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Cotton Candy or Fairy Floss

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Our All School Party was last night. The theme of the night was something like, “around the world.” Each booth was suppose to represent a country. My club owns a cotton candy machine. Yep….a cotton candy machine. Not one of those little table top ones, but one that you can rent out for a party. A few years ago the local rental place was having a garage sell….and well…I bought one! I told the sponsor in charge of the party that we were United States because we were selling cotton candy. She asked me if I knew that in Australia it was called Fairy Floss.

Fairy Floss! We were going to be Australians for the night. That is right mate!

Our cotton candy/fairy floss maker is pretty old. It is missing it’s plastic dome that sits on top. When you make cotton candy, whiffs of cotton candy float around in the air. Eventually you are covered with webs of cotton candy. It looks like a halo of pink and blue floss floating in the air. Our machine does not like to get started either. You have got to help it along to get the spinner start spinning.  Reminds me of those old cars you had to get out and crank the crank and then give it a good kick. Once it does start spinning, the whole contraption starts rattling and vibrating. WoooHoo! That noise is the sign that it is time to get the paper cones out and start wrapping the cotton candy on it.

Remember my good friend who helped me make all those cheesecakes? Besides being a number one red velvet cheesecake maker, she is also my co-sponsor for my club. She came prepared by wearing a ball cap to shield her hair and face from the wisps of floating candy. I forgot to wear mine…drats!

We had a good number of club members to help run the machine. So, great sponsors that we are, we taught them how to use the cotton candy maker. As the machine rattled and vibrated and wisps of cotton candy started filling the air, the girls got busy making cones of cotton candy.

Yippee! We could just stand back and enjoy ourselves!

The girls can have all fun! Along with being covered in cotton candy!

We visited the rock band booth and clapped and laughed as teachers showed off their multi-talented selves. We kept a keen eye on our booth making sure the cotton candy machine did not take off and start flying around the cafeteria. The girls kept working away!

We might have stayed a wee bit too long.

When we got back, the cotton candy was taking the forms in different shapes.

         

One looks like it needs it’s floss combed.

 

 Ummm…..it was getting close to the end of the party.

We lowered the price from two tickets to one ticket.

This was definitely Australian fairy floss!

 Good ole American cotton candy looks like this.

Our girls just need more practice….or maybe a little closer supervision ; ).

It was a great night! We sold out except for a couple of bags we gave to our number one fairy floss maker!!

It was Friday and I was ready to go home…..

I had a halo of cotton candy…..ooops fairy floss to wash off!

Another week at school update!

Becky

The Yard of Spooks, Beware!

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I literally do not know how my friend Dana does it!

She transforms her yard into one ghoulish trick or treaters delight!

Every year, she spends a couple of weeks planning, scheming and using all kinds of haunting supplies to treat all her family, friends and neighbors to a fun, food and candy filled night. She amazes my family every year. Going to her house on Halloween has become a family tradition. We get to see old friend and make new ones! Plus we get to eat! This is not a trick…it is a treat!

         

Beware you are entering the danger zone of ghost, witches, spiders and a creepy graveyard.

         

Those hands might grab you and throw you into the witches cauldron!

          

You might end up trapped like this poor fellow or end up in the grave yard!  

               

The witch is in or are you a fraidy cat?   Take a seat by the dead scary people in the swing and get your picture taken.

         

Are you afraid of spiders….or werewolves? 

          

The bath room is not even safe……looks what watches you as you take a seat!

         

Even the garage is not safe! I tried to eat my yummy warm taco soup but they kept looking at me like they wanted a bite….of me!!!

        

They are so in love…….that is love taken to the grave!

Come back and see us! Next time I will take you for a ride on my broom!

Thank you Dana, for providing another scary fun night for my family!

Boo!

Becky

 

 

 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds for Halloween

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Oldest grand girl wanted to carve a pumpkin. Sometimes that how things go in my house. Grand girl starts a project and it just keeps on going and going.

She wants to carve a pumpkins, you want her to carve a pumpkin, but do you just hand over a knife to a grand girl…..I thought not.

I relented and went out and cut the tops off for her. She proceeded to clean out the insides. Whoa…….are those pumpkin seeds?

Roasted pumpkin seeds sounds pretty good!

I handed her a container.

Don’t worry I did not pick up the ones on the steps…I was tempted though!

         

Here is what we got out of two medium size pumpkins. I rinsed them off with water and separated the seeds from the pulp.

         

Here is what they looked liked after a cleaning and rinse. Next, I put them on paper towels to pat dry. One thing I learned is that they are slippery little suckers!

When I dumped the bowl of pumpkins seeds onto the paper towel these seeds got away from me.

No, I did not rinse them back off and use them….I was tempted…..there is a 5 second rule isn’t there?

         

I coated them in olive oil and sprinkle them with garlic sea salt. I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes.

This is what they look like right out of the oven

I want to eat them all…..I am tempted…..

Happy Halloween!

Becky

$20 Worth of Catalinas

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What is a catalina? It is a coupon you get printed out when you buy certain items at a grocery store. Last week at my local Gerbes they were having a great catalina deal. If you buy 5 of certain items you would get a catalina worth $5 off your next purchase. I did three transactions. With each transaction I received $20 worth of catalinas.

Well, I used $40 worth over the weekend to purchase grocery items to make “home cooked” food for baby college girl. This included oranges she took home with her…..she did ask first : ). I still had $20 left to use and they expired today. I made a quick trip to Gerbes to pick up a few things. I gathered a few coupons to use but did not have time to really have a strategy. My main objective was just to use them before they expired.

This is what I picked up.

2 bags of Blue Chips. On sale for 2 for $6. I had coupons to make them $2 each.

2 cans of Campbell tomato soup bowls. On sale for $1 each. With coupons I got them for .50 cents each

2 Soft and Gentle 4 packs. On sale for $1 each. With coupons I got them for .50 cents each.

1 vitamin water on sale for .89 cents…..no coupon….I was just thirsty.

1 bad of Wonderful Pistachios on sale for $2.99 with coupon I got it for $1.99.

2 bananas

3 pears

4 apples

1 bunch of Kale

1 bunch of celery

and just in case I make it home early enough tomorrow for trick or treaters  2 bags of Mars candy on sale for $2.50 each with coupons $2 each.

I paid $. 83 cents for all of it. A total of 99 percent savings.

Whohoo!!!

Ummm….what do I want for a snack….home made kale chips, pistachios or maybe a snickers…..

Trick or Treat!

I want something GOOD to eat!

Anybody want a snickers????

Becky

 

Mountain Dew Dumplings

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A couple of weeks ago we had all day teachers meeting at schools. Teachers went to different meetings across the district to discuss different topics. The next day we all went back to our home school and compared notes on our meetings. My meeting provided a small breakfast consisting of bagels and juice but we got a free catered in lunch wowza……I think they were afraid for us to leave and eat lunch : ). One of my friends at my home school Jen, said they had beautiful breakfast casseroles made by the staff and brought in for breakfast. They got to leave and have Mexican for lunch. They must have looked a little more trustworthy to come back after lunch!

Anywho……I asked Jen what she made to bring in and she said, “Mountain Dew Dumplings.” I like the sound of dumplings, but Mountain Dew? I was intrigued. She said it was her mom’s recipe and her mom even came over to help her make it. When they were about half way making the first batch she not so politely told her mom, “I am not taking these things to school. ”

Wow! She was a disbeliever!

Her mom was not worried and assured Jen that if she didn’t like the first batch they would  make something else to take.

Relief!

But, here is what happened. They made the first batch, had a little taste. It was a spoonful of sweet, buttery goodness with a side of apples.

Jen told me they went ahead and made two batches to take to school and she did not bring home a single crumb home.

I had to try this recipe!

When I came home with a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew my two oldest kiddos got real excited! It was not diet and it had caffeine…..I knew I better make this recipe fast or I would have to buy another bottle of Mountain Dew.

This is all you need for a whole pan of dumplings. I used honey crisp apples because I was buying a bag of apples and they are oldest daughters favorite.

Peel and core 2 apples, cutting each apple into 8 wedges.

Wrap each apple wedge with a crescent roll.

         

I wanted some for my family and another dish for a friend that just had surgery. So, I used two pans. If you want them all in one pan, no problem. Just use a bigger pan then I did.

         

Get out two sticks of butter and melt them in the microwave. Add sugar and cinnamon.

         

Stir the butter, sugar and cinnamon together and spoon over the dumplings.

          

Measure out the Mountain Dew and pour over the dumplings.

         

Place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Check the dumplings and make sure they are thoroughly cooked but not overly brown on top.

These are mine right after they came out of the oven.

Here is a warm dumpling. These are great for breakfast but I can see adding  scoop of ice cream and having it for dessert.!

Here is my first bite.

Suddenly…..I heard Davy Jones from the Monkeys singing in my ear.

I thought love was only true in fairy tales
 Meant for someone else but not for me
 Love was out to get me
 That’s the way it seemed
 Disappointment haunted all my dreams
 
Then I tasted this dumpling,
 now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
I’m in love,
I’m a believer
I couldn’t leave it if I tried!!!!
 
YOU will be a believer too!!
 
Enjoy,
Becky
 
Mountain Dew Dumpling
Ingredients:
2 cans crescent rolls
2 apples peeled and cut into 8 wedges
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1-12 ounce can of Mountain Dew
 
Directions:
Wrap each apple wedge with a crescent roll from large to small end.
Spray pan with non stick spray
Melt butter and add sugar and cinnamon
Drizzle over the dumplings.
Pour Mountain Dew over the dumplings.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

 

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

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Have you ever had to figure out how to make a meatloaf that everyone in your family will enjoy? Baby college girl is home for the weekend and she wants “home cooked” food. The big question now is what to make that every one in the house will eat. Every one in the family chose BBQ Meatloaf.

 You should try this recipe. Really, you should try this recipe. I know it seems weird to put brown sugar on the bottom of your meat loaf pan and then covering that brown sugar with ketchup. But, it really does work. While the meatloaf bakes in the oven, the brown sugar dissolves and slowly flavors the meatloaf. It is not overly sweet….. no need to worry about that.  I bet you have most of the ingredients in your cupboard and fridge/freezer. If you don’t have Italian bread crumbs just substitute crackers. If you don’t like onions but love the flavor just use some onion powder instead.

Don’t let a recipe own you. Own your recipe. What I mean by that is, don’t be bogged down by every little ingredient. Especially for something like meat loaf. Look in your kitchen, see what you have. Even if you are out of ketchup, you can use BBQ sauce. But seriously,  can a kitchen ever be without ketchup?! A Ketchup outage at my house sets off a four alarm kitchen emergency!!! Ketchup is the glue and hamburger is the paper…..go forth and make meatloaf, BBQ style!

Here is the ingredients for the meatloaf. I just literally went through the cabinet and fridge and found everything I needed. I am sure you can too. : )

         

First thing you do is cover the botton of your pan with brown sugar. I used some brown sugar that was getting a little dry. I would not use this brown sugar in cookies or any baked good, but for this recipe, this is the perfect time to get rid of some long on the shelf brown sugar. Next, cover the brown sugar with ketchup. I just squirted rows of ketchup. I did not even bother to smooth it down.

If you are using fresh onions, now is the time to chop up a small onion. I cried a few tears over this. Not because we do not like onions, we do. It is just chopping onions makes me weepy! Boohoo…..where is a paper towel when you need one?

            

Put 1 1/2 pound of ground hamburger to a large mixing bowl. (I used  2 pounds of hamburger and just adapted my recipe for a little more hamburger). Crack two eggs into a bowl and beat.

         

Add the slightly beaten eggs and the chopped small onion.

         

Pour in the milk and add the Italian bread crumbs.

              

Add a little salt and a little pepper.

         

Add a little bit of ground ginger and start to mix in the mixer. You can use your hands if you want. I am too lazy : )

         

Do not over mix the hamburger mixture or it will make your meatloaf tough.

         

Spread meatloaf mixture evenly over the top of the brown sugar and ketchup bottom.

         

Spread the top of the meatloaf with ketchup. Put it into a 350 degree oven for a hour or until the juices become clear.

It comes out juicy with a slight caramelized BBQ flavor on the side…mmmm…

Don’t you love ketchup???

We do!

Enjoy,

Becky

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1 1/2 pound lean hamburger

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 5 by 9 inch loaf pan.

Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.

In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of ketchup.

Spread some ketchup on top of your meatloaf if you desire.

Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until the juices are clear.

 

Taco Soup

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Baby, it’s cold outside. A north cold wind had stolen our last days of 80 degrees and replaced them with nights of freeze warnings and highs of 50’s. Sweater weather has arrived!!! This must mean that I do not have to worry about mowing the yard or shaving my legs again until spring!! Yippee! Long pants, jackets and even a pair of gloves will be coming out of hibernation from the back of my closet. I just pray that everything still fits : )!

 Please forgive me Lord for eating all that ice cream all summer while we had a draught and 100 degrees weather, even though I did not venture far from my air conditioned house but only to buy more ice cream….and maybe some toppings…..oh, and that can of whipped cream.( I might as well confess everything!)

Now that it is cold outside and the furnace is officially turned on 69 degrees, I am ready to trade my ice cream spoon for a soup spoon. What better way to start, then with some taco soup? Taco soup is a very forgiving soup. Just look in your cubbard and see what kinds of beans you have. Look for a couple of cans of diced tomatoes, vegetable juice or tomato juice. Check out the freezer for some frozen corn to add that speck of yellow color. Don’t forget the taco seasoning. If you want to add a little more kick to your soup, you can use rotel tomatoes. Set your taste buds on fire and put it out with a chaser of milk. It really is up to you.

              

I hit the jackpot! I found some hamburger and corn in the freezer, a half a onion in the fridge, beans, diced tomatoes and juice in the pantry and some taco seasoning in the cabinet. Whooohooo….perfect taco ingredients!

         

First thing you do is brown the hamburger in a big soup pot. After it is browned put it in a strainer to drain the grease.  While the hamburger is draining, saute the onions in the same pot.

         

Add the hambuger back in with the onions and stir. This is when I lightly salt the hamburger and add the taco seasoning.

         

Add 2 cups frozen corn.          One can garbonzo beans.         One can of light kidney beans.

         

Add one can black beans.       Two cans diced tomatoes.       Stir together.

Pour in one large can of juice.

Simmer all the ingredients for 10 minutes or until corn is cooked through.

Serve with shredded cheese and even a dallop of sour cream. (I was out of sour cream….dang-it!)

My girls and I (yup, baby college girl is home for the weekend) ate our soup standing up in the kitchen around the counter. We laughed, ate, told stories and practically licked our bowls clean.

 Soup will do that to you!

 It is warm and inviting and you can eat it with a spoon.

Same as ice cream.

Anybody want a scoop?

Enjoy!

Becky

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

2 pounds of lean hamburger

1 small onion diced

2 cups frozen corn

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can black beans

1 can light kidney beans

2 cans dice tomatoes ( you can use rotel tomatoes if you want it spicier)

1-46 ounce can of vegetable juice or you can use tomato juice

2 packages of taco seasoning

salt to taste.

Directions:

Brown the hamburger in a large stock pot. Drain the hamburger. Saute the diced onions in the stock pot while the hamburger is draining. Add the hamburger back in with the onions and stir. Lightly salt the hamburger (not too much) and add the taco seasoning. Stir to combine. Add in undrained cans of garbanzos, black beans, kidney beans and diced tomatoes. Add in the frozen corn. Stir to mix together. Pour in the vegetable juice. Simmer for 10 or until the corn is thoroughly cooked.

Serve with shredded cheese and garnish with sour cream.

Makes about 10 large bowl fulls.

 

Hamburger Meatballs

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I have a confession to make. I don’t always make home made meatballs. Whew…..I am glad I got that off my chest! I can make do with those rubbery, bouncy meatballs from the grocery store when I am in a hurry. Like when I need to make an appetizer to take to school for a party or when my kids want a few meatballs for their spaghetti. But lets face it. Those rubbery, make do, meatballs from the freezer section at the grocery store does not even come close to meatballs you can make at home. After I made these meatballs, I thought, these are not hard at all, and wondered why I did not make them more often.

These meatballs can be used to put in spaghetti or put in a sandwich, which is what I did with them. They are tender and tasty! A little round ball of juices and seasoned ground beef. I do not recommend them for meatballs appetizers that you would skewer with a fork. They are too tender for that. Add them to your spaghetti sauce right before you serve it or just put them right on top of a big pile of spaghetti and sauce. I took mine and put them in a french bread bun with melted cheese for a wonderful sandwich. They were very filling and a definite leftover goodie for your fridge. My kids took the leftovers and put them in sauce for spaghetti and froze  them in the freezer for later.

This recipe makes 16 to 20 large meatballs, so you will have plenty for a couple of meals or more!

The recipe I am giving you takes 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger. My package was almost  3 pounds so I had to double the amounts.

          

Crack your eggs into a bowl and beat together.  Next chop you onions. I was out of onions so I used re-hydrated onions.

        

Salt and pepper the meat.

         

Add in the beaten eggs and chopped onions.

         

Add is prepared spaghetti sauce and Italian bread crumbs.

Gently mix the mixture together until all the ingredients evenly mixed.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the meatball mixture and place on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. If you feel like you want to freeze a few meatballs till later, now is the time to grab some and put in a bag for the freezer.

         

Gently take meatballs and put in a large deep sided pan. Cover the meatballs with prepared spaghetti sauce and slowly simmer for 10 minutes.

         

I cut my roll in half and dug out a little of the bread in the middle. I lightly butter the bread and broiled it in the oven until lightly brown. I laid a couple of pieces of provolone cheese on one half of the roll. Carefully place meatballs and sauce in the other half of the roll.

The heat from the meatball gently melts the cheese. Add some chips or a salad for a perfect lunch or dinner.

Hamburger Meatballs

Recipe adapted from a Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef

3/4 cups of prepared spaghetti sauce (I used Three Cheese Prego)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 small onion, chopped

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 1/2 jars of prepared spaghetti sauce.

For sandwiches you will need rolls and cheese of your choice.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, salt, pepper, onion, 3/4 cup of sauce and bread crumbs.

With cookie scoop, scoop out meatballs and place them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until juices are clear.

Place meatballs in large pan and cover with remaining speghetti sauce.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with speghetti or make into meatball sandwiches

Enjoy!

Becky

Thirty two Cheesecakes and Counting

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I bet you have wondered where I have been. It has been a crazy week for me. Somehow I got the flu. I thought I had been teaching long enough to build my immunity against every germ known to students! I guess I got the flu from my kids. The nerve they have! I ask you, Is that a way to treat the person that brought you into this world???? no sirreee! I was sick for two days in bed. Wanted to stay in bed another two. Wish I could have!

120 boxes of cream cheese kept calling for me from my fridges at school. Cheesecake….Cheesecake….I want to know who gave them my cell phone number!

Sleeping in and watching Harry Potter for another two days was out of the question. I had to go back and make cheesecakes for a dessert theater I help with at school.

My goal was to make 30 cheesecakes in two days.

In the end, my students helped me to make a total of 26 cheesecakes. I had two wonderful friends at school bake three a piece for me at home! So total I ended up with 32 cheesecakes.

         

We made four Chocolate Swirl Cheesecakes.

        

Three Strawberry Swirl Cheesecakes.

         

Also, three Brownie Fudge Cheesecakes. If you love chocolate, then you will think this cheesecake is to die for!

         

Six, Red Velvet Cheesecakes. This cheesecake has a red velvet bottom layer with a cream cheese top layer that is drizzled with chocolate and garnish with chocolate shavings.

         

Four, Cookie Dough Cheesecakes. Those are pieces of cookie dough tucked down in to the filling and sprinkled with chocolate chips. This is one of my favorite cheesecakes. I posted the recipe on a earlier post.

          

Nine, Classic Cheesecakes. These were served plain or topped with blueberries or cherries.

         

Three, Peanut Butter Cheesecakes. This was pea-nut-delish-ous! It was topped with whipped cream with peanut butter added and garnish with a chocolate kiss. 

 

         

Here is pictures after we got the cheesecakes all cut and on display.

         

A few behind the scences pictures while we were cutting and decorating each piece.

After it was all done. Dishes washed, tables cleaned, left over cheesecake put back in fridge. I texted my PIC (sister in law).

 First text: I am sitting in my room too tired to go to my car.

Second text: I made it to my car but too tired to drive home.

Third text: Can you come and drive me home?

Her text back to me: “I can call a taxi for you!

I drove myself home : ).

I will post all the recipes for the cheesecakes over the next several days. You can find the CookieDough Cheesecake on an earlier post.

This is my week in review of being a FACS teacher!

Becky

 

FACS of Life–A Week in Review

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As  a Family and Consumer Science teacher you have many ups and downs. You laugh a lot and you cry……..from laughing too hard.

I have to laugh at some of things that happen in my class. My students feed off of my reaction to their mistakes. If I get really upset then they get upset, then everyone is upset. So, I try to stay postivie. Try to let them make mistakes. Try to survive till the end of the day : ).

In the kitchen. In the sewing lab. This week I have had lots of laughs in both…

Lets start in the foods lab….the students are baking snickerdoodles. At least that is what the recipe said!

First, we had a whole bowl of cinnamon sugar fall on the floor. Sugar is really slippery when you accidentally step in a big pile.Where is the broom?

Next, we had a whole pan of snickerdoodles fall into the back of a hot oven.

This is what it looked like before the smoke started!

I could not get the bottom rack out of the oven because it is a new fangled oven and the bottom rack is attached to the oven door.

I had to get a yard stick to dig the cookies out of the back of the oven. Some days you need a long spatula.

I called the office to tell them if the smoke alarms go off, the FACS room was NOT on fire…..

They sent a custodian to check on the smoke.

I just shut the oven dor, and hit clean oven button.

It continuted to smoke.

Good thing we have a great exhaust system.

Fire Drill anyone?????

Whew….the smoke stopped.

and guess what????

We still managed to get some cookies in the oven.

I even got a  warm cookie for stayng calm!

We are stating our sewing unit in the sewing lab. I was going through past unfinished projects to show the students what NOT to do.

The pictures speak for themselves.

         

These are unfinish, sewn the wrong way and upside down flannel pj bottoms.

    

These are boxers that they wanted to make into hip huggers. The problem was they did not leave enough fabric for the hips. I found the top they cut off!

Why would you put elastic in the top of a pillow case?  I don’t know either.

The students did get some sqaures cut out. I even let them use scissors.

I mean really……we already had smoke in one room… who is afraid of sharp scissors with 25 students…..

I know how to dial 911….just kidding!!!

No, really I do know how to call 911!

Don’t worry, I did not have to dial 911, and the fire trucks did not get called.

Time to eat my cookie!!

Becky

 

 

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