French Toast Casserole

Here is the recipe for the casserole that I made yesterday for Sunday School:

white or wheat bread
cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup maple syrup

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13 pan with butter. Tear bread into small pieces and layer across the bottom of the pan. Break the cream cheese into small chunks and place on top of the bread. Place another layer of bread pieces on top of the cream cheese layer. Pour sugar on top of this layer, then sprinkle with cinnamon. Mix eggs, milk and syrup in a bowl and beat with a whisk. When well mixed, pour over the top of casserole. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, place on the counter for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered. Then cover and bake for 25 minutes. When you remove from the oven, place butter on top of hot casserole, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

It can be topped with fruit if desired. I don't know the exact amount of bread or cream cheese because I don't use what the recipe calls for. It's less than a loaf of bread and I usually use less than half of the 8 oz. cream cheese. It's also really easy to half for an 8x8 casserole dish!

Thank You Note?

I got this thank you note in the mail today and laughed out loud! The names have been deleted for protection :).

"What is up Drew & Laura Ann,
I hope that you two are doing good. I can't believe ya'll have been married for almost two years. I hope it has been delightful. Thank yall for the towels. We have now two sets so ***** will be able to dry off too. Thank you for getting us something useful rather than the "one time a year" gifts. (You know what I mean I'm sure). Anyhow, this is the most informal note I've ever written. Thanks again."

Yes- the boy wrote the note. I just had to share it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kindergarteners + Valentine's Day = CRAZINESS!
I wish I had the time to have taken pictures yesterday. The outfits some of the kids were wearing! We celebrated Valentine's day, of course, however some parents thought their children were going out on the town! One little girl said she bought her dress at Hot Topic on Thursday night! (It was definitely supposed to be a shirt for a MUCH older girl.)
Anyway, we spent the week decorating shoe boxes with hearts, glitter and glue so that each child had somewhere to keep their Valentine's. My sweet room moms had helped to plan an ice cream sundae party for the afternoon. I walked in the door yesterday morning to 19 very excited 5 and 6 year olds, a basket FULL of bags filled with cards and treats for each child to pass out, children telling me what their parents were bringing and what time they were coming... you get the picture.
After several little ones had emotional breakdowns, we got all of the Valentine cards passed out, only to have a parent bring in MORE things.
Right after lunch, we were ready to have our ice cream sundaes. I was shocked at how little some of the kids put on their ice cream! They had a huge choice of toppings, and some of them sat down with just plain vanilla. The sugar sure didn't take long to kick in. After a quick break for playing outside I sent them home sugared up with a box full of candy for Mom & Dad to enjoy for the weekend!