Won't you smile awhile for me.....

I read the best, best quote the other day on a country sign in a catalog.

Purring is just smiling out loud.

Today's smile files:

#1 - As my students arrived this morning and began their daily routine of unpacking, doing morning jobs, and starting morning work, I popped into the teacher's room across the hall to hand off a supply I had borrowed.  At this time, the morning announcements tuned in overhead, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, recited by some older students each morning.  I hurried back over to my classroom, expecting to have to hurry my kids to their feet and face the flag, but instead found a classroom full of first graders facing the flag with their hands on their hearts, quietly listening as their schoolmates spoke of "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  Can you picture it?

Routine - 

Respect -

Reason to smile -

#2 - While driving home from work today, I ended up behind a red pick-up with a crate in the back.  The crate was secured with straps in the cab and there was a black lab inside.  I wouldn't have even noticed the pup if it weren't for its bright tongue moving from side to side as we traveled along.   Eventually the truck pulled ahead and I lost sight of the crate and the pet.  At a stop sign farther up the road, I met up with them again and smiled.  At closer look, my black lab was not a black lab at all.  Inside that crate was a calf, huffing and puffing into the cold air outside, and on its head was a patch of white fur (about the size of a black lab's tongue...you see the confusion).  I smiled because, well, calves are cute AND because I love living in an area where calves in the back of pick-ups are an ordinary, everyday sight to be seen.

What made your smile files today?

"Oh, won't you smile awhile for me..."

<3-Sarah

Super Bowl Monday

Super Bowl Monday = Soooo sleepy.  It's days like these, when I head to work on less sleep than usual, thinking I will be a teacher with no patience, no energy, and no attention span.  But today, I surprised myself.  Having less energy, led me to choose my battles wisely, let things go, and focus on the most important tasks at hand.  This led to me having more patience than expected, because I just wasn't worried about the little things.  A well-behaved class helped out too!  An unseasonably warm, sunny day in February didn't hurt!  Andrew's team winning the Super Bowl was a plus!  Today turned out okay. :)

                                                              Some sleepy photos...

<3- Sarah

P.S. Happy 1st Birthday Avery!



Songs About Me #1

Trace Adkins sings a song called "Songs About Me" that expresses the fact that country music tells many stories that anyone can relate to, no matter what their situation may be.  Being the small-town, country girl I am, I can relate to most country songs and I want to start sharing some of the connections I make to this music.  Every now and again I'll be writing a Songs About Me post.  Here's #1...

                                                                  Lady Antebellum
                                                      Dancin' Away With My Heart

For me you'll always be eighteen,   



and beautiful,



and dancing away with my heart.


When I heard this song by Lady Antebellum, these lines spoke to me.  The song is about a couple who hasn't seen eachother since their teens, but it said something different to me.  I've seen the boy, who became the man, who became my husband, almost every day since my teens. But to me, he'll always be eighteen and beautiful and dancing away with my heart.

1999-2012 The dance goes on...

<3- Sarah





 











An award...for me?!?

That's right...this little blog has just received its 15 minutes of fame!  I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award!  So shocked....So honored....Soooo smiley!!!  And I thought getting my report cards done would be the highlight of my night!

When I first started this blog, in the school-less days of summer, I was inspired by the informational and uplifting teacher blogs I had found while searching for new ideas for the upcoming school year.  I added a few of my own posts about my month-long move into my new classroom and, as the school year began, more posts about my strengths and struggles in the classroom.

BUT...Mrs. Bushey had more to say and that's when Apple Pie Spice became more than just a teacher's blog.  Growing up and settling in a small town is something I cherish and if you know me at all you'd say it was always my plan.  My stories about living the dream with my high school sweetheart, raising some fur babies til we have some human ones of our own, my family in each direction only 10 minutes away, and teaching in the school I attended grades K-12 are all true and each new post is just as important to me as the last. 

Never did I imagine that my blog would be nominated for any of the awards that I had read other bloggers posting about.  Never did I think I would be following "the rules" of an award nomination...but here goes!

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Include a link to their blog.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jessica from A Winsome Journey.  I was inspired to take Apple Pie Spice in a different direction after reading Jess's down-home, kind-hearted, animal-loving, info-filled(wait there's one more) photo-lover's blog!

 
Step into her world...

3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you've recently discovered or follow regularly.

   1- Country Man's Wife: can totally relate with this girl in her 20's, livin' on the farm, married to a super-photogenic country man, married to a small-town man, and young in love.  <3
   2- thekitchensgarden: great recipes, stories from the farm, and too funny
   3- The First Grade Parade: very inspiring teacher blog and entertaining to boot
   4- The Inspired Apple: so sweet, so many great ideas, how does she do it?
   5- My Yellow Farmhouse: stumbled upon this blog recently.  Loved taking a tour of her farmhouse and she's a crafter!  Beautiful quilts found here!
   6- Playing with Pixie Dust: 3 teachers teaming up to share thoughts from the hallways to the home
   7- Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations: the very first blog I ever stumbled upon. Mel D. gave me warm fuzzies (the idea and the feeling)... oh just check it out!
   8- Fabulous in First: The G.O. Book. Period. Enough Said.
   9- Frolicking through First: When I started my blog, Amanda was my very first follower.  She said she knew how exciting it was to get new followers and I want to pay it forward.  Thank you, Amanda!
   10- The Clutter-Free Classroom: literally just came across this one and boy do I need it around this time of the school year!
   11- Small Town Lessons On Life: very brand new blogger and friend of mine since 1st grade, Nicole celebrates the way life and loved ones surprise her
   12- onespoiledcat: written from the cat's point of view <3
   13- The View Out Here: smart, witty, interesting, worth-while
   14- All-American Jess: the all-american girl who tells all. While reading a month's worth of Jess' posts, there were many times I said to myself, "Hey, that's so me!"
   15- happiness is a journey for janna: when you're having a bad day, stop by Janna's blog.  Chances are, one of her happy things makes you happy too. :)
  
4. Tell 7 things about yourself.  (hmmm...trying to think of things you may not know already from this blog.)

   1- I have a slight obsession with anything from Vera Bradley.
   2- I still regularly see 6 of my bestest girlfriends from high school.  One of them is now my sister-in-law so I now have her last name and one of them married my cousin so she now has my maiden name...this is sooo small town livin! 
   3-I was born in Maine on an Air Force base where my dad was stationed and my parents lived.
   4-I am a 27-year-old cat lady.  (well...maybe you figured that one out from this blog)

   5-Love, love, love Miranda Lambert and her music.  And I'll be seeing her on Feb. 16th in MA!

   6-I am the only girl on my dart team and I hold my own!

   7-My favorite food is cheese.

Woo Hoo!!!

<3- Sarah

GrayC's Story

Fall of 2005, the 21-year-old college student, is gladly looking forward to a trip home for Columbus Day weekend.  A combination of frat parties and skipping classes had led to the departure of her boyfriend and left her living in this North Country town without him for the first time since freshman year.  They had dated through high school and the young woman found being away from home without him would seem impossible if it weren't for her Type-A personality pushing her through just one more year.

Fall of 2005, the gray, tiger-striped kitten, crawls beneath slate tiles stacked in a barn.  The barn stood open to a country road.  The country road that the kitten's mother had been dropped on when her owner discovered her bulging belly.  This barn had been her safe haven and the only home the kitten had known in her short life.  The kitten could see her mother across the dirt floor, behind a child's bicycle.  She wanted to run to her, but the thick-headed tabby lay between them.  His tail twitching in disgust at the number of felines that now inhabited his shelter.

The young woman was glad to be home.  Her bag was resting near the stairs that led to her childhood bedroom.  Her shoes sat by the door that opened to a country road she knew well.  A road that held memories of reaching the high steps of the school bus, learning to ride a bike, and driving her first car.  She could hear her dad calling out to her from the porch to meet him in the barn a few steps from their home.  As she made her way toward the door, sliding on rubber-soled slippers, the girl's mom told her about the kitten her dad wanted her to see.  A barn cat had taken the kitten's siblings and left the smallest one behind.

It had been three days since the little, gray kitten had been comforted by the familiar scent of her mother.  Three days since one of her siblings, a larger version of herself, had pounced and flipped her on her back.  When exactly they had left, she wasn't aware.  She surely would have followed along, if only she had known.  Was it while she rested on the hay used years ago by a brown horse with a raven mane?  Was it while she eyed the last quick flies of fall, before winter left the pests droopy?  She missed the sweet milk of her mother.  The solid, orange bits left by the stomping boots were tough to chew and left her feeling ill.

The young woman's first glimpse of the kitten was truly only a glimpse.  The frightened gray baby darted here and there until she had found refuge behind a pile of crates used for campfires and now, camoflauge.  The mean tabby had, for the moment, turned sweet, while twisting between pairs of ankles, whining for something to eat.  The young woman's father had been distracted by one of his many outdoor chores and was now along the outside of the barn.  She wasn't sure if she felt confident enough to grab the kitten even if it would let her.  She left this task to her mother, who after a few attempts, scooped the kitten up.  Barn cats can sometimes hiss or spit when confronted, but the young woman saw that this little one was quite at ease in her mother's arms.  Seeing the kitten's sweet demeanor gave the young woman an idea. 

Winter of 2012, the gray kitten, now a plump, short-legged cat lay on a mat where a draft of heat pumps from the furnace.  When the warmth fades, she opens her eyes, blinking in the kitchen light.  After a squeaky stretch, the cat pads across the frigid farmhouse floor and settles in a seated position in front of the couch.  Her small head is tilted upward and she stares at the young woman with her large, green, still quite kitten-like eyes.

Winter of 2012, the young woman is settled on the couch under a quilt to curtain the chill drafting through the old farmhouse windows.  Unable to sit with idle hands, she knits while half-listening to a sitcom her husband is watching.  She looks across at the man she's loved since her teens then back to her knitting.  A short cry brings her attention to a pair of kitten eyes looking up at her from the braided carpet below.  "Come on up," she sing songs to the chubby, gray girl.  The cat leaps up to the young woman's knee and kneads at the quilt rested across her legs.  The woman lifts her cat and adjusts her across her lap, leaving room for the half completed baby blanket she is working on.  As she sits here, she thinks of the year she spent away from this man, from her family, from her home.  She remembers the nights spent with the little, gray kitten curled up under her chin as she slept.  Natural gifts were given and received.  The kitten had the comfort of the young woman's steady heartbeat and body heat.  The young woman had her piece of home and saving grace.  A purr from the cat brings the woman back into the present.  She leans down and kisses the cat on the head, whispering, "Love you, GrayC."

GrayC
The little, gray kitten all grown up.
Christmas Eve 2011

<3-Sarah

this is my town

Sunday football.  Small town bar.  GGG-MEN!  Belly up.  Buy a square.  Two more hours.  Family and friends.  Day off tomorrow.  Girly convo.  Fans scream.  High fives.  Man Hugs!  Bloody Mary.  Buy a round.  High fives.  Happy husband.  Jen sit down!  Cheese head.  Save my seat.  Sarah smile!  High fives.  Blue solo cups.  TOUCHDOWN!  Plastic shot glasses.  "This doesn't happen in Boston."  Watch my drink.  Wings (triple threat).  HF.  Boys playing pool.  Hair cut bet.  Juke box off.  Wink. Wink.  Man-dancing.  Superstitions.  GIANTS WIN!  "Now you've gotta come next Sunday!" 

<3- Sarah

Baby = Blanket

My sister's baby is on his way and in our family that means blankets need to be made.  My mom will make one of her beautiful quilts and because I haven't ventured into that craft yet, I'll be knitting my new nephew a baby blanket.  One day...one day I'll learn to quilt.  This will lead to the dawning of even more craft projects, without ever seeing their dusk.   Oh well, crafting seems to go that way...right?  I mean, I can't be the only one with projects laying about the house, waiting to take shape in the hands of the one who brought them to life.  Oh, I hope so.



First hooked rug...needs some finishing touches.

This past weekend, my sister, mom and I went to a yarn shop in Manchester, VT to find the baby hues that will be used in my blanket.  Here is the color combo that made Shannon's "heart jump." :)

It seems when knitting for a baby, you can't really go wrong.  The yarn is soft, the colors are cozy, the ideas are endless.  One of our favorites is Debbie Bliss.  Her baby knitting books have been flipped through at my mom's house whenever a baby is on the way.  My mom, an avid knitter, can create most projects in these books and will attempt any, teaching herself along the way.  I'm not quite there and have stuck mostly to scarves and blankets.  There was one baby hat, which was hard to give away as the gift it was intended to be. It made me so happy to look at! 



Made this one for a friend's baby in mint green.

 After I get the size 7 needles from my mom and a refresher in casting-on (yes, it's been that long since my last knitting project), this blanket will begin.  Stay tuned for updates and look below for the pattern to make this blanket.  The pattern was found on Pinterest.  It is from a blog called JCasa handmade.

:: BIAS BLANKET ::
use any yarn + needles you wish, although i would recommend you not go above worsted as we don't want little baby fingers or toes getting caught in the stitches.
[the one above was knit with 3 balls of cotton ease on US 7 needles.]
* CO 3 st and K 1st row.
* K1, Kf+b, K to end of row. repeat this until you have 6 st on your needles.
* RS = K1, Kf+b, K to end of row.
* WS = K1, Kf+b, P until 3 st remain, K3.
* repeat the RS + WS sequence - you are making an upside-down triangle working form the tip upwards, so once you have reached your desired width/height, that's when you start to decrease.
* RS = K until 5 st remain, K2tog, K3.
* WS = K3, P until 5 st remain, P2tog, K3.
* repeat the RS + WS sequence until 6 st remain.
* K1, K2tog, K3. (5 st)
* K1, K2tog, K2. (4 st)
* K1, K2tog, K1. (3 st)
* K3tog, cut yarn and pull through the loop.  sew in ends, wash + block and give to baby.

Will a baby be entering your world?  Whether you are a beginner knitter or a pro like my momma, grab your needles and knit with me. <3

<3-Sarah