THANKSGIVING, SHOPPING & MORE

Last week went by in a blur....there was no school on Wednesday due to Thanksgiving break. The kids & put up the mini trees in their rooms, mini trees on the main floor & the tree in the entryway. It snowed a lot of the day, so we were really in the Christmas mood.

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a big lunch. It was just Scott, the kids & me. We had a wonderful, quiet day. Scott of course ate way too much & talked ALL day about how much he loves Thanksgiving! After the kitchen was cleaned up, the boys went outside & put up Christmas lights while Allie & I finished putting up Christmas decorations in the house. We all gathered in the living room later in the evening to watch "Home Alone".

Friday morning, I woke up at 4:30 & couldn't sleep so I started online shopping & ordered a few things. The kids & I got on the road to my parent's house by 6:00. I dropped the kids at Mom & Dad's so that Kim, Mandy & I could shop. We were at the mall by 10:00 & still found lots of great deals. We went back to Mom & Dad's, ordered pizza for dinner & celebrated Dad's birthday a day late.

Saturday morning, Mom taught Mandy & I how to make her cinnamon rolls. They were delicious & I need to make them again soon, now that I know how to. The kids and I headed home & made it in time to see the UNI game...it was a great game & we can't wait to see them play again on Saturday.

We spent Sunday with Scott shopping & making a quick trip to the Quad Cities. We were all exhausted when we finally made it home that evening.

I finished wrapping almost all of the Christmas gifts we have bought. We have just a few more to get & we are done. The majority of my baking is finished too, I just have 2 more kinds of cookies, 1 more kind of bread & then a few snack mixes which I can't make until the week that we want to eat them.

This week is pretty quiet. The kids both have friends coming over after school this week to play. Allie had dance earlier in the week. My sister & her kids are coming to visit this weekend. We actually have nothing planned...that will be a nice change!

Allie, Maddie, Jake & Ben pose for a picture.

Jake & Allie ready to play in the fresh snow.
Allie makes her snow angel
Jake loves sliding down the snow covered slide.
Allie put her new Island Princess Barbie ornament on our "Hallmark" tree in the entryway.
Jake puts on his new ESPN ornament.

NEW JOB

Thanks to everyone who has asked "how did your first day go". I appreciate the calls, emails & text messages!! For those that I haven't gotten the chance to reply to yet, it was WONDERFUL! I enjoyed it so much more than my old position. I didn't have to deal with behavior issues, which is a nice change. I am doing a lot of one on one work with a variety of K-3 kids struggling in all subjects. My hours are 9:45-3:15. I have a 30 minute lunch break when both of my kids are in the lunch room, so I can eat lunch with them every now & then...probably Allie, Jake isn't too interested in having lunch with mom. I also do recess duty when my kids are outside playing. I've avoided supervising Jake & his friends' football games...they often require intervention & it is best not to have Jake's mom as the ref! Anyway, I am looking forward to going back today, which is a great sign!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

RECAP

Another week has come & gone...way too quickly! It seems that the days just fly by & before I know it, another week is gone....

Monday: After school we rushed to Allie to dance class. I made Jake do a little Christmas shopping with me in the downtown area while Allie was at dance. He wasn't pleased, but dealt with his fate just fine. After dance we went over to UNI to the planetarium for Jake's Pack meeting. Jake really enjoyed learning all about the constellations & planets.

Tuesday: The kids had their last night of swimming until January. Jake capped off his night by jumping off of the board & swimming the length of the pool alone. Allie ended her night with a jump off of the board & swimming alone to the side. I also had a PTA meeting that night.

Wednesday: Jake had religion class. Allie & I wrapped a few Christmas gifts and baked a batch of Christmas cookies for the freezer.

Thursday: After work, I went to Jake's classroom and made tray favors for the local hospital. We made turkeys out of paper bags. They turned out really cute. After school, Allie had her Daisy meeting where she "officially" become a Daisy Scout. Jake & Allie before school on Thursday. They were to wear their favorite school shirts for American Education Week.
Jamie, Makenna & Jake with their turkeys.
Jake made Arthur glasses at school...here he is acting dorky & getting a laugh out of the class.

Allie saying the Girl Scout Promise.
Allie & her Daisy friends (Chloe, Allie, Madison, Krisha, Riley & Madison)

Friday: My last day of work at Cedar Heights. I didn't think I'd be sad, but I was. I'll miss the kids in my classroom. I was showered with cards & hugs as I left. After school, the Cub Scout popcorn was delivered to my house to be sorted...all $9000+ worth. A few parents helped & we had it sorted & to the den leaders by about 7:00.

Saturday: I took the kids to Santa's Workshop at UNI. They got to make crafts, have cookies & see Santa & Mrs. Claus. Allie was thrilled by the activities, Jake not so much! Allie had her friend Madison's birthday party that afternoon. The theme was High School Musical & all of Allie friends were there...she had so much fun.

Allie, Mrs. Claus, Jake & Paul
Jake, Paul, Allie & Santa
Allie working hard on a craft...note the snowflake crown that she is wearing. Jake REFUSED to wear his crown.
Jake by his favorite tree...it is a "martini" tree...he liked the bubble lights on the tree, not the martini glasses!
Allie by her favorite tree...a teddy bear tree.

Sunday: The boys got up bright & early & left to Minnesota to see the Raiders play the Vikings. Jake couldn't wait to see a professional football game. Allie & I spent the morning baking & cleaning. We went to the Teddy Bear Tea at UNI & had a wonderful time...in fact next year I may be co-chairing this annual event!

Me & Allie before the tea.
Katie, Jordyn & Allie on the "Polar Express" (a bus that took us across campus to the tea)
Rebecca, Jordyn, Allie, Madison, Kayla & Madison at the tea.
Allie, Abbie, Jordyn, Allison & Katie at the tea.
Allie gives Santa a BIG hug!

This week: I start my new job on Monday & I am really looking forward to it. Allie has dance & we have a fundraiser for PTA at Texas Roadhouse that night. Tuesday evening Jake makes his first Confession. We have no school on Wednesday & I'm planning to bake pumpkin pie & get our sour cream potato casserole ready to bake on Thursday. We are planning a quiet day at home on Thanksgiving with a big noon dinner. Allie & I are going to get some holiday decorating done while the boys watch football!! I am shopping with Mandy & Kim on Black Friday while Mom keeps the kids. We love doing that!!

WRAPPING UP THE WEEK

Wow, we had a busy, busy week last week. Here's our recap...

Monday

Allie had dance class & then we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

Tuesday

I attended conference for each of the kids. Both kids are doing really well in school. I'm so proud of them. Jake excels in Math, Spelling & PE. He needs to slow down & work on his handwriting. Allie is doing really well with her sight words, Music & Art. She also needs to slow down & not be the first one done!! We also had the book fair last week. I was able to work a shift & enjoyed seeing all of the kids friends. The kids had swimming on Tuesday night.

Wednesday

Jake's class had "Read In Day" on Wednesday. The class got to bring pillows, blankets & stuffed animals into class, get comfy & read all day long. They LOVED it. Jake had religion on Wednesday night.

Jake is in the red...reading away during "Read In Day"...

Thursday

No school!! I had a sitter come over & watch the kids so that I could go have a root canal fixed. Not fun! The kids had swimming Thursday night. Both kids are doing great. Allie is jumping off of the diving board & swimming alone to the side of the pool. Jake is working on his back stroke & breathing properly while doing the front stroke.

Friday

No school again so we went with friends to see Bee Movie. It was pretty cute. Earlier in the week, we got news that one of Jake's friend's father passed away suddenly. I talked to Jake about Caleb's dad's death & asked if he wanted to go to the visitation to see Caleb. Jake really wanted to go, so we did. He did really well & got to spend some time with his friend. I feel so bad for this family...the mother is a stay at home mom that has 4 children, 1 in 4th grade, 1 in 2nd grade, 1 in Kindergarten & a 6 month old. They moved to Iowa last year from Idaho. They are planning to move back to Idaho soon.

Saturday

Allie had her Festival of Trees dance recital. She danced to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas & did a really nice job. Nana Terri came to see the big performance & spent the night with us.

Allie at dress rehearsal...ready to dance!
Allie is on the far right...this is at dress rehearsal.
Allie & her flowers for a GREAT performance!

Sunday

Allie & I went with a group of friends to see the play Annie. It was SO good.

Allie & Jordyn before Annie started!

This week....we have dance class, Cub Scouts, PTA, swimming, religion, Daisy Scouts, popcorn delivery (UGH), Santa's Workshop & the Teddy Bear Tea. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving week when I can relax...yeah right!

UNI BASKETBALL CAMP
Jake went to basketball camp in the Dome on Friday night. The camp was run by the UNI players & coaches. After learning lots of new things about basketball, he was able to get autographs of all of his favorite players.
Jake & Paul at camp
Jake has Coach Jacobsen sign his ball.
Player Eric Coleman signs Jake's shirt.

COURTNEY & NICK'S WEDDING
My cousin Courtney got married on Saturday. It was a pretty ceremony & a fun reception. Jake was on Cloud 9 because the reception was held in the Kinnick Stadium press box. It was nice spending time with my immediate & extended family.

Courtney & Nick lighting the unity candle.
Jake getting ready to go into the reception at Kinnick...he was SO excited
Allie & my cousin Allison at the reception
Miss Maddie...isn't she beautiful??

Ben, Jake, Maddie & Allie
Jake with the Iowa scoreboard in the background
Our family at the reception
My mom & her siblings (front Julie, Toni, Mom back Liz, Joe & Joni)
Michael & Allie dance at the reception

SCOUTS

Jake had a Cub Scout meeting on Sunday night at the bowling alley. The kids bowled & then we had a short meeting after. They really enjoyed themselves.

The Scouts after bowling (front Paul, Nicholas, Aidan, back Will, Jake & Sam)

THIS WEEK

It is a short week of school. Conferences are this week, so we have Thursday & Friday off. We have a busy week though...Allie has dance, both kids have swimming 2 times this week, I am working at the Book Fair at Hansen, I have conferences for both kids, Jake has religion, I have a root canal, Allie has her winter recital and Allie & I are going to see Annie on stage.