Compound Word Flowers

In Polk County the first grade curriculum has the first graders learn about compound words four or more different times throughout the school year. As a teacher, I try to come up with creative ways to teach them and so does my team at school. Since we have gone over compound words so many times in the year we were running out of ideas. I recently got a Pinterest account and I love how many teaching ideas I find on there. When I was searching compound words I found a cool idea to make compound word flowers. I loved the ideas so I did it with my class. The students pick a base word like "sun" and put it in the middle of the flowers and then all of the petals say the word that they put with "sun" to make a compound word. For example, one of the petals could say "day" to make the compound word "sunday". I thought that they were very cute and the students loved making them. After the students are done you can make a compound word garden in your classroom if you would like.

John Michael

On January 27, 2012 at 7:09 PM, John Michael finally came into this world. He is my best friend, Ciara's, baby. John is the cutest baby ever! I have loved him since before he was even born. He would always move for me when I felt Ciara's belly. He loved to move around. Now that he is here I love him even more. I am so happy for Ciara and Thomas that they have their first child. I am enjoying visiting him and helping Ciara whenever she needs it. I wish that I did not live and work so far so that I could see him even more. I am going to be so sad when the Army moves them away from Tampa again. I am having so much fun being an Auntie and spoiling little John.

Mexican Fiesta - My 25th Birthday

Every year on our birthdays we can request whatever we want for dinner and my mom will make it for us. I love Mexican food so this year I told her that I wanted a Mexican Fiesta. When I told her that I figured she would just make some tacos for everyone and maybe have out some chips and salsa, but no she went BIGGER. She had everything that you could imagine. She could have opened up her own Mexican restaurant that night.

She made tacos, taquitos, burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas, and also had lots of sides such as chips, salsa, and queso. It was so delicious!

A few of my friends came to join my family and I for dinner. We had a fire going out back and everyone just relaxed and hung out. I loved it!

Thanks Mom!! :)

American Flag Craft

A few days ago I was with my friend Ciara and we went into this little thrift store in Brandon, FL. The store had a lot of little knick-knacks to look at. I saw a little frame and someone had made an American Flag. I liked it, but thought that they had it a little over priced. I knew that I could probably make my own.

This morning I took a trip to Joanns to get some red, white, and blue ribbon. I also got some little silver stars there. Then I went to a thrift store in Lakeland, FL to find a rustic looking frame. I found a frame that measured out perfectly to the ribbons so that they did not have to be cut width wise only length wise.

I used my hot glue gun to glue the ribbons onto the old picture. I had fun making it, now I just have to find somewhere to hang it!

The pictures above show you the before and after.

I personally think it is super cute!! :)

Chili Time ... Finally!

It's December and we are all still in shorts here in Florida. Yesterday we finally had a little cold snap come through so I decided that it would be a great time to make Chili, especially since it may be the only time this year that it is cold at all. Sometimes I love Florida, but sometimes I do not. I know that most Floridians hate the cold, but I love it! I love being snuggled up in warm clothes. The way I look at it is that we can always add more clothes when it is cold, but you can only undress so much when it's hot.

I do not have a famous chili recipe or anything, but I must say it was pretty good. All of the people who ate it agreed as well. I used Publix's recipe that they have on the back of their Mild Chili package and then just added some more seasoning. At the end we made it into a Chili Pie (That's what my mom always called it) by adding cheese and Fritos.

The recipe is very simple and you just adjust it to fit how many people you are feeding.
You need the following items:
1 Pound of Hamburger or Turkey Meat
1 Package of Publix Mild Chili Mix
2 - 8 oz cans of Tomato Sauce or Chunked Tomatoes
1 - 15.5 oz can of Kidney Beans
1 Bag of Shredded Cheese (We used Mexican to add some spice)
1 Bag of Fritos (Your choice on the Flavor)
Your choice of spices (I used Chili Powder, Garlic Salt, and Chopped Onions)
Directions:
1. Brown the Hamburger or Turkey Meat with your choice of Spices.
2. Add in the Package of Publix Mild Chili Mix to the meat and stir in.
3. Put the tomato sauce and kidney beans into the pan with the meat and stir everything together.
4. Bring chili to a simmer and then lower heat.
5. Keep chili on low and continue to stir periodically until ready to serve.
6. Put Fritos into bowl, then chili, and then cheese.
7. Mix, eat, and enjoy!!! :)

Tonight I cooked for myself, AJ, Dellrie, Bubba, and Mary. I basically tripled the recipe to feed all of us and there was still some left to enjoy tomorrow. It was so delicious!!

Quesadilla Maker

AJ and I got a George Foreman Quesadilla Maker for Christmas from some of our family (Dana and Craig). As soon as we opened it we were very excited because we had just looked at one at Wal-Mart and almost bought it for ourselves. I'm really glad that we decided to wait.

That night as we were driving home from Bradenton we were already talking about when we could have a quesadilla night. Two days after we got it we hit up the store for the supplies. We made chicken and cheese quesadillas with a hint of chipolte sauce. One top of them after they were cooked we added lettuce, sour cream, and taco sauce. They were very delicious.

When AJ opened the box it included a recipe on how to make pizza pockets with it. The possibilities for it seem endless. AJ has been coming up with all kinds of ideas. I definitely think that we are going to get good use out of it. Thank you Dana and Craig!

Dallas Cowboys Vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-17-11)

I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan my whole life. People ask me how I can be from Florida and not be a Buccaneers, Jaguars, or Dolphins fan. The answer is easy! The Cowboys are awesome and they are not! LOL! My dad and all my uncles and cousins are also cowboys fans. Since I was young we have been watching cowboys games and cheering them on. My very first jersey was a Cowboys Emmit Smith jersey. I love that jersey and I still have it. Instead of looking like a jersey it now looks like a small t-shirt on me. My dad's girl friend, Dellrie, is small and usually wears the jersey when we go to games. My current jersey that I wear is a Tony Romo jersey.

The ideal situation would be to be with someone who is a fan of the same team as you are, but I fell in love with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan! I know the Bucs suck, but that is his only flaw so I try not to hold it against him. Every time the Cowboys and Buccaneers play it is obviously a big deal. This year my dad and Dellrie got us really nice tickets to sit close to the field on the Cowboys side. AJ would have rather sat on the Bucs side, but too bad for him they are Cowboys fans like me!

My dad wanted to do a big tailgating event since we had quite a few people going. Attending the tailgate included me, AJ, dad, Dellrie, Taylor (AJ's brother), Uncle Richie, my cousin Mike, Mr. Dickerson (my high school soccer coach and teacher), and Ally (my friend and Mr. Dickerson's daughter. We got a lot of food and drinks and tailgated for about 5 hours. Mr. Dickerson and Ally were late to the tailgate, but still got to eat.

Once the game started I was in heaven. Not only did the Cowboys STOMP the Buccaneers, but our seats were amazing!! Also, it was the first time I got to use my brand new Rebel T3i camera that AJ got me for my birthday. Some of the pictures look like we were on the field with them.

I had so much fun and I cannot wait to go again. And you better believe that I will not let AJ forget who won!