My Newest Hobby

My husband tells me all the time to try to get us out of debt. He swears with all of my hobbies and "talents" there must be something that can make us millionaires and get us out of teaching permanently. One can only dream!

Anyways...I have dabbled in writing, painting, crafts, DIY projects, couponing, more writing, party planning, song writing, blogging...you get the point. The problem is my ADHD kicks in and I lose interest in whatever project I am involved in.

So what is my latest hobby... CAKES.

I got the urge one day to bake a cake. It was my niece's birthday and I wanted to make the cake. I had never made more than a pound cake and the one time I tried to ice something it was an absolute disaster. But I wanted to try fondant.

I had no clue how to do it, but that is what Google and YouTube is for...RIGHT?!?!

I created a sleep over cake complete with a bed and four sleeping babes. I used pound cake, butter cream, and marshmallow fondant. I used Swiss Cake rolls for the little bodies and rolled fondant for their heads. I painted a piece of cardboard to make a headboard.

A week later it was my parents' birthday. No, I didn't make a grammatical error. They do, in fact, have the same birthday. So I offered to make the cake. This time was definitely better. I did much more research about fondant and the result, whereas not perfect, was too cute and oh so good. 

Next up was the Super Bowl. I stuck with the pound cake but got a little better with the fondant. 

Luckily my 7 year old daughter knew roman numerals!!






My latest creation was for a friend of mine's daughter's 3rd birthday. I used pound cake again except for this time it was homemade. I used Rice Krispie treats to make the Minnie Mouse head. It is definitely not perfect, but with my ADHD impatient self...it might be as close as I can get. 

Pizza Roll Ups

*Adapted from a recipe I found on Pinterest

2 Cans of Crescent Rolls
Pizza sauce
Pepperoni slices
Mozzarella Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Parmasean Cheese
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Red Pepper Flakes

First unroll crescent rolls and pinch together the seams.

Next spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the crescent rolls.

Layer cheese on top.

Next lay pepperoni slices until they cover the rolls and then sprinkle with seasonings to taste.

Carefully roll them up length wise so that you have a long roll.

Place on grease baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Slice, serve, and enjoy.

Number Forms

My teaching style received a major revamp a few years ago when I went through Singapore Math training. Not only did the way I teach math change, but so did the way I thought about math. These principles of understanding the why in numbers does astonishing things to students mathematical minds.

One of the fundamental concepts that students in grades 2-4 must understand is that of Number Forms. Here is my 4 day standard-based unit on PowerPoint that includes songs, interactive lessons, use of manipulatives, videos... Check it out!