Good Evening!! Jon & I have new "temporary" house guests, who are just a scream!! I've never really been a "cat person", except for when I was periodically obsessed with one of my favorite childhood movies, "The Worst Little Witch", & wanted a kitten extremely badly, but was only given a little gray stuffed kitty!! This is Cecelia Ashlee & Stanly Logan, brother & sister, if you haven't already figured that one out!! We found them Saturday evening in one of the bushes in the front of our house. They belong to an exceptionally friendly "neighborhood cat" that always hangs around, & we know they were born around labor day, which makes them almost 4 weeks old...Only, we haven't been able to find them until this passed weekend!! They're absolutely adorable, aren't they??We're presently nursing them back to health, which includes bottle feeding & attempts to force them to use a litter box...Let's face it, I can't imagine using a litter box myself. This afternoon, I made the mistake of allowing them to try & feed themselves by putting a generous amount of formula on a small saucer, but apparently they felt the need to have all four paws soaking in the formula before they slurped it...Then Stanly had to comb Cecelia's hair with one of his sloppy paws & need I say more??

In stark contrast to my "ordinary" blog postings, consisting of daily doses of design & home decorating along with the occasional Amyisms of life, I'll be taking a brief detour as I report on an unexpected & need I mention, quite startling trip to the ER @ 3:00 AM Monday morning.

I'm sure nobody's interested in hearing any personal gory details pertaining to my husband Jon's digestive track, nor would Jon be so inclined to grant me his permission to post such private information on the I-net, but here's the jist of what went down early Monday morning : After extreme nausea & a horribly upset stomach which began around 2:00 PM only to worsen as the late afternoon continued, followed by lotsa puking, Jon was finally able to sleep about an hour, when he suddenly began experiencing excruciating lower stomach pains along with waves of acute stabbing. I (or we) decided to rush him to the ER, where he spent the rest of the night, Monday, & Tuesday. So, I missed one day of school my 3rd week into the school year, earlier than ever before & obviously so did Jon (+ two more days than me). It's always a difficult decision - whether to go to work in the state of emergency, especially when you're not sure what's going on. Luckily, I was able to be there for Jon when he really needed me!!

He ended up having an appendicitis & went in for surgery around 4:30 PM, so was I glad I stayed!! His family also surprised him afterward by visiting him in the Hospital!! Now, he's home recooping & as I sit here with a huge pile of make-up work & papers to grade, I hear Jerry Seinefeld's corny laugh coming from my bedroom. I hope Jon's back on his little feet real soon!!

Falling in Love...with a farm house table

Good Morning!! Yesterday, mom & I enthusiastically strolled the streets of downtown Pitman during their wonderful fall craft fair, at which we found a couple of goodies. (displayed above) I love fall fests & craft fairs!!) One of my favorite shops is "Lori's Loft", which carries gorgeous French, country, & shabby chic treasures for the home. They have such adorably unique, not to mention fabulous, french inspired & farmhouse furniture - shelves, cabinets, the occasional shabby chic coffee table - & I absolutely adore the feeling of being there basking in what I would describe as the warm ambiance of softness, comfort & home, with a touch of whimsy!!
There I found the most beautiful farm-house kitchen table, & immediately, it was Love at 1st Sight, although sadly, I have no room or need for a huge rustic table at the moment. In one of my wildest design dreams, I own an old charming Southern style home with beautiful hardwood floors, & an amazing front porch with a shabby chic swing...& that breathtaking farm house table with all its beauty & character!! Sigh...moving on. (or as the quirky woman on those annoying progressive commercials says...& we're walkin'...& we're walkin) While at the craft fair, I ran into the...home decorating genius, my sister-in-law Danielle & her equally home decorating genius mother, who I always manage to find whenever we're out "craft-fairing." I wonder if Cambelle, Chloe, & Kenna will be into home decorating as well. I notice a major trend in individuals who love all things house & home. Usually, they grow up witnessing & assisting their crafty mothers decorate & create, & they inherit this love of making a house a home & sewing or scrapbooking or quilting (which just happens to be my mom's present hobby-of-choice.) I guess it's like that with many things in life. In many cases, We cultivate & nurture our talents & interests through watching others that we love cultivating that same or similar interests. Then again, in others case, sometimes we discover an amazing love or passion for something that is completely unique & entirely our own. Interesting concepts. Love to stay & chat (with myself..hehe) but I've gotta spend an hour with my husband, who's been unimaginably busy lately, before we have somewhere to be...Church, very soon. Have an blessed crisp autumn day & don't pass up any wonderful craft fairs if you can help it!!

(The Images below are : 1.) My favorite Building in Downtown Mullica Hill, around the corner from my sister-in-law, Jenn's new beautiful house
2, 3, & 4, : Pictures of my mom's lovely fall decorating!!)

Mrs. Botbyl : "Ok, class!! I've decided that we're going to create an inspirational quote wall in our music classroom with motivational quotes & lyrics by you for you, which can also include some of your favorite quotes by others. Any ideas??"

Student : "How about this one?? 'I can't see my forehead.' "

Mrs. Botbyl : "Um...that's a good one. Anyone else??"

(This might be a little more complex than I originally thought...)

Falling for Fall

Too early to decorate for fall?? Inspired by the beautiful fall decorations & table settings @ "http://itsthelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com", ( a couple displayed above), I've definitely decided that it's certainly not too early to decorate for autumn!! September 1st is when I started enthusiastically yanking out my Halloween Decor, which was somewhat organized on the "Season" shelf in our tiny garage, luckily!!
I make it a point not to stock up on many holiday decorations, & basically stick to the bare minimum along with a couple uniquely home made accesories...& of course a few beautiful things that I just couldn't pass up!! So far, only the exterior is screaming "Fall is Here!!!!" Here's the front of my house!!I just absolutely crave those beautiful fall hues, the lovely reds, tangerines, burnt oranges, deep browns, with a little acid yellow thrown in.

Summer's Bittersweet Symphony

Good Evening Everyone!! Well, the school year has officially begun as of this passed Tuesday, & so far, despite the extreme perplexity of our schedules as well as the occasional locker jam (same students every time, tehe) everything is running rather smoothly so far!! I'm exceedingly glad to have a homeroom...& such an awesome one, for that matter. And...I'm actually maintaining somewhat of an organized classroom environment!! How do you like my music classroom decor?? The 1st picture is a collage of some of our 7th "Form a Band" Projects where the students created their own cds, T-shirts, Bumper stickers, tour busses, etc, then performed for the class!! The 2nd pic is the side of my choir filing cabinet!!

These next couple of pics mark the last week of a fabulous summer!!

Best of Luck for a Successful school year

Good Morning everyone!! Today is Saturday, September 4th, three days before school is officially in session, which I have mixed feelings about, at the time being. We already had our In-services this passed week, which went extremely well, & I have to admit I'm definitely excited about starting school this year, despite all the political & disheartening non-sense that has been going with our profession & the economy in a more general sense. Jon & I are exceedingly lucky to be currently employed, seeing that an abundance of teaching (& other) jobs have been lost over the passed year. Hopefully, everything stays this way. We both feel tremendously blessed that the economy hasn't directly effected our lifestyle or positions as it has many other individuals & families. I really hope that things begin to turn around this year with our economy. Well, everyone, have an amazing weekend, & those of you starting school this week, best of Luck!!