Carlie is my Dancing Queen

The past school year Carlie took dance classes twice a week at Studio Elan (the best studio EVER!) with her cousin Claire. She took a hip-hop class with Teacher Hillary and a tap/jazz class with Teacher Jayce. I have had Carlie in dance class since she was two years old. Many of you know that Carlie was VERY developmentally delayed, has an educational diagonsis of high-functioning autism, and has been diagnosed with low muscle tone. She did not walk until she was 18 months old. Plus she is a foot taller than EVERY kid her age (just like mama). Studio Elan (in particular Jayce) have been instrumental in helping Carlie become more coordinated and confident through all the wonderful dance classes she has taken for the past 5 years. I can't even begin to thank Jayce enough for being patient with my daughter who when she first started dance would have SEVERAL melt downs per class, couldn't even do a front tuck (everyone else in class could), and usually seemed like she was in her own world. You wouldn't even know that she is the same child now, she has grown soooooooooo much!! What is even more miraculous is Carlie pretty much doesn't have any of the symptoms of autism anymore. I would say now that she is not autistic, just unique!! This miracle I owe to the TEAM at Early Intervention in The Dalles. She attended preschool there for 4 years and they worked miracles. Also her team at Colonel Wright Elementary School in The Dalles were amazing. Carlie's new school in Kelso can NOT believe me when I tell them what Carlie used to be like. They say she has NO signs of autism or learning disablities....they in fact say she is incredibly bright (I already knew that) and is doing AMAZING in school. Anyways, I know this post started about dancing and I have gone off on a tangent, but I just feel so blessed to have had so much help raising my daughter that I didn't quite know what to do with. She was such a mystery to me. Carlie is such a ray of sunshine and joy in my life. I just wanted to thank all those that have helped her develop into the beautiful girl that she is.

NOW BACK TO DANCE.....

Just like her mother, she loves to dance...even if she is not the greatest dancer in the world

(I think she is the greatest!!!). But, we both like to SHAKE it!!!

Here recital was so amazing....The dance recital told the story of Peter Pan....every dance class was a different character in the show. It was so nice that all the dances flowed together and told a story. Carlie was an Indian and a Lost Girl.

SPIRIT...You just won a not so new van!!!!

This past school year some of my teacher buddies and I decided that the climate at our school was SUPER LAME. So we created a school improvement program called SPIRIT

S - Success

P - Pride

I - Integrity

R - Respect

I - Involvement

T - Teamwork

We came up with school rules (we focused on what to do and not on what not to do) that all had to do with SPIRIT, we held monthly assemblies to recognize students and staff for all the positive things they were doing, we had contests, student of the week, student/staff of the month, SPIRIT bucks that could be earned to buy cool stuff, etc. Basically, we were trying to recognize the kids that were already doing positive things at school and we tried to motivate others to join this positive behavior and attitude movement. I could write a book on all the things we tried to do last year...some successful, some not so much.

One of the fun things we did was the ROCK STAR AWARD. To be eligible for the drawing you had to meet the following criteria for the WHOLE school year!

- 4 or less excused absences

- no referrals

- no tardies

- no incompletes (our school did not have D's or F's only INCOMPLETES)

Needless to say, only 12 kids qualified for the drawing. We had the mechanics class buy a car and fix it up. We were hoping for maybe a "cooler" car, but we played it up and a great kid won this "groovy" van.

If you are really bored you can click on the links below to see our main SPIRIT documents.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7YlmUOcfO9bNDQxYjc0NDktZGZmNy00ZWRlLTg2ODgtMGIwYzkzNjdlNzUx&hl=en_US

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7YlmUOcfO9bNWEyMmNmYTItNmU3OS00MDU2LTk1ZGYtOGZjZDZjMzRlYzNk&hl=en_US

Potato Cheese Broccoli Soup

First of all, I LOVE soup!!! I desperately miss the Wildflower Bread Company in Arizona and all their amazing veggie soups. I now live in a town with no amazing places to get soup so I am forced to try to make it myself. But, I always have a hard time finding vegeterian soups that I want and that my family will also like (they are NOT soup people...I know they are dumb). I tried a new recipe tonight and I declare it a success. I found a recipe called Potato Cheese Soup on allrecipes.com and made some modifications. My husband does not care for soup at ALL and he said several times that he really liked this soup. I asked him if he was trying to be nice and not hurt my feelings, but he assured me that it was a very tasty soup and that I was allowed to make it again!! I have tried MANY potato soups and have always found them to be bland or too thin, but this one is thick and flavorful. I was even able to get my kiddos to eat it...miracles happen!! Please excuse the picture with the shadow of my phone and my long bony witch hands trying to take a picture of my soup. I was having problems.

We Love the Zoo

Back over Memorial Day weekend we went to the Oregon Zoo with the Magana Family (my husband's sister's family). We had so much fun I bought a membership.....which reminds me we need to go to the zoo more often!!!

I am Ridiculous

I am proclaiming for all 3 of my blog readers that I am ridiculous and I am going to be better about blogging. I think it is crazy that I blog A LOT less now that I am a stay at home mom then when I was working 60 hours a week. I have tons more free time and need to use it more wisely. So I am going to change my background and stuff and then blog about the last 7 months (yes I am that behind). My posts will probably be boring to everyone except my sister and my mom and my stalkers, but I need to blog....this is my family journal.

I am Forty and Fabulous

My family threw me a big surprise party for my 40th birthday back in March.

As you can see it was a retro theme and TONS of fun!

S'mores Bars and German Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake Bars.........insanely yummy!!!

I made two new desserts last night and they were AMAZING!! On the left is the S'mores Bar and on the right is the German Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake Bars. They are both from Paula Deen's Best Desserts,
The link for the S'mores Bars
http://www.pauladeenmagazine.com/recipe_results.php?id=382

GERMAN CHOCOLATE OOEY-GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 cup butter, melted and divided (you know if it has a cup of butter -it's good!)
1 large egg
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 16oz box confectioners' sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter, and egg. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar until smooth. Add remaining melted butter , beating at slow speed until combined. Stir in coconut and pecans. Pour over cake mix layer, spreading evenly. Bake for 45 minutes (the center should remain slightly gooey). Remove from oven. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.


ENJOY!!! I liked the S'mores Bars the best, but my hubby like the German Chocolate Bars the best. What do you think?

Pesto Pasta & Bread Sticks....oh YUMMY

Tonight I made some CRAZY, yummy stuff. My husband couldn't quit telling me how wonderful it was AND my kids ate it and LIKED it!!!

I made Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Bread Sticks and the pesto was even homemade. I usually buy the pesto pre-made, but I made it for the first time today and I will never buy store bought again. It is incredibly easy and delicious.

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

12 ounces sliced mushrooms

3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces bowtie pasta

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup pesto (see recipe below)

1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Place tomatoes and mushrooms on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss with your fingers, making sure everything is coated with olive oil. Sprinkly lightly with kosher salt and pepper. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until tomatoes look plump and some of the skins just start to split.

3. When the water comes to a boil, add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions.

4. While the pasta is cooking, place the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently until the nuts turn golden brown, about 7-9 minutes.

5. To assemble, toss the hot drained pasta with pesto and parmesan cheese. Top with tomatoes and mushrooms and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

*** This recipe is from Our Best Bites


Incredible Bread Sticks
I will be making these ALL the time. I also made her Garlic Bread Seasoning.....oh man they are so YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click on the link below for great step-by-step pictures and instructions.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/breadsticks-and-pizza-dough/

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/garlic-bread-seasoning/

Incredible Fresh Basil Pesto
Click on the link below for great step-by-step pictures and instructions.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/fresh-basil-pesto/

As you can see I am kind obsessed with my Cookbook Our Best Bites by Wells and Jones. Alot of the recipes are on their blog....BUT some are not and it is so much more handy to have the cookbook in front of you.

Carlie loves Softball

This is Carlie's 2nd year playing softball. She is on the same team as her cousin Claire and her Uncle David is the coach. Here are some pics from her first game this season.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Look at the cute candy gram my hubby and kids gave me for Mother's Day this year.

Berkeley is THREE!

My sweet little boy turned three back in April. He is such a little firecracker. I do not have the energy to keep up with him.
He loves........
TO EAT: pancakes, hot dogs (he just ate 5 the other night for dinner), fruit snacks, bananas, yogurt, any kind of fruit, peanut butter, and sandwiches. He eats ALL morning long and then not so much in the afternoon and evening
TO: play outside, give kisses, run away from mom and scare her to death, be with his daddy, help mom clean, ride his scooter, run in circles, tell his mom NO and see what he can get away with, dance, play with his big "sissy", and play with his train set
TO WATCH: Mickey Mouse Club, GeoTrax, Jake and the Pirates

He is very LOUD, determined, fun, happy, inquisitive, crazy handsome, stubborn, and silly little boy, and I LOVE him to pieces!!!!!

Easter 2011

I know it is June and Easter was forever ago, but TOO bad. I have been a single mom (more on that later...don't get worried Corey and I are still married and always will be) and have been horrible about blogging. My life is changing soon (more on that later..:)) so I am trying to get caught up on blogging.
I LOVED my kids outfits for Easter and wanted to show them off. They were so pretty and handsome in pink.

Easter Egg Hunt

Every year there is a BIG easter egg hunt in our little town up at Sorosis Park. Berkeley's favorite treat - Ding Dong
Seriously....this is the 1-2 year old section. Too small of an area and a bunch of parents that should let their kid get their own candy. Berkeley did great though.
Pretty Carlie

Carlie was in the 5-6 year old section

My cuties
Pretty sweet view of Mt. Adams in my town (soon to not be my town anymore...we are moving in about a month)

Is it just me or does Berk look afraid?

Carlie and her buddy from Kindergarten

My kiddos with the tooth fairy. Carlie thought is was pretty awesome since the tooth fairy had just visited her the other day.

Psych Party 2011

I am the Stake Camp Director. For all my non-LDS friends - this means that I am in charge of a week long girls camp in the summer for girls ages 12-18. This calling consumes my life sometimes. The past few months I have been working like crazy for our Psych Party. We introduced the theme to the girls and leaders of the stake with a silly skit, showed a fun video of last year's girls camp, sang songs, ate yummy food, did a little certifying, and got organized. It was TOO much work, but I think that it went well. Thanks to my all my assistants....I could not have pulled this off without you!

Copper War

A lovely young lady, Hannah Olheiser came to me one day in my classroom requesting me to be the sponsor in her desire to raise money for The Make a Wish Foundation. She told me a touching story of her inspiration and how could I possibly say no?

The first thing we did was sponsor a Copper War at our school. We put all the 4th period classes on 10 different teams. I was the captain of the purple team. You put pennies in your own team jars and them silver coins and dollars in other people's jars. Pennies are positive points and all other money are negative points. Your quest is to stay in the positive. Of course I bragged all over school that my team would win. I even wrote a "beautiful" song about how the purple team would be victorious and sang it on the video announcements. Of course, if you tell teenagers that you will win, they will do everything in their power to make you lose. It was AMAZING to watch the students and teachers be so generous and competitive. Just when you think teens are selfish and too self-absorbed to serve or give to others, they surprise you. What a great experience. As could be expected my team ended up losing (we were something like negative 12,000 points - even after bringing in 150 bucks in pennies), BUT we raised the most money. All in all we ended up raising almost $1300 to help grant some wonderful child dealing with a horrible illness their wish. I wish I had taken more pictures, but here are a few of the kids that volunteered to come in a count all that money.