Furious.

It was Sporty's first day of school. I have been thinking about it sinec he was born, since he is from and Anglophone home, his french is definitely lacking. Not an easy start when you are in a french only public school. I am not like other families who have disciplined themselves to only speak french and the other english. I am filled with regret as he looked a bit stunned the entire time, not having a clue what was going on, immersed in french with peers and adults he cannot communicate with.

Since now, I have had the idealistic idea that by Christmas he will be fluent or at least at ease in french, but it a lot harder than I thought. Tomorrow is the first day without me and I just want to hold his hand the whole time.

His teacher came to greet him after explaining the schedules, rules to parents. I was furious that the teacher just wrote him off as 'shy' and continued to speak as if he were not there. I was so sad when he almost cried after she spoke to him, and he asked many times if he could leave.

I am passionate about 'changing the world', about being where real people are, being open to new people and helping where I can, but I admit that today I feel overwhelmed and not up for battle at all.

I am struggling with being a 'bad parent' for not seeking out 'the best school', or even a private school instead of the local public school. Change seems impossible when I am frustrated.

Another parent, confided in me that she is not sure that she made the right decision, that she is not impressed with the school, the teacher, or the welcome.

Great, I thought. My one friend who thinks like I do, thinks like I do.

Day one, I am furious. My heart wants to yell at this teacher for such a poor try. But deep down, I still know that God can change anything with prayer, with action, with faith.

Watch out school, you are being prayed for. Sporty, you can do it, you can learn and be a great man of God as you grow and mature. Heart, lets start the roller coaster of watching your first born start the education system. Jesus, you are in control, take the reins, cause I will be homeschooling in a cave in two seconds if you don't.

What can I make with stuff in my fridge.

Tried a new recipe that I loved. I had one of those moments where I hadn't planned dinner and scoured the bottom of the freezer for some inspiration.

Google rescued me with this idea, which I modified to suit the ingredients. Sporty would not touch it, but Blue Eyes inhaled it. Go figure, they are complete opposites in taste and personality. I recommend making 'too much' sauce, but definitely a keeper.

I love breaking down a recipe to how much it would cost. The trouble is I buy almost everything I eat on sale and then freeze it or store it. It would get pricey if you had to buy everything, but when it is already in the house, it seems like a steal.

Garlic and White Wine Pasta Toss

Enough pasta for 4 1/4 cup butter about 1/2 cup white wine 3 cloves garlic, minced One Chopped red pepper Spinach, I used frozen, thawed, drained. 1/2 bunch chopped fresh parsley salt and pepper to taste 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined +couple big spoonfuls grated Parmesan cheese Instructions. Get your pasta going...You want to take a big handful, to feed about 4. Get teh chopped garlic and butter, heating up in the pan. Add peppers and shrimp, and then after they have cooked, add spinach. Add the drained pasta oce ready and add to the pan with the parmesan. Serve.

$1-2 dollars for a bag 3 - 4$ per 2 cups $8 dollars for a cheap bottle $o.50 guess for a head $ 2 per pepper? frozen spinach bag is about 3$ fresh parsley is abou1.50 per bunch 7$ Shrimp, no idea..this was a special and frozen. 5$ for a jar.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Made a new pizza last night. I had a craving for pizza and I almost always have Hawaiian. Hey, I know what I like. Unfortunately, Andy made the face that said, 'Really? Again with the same old pizza?' We found this recipe, and we had almost everything in the house!

I thought this was comparable to some restaurant pizzas I have had.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Crusts: 1 1/2 cups white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tsp salt, and 2 TBsps Olive oil.

2 1/2 tsps yeast dissolved in 1 cup warm water and a spoon of sugar.

mix it all together and let it sit for 30 minutes, punch it down, then shape it into 2 thin crusts.

2- 3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (cooked and cubed) 1 bottle hot sauce (we used Frank's Buffalo Chicken sauce) 1 bottle blue cheese dressing or ranch (we used triple cheese ranch from Kraft) 1 (8 ounce) bag shredded mozzarella cheese (use a good one... it does make a difference.)

Cook your pizza crust so it is firm, @425 degrees.

Cook your chicken cubes in the sauce,

spread with the dressing, add toppings of choice and cheese.

Bake for 10-20 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

Great for a Super bowl gathering or just a night when you want a chance!

even more...yes, it was a good day!

Seriously, not a normal day to get so much 'created'.

This is for a friend that lent me 6 boxes of clothes for my daughter.

I will use this one for the next move away.

Cards are not customary for trips, but maybe a mission trip?

And, of course, you can never have enough of these..

More cards...

Here are some more cards that happened today...

Matt cut this one out and was excited to craft. He practiced a lot to get the legs and eyes just right.

I made this one from Dahlia's request..I think it needs more black or some sequins...

Of course, after making some of these cards, I realized that i forgot about the envelope.

Making this style worked great since it is customized to the size of the card.

Tuck all the ends, like you would a cardboard box and voila! Done!

Handmade Cards...practical and fun.

I have a wedding to go to this weekend and needed a card. I had bought a pad of scrapbooking cardboard and found that as i got going, more ideas came together than I thought. Thanks to a pillow that I made recently, I was more confident to mix patterns and colours. And thanks to my DH, i was able to indulge in straight hour of creativity.

attempt 1: Love birds

attempt 2: Another set of love birds for the wedding

Putting it together, thanks to double sided paper, the matching belly was easy.

Add a little black pen for details.

Doesn't look like much, but is part of the process!