Today I had no intention of digging through papers in various rooms in my house. But apparently my circumstances had a different plan. So far I have not come across exactly what I am looking for and it is quite an important document that I cannot believe I have misplaced. The last time I remember seeing it was about a year ago, so there's no telling where I set it down since I obviously did not put it back where it belongs. The thing is, in my heart I wish to be organized. Very, very organized. And in my classroom, I am. However, I (pretend) that I don't have the time to become that organized at home. I may appear organized at times and there was a time at which I had a "control journal" from Fly Lady which helped me keep the house clean for about 3 weeks until I said forget it! And a time after I went to hear a professional organizer speak at a PTL meeting when I got our shoes under control and for the most part, most important and necessary school items. I even used her idea for collecting school papers and artwork...unfortunately I didn't keep up with it and it turned into a huge pile of papers and artwork in my closet. I went through some of it today and threw away two and a half garbage bags full of schoolwork. And that was pretty much just first grade. I found that I put all of the Kindergarten paperwork in the under the bed storage without sorting it last summer. Ugh. Sadly, after going through multiple files and piles, I still haven't found that ever important document that I need. And now I'm going to have to admit to my husband that I can't find it. Yes, I can get a replacement but it's going to take time and I think I really need it TODAY. So no, there's really not spring cleaning going on in my house...it's more like a frantic search which is making me very frustrated.

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Well, the treat is that you get to see an adorable black kitty cat and one silly Commander Cody (from Star Wars, the Clone Wars - I was corrected tonight when I told someone he was from Star Wars) who wouldn't wear his mask. We had trouble getting pictures of both of them together and the family picture turned out okay but I wish we had a little more of Katie's face. Oh well! Commander Cody was not cooperating at that point.

Katie, Sam, Gavin & Kyle

Katie ready to go (the one minute she wore her cat eyes)

Derek & Katie

The whole family

Playing with her glowing jewelry

The spooky pumpkin Miss Amy and I carved - level 3, master!

Now for your trick. Not really a trick, but just to let you know that it is time to bid you adieu, say farewell, close our doors. Rude Manor will be leaving the blogosphere very soon. It's been great sharing our lives with you for the past year and a half, but it's time to move on. Farewell!

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Just wanted to get a few quick soccer pictures up here. If he was doing this the whole game it'd be a lot more exciting!

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The past two weeks have flown by. I guess that's a good thing, but my house disagrees. Although I did get it picked up for the most part today...there are still piles of laundry waiting to be folded and a floor that should be vacuumed, but I settled for sweeping the obvious dirt away.

So the diet. Hmm. I kind of took a break without meaning to. Last week's weigh-in I had gained .6lbs. Not a big deal. This week's weigh-in, I had lost a pound, so I'm down 15.4lbs from where I started. And I haven't really gotten back to it. I have a goal of losing another 15 pounds...or at least 10. But my heart isn't there right now. I did have to buy a new pair of pants for work last Saturday and when I put them on for work on Thursday, they were already too big. So I am still seeing results, just not on the scale. My plan is to start again tomorrow. I'd say right now, but it's just not realistic with plans to go out tonight.

Work is good. The school part of work is starting to calm down a bit. The kids are finally starting to "get it" so it's not quite as stressful as it had been. I have one child who tests me on a daily basis, but I knew that was coming when I agreed to take the class. And the school office job is great too. I enjoy seeing tangible results each day, being able to check things off as I finish them. I also enjoy being around the kids and not having to be in charge of them. All in all I have a good balance right now.

Other news - Katie finally lost her tooth last week. If you remember it first wiggled the night before school started and she hung on that thing for 49 days. Oh the trauma! And Kyle seems to be finally getting the idea that he has to stay on the field for the soccer game. He has moments where he really gets into it and goes after the ball and then the other 75% of the time he is wandering aimlessly or playing in the goal or chasing his friend Gavin. But he did stay on the field today.

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I just came over to my laptop to check email, look at Facebook, etc. And the page loaded on Internet Explorer says, "Sorry, Page not found." Right before we left for dinner tonight Katie and I had been talking about her upcoming presentation at school and she said to me, "I knew it, I knew there'd be a squirrels.com!" And I was thinking, probably and I'm a bit curious to know what is on there. And a bit nervous that she walked over and typed that in. But as you can see by the title of my post, she actually typed in "www.scrwles.com". So glad that squirrels hasn't been on the spelling test yet!

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Last week I posted a little about some cookies that I had baked - pumpkin spice blossoms - and how they were great the 1st day and then quite gooey the 2nd day. I found the remedy and I wanted to share this easy recipe. First you need to find the Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. I found them at Target.

Pumpkin Spice Blossoms recipe courtesy of Picky Palate Go there and look at them - if my camera were working a little better I would have taken a picture myself. They are so yummy! But come back and read my notes below...

1 Spice Cake Mix 18.25oz
14 oz can Pumpkin
1/2 cup sanding sugar
1 bag Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the cake mix and pumpkin until well combined. With a cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll in sanding sugar (dough is sticky) then place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until cooked through. Quickly transfer to a cooling rack and immediately press kisses into the center of each cookie. Place the cooling rack into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes so the kisses don't melt.

About 36 cookies

My notes:
1. I used granulated sugar since I did not have sanding sugar on hand.
2. I did not use parchment or silpat, just an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. I baked them for 15 minutes.
4. I left the cooling rack in the refrigerator and the cookies are still delicious a day later! Last time I left them at room temperature and that's why they became all gooey.
5. I accidentally used a 15oz can of pumpkin which could also be why they were too gooey last time.

Yum, yum, yum! Now if I could just find a gluten-free spice cake mix so Kyle can have some too!

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It's that time again! And oddly enough, I am starting to look forward to these posts! I went to see my nutritionist today and I'm happy to report that I'm done another 3.4lbs. I've lost 15.8lbs since September 9th. Hooray!

And...I ate gumbo (without the rice), sausage, and chocolate cake this week. As well as beef fajita meat (no tortilla), and chips and queso. Oh and did I mention the Reese's that I had to have a few days ago? Yes, I cheated AGAIN, but it's all been small little tastes here and there. Well, not the fajitas, but I have figured out that I can just have a small bite.

I'm almost halfway to my goal...so my goal this week is to reach that halfway point. Oh and probably should start exercising, so I will make it a goal to do something at least twice this week.

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