I have to admit that autumn is my favorite time of year. I love to watch the trees as their leaves change into vibrant shades of golden yellow, orange, and scarlet. As the leaves fall and the weather grows colder, it’s the perfect time for one of my favorite comfort foods: homemade chicken pot pie.
You may be used to the little chicken pot pies sold in the freezer section of your local grocery store. This recipe is nothing like those. There’s a lot less sodium and much more flavor! Continue reading “Chicken Pot Pie: The Ultimate Comfort Food”
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I can’t wait for the apples to ripen and the leaves to change color. Living in an area known for its apple orchards, I have a few favorite apple recipes. This simple and easy-to-make apple crisp recipe is the perfect seasonal treat. The best part? You probably already have all of the ingredients at home!
Fall is finally here, and along with it, comes one of my favorite weekends of the year: Apple Festival! This year, for the first time, we were privileged to share this long-standing community tradition with our grandchildren.
*Update: The 2019 Hartford Apple Festival Dates are September 20, 21, and 22, 2019.*
Unless you are from my little hometown and have known me most of my life, there’s probably a lot you don’t know about me. So, I’ve decided to enlighten you with this post. It wasn’t my idea, however. I’m stealing this great idea for a post from my fellow blogger, Shannon at Simply Shannonigans. She’s an awesome person who always has a positive attitude about the obstacles life throws at her. She also posts a lot of great recipes!
So, here we go!
1. Dennis and I have five kids.
We claim them all–there’s no mine or his. We may not see them often, but they are still ours. Our kids range in age from 22 to 29, and none of them live at home. The funny part is that I’ve known Dennis’s kids longer than he has. You see, I was Aubree’s preschool teacher when she was three. He didn’t adopt Aubree until she was five or six. Aubree did quit preschool, and I didn’t see her again until she and Meghan were in high school. They were cheerleaders together, and it took me a while to figure out why her name had changed.
Celebrating Aubree’s college graduation–finally an RN!
Summer always seems to fly by, and this one was no exception. Our last day of school for staff was the Tuesday after Memorial Day, and we reported back on August 13. I had planned to write over the summer, but not nearly as much as I ended up doing. And, over the summer, I learned several valuable lessons about blogging.
Since I became a grandma three years ago, I’ve bought a lot of toys. Dennis just shakes his head each time I come home with something new. Many of the bigger items have come from a company I know and trust: Step2.  The grandbabies were over today playing with some of those toys, and I decided to write about the four Step2 toys I’d buy again and again, and the one I wouldn’t.Continue reading “Step2: Four Toys I’d Buy Again and One I Wouldn’t”
Imagine waking up at 1:00 a.m. on the morning before school starts and checking your phone (just because) to learn that you’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award! That’s my life this morning–what a great way to start the school year off!Continue reading “Sunshine Blogger Award”
This weekend I had the privilege of spending uninterrupted time with the three ladies that I admire the most: my mother and her two younger sisters. It started Thursday morning with a 400 mile road trip that paralleled one that we’d taken together twenty years ago with my “other mother”–my amazing, vivacious, forever young grandmother. Continue reading “Sisters: Travels with My Mother and Her Siblings”
This week the Target back to school ads come out. I’m definitely not ready, but my date to go back is only 30 days away. Because I’m a middle school teacher, I’ve been working all summer on new materials for my classroom and started my classroom shopping the beginning of July.  I’m proud to say that I’ll have three new book shelves and rolling carts donated by The Cleland Clan. Okay, really they’re just from my family since my lifetime blog earning are only $1.28 so far. I’m in several crafting groups on social media, and people are starting to talk about what they are making for Back to School gifts for teachers. So, I thought I’d address the topic of teacher gifts today. Continue reading “A Teacher’s Take on Back to School Gifts”
This week is fair week. Aubree is a 4-H adviser, and she and Jeremy spend all week living in their camper at the county fairgrounds. After three years, I know to expect to have the kids a lot during this week, but honestly, I forgot how hard it is to have two at once. Grandparenting as a part-time gig is much different from grandparenting full-time. Continue reading “Adventures in Grandparenting”
