New Part-Time Job

We have all seen this logo before!  Now my kids think that I work there and they are telling people, "Our Mom got a new job working at Target!". 

 

Well, they are partially correct!  I have taken on a new part-time merchandiser position with Lawrence Merchandising and it just so happens that I will be doing merchandising jobs in our local Target store.  So, yes, I am working part-time at Target, but not as a Target employee. 

I saw a help wanted ad in our newspaper for a merchandiser position at our local Target store.  I called the number and applied online.  I completed an interview via phone and was hired on the spot.  This will give me a chance to earn a little extra cash while utilizing my background in retail.  Plus, this is a year-round job and not just during the school year like my para job. 

I will be merchandising the costume jewelry, the sunglasses and the Excell product (trading cards) on a weekly basis at our local Target store.  I can also receive other projects to complete at the store, but also other stores, such as Walmart, Shopko, Tractor Supply, etc.  I can be scheduled for projects to be completed in one week up to 20 hours.  Plus, the hours are flexible.  I complete the jobs on the days and times that I wish.  I am allowed to merchandise Monday through Friday from 8 am - 6 pm. 

This week I completed four projects for a total of 7.5 hours.  Next week so far, I have five Target projects scheduled, two Walmart projects and my monthly Foster Grant visit to Family Dollar.  It will be a busy week!

Take care,
Michelle

Catholic Schools Week

This week is Catholic Schools Week and there are activities planned every day this week. 

 

 On Tuesday was "Sock it to Satan" Day.  Each student PK-12th was invited to wear their craziest socks to school.  Then in the afternoon the students were divided into 4 groups and they made a rosary out of balloons and then released it in the parking lot to float away.

Justin is on the end in the orange shirt.  Sorry the quality is so bad, but when I went to resize the photo bigger it lost its clarity.

 Monday was "We Are Saints Day".  Each student was encouraged to dress as their favorite saint.  Justin went as St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes.  He wore his baseball shirt, baseball cap, and sweatpants.  Ashlin was St. Elijah, the patron saint of sleep.  She wore a pair of pajamas to school.  I put on one of my aprons and stuck a few kitchen utensils in the pockets for St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the patron saint of bakers.  We had many students dressed as St. Mary, the mother of God.

Wednesday was dress-up day with an all school Mass.  Today is PeaceBuilder/House Day.  Each student may wear a peace builder t-shirt or their house shirt with uniform pants.  This afternoon the students are being treated to movies and snacks.  Tomorrow, Friday, is a Spirit Jeans Day with a talent show and ice cream in the afternoon.  There is also a penny war going on all week between the classes.  The winning class from the Elementary receives a day out of uniform and the winning grade from the High School receives an afternoon at the movies.  The week is closed with a soup and sandwich feed during the boys basketball games on Friday night.

Also this week the students have collected socks for the city of Norfolk's backpack program.  We have also been collecting food for the Salvation Army.  It has been a busy week at school.

Take care,
Michelle

Losing His First Tooth

 Justin started off Monday morning by losing his first baby tooth.  While eating his cereal before school, he took a bite of cereal and swallowed his tooth.  He came up to me gagging and said, "There is a space between my teeth and it feels funny."  When I looked, there was a tooth missing on the bottom.

Ashlin helped him out and wrote the Tooth Fairy a note explaining that Justin swallowed his tooth while eating cereal.  The Tooth Fairy left him a one dollar bill.

Take care,
Michelle

Basketball Filled Weekends

We are spending our weekends sitting on bleachers watching the girls play basketball.  Ashlin plays on Saturdays at the YMCA in the 3rd-4th grade rec league.  Erica has been playing in the 5th-6th grade 5-on-5 YMCA spirit league on Sunday afternoons.  Cara has been playing school club basketball on the 8th grade team.  There are not enough 7th grade girls out for club ball; therefore, the girls have been moved up to play with the 8th grade girls.

 

 Ashlin has a few more Saturdays left to play at the YMCA.  She is improving with her ball handling skills and her defense has come a long ways.

 Erica played her last two games yesterday afternoon for the spirit league and now she will move on to club basketball and play in a few tournaments.

 Cara has started playing in tournaments.  Two weeks ago the girls played in the York Tournament in the gold division which was all Class A schools except for us a Class C1 school.  The girls beat a team from Grand Island, but lost to two Lincoln South teams. Yesterday they placed 3rd in the Crofton Tournament and next weekend they travel to play in a tournament in Blair. 

Take care,
Michelle

Safety Kits & Shadow Art Projects

 Both of the girls decided to complete the shadow art project.  First, they picked a wood picture frame to be painted.  They both ended up picking a frame with a cut-out heart in the middle.  Erica chose hot pink paint and Ashlin chose a aqua blue color.

 Then the project involved cutting scrap paper into strips and gluing them on a piece of black card stock in the shape of the frame opening.  Then cut around the heart shape.  Next, they cut out and glued a star burst shape in the middle of the heart and put this in the frame.

 Another project the girls completed was making bicycle first aid kits.  They covered an old plastic VHS tape case with duct tape and put a cross on the cover in another color of duct tape.  Then they filled the case with first aid supplies (bandages, gauze pads, tape, list of phone numbers, etc.) to take with you on a bike ride.

Two more finished projects.  Ashlin has another art project to be completed at home.  She ran out of time on project day since her sewing project took so long, but it is an easy art project to be hung on a wall in her room.

Take care,
Michelle

Sewing Pillowcases

 There is always one sewing project on the list for project day.  This year the sewing project was a hot dog in a bun technique pillow case.  This pillowcase has hidden seams. 

 This was Ashlin's first ever sewing project and her first time to use an iron.  Grandma Korth met us at project day be another pair of hands to help us get our projects done.  Grandma spent her morning in the sewing room.  This project was supposed to take one hour, but since Ashlin hasn't sewn before it took her a little over two hours to complete, plus there were a few problems with the sewing machine.  Grandma had a lot of patience to get this project done. 

 First, Grandma helped Ashlin and then she helped Erica.  The girls had to make a trip to Hobby Lobby before project day to pick out and purchase fabric for the project.

The finished product turned out very cute and it is ready for the fair in July!

Take care,
Michelle

Loopy Yarn Scarf

Saturday was 4-H Project Day.  Erica and Ashlin were ready Saturday morning to sew, to be crafty and to be creative.  They each had selected 4 projects to complete that morning.  Erica's first project was a Loopy Yarn Scarf.  Each 4-Her started out by watching a 2-minute tutorial about how to make the scarf.  Next, Erica picked out a skein of Red Heart Swerve yarn.

 

 Erica had to find a space in the room to roll out her whole skein of yarn.  Then match the two end pieces together.  Make a slip knot around the palm of your hand with the two pieces of yarn, but do not pull tight.

 Next, wrap the yarn around the same hand you have the slip knot on and pull through the loop.  Try to keep your hand straight and still while you are doing this whole process.  When you have done the whole skein, you tie a knot at the end and viola' you are done.

This was definitely one of the easiest and fastest projects ever completed at 4-H Project Day.  It was so simple of a project that we are thinking about doing the project at an upcoming 4-H meeting so other kids can complete if they didn't get to attend project day or didn't pick this project.

Take care,
Michelle

Watching Zac Coach

Last night we attended the wrestling dual between Norfolk Catholic Knights and the Creighton/Verdigre Bulldogs.  The dual was held in the gym at school.  We arrived at the gym just as they were saying the prayer and singing the National Anthem before the event.  Justin wanted to run right in and say "Hi" to Zac, our nephew and head coach of the Creighton/Verdigre wrestling team, because he was standing close to the doorway.  I told Justin that he had to wait until after the dual was over.  We headed into the gym and sat by Uncle Randy in the Creighton/Verdigre fan section.  Uncle Randy surprised us with wrestling t-shirts for Keith, Cara and me.  The dual was very close until the last four matches with Creighton/Verdigre pulling out the win.

Early yesterday morning, I sent Zac a message on Facebook that we would be attending the dual.  He responded back asking which team we would be cheering for that evening.  I told him that it might depend which kid you asked.  Justin was cheering for Zac's team the whole time.  I also told Zac that Justin wants to start wrestling on the little kids' team at school.  We told Justin that he can join, but we know that the first takedown will probably result in him crying.  Last night, Zac told Justin to give wrestling a try and to do his best.

This was our first time to watch Zac coach.  He paced back and forth along the edge of the mat calling our instructions to his athletes.  Zac's varsity wrestlers are undefeated in duals this year and they have been placing well in tournaments.  We wish his team good luck on the rest of the season.

Take care,
Michelle

Saving Recipes

I am constantly sharing and saving recipes to my facebook page for me to try later.  My kids will notice me looking at recipes and they usually respond, "Why do you save a recipe that you will never make?".  I have been trying to get better at trying some of these recipes.  The following recipe is one that I have made twice and our family loves them!  I thought today I would share this bar recipe with you.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Dream Bars

Posted on May 14, 2009 by bakingblonde

Once again I bring to you one of my favorite flavor combinations: Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal. You may remember one of my summer favorites from last year because they require NO baking (meaning, no heated kitchen in the hot summer months).

I found this recipe over at this blog and the description and pictures tempted me too much, I finally caved in and decided to give them a try. I am sure glad I did! I changed up the recipe a bit as reflected in the ingredients and recipe below. These bars are wonderful! They have a slight subtle caramel flavor thanks to all that butter and brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, which intensifies and deepens this flavor). The filling has a nice light peanut butter flavor without being too overpowering or sweet. Infact, I thought it would be sweeter than what it turned out, and was pleasantly surprised. The filling was is and provides a nice compliment to hte sweetness of the Milk choclate chips and Reese’s Candy bar pieces.

 

 Right out of the oven they are ooey, gooey and very good. You definately need a spoon to eat and scoop up every last drop of the filling from the dish! I did chill these until set and they are much easier to eat, I can’t decide which way I like them best, warm with melted chocolate and peanut butter all over my spoon and fingers (MMMM, I love to lick my fingers) or chilled and set making the filling seem almost fudge-like (only a bit softer). Either way these are sure to please any Peanut Butter and Chocolate lover, and with the oatmeal, these are almost a health food!

 

The down side is that I don’t think these will travel well or stand up to summer heat. They are great but messy, but heck, as complaints go, that is a minor one!

 

I rate these bars an 8.5

 

 

Oatmeal Bars

2 cups melted butter (starting out with melted butter… you KNOW they’re gonna be good!)

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. soda

4 cups oatmeal

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup peanut butter

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 cups mini choc. chips or mini m&m’s

Mix together melted butter, sugar, soda, oatmeal, flour & salt until it’s crumbly.

Set aside 3 cups. Press the rest into a greased 15×10 pan. Remember I made a half batch. I couldn’t decide what size pan would be half of a 10×15. That’s 150 square inches, so half would be something that’s 75 square inches. An 8×8 is 64, a 9×13 is 117. So I picked the 8×8. Maybe I need more baking pans. Or maybe they don’t even make 8×9 pans (72 sq in) or better yet, 7 x 10.5, that would be perfect. Um, let’s see, I forget, were we baking or having Math class? 

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Mix peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk. Spread over the baked crust. Pour/drizzle worked great. Yum, doesn’t that mixture look good?! It is. I licked the spatula afterwards.

 

Mix mini choc chips or m&m’s with the reserved crumbs. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top of the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Enlarged to show texture. And that creamy caramelly peanut buttery layer. These definitely do not fit the ‘Oatmeal Bar’ name. In a recipe that has peanut butter and M&Ms and oatmeal, WHO would pick out the oatmeal and name them THAT?! So, Peanut Butter Dream Bars they will be. They are, of course, irrestistably good. They’re a bit crumbly, for example, you wouldn’t want the kids to walk around in the house eating them. But then, who’d ever let their kids do that anyway. Thanks for the recipe, Michelle! It’s a keeper.

 

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dream Bars
adapted from here 

1 cup melted butter 

1 cup brown sugar (I used Dark brown sugar)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 cups Quick Cooking oatmeal (NOT instant)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2  cup peanut butter (I used creamy)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 King size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup candy bars, roughly chopped
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
 

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray lighlty with PAM.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together melted butter, sugar, soda, oatmeal, flour & salt until it’s crumbly.

Set aside about 1 cup or a little more.
Press the rest of the crust into prepared pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

While crust is cooking, in a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk.
Once crust has baked, evenly pour and spread peanut butter filling over the baked crust.Be gentle so you don’t pull up the warm crust while you spread the filling.  

Evenly sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top of the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the chopped candy bars and chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until topping is light golden brown and candy bars/chips are melting.
Allow to cool to make cutting and serving easier.  

 

Also, last night for supper I tried a new baked chicken recipe that I had saved. 

 

Take care,

Michelle

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Leader Christmas

The Sunday after Christmas was the Leader Family Christmas.  Grandma Leader started us all out with a lunch of ham, turkey, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, dinner rolls, etc.  There was so much food.  Then later in the afternoon we were treated to many delicious sweet snacks.  After cleaning up, it was time to open presents in the basement.

 The grandkids do a gift exchange and they all started by holding the gift they had brought for someone.  Then from youngest to oldest, they had to guess who had their name before receiving a gift.

 Sam was up first and then Justin.  They were lucky that they didn't have to wait long, unlike Cara who had to go last.

 Justin was happy to get another Lego set and a few more matchbox cars.

 Ashlin received some art supplies to draw and write with.  Kamree is also creative and she watched closely.  Ashlin and Kamree are pen pals with a few letters being exchanged between them.

 Conner was excited when it was his turn.  He had to immediately take his two new John Deere toys out of the box to play with.

 We had both Nick and Jake and gave them each a freezer mug and a candy bar.  The freezer mugs were of a favorite sports team.  We also had Carson again this year and gave him a new North Carolina beach towel. 

 Erica asked for some duct tape supplies and Aunt Jodee took care of that.

 Then the presents were handed out from Grandma and Grandpa.  More new pajamas and other clothing items were found.  Next, the adults did their Chinese gift exchange with a little bit of stealing involved.

 After all the gifts were opened, everyone went back upstairs for a traditional game of Bingo.  Prizes were won and sweet treats were enjoyed.

The night ended by taking a photo of Grandma and Grandpa Leader with the grandkids that were there.  We were missing a few, but it was still a good photo.

Take care,
Michelle

Korth Christmas

The Saturday after Christmas we went to the farm to celebrate Christmas with the Korth side.  We started off by having lunch.  The kids all sat around the dining room table and the adults all ate at the bar in the kitchen.  This probably should have been reversed so that the kids ate on the linoleum instead of the carpet, but Grandpa said that it was okay.

 Usually my Mom makes us take a big family photo before we can open presents, but Julia was napping during present time.  Nap time is not to be messed with either.  There are nine grandchildren, but Ashlin refused to be in the photo.  Plus, we almost didn't get this photo because Truitt had a major meltdown before this because he wanted to play instead of take a photo.  Better this than nothing.

 Grandma and Grandpa bought all the grandkids new pajamas.  Justin and Chase received knock-off lego kits.  Justin immediately had to find somewhere safe away from the babies to put his together.  He finished putting it together while we were still there.

 Grandma couldn't find pajamas long enough for Cara's long legs, so, she sewed a pair for Cara out of this zebra print material.  Grandma is altering them now to fit Cara better.  Cara got a good laugh out of Grandma making her a pair using the pajama bottom pattern that Cara used in 4-H for her sewing project.

 Along with her pajamas, Ashlin received a big box of puzzles.  Ashlin loves puzzles.  The grandkids also received Target gift cards to buy something they really wanted.

 Irelyn wasn't quite sure of everything, but she loved the crinkled paper.

 We gave my parents a renewal of their Nebraska Life magazine subscription.  Then we gave Grandpa a John Wayne movie DVD and a Ma & Pa Kettle DVD.  Grandpa laughed because he hadn't seen Ma & Pa Kettle in years.  I remember going to the Granada movie theater and watching them while growing up.  My Dad used to go to the movies to watch them.  We gave Grandma a gift certificate to her hairdresser.  Also, I crocheted her a scarf.

 My brother thought that we were going to take a family photo, but he was the only one to take a seat on the couch by Mom and Dad, so, my sister and I took his photo with them.

We spent the day playing P-I-G (usually referred to as spoons) for prizes in grocery sacks.  Later we the Korth traditional Christmas supper of taverns and Wragge hotdogs with chips and bars.  While growing up, every Christmas Eve that is what we ate after coming home from church.  Although the people in attendance has changed, the meal hasn't.  It was a good day with family.

Take care,
Michelle

Building the Lego King Castle

Justin was so excited that Santa brought him the Lego King Castle that he couldn't wait to get started on building it.

 After all the presents were open, he took off for his room with his new castle.  First he had to clear a space in his room, he needed lots of open space for the building process.

 I would go in his room from time to time to take a photo of the building progress.  He started with 996 pieces in 10 plastic bags and three booklets of instructions.  He worked his way through the bags and instructions. 

 From time to time, he would call Dad in for a little help or to see how far he had come. 

 Justin completed the whole castle in one day.  Also, he completed the project on his own with very little help.  He was so proud of it when he was done.

Take care,
Michelle