Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Years Eve Stromboli!

We were supposed to have a big party here tonight with lots of little kids, but everyone canceled. :( I guess it was for the best anyway, because Adrian has a horrid ear infection and a bad cough. Even though our littles weren't all feeling the best, we decided to go ahead with the Stromboli dinner because ... well because it is just tradition!

This is our first year attempting to make a gluten free Stromboli for Adrian, though. We used the Gluten Free Pantry - Favorite Sandwich Bread mix and added a little more rice flour to it. We put some out on the cookie sheet, put the fillings in and then put some over it, closing up the edges. It is flat and not rolled like a normal stromboli, but at least he gets to have something similar to the rest of us.

We had some bread dough left over so I gave it to Adrian to "knead" and make himself a loaf of bread. We added some more sugar, raisins and cinnamon to it so he could have a sweet bread. He had a blast making it. :)

By the time it was all ready he had fallen asleep. We woke him up to eat all his goodies. Here he is with his stromboli and bread.




For the rest of the family, we used this recipe for a really good pizza dough. You press it out on a cookie sheet and then spread the mixture given below out over it. Then add your "innards". We use cheese and pepperoni for the kids. We use ham, onions, green peppers, pepperoni, etc for ours.

Then you take it from the long end and start rolling it. When you are nearing the end, pull that end up and over the big roll, then grab the two side ends and pull them up and over it as well, sealing all the avenues of escape for the "innards". Turn it over so the seams are on the bottom and it looks like this.


Dressing:
1 tsp basil
2 TBS olive oil
2 eggs
1 TBS parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp parsley

Mix everything up with a whisk and spread on inside of stromboli.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Scare Of My Life.

Yesterday I had such a huge scare. T is normally home from preschool at 10:55. I watched for his bus at the window, but he wasn't showing up. At 11:15 I called the elementary office to see if they knew what was going on. No answer. That is odd, because the phone is always answered. I called again. No answer. Now I'm really starting to worry. Why would my child not be home on time and there is no answer at the school? I tried not to panic. I decided to try to bus garage. Finally someone answered!
Me: Is there a delay in getting the buses out today?
Her: Yes, the school is in lockdown.
Me: What? What is that? Why?
Her: Lockdown means no one in, no one out. I can't tell you the details of why.
Me: My child is in there! Is he okay? Why wasn't I called to let me know he wasn't coming home?!
Her: That is a lot of phone calls to make. We don't want to start a panic. I can't give you anymore details.

So I hung up and guess what ... I was panicking. Why? Well let's see. My son wasn't home. It was now well over 30 minutes from the time he should have been home. I had stood there waiting for him. I had called to get a hold of the school. There was no answer. When I did get an answer I'm told he is in a lockdown situation and she can't tell me if he is okay or not?!?!

I worried so much. I called my mom and asked for some prayers that we'd know what was going on with my son soon. I was very very upset.

At 11:45, (an hour from when T is dismissed from school), I called the elem office again. This time a woman answered. "Hello?" (Not how they normally answer.)
Me: Is this the Elementary office?
Her: Yes
Me: "Is my child going to be coming home now?"
Her: "Is he pre-k? What is his name?"
I told her.
Her: "Um ... well there has been an unforeseen emergency and we can't send him or any other students home for a while. I wasn't even suppose to answer this phone but I thought it was the principal calling me back."
Me: "Is my son okay?"
Her: "I believe he is fine. I really have to go now."

At least this woman "believes" he is fine. Then I start thinking about what she said. She wasn't "suppose to answer the phone". Why? They had my child there. I had received NO phone call from them that he wouldn't be coming home from school. No contact with them whatsoever. When I called them, they don't answer, and when they do they tell me they weren't suppose to answer the phone? This is totally not right. Am I suppose to just sit at home and be fine with the fact that my 4 year old didn't come home from school?!? And when I try to contact the school they don't answer the phone?!?! Um, no. This is not acceptable.

At 12:00 I received an automated phone call from the school.
"I'm calling to notify all parents of CLCS students that we are in a precautionary lockdown. No one can come into or out of the building. Please note the students are safe. To address this serious matter, we must keep the school in lockdown. Keep your phone lines open so that we can give you updates on this situation."

So finally, over an hour after my son should have been home, the school contacts me to let me know he wasn't coming home and that he was safe.

Now that I knew he was safe, I became REALLY mad. They wait an HOUR after my son should be home to tell me he wasn't coming? An HOUR?!?!

T came home 2 hours after his normal dismissal time. He is safe and he was totally oblivious to what had happened. That is good.

Let me say, I totally understand the need for a lockdown. In this case, it was because of a bomb threat. I'm not upset about the lockdown. Not at all. What I'm 100% upset about is that they waited so long to tell me that my son wouldn't be coming home.
Later that night I got an automated call from the school telling me to check the website out. They had a written statement on the site. I'm just c&p'ing the one part that really struck me.

"While we understand that parents of morning pre-kindergarten students would have appreciated an earlier phone call, our attention was focused on other critical safety issues at the time their children would normally have been boarding buses to ride home."

They had called all of the afternoon pre-k parents to let them know not to send their child to school. Are you telling me that they couldn't have spared 1 person to call the less than 40 morning pre-k students and tell them "I'm sorry, there has been an issue at the school and we cannot let anyone in or out at this time. Your child will be late in coming home. I cannot give out any more details, but know your child is safe and we will contact you again soon." Or hey... use the global connect automated system that they use all the time to tell me stupid things like there is going to be a football game. Or HEY, if that won't work for you, how about you give a call to one of the room mothers that have all of our phone numbers. One phone call to the preschool room mother and she could have called all of us preschool parents and let us know our children would be late in coming home.

I feel like their statement was a slap on my wrist for being upset that my child didn't come home and I didn't know where he was and couldn't get a hold of the school (that I entrust with his care) and became worried. I'm not suppose to worry because my son doesn't come home from school?

Whatever.

I'm very upset with the school for this gross miscalculation in communication. Obviously, some sort of protocol needs to be put into place on how to handle contacting the parents of the students that only attend half days (preschool) if a situation like this should occur again.

I will be sending a letter to the administration, board of ed, etc.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Getting back to being me

I feel like I'm finally starting to feel better. Yes, I still have a horrid cough/congestion, but that severely sore throat is gone. Yay! Today I got up with the boys and got Timmy on the bus. I then pulled back all the curtains, let some sunshine in and started cleaning. Vacuuming, sweeping, doing laundry, doing dishes, etc. Niko & Adrian and I made all the beds and then I went through the house and used some lysol on everything. Trying to get some of the nasty germs out of the house. Now that I've done all that, though, I realize I could really use my albuterol inhaler. I go in to use it and it is all out. Eek! I know I've been using it a lot this week while I've been sick, so I guess I'm going to have to order a new one.

I have plans to make my father in law a lap quilt for Christmas. I bought the fabric, now I just have to get around to making it. I'm not really into the whole quilting thing, but I had to think of something that wasn't too expensive and that he could use. Since he is going through chemo he is cold a lot. He sits in his recliner and shivers, so I thought this might be something he could use. I'm hoping to get the pieces for it all cut today. Hoping. lol

So I started reading a new book last night. My fave type of books to read are paranormal romances. I love Christine Feehan, Sherilynn Kenyon, JR Ward. So I joined this group on facebook to try to get some names of other authors that write in similar styles. Someone had mentioned Lora Leigh. So I went and got some of her books. HOLY COW! These are not "romance", lol, they are porn. Seriously. So far in this book "Tempting The Beast" it seems to be lots of sex with a tiny bit of story. I'm not sure if that is how all her books are or not, but I have to say I was a little taken aback. Not that I mind a good sex scene ... but .. err.. I just wasn't expecting quite THAT much. LOL

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Day 7: Some Famous Elves

Here's Hermie from Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. Made of sculpey, felt, wool roving, paint and lots of time. LOL This is the final piece to go to the swap on craftster.


And here is Noddy. He is for my nephew for Christmas.

Day 6: Christmas Ornament

A Christmas ornament for a swapper on Craftster.org.

Day 5: Calorimetry to complete the set.

A Calorimetry to match the iphone case and change purse.

Day 4: Iphone Case & Change Purse

Yay! I'm back to posting. I did make these items on the correct days, but the camera wasn't charged and I was super sick so I didn't upload all the info. Here is an iphone case and a change purse I made for a swap.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas Crafting Countdown?

Do not fear, I've not stopped doing the Christmas Crafting Countdown, I'm just tired of the crappy pics I'm getting with my cellphone. I'll take some pics with my digital cam tonight of the things I've continued to complete for this countdown and then get them up here. I'm battling with strep and pink eye right now, so my crafting has slowed down some, but not all the way!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Day 3: Durango Hat

Hrm .. this didn't turn out quite as nice as I had hoped. Perhaps it was the yarn. I don't know. Here is the pattern for it. This is for a swap on craftster.org

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Day 2: Wubzy Purse

A "Wow! Wow! Wubzy" Purse! Perfect for a little girl to carry her treasures around in. Has a rainbow, over the shoulder, strap. Made for a trade.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Day 1: Market Bag

Made for a swap. It currently has 2 grapefruit and 2 apples in it. It can fit quite a bit more. Wouldn't use it for grapes, though. LOL

Christmas Crafting Countdown.

Everyday this month I am going to complete at least one project in order to get all of my Christmas crafts finished in time to give them away. This is going to be a hectic month, but I HAVE to do this. I don't have the $ to go out and buy a ton of presents for everyone, so it is up to me to craft like crazy. (I'm hoping I can get my dh to step up and do some sewing for some of the things too! He's actually a really good sewer!)