungary, Ireland
D - Dad's Name: David
E - Essential everyday item: contact lenses
F - Flavor ice cream: Moosetraks
G - Gold or Silver?: gold
H - Happy Place: Kitchen
I - Insomnia: none here. I am always ready for some sleep. I try for 8 hours a night.
J - Job - teacher
K - Kids: I teach them and get the privalege of sending them home after a "long day". But I do love my nieces and nephews!
L - Living arrangements: A little house with my parents
M - Mom's birthplace: Eustus (I don't even know if I spelled it right.)
N - Name your pets: NO pets, but if I did have a pet, it would have to be something from literature
O - Overnight hospital stays: No hospital stays - thankfully!
P - Phobia: I am not sure...I guess mice.
Q - Question: Do I really have to iron this?
R - Religion: Christian
S - Siblings: 4 siblings...R, L, T, Z
T - Time you wake up: 5:45am
U - Unnatural hair colors you've had:
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: LIMA BEANS - yuck!
W - Worst habit: biting my nails
X - X-rays you've had: teeth x-rays
Y - Yummy: applesauce/squash - okay Thanksgiving dinner
Z - Zoo animal: exotic birds

One of my favorite pictures taken by my dear friend, Tanya at Saharna in Moldova.

In who's steps do you follow, Christ's or the world's?

Photo taken by Tanya in Rezina, Moldova.

The Hats...

So far, I have 4 hats done. If I could just knit and crochet a little faster...that would be great!

New Cards

Hats off to knitting...

After figuring out how to make this hat...I am hooked on knitting. Even though it takes me forever...the process is definitely worth the product!

Thanks Debbie Bliss for making the art of knitting not so impossible.

New Cards for the Art Show!!!

The Tooth Fairy Card - for those children that have lost their first tooth. Coins can be slipped under the pillow (There is a small envelope.) in the card.

A pleasant friendship card with quotes from Dickenson and Emerson written on the inside...

Five down...many more to go.

I would like to have 30 handmade cards for the show.

I would also like to have 10-15 photo cards too. The photos used on the cards will be from my trip to Romania and Moldova this summer. Most of the proceeds from the photo cards will be sent to my friend who is a missionary in Moldova.

I am also making hats - child and doll size.

If I get ambitious...that is a big if...I will post a picture of them.

The contest...

The top left is the entered pie for today's pie baking contest...

I hope they like it!

UPDATE: Apparently they did...I won the 2nd Place Ribbon and $10.

Grasshopper Cookies

Hey, Rach...

Remember when dad first bought and brought home Grasshopper cookies. I was not going to eat them because I thought they were actually cookies made with grasshoppers.:)