Hester Happenings

Last weekend was quite an exciting one for Jeff and me. Ashley and Neil came up Friday and stayed at our house that night. We love having friends come over, especially when we don't get to see them very often! The next morning we headed up to the Hester family farm that's in Virginia. The Hester clan was having a get-together because a family friend was teaching how to make Brunswick Stew. Now, when I think of Brunswick Stew I immediately think of Smithfield's. Probably because that's the only place I've actually eaten some...yes-I'm not a southerner. When we arrived at the house I was a little surprised to see this: Brunswick Stew cooking outside in a 5 gallon pot that was being stirred by Uncle Mac with a boat paddle. Ok-it's not really a boat paddle, but it sure resembles one! This was the true southern way to make Brunswick Stew, I was told by the other man in the picture (Mr. George). Mr. George also told me that he had a 30 gallon pot to make ...

February brings many treats my way because of this holiday known as Valentine’s Day! Now, to normal people that don't work in schools...I think your experience with this holiday may be different. It's a day of love. A day to tell people in your life that you love them. A day to give special gifts to friends and family to show them how much they're loved.  If you work in a school, you know my dilemma. Valentine's to Elementary aged kids consists of giving Valentines to friends, family, and TEACHERS. I loved seeing how excited my kids got this year while they were handing out their valentines to classmates. It was even cuter seeing their faces when they brought me a special treat. I think the cutest Valentine this year was one little adorable boy in my class brought Maddi (our bunny) in a Valentine's card with a bag of carrots attached to it! My class is so cute! Below is a picture of most of all of the treats I got on Tuesday. Now can you see my problem? S...

So Katie and Wil came into town this weekend. My mom really wanted to go Geocaching, especially since we haven't been in quite some time. The only problem with this plan is that it was REALLY cold outside. We tried a total of 3 caches, the first two were quick finds.  Katie and Wil drove us around and Anna, my mom and I enjoyed our time in the car...away from the crazy cold wind! By the third cache we were completely frozen. My mom and I were determined to find it, but Katie, Wil, and Anna had a different plan. They drove around to pick us up right when we figured it out. The cache was hidden UP a tree. We are so going to have to go back to find it! Here's a picture of one of the ones we actually found:  So after our Geocaching adventure we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant my parents just found. Let me start off by saying, if you're Italian-you'd feel right at home. When my dad walked into the restaurant he was greeted with a "...

I've been involved in a local Community Bible Study (CBS) for a couple of years now. Jeff started coming with me last year. This group of people has been such a blessing in our lives. We also enjoy getting to study God's word with a group of brothers and sisters in Christ. The CBS class we are involved in is one of the few couple's classes, which is really nice for us because we can go together to the church. When our CBS group started many years ago, they started a really fun tradition. The church that the class was held in had an activity once a year on Thursday, so the group met in homes that one week. Ever since (eventhough we're not at that same church) we have met in a home of someone in our group. We each bring something to eat and share in a wonderful meal together. I think this is my favorite meeting of the year because you get to know the women in your group much more. This year my group met at our house! I am so blessed to have a space big enough to fellowshi...

My baby sister's (Anna) birthday was a couple of weeks ago. We have a family tradition of coming together for a family meal to celebrate birthdays. Of course my wonderful dad cooked a fantastic meal.We are quite spoiled by my dads good cooking skills! The other tradition is that the birthday girl gets to pick the food that is served for her birthday.  Anna chose to have steak, veggie casserole, mashed potatoes, and Cinnabons. It was absolutely delicious and not at all good for us! Ever since Anna was little I've made her birthday cake. I don't know how this started, but I quite enjoy making a fun cake every January. In the past I've always made a cake to match what Anna was interested in that year. This year was the year of cats. If she could, she would have my parents house filled to the ceiling with cats that needed homes. So of course, I HAD to make a cat cake. Now....if you look closely I tried to make it look like her cat "Schmu" with a 'mole' a...

Crock-pots are one of my favorite ways to cook dinner, especially when I'm working. I had a nice long break, but I now have to get back to the real world. So I wanted to share this recipe that I found because it's easy and delicious. It's for barbecue chicken sandwiches. Here's the finished product: What you need: A crock pot, 2 chicken breasts, 1 12 oz. jar of barbecue sauce ( I use Sweet Baby Rays), 1/2 c. Italian dressing, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and 2 tbl. Worcestershire sauce. What you do: Put the 2 pieces of chicken in the crock pot. In a small bowl mix all the other ingredients and then pour over chicken. Cook in the crockpot 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Once it's cooked it looks like there is a lot of juice...but don't worry. Then take the chicken out and shred it with 2 forks and put back in. Mix well and then enjoy on some buns. Jeff and I normally have this with some corn on the cob. YUM! I normally am not a barbecue fan, but this i...

About a year ago I got a bunny as my classroom pet. I have wanted a Netherland Dwarf bunny for quite some time because of their cute ears and they stay small. Small bunny = perfect for classoom life. So after the beloved Max (my old guinea pig) left us, I knew now was the time to get a bunny! Thank goodness my sister Anna looks on Craigs List all the time for animals because she actually found a Netherland Dwarf Bunny that was up for adoption! YAY! I got her a couple of days after I found the post and was so excited. The kids decided to name her Maddi after a character in the book Fever 1793 . If you like historical fiction books,  you should check it out because it's really good! Little did I know that bunnies are full of personality! On her first day home she bit me 3 times and got me 2 times with her nails. Good thing is now she likes me (most of the time) and is much more friendly! She lets the kids in the class pet her and feed her. She also hops around the classroom....