We went to see Old Crow Medicine Show tonight. They were SO good, as usual. I put two videos up. One is old but they still sang that song and the other one is from a month or two ago. If you have never heard them you should! They are so fun and so talented.
Enjoy, I am going to go cuddle with Madeline. Good night!

Here is another one from last night. Madeline is enamored with Christmas lights. She is so expressive! Anyways...here ya go!

SORRY!

It has been too long since I have posted anything. Here is a new video of Madeline playing this morning. She has been waking up in fantastic moods and lately has just been so funny and happy. As usual, she is a joy to be around...

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Sparkling Wine Poached Pear, Candied Pecans and Spiced Pastry Cream Tart

This was a lovely tart. Perfect for the time of year and the flavors all worked so well together. I was very happy with the outcome!

As much as I would love to cling onto the summer's bounty, i am ready to accept that fall is here and it is now time to start baking with fall fruits and vegetables. I do love this time of year though especially because of the wild mushrooms. Within this next month we will hopefully be feasting on fresh chanterelles and boletes! I can taste the forest already!

Grilled Pizza!!

Look how good these look! I love to grill pizza. It's possibly one of my favorite dinners to make. We pretty take turns making dinner during the week but we try and keep it interesting. And no, we did not eat this all in one night. That's the thing about pizza dough, a little goes a long way! Such a cheap dinner to make! The top one is spicy Italian sausage, Gorgonzola, caramelized onions and arugula. The other one was fig jam, apples and Gorgonzola. They both were very good!

Here is also a picture of Madeline from tonight. She LOVES Patsy and Patsy is very slowly warming up to her. She was actually purring tonight when Madeline was swatting her. She will learn to love Madeline. Jerky will too. It really could be the most harmonious relationship if Jerky would just relax! She loves to feed him and he loves to eat so I know it's just a matter of time before he figures this out.Anyways, that's all I have for now. Mike is on his way out of town until Saturday night so we will be on our own for a few days. Don't know if I will get around to posting anything but I will certainly try!

Show me the money! pretty please.


My kids are trying for it again. I am happy too because I enjoy these trips as much as they do. Actually, I probably enjoy it way more. We are well on our way as far as fund raising goes but we really have a long ways to go. We need to raise at least $1100 per person and right now we only have $1800. Not bad for the first seven weeks of school but not great. I have a fabulous group of students in my advanced class this year. They all get along so well and they are a JOY to be around. They make me look forward to work which is a good thing, especially for me! Anyways, back to NYC...we have tried a few new things this year as far as raising money. We have sent out at least 20 letters to local businesses asking for help. We have not heard back from any one yet...not one. I guess the next step is to actually stop by or call them. A $20 check here and there could help out a lot! We are doing lunches, small catering jobs, you name it. We just need to find the one that is going to give us the mother load of cash. We have lots of great ideas, but none are giant money makers. We are so limited as far as food sales on campus go too because of CA's nutrition laws. Ah well, I am sure we will figure it out. BUT, if any of you have any genius ideas on really big fund raisers, PLEASE let me know! Thanks! Below is a picture from our walk tonight. It is so stinkin' cold! Brrr.....

Basically, what it comes down to, is that I just can't keep up with this. I have pictures of Madeline from everyday of school since it has started but now I am thinking that I am going to do it every Friday or something like that because it is just too much! I just gathered all of the pictures that I have taken since the last blog entry and slapped those in (not in order) and we're gonna call it good.
She was sick last week, but fine now. The picture of her in pink pants and the whale shirt is from last Wednesday when she woke up with a fever. She has been putting me through the ringer lately (at night) but is finally back to sleeping! Crazy kid.
One thing that is different since last entry is that she has turned into a total helpful little child! She picks up stuff, she takes things to her dad if I ask her, she LOVES to feed the cats. She will go and grab the cat food container out of the cabinet and then pour it (with some help) into the cat bowls...but then, she takes the container back to the cabinet and puts it away. She is a GENIUS! :)
Anyways, she is quite the helper and it's pretty cute.
Alright, talk to you later!

Week 5?

Ugh, I lost count already.
Anyways, more pictures of Madeline in the morning! I have also included a funny video from the other night. Enjoy!








It was a very long week but thank goodness it is over and we are on to better times...
Anyways, Madeline is super fun as always. She is walking everywhere and it is safe to say that crawling is behind her. I haven't seen her crawl at all. She still is objecting to shoes, well, except for the hiking boots that she got at school. For some reason, those are the only shoes that she will keep on! Odd!
One of these days, I will sit down and write a real blog! But for now, you will just have to look at pictures and videos of Madeline...

What? Can't you see I am eating?

This is getting hard to stay on top of! I am trying though...here is last week's installment!
She is doing awesome and loving school. Madeline is learning how to put her hand up and say no to the boys that are bullying her or just trying to be close. We hope that she keeps this up until she's 21...
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Hey, week 2 of school.
It is truly amazing watching this little girl grow. She continues to amaze me on a daily basis with what she learns and what she does.
I have attached a video this time. In the morning, it takes her a little while to get talking so the video is kinda quiet ...
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Here is the cake that I did yesterday. I am pretty happy with it. She gave me a piece of fabric that they were using as tablerunners and wanted me to make it like that...so, this was my interpretation. She only wanted the paisley on every other tier but I think I may have liked it better if it were on every tier...can't decide if that would be too much or not. What's cool about this cake is that it is totally my style but just done with different ingredients. I guess you would have to see the rest of my cakes to know what I am talking about. Anyways, we're off to pick plums for jam. I got my mom and brother excited about canning again. Last weekend was peach, this weekend it's plum and 2 weeks from now, it will be tuna! YUM.