Saturday, November 26, 2011

November Update

It’s been a busy month for us.  I finally feel like we’re getting in the groove of school.  When we started school our kids only went for 3 weeks and then we pulled them out to go to Disneyland.  They were out for a week.  I still think it was worth it to go to Disneyland when it wasn’t as busy but it really threw the kids off, especially Coulter.  Now they’ve been in school for almost 3 months and finally it feels like a real schedule.  The kids are settled in and that feels good. 

This past week we had the kids’ conferences because the first 1/3 of the school year has passed.  I guess it’s about time that the kids are settled in.  Along with conferences the kids have Thanksgiving Break.  It seems a bit silly to me that they get a whole week off but I am finally getting used to the idea after 6 years of having a kid in school.  They love being off, I enjoy having them home and we have fun and relax.  This year Bob took a couple days off from work so he could just hang out at home.  And…Bob’s mom came to visit.  She got here on Monday at about midnight and stayed until Friday morning.  It is always a pleasure to see his family.  We’ve actually had company for the past 2 weeks.  Uncle “Brown” Brian was here for about 8 days before Bob’s mom Ans arrived.  Ans was here for 4 days.  And in the middle of all that mom and Ed dropped in and spent the night.  It was nice to have company but it’s always a bit disruptive.  We enjoyed having them all and they couldn’t have been easier.  Seriously, they’ll just go along with whatever we want to do. 

I have been shopping for Christmas and I think I am pretty much done with the kids.  That’s nice to have out of the way.  In my quest for calm I also ordered my Thanksgiving dinner from Safeway.  I love to cook but I have been doing a lot of cooking lately with company in town and such so I took the easy way out.  It was $40 to feed 6-8 people and it came with a 12 lb Turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, rolls gravy, cranberry sauce and a pumpkin pie.  Seriously, all that for $40? I don’t think you could make it for that!  It was adequate.  Actually the turkey was great but the sides were very pedestrian.  I don’t know that I will do that again but it sure was a relaxing day. 

Ans was fun to have here and she cleans up after meals so that is nice.  I wish someone would jump up after dinner every night and clean the dishes.  She just went with the flow.  Sophia and I went to Joanne’s to get fabric and Ans came along.  We had to pick up a few things at Fred Meyer, Ans came along.  She wants to incorporate into our lives and that is how it goes.  They did get to go to Cavalia on Tuesday night.  That seemed to be a big hit.  Ans worked on a 500 piece puzzle with us too.  I like doing puzzles and it’s a nice way to pass the time together. 

Friday night we pawned off all the kids and Bob and I got to have a kid free night.   We went to dinner and then to Costco to pick up  the “big” gift for the boys.  I can’t tell you what it is or they could find out but it’s pretty cool.  We then came home and watched a movie and stayed up too late.  It was fun.  Thanks to our tribe for taking our kids. 

Today was a fairly lazy day for me.  I did get our Christmas Letter together.  While I was doing that Bob cleaned up the outside of the house and put up our Christmas lights.   It looks quite festive out there.

So that is the brief on what we’ve been doing.  I have really wanted to write on my blog but man time flies. And for a stay at home mom I don’t seem to do a lot of staying at home.  There is always something to do. 

More to come….