Is it unAmerican to *not* eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day? The pilgrims not only ate flying fowl, but partook of wild four-legged creatures too. My friends though sure look at me strangely when I tell them I had steak for Thanksgiving.

For Thanksgiving we joined my mom, dad and brother at Black Angus for a lovely feast. The best parts - Fun conversation, wine, and I didn't have to cook anything nor clean one little plate - heaven! After our early dinner we came back to my house for apple pie (gasp: no - not a pumpkin pie), coffee, and more conversation.

My mom makes THE best apple pie ever. Katie was so cute. She had two huge pieces. Half way through the second piece she got an awful tummy ache, but kept eating anyway. She said she was trying to ignore the pain because the pie was THAT good.

Ken tried the pie and grimmaced. Super - more pie for me!

We got our Christmas tree up and the lights on outside the house. This is great because I'm sure I won't have the energy to put toward Christmassy things while I'm teaching these next three weeks (but who's counting).

A Visit From Grandma Judy

Rick's mom left this afternoon after a week long visit. I had to work during half the visit, but the time I got to spend with her was really nice.

While I was working my long term sub job, Judy, Rick and the kids did crafts and played games at the house.

Friday day, Judy and Katie made mini pumpkin pudding pies for Katie to take to her Girl Scout Feast. It was a special time for Katie and her Grandma to just be together.

Friday evening the kids went to their friends house (and Girl Scouts) and the three of us grown ups went Christmas shopping. It was a successful trip and now Judy doesn't have to ship gifts to us and the kids will be getting things they put on their wish lists.

Saturday I got out my jewelry making supplies and made more lanyards and fixed a few broken ones. Judy helped me while Katie worked on her scrapbook. Kenny played Wii games and Rick worked on his truck bumper.

Oh - did I forget to mention Rick backed into a pole? Yup. His truck is only two years old and he whacked it good! With the help of a neighbor he was able to pound out the bumper to Rick's satisfaction (yeah we don't have to buy a $300 new bumper). Now all he needs to do is get color matched paint to touch up some places where the paint cracked.

Later on Saturday Judy got to see Katie NOT play in another soccer game. Katie was freaking out about her breathing problems and didn't play (more on that later). She also got to see how Rick turned into Dumbhead Coach who forgets how to be dear ol dad. We're all human, but it's aggrivating for me being in the middle of the stress.

Sunday night Katie, Judy and I went to see a local production of Annie. Katie and Judy had never seen it before. Of course, I had to refrain from standing up and singing all the songs. It brought back great memories for me. My parents took me to see Annie in Hollywood/L.A. when I was around Katie's age. I bought the song book and memorized all the songs. It was a fun evening for all three of us.

We all enjoyed her visit, but Kenny was the most emotional about having to say goodbye. He cried when she left and moped around the rest of the day. He is excited about being able to email with her using our Wii email system (Katie is too).

Survior

I officially survived parent teacher conferences. GO ME! After only knowing these 4th graders for 3 weeks and struggling to complete their report cards - I DID IT!

I was really eye-opening to conclude that all parents truly know their kids. Even when I was telling parents their kids were failing certain subjects or that their social behavior needed drastic improvement, parents were not surprised at all. Often when I had to share less than desirable news, parents would say it was still an improvement over last years marks.

My friend (and master teacher while I was student teaching) sent me a wonderful gift. She sent me a beautiful flower arrangement with a note saying, "Have fun this week. You can do it!" I received it during school hours and the kids were having trouble understanding why I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. It was so touching and sweet of her. Having those flower on the table with me during the p-t conferences made it feel like she was sitting there with me, rooting me on.

After this very stressful situation I am confident that p-t conferences with my own class and students will be a breeze.

One week off for Fall Break won't be nearly enough time to recuperate, but I'll take what I can get!

Spinning Heads

Sorry my blog is so not-up-to-date. I started a long term sub job (early cause the lady had her baby 5 weeks early) and my head is spinning with the adjustment. Katie's been sick for a month solid now. 1st with pneumonia, and then bronchitis -both with airway constriction. The infection is finally gone, but the trouble breathing is not - we are seeing a specialist this month. Combine that with Rick coaching both kids' soccer teams, soccer games every Sat., Kenny and Katie adjusting to having a working-mom, figuring out who is doing the household chores now and general day to day stuff and it leaves little time to update the blog. I am hoping to be more "normal" with updates after Christmas (hey at least I am realistic).