Thank God It's Summer Cookies

For those of you who did not already know, my husband and I are both teachers. He teaches high school anatomy and forensics (every time I say that, someone says "wow! He must be smart." and yes, he is.), and I teach middle school and high school art, though I have been on maternity leave for the past 5 weeks.

No matter what you teach, if you are a good teacher, you put your heart and soul into it. It's like parenting, except that you have 100 kids instead of one or two. It's draining
physically, mentally, emotionally and creatively. I know so many people who think we are so lucky to get summers off, and to them I say 2 things: we don't get paid for it, and also, we NEED our summer break so that we can recharge. Trust me, it's for the good of your children :)

But I digress...

Spring break rolls around and gives us a taste of the freedom that is summer, and from then on, if you do not have a countdown yourself, then one of your teacher friends on Facebook surely does, of the number of days until summer break.

The last week of school is torturous. So much to do, so many students needing you to check their grade, or grade their late work, etc. I know so many teachers who get sick the first week of summer because they have just been going nonstop for so long, the first time there is a lull, their body craters.

But on top of the huge amount of work, grading, paperwork, etc, there is a buzz of excitement. Planning every weekend from now until August... A need to make the most of every second. A need to make it the best summer ever, for yourself, your spouse and your children - and this is where Pinterest comes in, hahaha.

I have been scouring the Internet for ideas on how to make this summer the best summer yet. My upcoming posts will be full of awesome summer activities for toddlers and adults. Those of you who know me know that one of my favorite things in the world is food - as a good Baptist woman, it is how I show affection, appreciation, and love :)

If you are a little girl, what better way to usher in summer than with these cookies:

I started with a basic sugar cookie recipe that I found on the Internet. I am not going to share the recipe because I wasn't totally thrilled with it - far too much butter and just not the best recipe out there. I'd love to have a good recipe if someone cares to share!

Once the dough was made, I divided it into quarters and put each batch into separate containers. Then I used neon food coloring (about 10 drops) and colored each batch. After thoroughly mixing, I let the dough chill overnight.

*disclaimer: if you are looking for a fast cookie, this is not for you. These require a lot of chill time!*

The next day, I took each container and rolled out little balls - approximately half inch diameter. And again, I had to let them chill. (perhaps the amount of butter in the recipe I used required me to have to chill these more often, but I could only work for about 10 minutes before the dough was too gooey to do anything with!)

Once your balls have chilled again, take one of each color and roll them together like the photo below. They will look kind of like everlasting gobstoppers from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory :)

Chill again... See what I mean??

Here's where you need to dig up the old play dough skills that you spent your childhood developing.

Take each gobstopper ball and roll out into a snake like shape approximately 6 inches in length. Then spiral your snake into a cookie shape and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees - remove when they are just starting to firm up.

I recommend working in small batches so that you have some in the fridge to reduce the inconvenient chill time.

These are really impressive looking cookies, and I am definitely glad I made them, but I will wait for a more appreciative crowd than an 18 month old before attempting them again, haha. I needed some oohs and ahhs for all that hard work!!

Thank God it's summer!

A Teenager's Fascination with Pregnancy

By now, I am about 47 months pregnant, or thereabouts. Giant, whalish, and uncomfortable, and I think the little girl inside of me must weigh about thirty pounds.

Before I had children, I would look at women in my position and think they looked so cute. Now - I understand their plight. I think it is nearly impossible to feel attractive when you are 40 lbs over your normal weight and can't see your toes. And getting out of bed - forget it. I have to sleep close to the edge so I can roll off when I have to wake up 30 times at night to pee.


But even though I feel this way, my students are still completely enamored with pregnancy and with my growing belly and the baby who moves visibly inside my stomach. Their excitement is contagious and fascinating to me. I answer a hundred questions everyday about pregnancy, fetal development, birth and related topics. I try to be as honest with them as possible while keeping my miserableness out of the equation.


Every. Single. Day. I answer the following questions:


1. Is the baby moving? Can I feel? Will you tell me when the baby is moving so I can see?
This is so funny to me. During my yearbook class, I will have 10 girls gathered around trying to feel Olivia move. They are either totally creeped out by it, or they are so fascinated and ask a thousand more questions. Inevitably they want to know what she is doing, what are they feeling. I can usually feel and tell if they are feeling her back or her legs moving - they always want to know where her head is, but it feels as though it's so far down my pelvis that it could break through at any moment, haha. I think Olivia already likes the attention.


2. "What would happen if your water broke. Right. NOW?"

This is probably the top question that I get. I swear, there is someone in every class who asks me this every day. I think it is hilarious.

My student, Kat, is particularly fascinated by the thought of my water breaking in class.

So, last week, we had an end of the month fire drill. My high school class walked outside and stood across the driveway from the school waiting for the all clear. In this time, for some reason, one of the kids from the class next door poured out her water bottle on the concrete. You can probably see where I am going with this...

We got the all clear to enter the building, and as we were walking across the street, I stood on top of the water puddle and shouted "Oh my gosh, Kat!!" and pointed at the puddle. She got SO excited thinking my water had broken and was pretty disappointed when I had to tell her it was a joke, but everyone else within hearing distance thought it was pretty hilarious, and I have laughed about it a lot since then, haha.

Another concern, especially among my middle school class, is who has to clean up the mess if my water breaks in class. I love telling them whoever has the lowest grade in the class has to clean it up, muahahaha! But honestly, I would feel so bad if someone else had to take care of that, so I am sure I would be on my hands and knees with paper towels yelling at my students to sit down and behave, haha.

3. Can I drive you to the hospital?
Ha!! Like I would let a 16 year old drive me to the hospital. RIIIIIIGHT!

They think I am crazy when I tell them I will be driving myself home to wait on my husband before going to the hospital. I am pretty sure they think giving birth is a 30 minute process and that I will have to be rushed at 110 miles per hour to the nearest medical facility so that I do not deliver a baby in the floor board of the car. No concept of a 16 hour labor...

4. Have you had your baby yet?
This one makes me roll my eyes a little. This question usually comes from the boys and always has the same answer "I will not be here after I have the baby," which is equally confusing to them, even though we have discussed that they will have a long term sub 17 times. It's sweet though, when it is met with "but who will teach us!?" Glad I am needed :)

It is funny to think of my pregnancy from their perspective. I found out on the first day of school this year that I was pregnant, so they really have not known anything other than pregnant Mrs. Dodd. I swear Nick thinks I have been pregnant my whole life, and I certainly feel that way sometimes.

Getting excited to meet Miss Olivia and welcome her to the world. For now, waiting as patiently as I can, trying my hardest to enjoy these last few days as a family of 3 and soak up all the time with Daddy Drew and Isabel that I can.

Stay tuned for exciting news...