Chocolate Pomegranate Heaven

I found this easy shmeasy recipe on Pinterest. You will need a pomegranate and a bag of chocolate chips.

The first and most tedious thing is to get the seeds out of the pomegranate. Easiest way to do this is in a bowl of water; all the seeds sink, and everything else floats so you can scoop that off the top, and strain the seeds. I dried my seeds for about an hour on paper towels.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake cups. Put chocolate chips in a ziplock bag. Heat the bag up for 15 seconds, take out, and knead it. Repeat until the chocolate is smooth. Cut the tip of the bag and squeeze a bit of chocolate in the bottom of a cupcake cup, sprinkle some pomegranate seeds, add more chocolate, and add more seeds. Do this is every cup, let cool, and then enjoy!

Next time I plan on using white chocolate. This will not only be delicious but beautiful for Christmas. 

Magnificence of a Hedgehog

My fascination with this adorable creature started during my early years of high school. There was a janitor that had a pet hedgehog. She would bring him to school every once in a while. The day my eyes met this spiky ball, I knew I would raise my very own. About 1 year after graduating high school, I hunkered down and found a breeder (http://www.crittercrazy hedgehogs.com/)  right outside of my home town. After some quick arrangements  and a short drive, I had my little buddy in my arms and was bound towards his new home.

African Pygmys are the most common hedgehog for a pet.  Hedgehogs are nocturnal so they are mainly awake at night, but their schedules do change quite a bit when they are domesticated. Morty will get up usually in the afternoon, take a nap, and be up for most of the night.

African Pygmys need to stay close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I keep Morty at a comfortable temperature with a red heat lamp.

Hedgehogs can't see the red light, so this doesn't affect their sleep. These little guys can't get too cold, even from a draft because this my push them into hibernation  When hedgehogs start hibernating  they do not eat or drink, so this can be very dangerous. Morty has gone into hibernation once, he came out of it fairly quickly after I turned up the heat in his cage, and injected some water into him.

These insectivores are not known for being the most sociable creature. A good way to get hedgehogs used to you is to handle them often, and give them lots of attention.

In the wild, hedgehogs will They live mainly off of insects, but domesticated hedgehogs maintain a healthy diet on indoor cat food. Morty has been known to enjoy a gold fish cracker every now and again. Grasshoppers and mil worms are a delicious treat. Morty seems to be a strange hedgehog, and has passed up both of these decadent morsels for his regular cat food.

Morty spends most of his life in a cage big enough for a rabbit. In his dwelling, you will find pine shavings covering the floor, an igloo,

small dish of cat food,

hamster style water bottle,

and a wheel. Morty loves to run on his wheel, it seems to provide him entertainment all night.

To provide him with more amusement, I like to take him outside on a warm summer's day.

The hedgehog and his cage do require a cleaning once a month. I wash Morty with puppy shampoo, and scrub him down in the sink with a toothbrush. I also use cat nail clippers to keep his little claws trimmed up.

A good way to rinse off a little hedgie is by letting him swim around in a bathtub full of clean water.

Morty has provided me with 4 fun years of enjoyment and excitement. He always manages to surprise me, either by attacking a stray packing peanut, or munching down on a gold fish crackers. Morty seems to be mortal enemies with socks and pillow cases...

Morty is in his elder years; unfortunately hedgehogs don't live to be too old. An average life span is about 5 years. Just recently Morty began acting like he was in hibernation, but this strange behavior went on for about 2 weeks. My boyfriend and I were getting prepared for his last days. We did give him a fighting chance by keeping his cage a little warmer and force feeding him sugar water. The poor little guy wasn't eating, barely drinking, and had very little energy. We were practically pacing and wringing our hands the whole time he was sick; trying to decide if we should put him down just in case he was in pain. We decided to keep waiting, because he didn't seem to be in pain. Then miraculously he began drinking at his normal speed and moving around a little bit more, then he began eating, and now he is back to normal. Morty doesn't run on his wheel anymore, but we will keep it in his cage just so he has the option.

I am sure you have fallen in love with their cute little faces. You will fall in love with their personality after reading a book called "The Hedgehog's Dilemma" by Hugh Warwick. Warwick mostly discusses the European Hedgehog found in Britain.

I would not suggest a hedgehog as a pet for a small child. This is most definitely a pet for someone who has the patience to peer through all the spikes and see a warm ball of love.

Favorite Substitute Teaching Moments

I have decided to make a log of all my favorite subbing moments:


I was scheduled to spend about 2 weeks with a fifth grade class. It was my fourth day with the class, and the students had just arrived from lunch. They were settling down when I announced that they needed to pull out their Social Studies books. A usual annoyed groan came from the general population. Suddenly one of the "class-clowns" spoke up  and announced "Hey, I like history! It is fun to learn about!" The whole class seemed quite surprised; it didn't change the general mood towards our next lesson, but was a moment that made me smile from ear to ear.

In this same fifth grade class, there was quite the array of personalities. There was one boy, who was probably one of the smallest, sweetest, kids in the class. The end of the day always seemed to be hectic because students were coming from there specials right at the time of the dismissal. This young boy, however, would find we in the bustling crowd and quietly say "Thank you for teaching me."  He has said that to me every day that I have taught, and I believe he really means it.

I was returning the same fifth grade classroom about a month later. One of the boys was eating his lunch as he saw me returning.  By "eating his lunch", I mean stuffing his face with green beans. When he saw me, he excitedly exclaimed "Ms. McKinney, I forgot you were going to be here for the rest of the day!" While shouting, this young boy was spewing green beans out of his mouth. It was a very messy, but heart warming experience.

I was subbing for a second grade teacher who had many special needs students, and students with behavioral problems. There was one boy in particular that I was told about before the day even started. This boy was going through a medicine change, so his mood was very erratic. I was a little nervous throughout the day; almost waiting for a melt-down. But this kid was one of the sweetest boys. I could tell he was having trouble keeping it together, but he did a wonderful job. He did quietly ask me to hold his hand while the class did some independent work(this action seemed to help keep him grounded). At the end of the day when all the students were walking out the door, he circled back, gave me a hug, and whispered "Thank you Ms. M."

1/25/13 
I was submersed in the kindergarten world; I had been subbing kindergarten for about a week straight, which I was enjoying greatly. On this particular day I was with a wonderful class. Every student knew mine and their teacher's expectations, and strived to follow these. I was having a hard time picking just a few students to give school dollars to, because I felt every student deserved one that day. Then right after last recess my class was heading inside, behind another kindergarten class. The student in the back of this line is a marvelous, petite child who had recently come from Japan, so she didn't understand much English yet. This young girl had her snow-suit around her feet and was scuttling into the building while dragging her suit through slush and water. Before I could even get to her for aid,  my line leader silently held up the suit and walked behind. I watched this interaction all the way in to the building, and my kindergartner even offered to help take her suit off once they had reached the lockers. Needless to say this was one of the students who received a school dollar that day. 


1/30/13
I always love getting beautiful drawings and creations from kiddos. This one in particular is one of my favorites, mostly because of his wonderful way of sounding out and spelling my name. This kindergartner spent his entire free time coloring this rocket for me. He didn't have enough time to color in the entire thing, so he told me I could finish it.  It says "Michael, Mis Mucine" (for Ms. McKinney)

More to come...