Happy Birthday Stewart!

Stewart is officially older today (Was that vague enough as to how old?). He said that without his beard he might be mistaken for 22, so good thing he has his beard ;) So far, no birthday pictures, but here is the cake we've been putting together. I doubled the cake ingredients and put the batter in an angelfood cake pan. I also made more citrus filling/icing. Then topping it with sliced strawberries. Sorry to all of you out there who are not eating cake because of shedding pounds. I don't know how many miles we'd have to run to work this one off....

GONE WITH THE WIND CAKE

INGREDIENTS
* 3/4 cup water
* 3 egg whites
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cups cake flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 egg yolks

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Beat cold water and egg yolks together until mixture makes 1 quart - at least 10 minutes. Slowly add sugar and vanilla to egg yolk mixture, beating for at least 7 minutes.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold into the egg yolk mixture.
4. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold in smoothly to the egg yolk mixture. Pour batter into an ungreased 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 minutes. Turn upside down to cool in pan for 1 hour. Loosen sides and coax from pan. May be cut into layers and filled with Citrus Filling and/or iced with the same or with whipped cream.

CITRUS FILLING
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 egg
* 1 cup whipped cream

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan over medium heat mix the white sugar, flour, orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice and the egg. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool completely before folding in the whipped cream. Makes enough to fill one 2 layer 9 inch round layer cake.

Our Daughter Is . . .

Today I was posting some of our daughter's baby pictures on Facebook. These past years since she was a baby have flown by. Now we have this tradition when dropping her off for school of saying, "Love you and you're special..."

Recently, her teacher had the kids in her class write notes to each other about why they thought each other was special. Our daughter got a kick out of reading these notes to her:

1. You are special because you are very smart.
2. I like you cause you are nice.
3. You've always been nice.
4. Thank you for being my friend.
5. You always complement my stuff.
6. You're good at art.
7. Your a really good freind! :)
8. I think you are special becus you are a good citizin and you help other pepel.
9. You are special because you let other people join in games :)
10. You are special because you are never mean.
11. You alway help people when they are put down.
12. Your special because youv'e got the brains!
13. You are special because you are kind and sharing.
14. I think you are speacial becuse you help others.
15. You are special to the class because, you work really hard. :)
16. You're my fried because you let me borrow your crayons!
17. You are special cause you are one of my best friends.
18. You help me with everything sometimes.
19. Your funny
20. You are so nice to me it makes my day

Tickle Fight

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cell Phone Blues

In my classrooms, I have a very strict cell phone policy. If I see or hear a student's phone during class, I count them absent for that day. Needless to say, students are usually very good at turning their phones off in my classes (my reputation precedes me).

So this afternoon in my senior seminar I had a bit of an episode. There is no clock on the wall so I usually bring my phone into class and leave it on the table in front of me so I can check the time periodically. I turn the ringer off so it won't disrupt the class if it happens to go off.

About half-way through the discussion, the phone of the student sitting to my left started vibrating in his pocket. I stopped and said, "Gabe, is that your phone?" to which he just smiled at me. I figured the look he gave me was chagrin and a little embarrassment, and so I didn't make a big deal about it (after all this is my senior seminar class with students I have known for 4 and even 5 years). Then, every minute or so, his phone kept going off. Finally I said, "Gabe turn your phone off!" and at the same time I glanced down at my own phone which was sitting on the table in front of me...vibrating.

"Good grief, has that been my phone all this time?" I asked as the entire class (9 students) burst out laughing. We had a good laugh about it, and I had to mark myself absent for the day. I'm putting in a request to maintenance to get me a wall clock asap.

School Dance Performance

Today I'm home recovering from the flu and wanted to put up pics from Brooke's latest school dance performance to the tunes of Shrek, Cotton-Eye-Joe, Kung-Fu-Panda, and some other Nebraska-history pioneer era songs. You can see her great enthusiasm for dancing with some of the boys...

Hot Sauce Connoisseur

Several years ago when Stewart returned from the border of Mexico in Texas as a Spanish-speaking missionary, he had embraced most Tex-Mex foods. He especially loved spicy things and could eat Tabasco sauce almost every night. I, on the other, hand, having been also in Texas, speaking very little Spanish, had grown up a Wisconsin Farmer's Daughter (O.K., it was a hobby farm, but it flows better with the song), and loved many Tex-Mex foods, but had a milder tongue. I was still taking baby steps, and thought I had made great leaps when I learned to make fajitas (without hot sauce). Well, Stewart had started a Tabasco collection in our fridge, taking up at least half a row on a shelf. He loves his little hot sauce babies, including his fiery hot ones, and has specific names for each bottle.

Stu: Could you get the salsa verde for me?
Me: The little green one?
Stu: That's the one!

Stu: Do we have any habanero?
Me: Ahh, let me check (I have to read the labels, forgetting if habanero is extra spicy).

So recently my sixth-grade ELL students and I had a belated Christmas party. It was late January, but we had missed our planned Christmas party due to a snow day on the last day before break. The students and I brought snacks and games. One of my Latina girls brought Ruffles chips and a big bottle of hot sauce. The other African and Latino/a students are all excited about her hot sauce and start pouring it all over their crackers and chips while talking about how they love hot sauce and spicy foods, too, and all about jalapenos, and different chile peppers they like, and how their parents brew up homemade hot sauce with home-grown firey vegetables. They know I have a milder tongue, but they see me smiling at them, and say I really need to try some of her hot sauce. Is it spicy? They don't think so. Ha! I have a few past experiences receiving a fire-burned tongue because of hot sauce..... I put just one minute drop on my chip (and I make sure the bottle drips very slowly) and prepare for the RED HOT tears as I take a bite.... No pain. It's pretty good. I smile, and say, "I liked it!" This girl says, "We eat hot sauce all the time and put it on everything, even fruit." Fruit? Wow. I know I've been sheltered... Maybe I will try that sometime....

Brooke's Animation

Stewart and Brooke were looking for something to do this afternoon...

Like It Is

I teach K-12 ELL (bilingual) kids. I have the polar extremes in age every day. Today I went to visit my first graders. They are notorious for telling me like it is. I had awakened later this morning, showered, and pulled my hair back in a pony tail, not my usual school-hair look. It has been a windy, cold day on the Nebraska prairie, and I have been in and out of my car and schools a few times today. One of my little students says,

S: Mrs. Brewer, why does your hair look like that?
Me: (I smile and try to swallow a laugh). It was windy. I just pulled my hair back today. Do you like it?
S: You should take a shower and fix your hair like this. (She shows me.)
Me: I did take a shower, but thanks....

Here are comments for me from other days:

S: Mrs. Brewer, why are your teeth yellow? My teeth are white.
Me: Aaah, I've been eating too much chocolate? Or if I were a polar bear, I'd eaten too many seals.

S: Mrs. Brewer, why is your tummy fat and mine isn't?
Me: Well, you look just right the way you are. (I better go to the Y tonight...)

S: Mrs. Brewer, why do you have white spots (referring to my vitiligo on my hands and arms)?
Me: Yes, I have spots - kind of like a giraffe or a Dalmation dog has spots. (She looks at me wide-eyed. Certainly, a great truth I had shared with her...)
S: Or a cow?
Me: Yes, or like a cow... (I know I should have given her my medical condition, but I think she'll relate to the animal theory better.)

NYC January 2009

Here are some pics of my trip to New York City in January, 09. The blurry look is not me being artistic, it's just my crummy phone camera.

Swim Team Pays Off

Last night Stewart, Brooke, and I went for a swim. It was sub-zero frigid weather outside, but the indoor pool was warm, and we almost had it to ourselves. After swimming a few laps with flippers, Brooke said, "Let's race (without flippers)!" So the three of us swam a 50-yard freestyle up and back. And guess who creamed us? Yeah, Stewart and I were swimming our fastest. Really, we were trying to win. I used to be able to beat Brooke. But she whomped (sp?) us and was rightly pleased about that!