deliciousness discovered

Heaven on earth. Today I discovered it. S'mores Cheesecake Bars, courtesy of Annie's Eats. The most scrumdiddillyumptious delight I've ever created. I'm no food photographer, nor am I an accomplished baker, but I satisfied am I with my first sincere effort tonight. Next time, I will drizzle a thinner line of chocolate across the top, but otherwise I have no complaints about the dessert. I am most impressed with the cheesecake center. I had reservation about my ability to successfully bake a cheesecake, but I pulled it off. The consistency is ideal, very rich and thick. I'm also pleased with browning of the marshmallows on top. The recipe called for a kitchen torch, which I have not, so I used the low broiler setting and watched for two and a half minutes straight. The mallows ended up with just the right amount of crisping if you ask me. Having written about these delicious treats, I'm off now to eat another one.

Today's food challenge is meatballs for meatball subs tonight. I've done meatballs in the past, but today I'm attempting a new recipe. Wish me luck!

rollin'

Thanks to a lucky craigslist.com find this weekend, Addison received her first big girl bike! And she pretty much didn't need our help. At all. Move over Mom & Dad, I've got this under control. Proud doesn't even begin to touch on the feeling I felt as Addison rolled down the street toward our neighborhood pond. I was completely overwhelmed and amazed. I assume she was equally thrilled by the bike and her progress, because she asked to go on two bike rides yesterday. Both rides ended with a popsicle break.

day trips, moving on up

This week has been a Mommy and Addy week, with the delightful exception of Wednesday when Robert stayed home with us. We've kept busy doing errands, cleaning house, watching movies, and running around the city having fun. On Wednesday with Daddy Bear, we joined Grandma Betty at Wakulla Springs for Addison's first-ever "jungle cruise". Intially she had some degree of reluctance: the heat, the crowd of people, the WAITING IN LINE. Ugh. A princess should never be expected to endure such things! Once the ride began, Addison perked up and scanned the riverside for animals. Her favorite creature was either the alligators or the manatee...she can't decide on one. We also splashed in the water to cool off. While splashing, we found Addy's friend from school and they played together for quite some time. To end our trip we ate dinner at the Lodge. The food was tasty, but the service was quite slow.

Today Addison and I raced around town all day. We spent time at the park this morning, then dashed across town to eat lunch with Papa and Nonnie and spend some quality time with Nonnie's dog, Poppy. We spent a short amount of time at home before leaving again to welcome my dad, Addison's Doodah, back from the BSA National Jamboree. She was ecstatic to see her Doodah again, but the scent of delicious Cake Shop cupcakes lured her attention eventually. We used the rest of the afternoon to build tents out of bedsheets, watched a little bit of TV and nursed my growing migraine. Addison as usual was outstanding in her compassion and understanding when my migraine hit. She softly rubbed my head and kissed my cheek while I attempted to sleep. She's not great at leaving me to rest, but waking to he smiling face, even when enduring a migraine, never upsets me. Robert arrived home and escorted Addison out for a walk to the park which allowed me to heal my pain in peace. We dined on a late dinner of pork chops, green beans and mashed potatoes and celebrated with a variety of cupcakes thanks to my mom and The Cake Shop. As has been the norm this week, Addison ended her day with a partial viewing of "Mary Poppins", read three books with her Daddy Bear and went promptly to sleep. I love days when she doesn't nap...bedtime without arguments!

Currently contemplating what fun Addison and I can have tomorrow!

BTW, when Addison returns to school next week, she will move up to Ms. Donna's 3-4 year old class! VERY exciting move!!

dress-up fun, new favorite movies

Betty recently crafted a Wendy Moira Angela Darling costume for little Miss Addy. Because of computer difficulties, I have only been able to post the photos of said costume to my facebook page. If you are not a facebook friend of mine, you can view the photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2887457&id=5247387&l=f90286dd05
I will be updating that facebook album to include other photos from the month of July.

We purchased new movies for our growing Disney collection last week. We added Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Bed-knobs and Broomsticks, and Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is by far Addison's favorite movie this week. She already has "Spoon Full of Sugar" memorized and sings it frequently while playing. We watched Alice in Wonderland once and will probably not watch it again for quite some time. The only part of that movie that she truly enjoyed was the caterpillar who smokes. She now pretends to smoke straws or sticks in imitation of that caterpillar. Of all the parts she could remember, why that one?! She enjoyed Robin Hood, but it's been overshadowed for the time being by Mary Poppins. Bed-knobs and Broomsticks has been another favorite, though the storyline is completely and totoally over her ability to comprehend. I don't really like the story at all myself. I would be OK if we never watched it again. Unfortunately, Addison really enjoys the flying bed scenes, so I am certain we'll watch it multiple times. I'm off now to watch this weekend's third and final showing of Mary Poppins.

yard sale

Today we had our summer yard sale. We were scheduled to start at 8am, but as usual shoppers arrived starting at 7:15. It's frustrating, but those early arrivals always buy things. The down-side for them is that they don't actually see the whole spread of items because they arrive when we only have one or two of our tables set up and full. Today's sale was extremely profitable for us, and we were thrilled to move all those unneeded items along.

my school made the news...

...too bad it was for something so negative. Just in case you saw this article on tallahassee.com or wctv.tv, know that the teacher describe was not me, nor was it one of my students.

Frustration consumes me now. For every one step forward we take as a school, we jump about three feet back in the opposite direction. I want nothing more than for my school's image to improve. Today it seems an impossible feat. I think I'm most frustrated that someone at my school felt compelled to share this story with the news media. I find that to be inappropriate and counterproductive to our purpose. The PACE school goal is to promote a positive, caring, academic environment for all students. How on earth is spreading this sort of negative news furthering our cause? I am embarrassed and disappointed today.

As for happier news, Robert and I had a fantastic weekend away in Apalachicola celebrating our anniversary.

summer, sleep habits, and sweet nothings

It's summer! I am relaxed, rejuvenated and refreshed. So far, I've only had two weeks off of work, but it has been enough. Teaching over the summer is idyllic: 9 - 1, Monday through Friday. Average of four students per class. Could it get any better? I do not think so. I have two weeks left of summer school, then two weeks off before the fall semester begins.

Addison's night terrors returned with full-force after our recent Disney World trip. She had three night terrors in six days. The night terrors have gotten much, much more intense with some unpleasant side effects that I will not describe here, but (knock on wood) we're at seven days without one! Let's hope for day eight!

Seven years of wedded bliss have passed for Robert and me, bringing our total of years together up to eleven. When I stop to think about all we've accomplished in those seven years, I'm impressed. We graduated from high school, college and grad school, bought a car and a house, began our professional careers, and most importantly created a life. Words really fail me when I attempt to describe just how lucky I feel to share my life with Robert. He supports me, guides me, challenges me, and loves me through any and every obstacle that has come our way. I love Robert for the wonderful husband and friend he is to me. I love him for the energetic, entertaining, loving father he is to Addison, and I know she adores and admires him, too. I would not change even one minute of the last eleven years. I love you, Robert!