Christmas Vacation

I promise this will be my last Christmas post, can you tell what my favorite holiday is? :) Between last minute projects and the usual holiday hustle and bustle I've been slacking off on my blogging lately.

I am a very intense photographer! :)

Anyway, I want to share with you the fun we've had on the our family vacation! My family and I have season passes to the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and we've been having a wonderful time! Today is our last day here and I'm totally going to do the annoying tourist thing and show you a thousand vacations pics. Sorry! :)

Biltmore Estate
This is one of my favorites, and also the longest. I understand if you glaze over it. :)

What a front yard! Normally the trees in the center aren't there, they're part of their giant Christmas display.

The Biltmore Estate was built by George Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. He teamed up with architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to create the home that continues to hold the title of Largest Privately Owned Home in America! The house was opened to the public originally during the Great Depression to draw tourists into the Asheville area. It is currently run by George's great grandson and his family. They have continued to restore many of the 250 rooms and several are open to tour. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to take pictures inside the house as it damages the delicate materials so you're going to have to suffer through a thousand shots of the outside. :)

Beautiful clear skies today! The ponds to the left are part of the water gardens or Italian Garden, they actually had chunks of ice on top! The original plans for this house show a much smaller home, however Richard Morris Hunt suggested that a large house was necessary in order to stay proportionate to the Blue Ridge Mountain backdrop. 

All of these photos were taken from a beautiful retaining wall. The ramp to the upper level lawn has low level steps in the middle, but smooth ramps on the outside. This design allowed a horse to travel up the middle, while the carriage he pulls rides on the smooth outer ramps. I love some 19th century technology! :)

We traveled up the path to do a bit of exploring before it was time for our tour. This lamp post reminded me so much of the one from Narnia! :) lol

This is the statue of Diana, I love the house peeking through the treeline. The surrounding forest is part of the Pisgah National Forest. A beautiful landscape that may not exist had Vanderbilt not intervened. When he purchased the land for his estate, most of it had been clear-cut and over-farmed, however he worked hand in hand with landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to rejuvenate the tired land. Many actually credit them as the fathers of modern forestry!

I don't know why but this is one of my favorite pictures. It was very chilly while we were there! Does my scarf look familiar? :)

We also took some wonderful photos from the roof while on the Architect's tour. This is one of my favorite tours and I highly recommend it!

This is part of the stonework over the front door. The details added by Vanderbilt and Hunt are incredible! Plus, each shingle was added individually.

This view shows the Bachelor's Wing of the house as well as a portion of the beautiful stable.

 Many of the windows have additional stonework details framing them, so beautiful! This view, taken from a veranda, reminds me of Notre Dame.

Look, even George used chevron! He's my kind of guy! :)

 The Grand Staircase is one of my favorite architectural features of the house. It has no visible means of support rather the stairs hold each other up. In addition to the intricate carving, it also features two French saints. One is the saint of architecture, the other is Joan of Arc.

This is the wing that contains many of the guest rooms. This view was taken from the top of the Grand Staircase.

I love the roof of the winter garden! I could definitely spend some time here!

Even the spires had beautiful decorations! You can see the family's religious inspirations throughout the estate. There are several crosses decorating the roof as well as carvings in and around the house. The Vanderbilts and their architect Richard Morris Hunt also designed All Souls Cathedral in Biltmore Village.

The stone carvers were allowed a bit more creative freedom on the back veranda. These statues are off the guest balcony and are much more 'risque' for their time. To the right (not in the shot) is one with a likeness of Richard Morris Hunt, the architect, who appears to be scratching his head. Perhaps thinking, "What in the world?!?" Who doesn't love architect humor?

The Biltmore is often called 'An English lady in a French dress' because the interior is heavily inspired by European estates, while the outside is very reminiscent of French Chateaus. This can be seen in the number of gargoyles and grotesques that decorate the house, ward off evil spirits, and previously helped provide drainage. These two are the most photographed on the estate, the one on top is a bear with a honey pot, how cute is that?
Okay, I'm done with Biltmore now, I promise. :)

North Carolina
Us Floridians are not used to the chilly weather up north! (yes, this is 'up north' for us) It's barely dropped below 70 lately in Florida, but during the day here it hovered in the 30's and 40's and dropped into the 20's at night! Crazy!

Look Ma, there's frost on the leaf and the sun is out!

Leaves actually fell off the trees around here, amazing! It's actually crazy how different the mountains look once the trees lose their leaves.

But not all the trees are bare! So this is what a coniferous tree in the wild looks like! Like that? I used 'coniferous' just like I learned in ag class! :)

My favorite 'frost' picture was taken by Momma!

Snow Tubing
Unfortunately there wasn't any natural snowfall while we were vacationing, so we found some man-made snow at the tubing section at Wolf Ridge Ski Resort in Mars Hill. This vacation was the first time I've ever seen snow or icicles! Here are a few things I learned: it's WET, it's NOT fluffy, it's very slick, and it IS painful!

Miranda and I decided to brave tubing...

We started by sliding down the big hill and tried to avoid taking out small children.

Seriously, snow hurts! I always thought it was like fluffy balls of cotton...

We were trying to do all the 'traditional' snow things. Like our little snowman? He likes warm hugs ;)

It may look like I'm striking a pose, but I'm seriously just trying to stay on my feet! Again, did NOT realize how slick snow is!

This was also the first snow for my mom and sister. Like their hats? You'll never guess who crocheted those! ;) Miranda's is a camo toboggan that has a little hole in the back for her ponytail to poke out. Momma's is her favorite teal color with a rolled brim and peacock feather accent.

Again, on a mission to do all the 'traditional' snow activities including a snowball fight!

Miranda was able to get in a lot of deadly-good headshots!

Overall we had an awesome day playing in our first-ever snow! :)

Pisgah Forest
As I previously mentioned, Pisgah forest wouldn't exist like it does now if it weren't for Vanderbilts. Vanderbilt once owned nearly all of what is now Pisgah National Forest, including Mt. Pisgah! George and Olmsted helped restore the tired land. Unfortunately following George's death, his widow, Edith, had to made some tough decisions. Property tax laws went into affect in American shortly after his death and they could not afford to run the estate and pay taxes on their massive expanse of land. Edith cut a deal with the government to sell part of the land for $5 an acre (don't worry, she still kept plenty) provided that it became a part of the Pisgah National Forest and remained largely untouched. Thanks to this deal, we now have a beautiful park here, and the land still shows us George's vision. Anyway, one of the beautiful natural sights in the forest is Looking Glass Falls.

Isn't it beautiful? The bottom of the falls was FREEZING but it was still a beautiful sight!

I like peeking at it through the trees. :) We also drove down a scenic parkway in the park. We were hoping to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it was closed.

The view was beautiful, even without clear skies!

Grove Park Inn/Gingerbread Competition
We also make a quick stop at the Grove Park Inn to take a look at the finalists in the annual gingerbread competition. We've been past it before, but had no idea how massive and grandiose it was until we actually went inside!

This is the view from the back veranda...

My favorite gingerbread was part of the teen competition, it's a Mary Poppins themed house! :)

Isn't that awesome? I love the chimney sweeps on the roofline!

Momma's favorite was also part of the teen competition, it's "Christmas Vacation" themed! How awesome is that? I love cousin Eddie's trailer out front and the extension cords running to the side of the house!

I photographed this one to show my students. Just before Christmas break we allowed the children to make their own graham cracker houses and I thought my boys would especially appreciate this Star Wars house! This amazing house was part of the youth division!

And finally, the only adult house I'm going to show you. It's called "Peace on Earth" (I think) and was the grand prize winner. It really is a beautiful and intricate display! (Check it out, you can see my reflection in the background!)

Okay, okay, I promise I'm finally done now. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas! :)

~Farm Girl Teacher

Christmas Gifts Galore

In addition to several specialty orders I've been completing for customers, I crocheted like crazy to finish last minute gifts for family members!

I usually do individual projects for the kids in my family, but this year several of them had mentioned that they liked those hats with the beards and since almost all the kids are boys, I did a few color variations of the same style. Check it out!

I made a grand total of nine toboggan/beards!

This was my largest 'batch.' The beards are all similar colors, a couple have flecks of tan because the store ran out of plain brown. It's actually a neat variation, looks more natural! The hat colors from left to right are, gray, black/brown/gray mix, and camo! The gray actually wound up being my favorite, I think I'll actually go back to purchase some more of that color to do a project for myself.

These hats are awesome to make, they are worked up using super bulky/bulky yarn so they work fast and thick and warm. The beards are attached using buttons so they can be adjusted to fit the face of the wearer. The beards can also be taken off altogether so the person can wear it as a plain toboggan when it's not as cold out! 

Typically, we only buy presents for the kids in the extended family, but since the adult in this picture was actually the one who requested these hats, I thought a father/son set was in order! I also made a navy hat for my own father to match his work uniforms, but I somehow forgot to get a picture of it. :( I'll work on it though and see what I can get!

And for the girls in the family...

How cute is this!? I used the same toboggan pattern the boys hats were made from and I whipped up the flower real quick without a pattern. I picked this style just because I thought it was cute but I unintentionally and luckily copied the style and color of the hat her American Girl doll wears! :)

And finally for my boyfriends little sister...

...a ruffle scarf! Yes, I finally jumped on the novelty yarn bandwagon I've been avoiding for years. I'm not going to lie, I'm not usually drawn to these novelty style yarns, but I have been looking for a quick and easy knitting project to teach the kids in Sewing Club and another teacher suggested these scarves. They really are pretty and relatively simple to complete, I'll give more of an update when we start them in sewing club!

 I hope your Christmas was merry and bright! :)

~Farm Girl Teacher

Christmas Traditions

I really do love Christmas traditions and one of my favorites is our ornament tradition. When my parents got married 27 years ago they began purchasing ornaments every year that reflected major events of that year. This continued once my sister and I came into the picture and some of my best memories come from taking out the ornaments to decorate the tree and bringing back some wonderful (and often hilarious!) memories! Some of my favorites include the hood ornament that came off the Buick my mother and I totaled just before Christmas in the early 90's, the pink ornaments my aunt handed out at her baby shower BEFORE she was told she was having a boy, key chains from our favorite vacation spots, etc. Take a look at two of my ornaments for this year... (I have at least one more but I forgot to photograph it..)

 In honor of my first year teaching, we found this at a beautiful kiosk at a local mall. They are an awesome little shop and always willing to customize! :)

And a 'Saint Leo' ornament in honor of my graduation last April.

Of course, there's always a few traditions that just won't die...

So naturally I must drag others into the tradition with me...

 :) By the way, what do you think of these pictures? They were taken with my brand new....Christmas camera!

(In hindsight I should've turned off the TV) Since I've been taking pictures with a potato for the last year or so, I decided to treat myself using some of the traditional Christmas money given to me by my Granny Woot. Yay!

Merry Christmas!

~Farm Girl Teacher

Wooten Family Photo

It's that time of year again! Every Christmas there is tons, and I mean TONS of hustle and bustle. My immediate family and I go to at least two Christmas parties, (one on either side of the family) as well as prepare for our own family traditions. I know three parties doesn't really sound like a lot, but when you couple that with the fact that both my mother and I work at elementary schools and are very involved with charity/Christmas fundraisers this time of the year, December tends to be quite a blur!

One of the particularly fun traditions we do is take a family Christmas photo...which doesn't sound like much if you've never seen a Wooten Family Photo...take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from 2013....

Left to Right: (Horses) Tux, Jose, Colby, Drew Piney (People) Tammy, Rebecca, Miranda Randy (Dogs) Mandy, Cole

The above was the winner for the official card, but of course I'm going to show you more than just one picture. :D

Thanks to Eric, our wonderful photographer and my boyfriend who inevitably gets roped into the ordeal whether he likes it or not. :)

I'm not going to lie, the process is not an easy one and I'm often reminded of the Griswold family antics! (Mom's favorite Christmas movie)

In addition to the big photo, we also do smaller photos with just humans, just one person with the animals that belong to that person, the children, the adults, dad and kids, mom and kids, etc.

All told we easily take over a hundred pictures, I promise I'll try not to get too carried away with today's post...

Well, maybe... I am my mother's child after all.... :)

The animals are the most challenging as it's borderline impossible to get everyone looking the same directions with their ears where they belong, however you wouldn't believe how many we have where the animals look great...and at least one human is just a bit off... :)

And yes, I know that not all our animals are pictured, but we try to get as many as possible. Chickens and sheep just don't always photograph well! Plus, it's not possible to have EVERY animal in the picture so we often just grab one to represent their entire species...

 Merry Christmas!

~Farm Girl Teacher

Elf on the CLASSROOM Shelf

 Day One: 
May I introduce you to Hugo, my Elf on the CLASSROOM Shelf! Hugo arrived this morning on the tippy top of my little baby tree... :)

For those of you not familiar with the tradition, the elf sits on your shelf watching the children. The kids can talk to him and he will always listen but they cannot touch him because they will damage his magic. Every night while they are sleeping the elf flies to see Santa and tell whether the children have been naughty or nice. This is obvious because every morning the elf is in a new place...often getting himself into a bit of mischief! The wrapped present under the tree was his accompanying book, "The Elf on the Shelf" My kids were thrilled to see that our Elf arrived and will be staying with us until Christmas. They voted on names and we landed on 'Hugo the Elf' which also happened to be my favorite! Many children said 'goodbye' to Hugo and blew him kisses just before leaving today...it made me so happy! :) I will keep this post updated with Hugo's daily escapades....be sure to check regularly! :)

Day Two:
Hugo decided to make himself at home in his new classroom!

He arrived with a poem because, naturally, elves must always speak in rhyme! :)

Hugo is a name that is just so very cool

That my elf friends are jealous they’re not at your school!
I told Santa how well you all did on Friday’s big test,

He said he believes you are the best of the best!

Without you all here I was so very lonesome,

I hope you don’t mind that I made myself at home some!

I don’t need much except a fake window and a fan,

Throw in a few friends and a bed, my home is built for a gentleman!

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for today,

But before you go to P.E. to play,

I have a quite the surprise for Miss Wooten’s class!
Just follow the directions and you’ll have a blast!

Each morning after you find me wherever I will be…

Take a look underneath your little baby tree

For a poem and some papers for each of you to do…

A gift from a little elf to every one of you!

Day Three:

Hugo is preparing for his gift wrapping test at Elf School! :) The tag says, "Education is a Gift, Use It!"

 

Boys and girls must always go to school,

Because learning new things is always super cool.

But children aren’t the only ones with learning to do!

Scout elves who live in Santa’s north pole,

Must also make learning a very important goal

For an elf without an education is as silly as a troll!

We learn to make toys and cocoa that’s the best,

But now I must study for a very important test,

For I have to do work before I can rest.

On Friday I’ll show off my ability to wrap,

A toy, a bicycle, or even Santa’s cap!

I borrowed Ms. Wooten’s things, to practice before my nap.

Wish me luck!

Days Four/Five:

Unfortunately, Hugo was unable to do much other than move around the classroom the last couple days. He was feeling down because Miss Wooten was sick and he was worried about her, but I'm pretty sure he'll be doing much better tomorrow and be ready to come in with a few surprises for our students! :)

Days Six:

Miss Wooten is doing much better and so is Hugo! He brought us a very special North Pole gift! I apologize that a few of these pictures are late...I may or may not have misplaced the cord that goes with my fancy shmancy new camera! :)

I have a special treat,

For boys and girls to eat,

You see, way up in the North pole

We have many fun things to grow,

I’ve brought you a special pack of seeds,

Plus all of the supplies you will need.

Begin with the cleaned up bowl,

And pour in the special snow,

Take all of the seeds and push them down deep,

And for all weekend let them steep,

And Monday morning you shall see,

How many great surprises there will be!

Days Seven: 
We were all very excited to see if our north pole garden would grow! Check it out! 

So that's how they're made! Hugo has snacked on one candy cane and is now leaning against my pencil holder from sugar exhaustion! :)

Your garden has been growing,

Nearly all weekend long.

I’ve kept on eye on it knowing,

You’d be here before too long.

I’ve sprinkled some precious elf magic,

A little here, a little there,

You see, I knew you’d be ecstatic,

To see what grew where!

I hope that you don’t mind,

But I had just a small snack…

And you’re all so sweet and so kind,

I don’t think you’ll take it back!

Please enjoy your treat

But always remember the rules…

You must only have good things to eat

If you promise never to make a mess at school!

Days Eight: 
For one of the first times this year the temperature here in Florida has dropped below 70! Hugo must have been an elf scout though, because he came prepared! (Get it, Elf Scout? Hehe)

He brought each of our kids a pair of gloves, the girls got beautiful pink one with stars and the boys received handsome green gloves with a basketball on them. Either way, all the kids had toasty fingers when we went to P.E.!

 

Days Nine: 
Hugo arrived by our tree again with a gentle Christmas reminder!

 His note says, "Don't forget your letters to Santa, he will be writing back this Friday!" Almost every child wrote a letter, a few wrote two after I reminded them that they must use their best handwriting! :) Like my mailbox? I fell in love with it at Michaels so my mom bought it for me as an early Christmas present for my classroom!

Days Ten: 
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the surprise on my students' face this morning as I had a half-day training. Luckily Hugo had some foresight on that front!

His note says, "Behave for your sub today! Don't forget I'm always watching! <3 Hugo P.S. Good Luck on today's math test, I know you'll do awesome!" What a sweetheart! Unf ortunately I forgot to leave a note in my sub plans to tell my sub not to touch Hugo....there was a bit of a mishap and several of my students were REALLY upset when I walked in around noon. I really wasn't expecting that much of an emotional reaction but I did as much damage control as possible and we'll hope that Hugo wasn't too hurt. 

 

Days Nine: 
Luckily Hugo was able to return on our final day before break with a special surprise!

Hugo returned with letters to each child written from Mr. Claus himself! :) Santa was very kind to each of the children and they loved it! He also returned with a small elf band-aid just over his heart, looks like he visited the elf doctor during his North Pole return. We will miss Hugo but we can't wait to see him next year!

Thank you for sticking with me during this year's Elf on the Classroom Shelf posts. Our elf loved sharing his story with you as did I. Check back next year! :)

~Farm Girl Teacher

A Newsworthy Moment

Did any of you ever get the opportunity to be mentioned in a newspaper article as a child? I remember that I did once or twice through 4-H or school and it was awesome! Family and grandparents clipped the article and that 15 seconds of fame made me feel briefly like Elvis! (Don't laugh, my pop culture tastes were a bit different from the other kids, lol)

This past Sunday, December 1st, Sew Cute 4-H @ Cox (our Sewing Club at school) was very lucky to get a featured article in the Pasco Times section of the Tampa Bay Times! In addition to two photos, the article included several quotes from our awesome kiddos! All the children were thrilled to see that our little slice of the world was officially 'newsworthy!' (I have to admit, I was pretty dang excited myself, and yes, my grandmother clipped a copy for me!) With everyone's help I was able to secure enough copies for each child that was quoted or pictured to take a laminated copy home to their family! Thank you everyone who assisted with sewing club or with getting extra copies for our students. Please go check it out online if you haven't already.

~Farm Girl Teacher

Learning to Sew: Scruchies

You read that right, I'm bringing back the scrunchie! :) But first, check out the bookmarks my kids made....  see that tutorial, here.

 
Let me start by sharing the same back story I shared with my kids. Sometimes I debate whether or not I should 'waste' time telling the kids these stories, but several mentioned to me at the end of Sewing Club that they liked hearing all about Ms. Wooten's Granny Woot and wanted me to tell them more stories while we waited on their parents to pick them up. :) It's the small things that makes me happy sometimes... Anyway, back to my story.

I really started sewing regularly during middle school. At that time I got off the bus at my Granny Woot's house and spent the afternoon with her until my parents got off work. While Granny didn't have internet or a working DVD player, she did have several additional fun things I managed to get myself into. (Ivy tunneled gardens, rows of corn with hidden snails, record players with tons of records, a giant pantry, her 'office,' the list goes on...) One of the things I was drawn to was her 60's model Singer Touch & Sew. I had grown up around fabulous seamstresses and I loved watching my mom sew beautiful costumes, dresses, clothes, etc. With a lack of modern technology, the sewing machine called to me, begging me to sit down and create. I rummaged through one of Granny's many cabinets until I came across a beginner sewing video. I fired up the VCR and began my first wearable project, a scrunchie. I must have made several hundred scrunchies, I seriously think everyone I'd ever come in contact with owned at least one of my custom scrunchies, regardless of their gender or hair length.

Ever since then scrunchies have always held a special place in my heart. Initially a scrunchie was going to be my first kids project in sewing club, however when I realized how many boys I had I decided to save it. I wanted their first project to be something everyone could use.

After the bookmarks, all the kids were hooked and the boys were okay with 'girl' projects. They either used 'boy' fabric so they could wear them as bracelets, or they sewed scrunchies for loved ones in their lives.

They really are fairly simple to create. The fabric is 16"x4" and the quarter inch elastic is about 3 inches long. (That's a rough estimate I just kind of wrap it comfortably around my wrist and snip.) You're welcome to use my instruction sheet, if you can't print it from the website email me and I can send it as an attachment. Enjoy!

 ~ Farm Girl Teacher