michael and the dentist

Today Michael was a brave boy. He went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled. He had a baby tooth that did not come out before the permanent tooth grew in behind it. He noticed it on Saturday - he said all excited, "Mommy, mommy, I have a loose tooth." I looked and then responded, "It better be loose, as you big boy tooth is growing in already." The dentist wanted to see him - and remove the tooth. Two shots and a pull later he had his bottom front left tooth out. He was so brave - he did not even cry - he just squeezed my hand very tightly. Now the tooth fairy has to visit :)

cold season

Along with Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving break came cold season. Although the weather was in the 60's and beautiful, it was cold here - I mean virus cold. We are just getting over it :) but my classroom sounds like a infirmary. It is difficult to stay healthy when one has 22 first graders coughing and sneezing all over you, as well as leaving snotty kleenex sitting on their desks. While I do use clorox wipes as well as hand sanitizer it seems these must be making the germs grow and increase in intensity instead of killing them, as my students keep coughing and sneezing.

I am glad it is getting cold - although I hope it does not snow like they said it might - so maybe the cold germs will die or go pick on another classroom or school.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We went to the Light Up Louisville Christmas parade on Friday. It was a fun time - the kids had not been to a parade since Fort Smith when Emily was 2 1/2 and Michael was 6 months old. Seems kind of sad that they had not been to a real parade all that time. They enjoyed it - although there were no marching bands and not many real floats. Lots of people marching together and cars. After the parade we went to the car to eat turkey sandwiches and then went back for Light Up Louisville. It was pretty, but not very long. Santa came in at 7:00 and that sure did cause a stir. Who would have thought it would take 20 - 30 police officers to ward the crowd off of Santa. After that we came back home to play Disney Scene-It. The kids got that from Craig and Amber for Christmas.

Saturday morning we all slept in a little and then enjoyed everyone's company. We had another turkey dinner before taking Karen to the airport. Craig and Amber & Amelia stayed around for another round of Disney Scene It as well as playing a baseball game that Michael has. They left around 4:00 and then Doug and myself hit the Christmas lights. We have a pair of white trees, a holographic gift in front of them, a holographic train, blue lights on the bushes, and white lights on the house. It is very bright outside with all the lights on.

Today we spent the day relaxing and lounging. We did go fly a model airplane which Doug's boss gave the kids. After that we went to dinner at CiCi's Pizza (of course we have plenty food in the house but just needed a break from cooking). I won't have to cook all this week as we have plenty of left-overs. That will be nice but I am sure we will get tired of it. I plan on freezing some for meals later. We have plenty of turkey left as we got a 22 lb. turkey.

Tomorrow it is back to the regular routines. I hope my students are less active - last week they were very active and talkative. I know it will only get worse before it gets better, but I hope for 1 good week before the Christmas actitivities start.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving actually began on Wednesday with a Thanksgiving feast at school. Parents were invited to attend Chapel followed by a family feast pot-luck style. It was a great time! I was able to leave about 2:00, as all but two of my kids were gone. We then went to the zoo - a great day to go as nobody was there. The weather was great also. Then it was birthday dinner for Doug - at Famous Daves B-B-Q. After that it was a trip to Liquor Barn to buy wine and other beverages, followed by Thanksgiving worship at Church. Craig, Amber & Amelia got into town around 10:00, but since they were staying in a hotel we did not get to see them until Thursday.

Thank the Lord for family and for fun times with them. Yesterday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Doug's mom, brother, sister-in-law, & daughter. It was great to be able to relax and enjoy time with them. Putting cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents together is priceless. For lunch I made a 22 lb. turkey, two kinds of stuffing, two kinds of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, 4 kinds of bread machine bread, 2 kinds of cranberries, gravy... and then came dessert - a pumpkin gingerbread cake, pumpkin cake, and pumpkin pie. We played some games of Uno Attack, Candyland, Miss Liberty (an American Girl Game), as well as working on a Flat Emily scrap book (Emily's homework assignemnt which grandma had helped her out with - ever hear of Flat Stanley, well Emily sent grandma a Flat Emily to take on an adventure). The boys went to get our Christmas stuff out of storage, so after a dinner of turkey noodle or turkey rice soup (I was able to do both as we had two turkey carcases - one from our Thanksgiving, and one from a turkey I cooked for school's Thanksgiving feast. For dessert we had pumpkin ice cream pie - imported from Iowa on dry ice.

The kids, Karen & Amber made sticker turkeys then we all played pin the hat on the turkey. That made for a laughable memory. Emily read a prayer she had written at school while Michael read one he had written at home on the computer. Both really did well - I wish I had recorded it on the video camera.

I want to list a few things I am thankful for this year. It has been a busy but wonderful year:

* the birth of a healthy neice - Naomi
* finishing up graduate school - YEAH!!!
* healthy children
* enough money to meet needs, and even having some left over at the end of the month :)
* food, food, and more food ... too much as I have gained too much weight over the past year but I thank the Lord that I have had all that food I know so many do not have that blessing.
* technology - blogging, cell phones, computers, DVD players, CD players... WOW!
* a loving husband
* being close to family

The past two weekends

Above left: Emily, Michael, Naomi & Jamie

Above right: Jamie, Greg, Naomi, Tracy, Doug & Julie








mom, Holly & Andrew at the Pumpkin Patch


A trip to Wisconsin for Naomi's baptism was on the adjenda for last weekend. It was great to meet our new niece, but the highlight was to welcome her into the family of Christ when she was Baptized. Doug was her Godfather. Jamie's sister and a friend from college were her two Godmothers. While there we had the chance to visit a pumpkin patch, watch lots of football, visit with family, and meet new people. We drove up with mom and dad in our van and then mom came back with Holly and Gene. Dad drove back with us, to help out with the driving. Doug was still unable to drive, so having Dad along to help really was a big help. The portable DVD player was a blessing - the kids watched movies, colored, played with cars and were good the whole trip.

On Friday we watched Gideo - Tuba Warrier a new Veggie Tales video. It was funny, just as the others have been in the past. I would recommend it for any family. On Saturday we picked up the house, folded an obsene amount of laundry (how does one family create that much dirty laundry is my question) and racked leaves. Then on Sunday we were at Church from 8:00 until 4:00 due to two Church services, Bible Class/Sunday School, and a congregational potluck and meeting. Then it was grading paper and lesson plan time. The kids did fit in decorating their pumpkins with permanent markers (Emily's was rotting, so we threw it away after she decorated it).

Now, it is time for another busy week.