Brad's Grandpa Gene went home to be with the Lord tonight at age 88. Gene fought in World War II, raised three sons, worked as a salesman, lived in Indiana and Florida. He taught me how to wash windows with newspapers to avoid streaking :) Several years ago, Gene and Barbara moved to Friendsview in Newberg. It was great to live near and visit. What a blessing for us! We will miss you, Otis Gene!
What to do on a Friday afternoon before Halloween weekend? Carve pumpkins, of course! First pumpkin ever for Josepha! Mariah hollowed hers and then took it home to use the special instruments for her carving: Justin was super ambitious and carved two gourds: First jack-o-lantern for Humberto, too!! Chris ran out of time to finish his mouth :) Happy Halloween! :)
After having the stomach flu for four days, I decided not to make muffins on my first day back to work - for everyone's sake. So this week we have Muffin Friday!! And since it's Halloween, Kaytee and I added some orange food coloring and sprinkles to make them festive! Rich Biscuit-Style Muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2 c flour 2 1/2 t baking powder 2 T sugar 1/2 t salt 1/2 c shortening 1 egg, beaten 3/4 c milk
1. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the shortening.
2. In another bowl, combine egg and milk. Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I doubled this recipe and it made 24 muffins. I thought they were very good, but I really love a hot-from-the-oven biscuit. Sometimes I mix up just enough Bisquick for one or two just for a snack :)
My CE2 friends tried out our experiment, but I don't think they really liked it. They were probably expecting something more sweet and exciting.
I would make these again if I wanted biscuits shaped like muffins :)
Christine got married earlier this month in Pennsylvania and has some wonderful pictures!! Click HERE to see some... and if you leave a comment on the photographer's site, she gets a free photo credit - woohoo!
With no school last Thursday and Friday for parent conferences, I thought it was the perfect time to take more students to the farm! We brought a rotting pumpkin to treat the ladies: Luis wasted no time snatching up one: Next up, apples for the cows: They LOVE Skyler: Maybe we'll stay on this side of the fence... Enough playing - it's time to get to work and move some posts. While the others took each trip in the golf cart, Israel and I walked up and down the hill. We decided it would definitely count as our workout for the day! Those posts were heavy, but not too much for Roberto! Farmer Michael was playing on the dozer and Hilda decided she wanted to drive: Look out for the car!! The highlight of the day was probably driving the golf cart around the farm: Cammy sure loves having people to play with: What a perfect day of playing, working, laughing and sweating! We can't wait to go back for more fun!
Spending the weekend trying not to die from the stomach flu meant that Brad and I missed out on a bunch of fun stuff :(
The marching band played in its third field show competition, giving its best performance of the season and beating all but the largest bands. And our students received the People's Choice award - outstanding!
Sunday was supposed to be Run Like Hell, a Halloween-themed 5K in Portland. Considering we couldn't even drag ourselves out of bed, running a race was definitely out of the question. Maybe we'll put on our costumes and go for a run this weekend :)
And not wanting to share our germs with frail family members, we stayed home from Grandpa Gene's birthday party Sunday at Friendsview.
Bummer. Here's to good health and no more missing out!
With all the snow dumping on the mountain, Timberline talking of opening some runs tomorrow, and me home from work, you'd think I'd be playing hooky and enjoying the first big snowfall. If only.
That stomach bug I had two weeks ago came back... bad. Brad and I were hit at exactly the same time about 4:30 Saturday morning. I thought we might die. I don't know what it is, but we're passing it back and forth with our friends. Enough already. Ready to be done.
Happy Muffin Wednesday, everyone! Today's experiment was Great Lemonade Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400 degree.
1 3/4 c flour 1/4 c sugar 2 1/2 t baking powder 3/4 t salt 1 egg, beaten 1 can (6 0z) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed 1/4 c milk 1/3 c cooking oil 1/2 c chopped walnuts sugar to sprinkle
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
2. In another bowl, combine egg, 1/2 c lemonade, milk and oil. Add to flour mixture quickly, stirring just until moist and blended. Fold in walnuts.
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, dividing evenly. Bake 25 minutes (or less!!). Remove from tins . While still hot, brush with remaining lemonade and sprinkle with sugar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I started to smell these at 24 minutes and found their little bottoms burned :( Still, the tops were good, moist and lemony. These are OK but not amazing. Overheard in CE2:
"A little too much lemon... But I'm not saying they're disgusting or anything," Paul said as he picked up his second one.
Mackenzi gave me a thumbs up and said the lemon was just right.
During a competitive field show (like the halftime show at a football game), the "pit" is the area on the front sideline for the non-marching instruments: electric bass, synthesizer, cymbals, vibes, marimbas, xylophones, bells, concert chimes, concert bass drum, gong, congas, jimbe, brake drum, triangle, chimes, solo mic, speakers, soundboard, etc, etc, etc. It's a ton of stuff.
The trick is that during competition, we are timed and have about 90-120 seconds to get all that equipment set up and plugged into the soundboard. (And then off again after the show) That's where the "pit crew" comes in. And I have the best one around!
Halftime is about to start: Here comes the band and props: Unloading the carts and setting up the pit: Showtime! All done. Load 'em up! Go, go, go! I love this picture of Daniel! And we're done. Another job well done by the THS pit crew! :)
Gene fought in World War II, raised three sons, worked as a salesman, lived in Indiana and Florida. He taught me how to wash windows with newspapers to avoid streaking :)
Several years ago, Gene and Barbara moved to Friendsview in Newberg. It was great to live near and visit. What a blessing for us!
We will miss you, Otis Gene!
First pumpkin ever for Josepha!
Mariah hollowed hers and then took it home to use the special instruments for her carving:
Justin was super ambitious and carved two gourds: 
First jack-o-lantern for Humberto, too!!
Chris ran out of time to finish his mouth :)
Happy Halloween! :)
After having the stomach flu for four days, I decided not to make muffins on my first day back to work - for everyone's sake. So this week we have Muffin Friday!!
And since it's Halloween, Kaytee and I added some orange food coloring
and sprinkles
to make them festive!
Rich Biscuit-Style Muffins
I doubled this recipe and it made 24 muffins. I thought they were very good, but I really love a hot-from-the-oven biscuit. Sometimes I mix up just enough Bisquick for one or two just for a snack :)
Luis wasted no time snatching up one:
Next up, apples for the cows:
They LOVE Skyler:
Maybe we'll stay on this side of the fence...
Enough playing - it's time to get to work and move some posts. While the others took each trip in the golf cart, Israel and I walked up and down the hill. We decided it would definitely count as our workout for the day!
Those posts were heavy, but not too much for Roberto! 
Farmer Michael was playing on the dozer and Hilda decided she wanted to drive:
Look out for the car!!
The highlight of the day was probably driving the golf cart around the farm:
Cammy sure loves having people to play with:
What a perfect day of playing, working, laughing and sweating! We can't wait to go back for more fun!
With all the snow dumping on the mountain, Timberline talking of opening some runs tomorrow, and me home from work, you'd think I'd be playing hooky and enjoying the first big snowfall. If only.
Happy Muffin Wednesday, everyone!
Today's experiment was Great Lemonade Muffins:
I started to smell these at 24 minutes and found their little bottoms burned :(
Still, the tops were good, moist and lemony. These are OK but not amazing.
Overheard in CE2:
Here comes the band and props:
Unloading the carts and setting up the pit:
Showtime!
All done. Load 'em up!
Go, go, go!
I love this picture of Daniel!
And we're done. Another job well done by the THS pit crew!
:)
