THE GRINSTEAD FAMILY

WHERE DID 2010 GO?

This is probably one of the last posts of 2010. The year flew by & we were blessed with a wonderful year. Here's what has happened since I last posted.

Allie continues to go to a tutor for math. It has really helped her out. She has done well on her unit tests scoring a 100% and in the 90's as well.
Jake has basketball practice 2 times a week. He also played in 2 tournaments. They didn't win medals in either tournament, but held their own in both. In one of the tournaments, they were the only 5th grade team, playing all 6th grade teams. The played tough & even won a game.
Allie continues with basketball 2 times a week. She had her first "game" & did fine. She still has tons to learn, but loves to play.
The kids are still going to Religion weekly.
My class had museum night. We did a huge Native American unit and the kids made models Native American villages. They put tons of hard work and lots of glue sticks to make the villages come to life. It was a cool deal.
Allie went to a birthday party for her friend Madison. It was spa themed & they had tons of fun.
Allie also went to a swimming party for her other friend Madison.
We had the entire week of Thanksgiving off of school/work. We spent the week decorating the house for Christmas & preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.
We spent Thanksgiving at home, just the 4 of us. It was wonderful with great food & fun. The kids and I hopped in the car & went to my parent's house later in the day on Thanksgiving since Scott had to work on Black Friday.
Kim, Mandy & I got up super early and went shopping on Black Friday. We got lots of bargains and had a fun day. Tesha met us for lunch since she's not a shopper. We had lots of laughs.
We celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday with a family party. The kids had lots of fun together. My kids wrote "60 Reasons Why Our Papa is the Best". I'll try to post that in the next couple of days. It was way cute.
Allie had 2 Brownie meetings and got her cookie order forms to start selling Girl Scout cookies. Once again, she has set big goals for herself.
Allie performed in 4 concerts for UNI Children's Choir. Three of the performances were with the UNI Men's Glee Club and one was their Christmas concert. My mom, sister & sister in law made it up for one of the performances. Since Jake had a tournament that day, my dad made his way to Tama to cheer Jake on for me.
Scott didn't go deer hunting this year. This is the first time he hasn't gone since I've known him.
My baby brother Will & his fiance Tesha just found out that they are expecting a baby girl. We will welcome her in April.
Jake had a week of safety patrol when the weather turned bitterly cold. He finally gave up on wearing shorts to school & even pulled out his winter coat.
I started doing step class again after school a couple of days a week. We have several staff members that do it & we have a good time.
We celebrated Christmas with my family early this year. We were all together & had a ball. We beat a blizzard to make it there & made it home after the roads were cleared. My sister wrote her annual family recap to the "tune" of Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was great again.
My friend Kristin turned 40, her husband had a surprise party for her. We had a lot of fun out with friends, but stayed out too late.
Scott's sisters Kelley & Tracy, along with their families came to our house to celebrate Christmas. We stayed up until 3 a.m. catching up and having a ball (I paid for that for about a week). The kids all played great together. We look forward to our next visit with them. Unfortunately, we only see them once a year.
My staff Christmas party was a great time and it was good to see former staff members as well.
The kids had their holiday parties at school. They said that they were fun. I got a WONDERFUL gift basket from my class filled with goodies and gift cards. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of kids & families.
We went to Cedar Rapids to celebrate Christmas with my mom's family on our first day of winter break. It was great seeing my aunts, uncles & cousins (also my siblings, nieces & nephews).
My parents came to celebrate Christmas with us. They arrived late on the 23rd & left on Christmas Day. It was wonderful to have them here. We put together puzzles, watched movies, decorated cookies, played in the snow, opened gifts, went to breakfast, laughed & enjoyed our time together. I was thrilled that they made it here since we got over 10 inches of snow while they were here! We had a wonderful steak & shrimp dinner on Christmas Eve.
Santa found us this year. Allie woke up for the first time at about 3:00 and then again every hour. My mom finally went and laid with her until shortly before 7:00 when we all got up. The kids were excited for all of the stuff that they got. I got 2 North Face coats & 2 pairs of shoes I wanted from Scott & the kids. What fun. We had a yummy brunch & lounged a lot of the day.
We went bargain shopping the day after Christmas & came home with lots of goodies.
I had a dentist appointment & have to go back to have a tooth refilled. The hygienist that cleaned my teeth was so rough that my mouth hurt for 2 days! I won't be seeing her next time!
Coming up the rest of the year...Jake has a scrimmage, Allie has basketball practice, I have a hair appointment, we are going sledding & we are looking forward to a fun NY Eve...can we stay up until midnight?

Me & Delaney Rose at the Ernster Christmas party
Allie & her friends at Madison's party