Oh Bailey

It is with sadness that I tell you all that Bailey the Betta Fish passed away this evening. He died peacefully in his bowl surrounded by family. He had just spent the afternoon playing with Allen and a Batman action figure, and then (likely after some trauma) relaxing while watching some television with Allen.

Allen is taking it well. Maybe a little too well. As we timidly explained to him that Bailey was no longer, he looked at the dead fish in Daddy's hand, picked it up, put it back, and said, "We'll have to go to PetSmart and get another one that looks like him." Then, as we went to say our goodbyes before the porcelain grave, he took Bailey out of Daddy's hand, threw him in the toilet, and flushed it. So much for that.

He did, however, sing a song to Bailey while playing in the bathtub tonight ...

xoxo,
AHC

My new obsession ...

I recently purchased this. I purchased it because I love letterpress, but I've ended up using the die-cutting feature more. Letterpress takes a lot of patience and precision, so it's been a bit slower. Anyway, this purchase has led me to a fabulous relationship with my girls at Carolina Stamper. It's also cost me a lot of money.

But, it's also enabled me to make some handmade gifts. For instance, for Teacher Appreciation Week, I made books of Allen's "Favorite Things" about his teachers. Ms. Avril (hers is the one in yellow tones) left us a message in tears. She loved it! I've also started making some cards that I'm going to sell in the shop if they're good enough. Wanna see what I've been up to?

I'll post more soon about Allen's antics.

xoxo,
AHC

Please don't hate me ...

for being so remiss with my posting. I'm sorry! It's been a busy couple of months, especially last month. Brian and I auxiliary pioneered and I'm happy to say that we made our time!

Onto some pictures ... last month D&H came to visit, and we went to Charleston for the day. Allen came home with this crazy getup ...

You know I had to try it on, too! More to come ...

International Noturno Aventura

This past Thursday night was International Night at Allen's school. We were away last year, so we had no idea what to expect, but we were very excited. Allen's been talking about Brazil for the last few weeks. Plus we were making Brazilian food!

Here's what we made:

Little Coconut Kisses

 Creamy Corn Cake (which we made as muffins, obviously)

Interestingly enough, both items were Gluten free (an experiment Brian and I are trying).

We arrived at the school, and Allen got a passport, which he was to get stamped in each country. The countries were: Brazil, Antarctica, Thailand, Ireland, Chile, Aruba, and India.  Here are some photo highlights ...

Annie the Anaconda. She's a life-size model -- 22 feet long! The kids stuffed her with recycled paper, and painted her. She was gorgeous!

 The Amazon Rainforest

 The children cut out different insects and animals from the Amazon and colored them. Then Ms. Avril and Ms. Jennifer stuck them onto the trees. You can also see part of Annie the Anaconda here.

 Chilling out with a snow cone in Antarctica (get it?)

 Ireland!

 The elementary students made a topographical map of India

 Allen's future bride, Amelia (according to Allen) showing off her henna.

 Ms. Amy decorating Allen's hand with Henna.

 Allen's passport. Which was stamped in every country!

You can see more pictures here, but these are the highlights. Allen's classroom was by far the best. Brazil had the most food, and the most creative decor. Overall we had a fantastic time!

Chefs' Feast

Update: For more information about the event, check out this article I wrote.

This should really be a  better post than what I am writing. But I'm tired. For those of you who don't know what Chefs' Feast is, it's a huge fundraiser that the Lowcountry Food Bank does every year to benefit their childhood programs. I'll try to post more detail when I'm not so tired. But in the meantime, tickets are $175 each, and we were given (yes, given) four tickets to the event because of the work we did with the Lowcountry Food Bank for the Farmers' Table.

It was an unbelievable event. Between 900 and 1,000 people were there. Twenty-nine chefs from throughout the Lowcountry were represented. It was amazing. When I'm not so tired, I'll share more statistics with you. But for the meantime, here is a picture of me and Brian. I hate this picture, but I've talked for so long about my five-inch heels and awesome dress that I have to post.

xoxo,
AHC

Making Beds and Cupcakes

It's President's Day, so Allen didn't have school (he's been home so many days this month, I'm beginning to wonder why we paid tuition). After a late start this morning (Mommy needed to sleep in after barely sleeping the two nights before), we got up and started our day.

Allen and I have made his bed together before, but today I asked him to do it himself. He was so proud! And I was extremely proud of myself for not "fixing" it. What do you think?

We went grocery shopping this afternoon. I was smart enough to avoid Wal-Mart, but even at Bi-Lo, there were toys at every turn. I'm proud to say that I was able to deflect most of Allen's toy requests. He did land a toy shovel, but at $2.99, I thought it was worth teaching him to help Daddy in the yard.

This evening, we made cupcakes. Allen helped mix the batter, and then helped decorate them. They were yummy!

How was your day? Were you off today, or did you work?

xoxo,
AHC

Brazil

International Montessori Week is coming up, and Allen's class is studying Brazil (remember, last year was Italy).

This evening, as we were waiting for our pizza, Allen kept repeating some word. And then he announces, "That's Porgucheese."

You mean, Portuguese, buddy?

xoxo,
AHC

PS Of course, once we laughed and corrected him, he kept saying, "Porgucheese Porgucheese."