Holiday Break

Air Hockey, Anyone?
Today Nick and Steven played some air hockey to pass the time. We enjoyed the well needed break together. Today we did some winter cleaning as we prepare for Christmas. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, just the three of us. We cooked all day and sat down for a short meal. It was short if you consider the amount of time it took to prepare. Then we ended on a sore note when our Dallas Cowboys lost in over time. If you ask a man, turkey and football that's what the season is all about.

A Hard Day of Holiday Shopping

The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year. Steve headed out early to hit some sales. Since I don't enjoy fighting people for holiday fruit cake and Nick can't go out as his list is being filled, I have always had to opportunity to spend these early hours after Thanksgiving tucked under my warm covers. Someone has to stay home with Nick and since this is a tough job I will be the person to fill these shoes. Every year this is what Steve ends up doing shortly after getting home. Since we had most of our shopping done already he went out for some last minute items that we didn't think of until the sale ads. They truely know what you can't live without.

Thanksgiving Day

What are you Thankful for?
I am thankful for my wonderful family. Each day my boys challenge me to become a better person and mom.
I am thankful for my mellow Abby (our cute Maltese), it is so nice to be welcomed home after a long day.
I am thankful to be a teacher, I look forward to everyday that I get to inspire these young children. I am also thankful for the wonderful Red Bug family I get to work with, they help bring laughter and smiles to my otherwise crazy days.
Nick is thankful for God and the family that God gave him. Today before our meal we said a blessing hoping that you were all having a wonderful and safe holiday.

God Bless

Happy Thanksgiving

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Today we began preparing for Thanksgiving. Steven took the day off to run some last minute errands for our holiday. When school was over Steve picked Nick up and took him out to see Grandpa' s new shop. Nick was so excited, he talked about how cool the new shop is.
Here Nick is doing his part for Thanksgiving, drying potatoes. I know that they are just going to get wet again in the pot, but we are a family and we all have to do our part.

Happy Birthday Nick!

Today Nicholas turned 7 years old.
Since Nick is not a kid who loves cake he wanted me to make a pan of brownies. I didn't want him to go without candles and his name on the cake. Well once Nick saw the cool frosting, he just had to decorate this cake.
He wanted to write Happy Birthday. He didn't realize how big he was writing and that this tube was really hard to squeeze. So we ended up with HB (this stands for Happy Birthday).
I on the other hand decorated 44 cupcakes to go to school. I was covered with frosting from head to toe. I think I wore more than Nick.
Thank you everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes.

Birthday Weekend: Rainforest Cafe

Tonight we ate dinner at the Rainforest cafe. This restaurant was really cool. Every twenty minutes is looks like it is raining. Nick ended up with this huge rainbow Icee that he order with dinner. The place was awesome their were huge mushrooms, trees, and moss hanging from the ceiling. We even sat near a gorilla.
I think Nick's favorite part was when a bunch a people came over to sing to him and gave him a birthday sundae.

Birthday Weekend: Lego Store

Here Nick is at the Lego store at Downtown Disney Market Place. The shark and the Bionicle were complete made out of Legos. This was like a dream come true for Nick and his dad. He loves Legos. Sometimes I wonder who loves them more. We had a fun time. Today they just happen to be building a 20 foot Lego crocodile. There were two Lego artists working on this project in the middle of the store.
Nick ended up with Star Wars Legos. He got some General Grievous and Obi-Wan set. He also impulse bought a R2-D2 key chain. Not that he has any keys to put on it.
I wonder which of his parents will be carrying around this item?

Birthday Weekend: Build A Bear Workshop

Today we stopped at the mall and went to the Build a Bear Workshop. Nick wanted to get his dog, Dogger, some new celebration clothes. When we first got Dogger, Nick dressed him in a soccer uniform. The uniform was the same color as his team. Back then Dogger got a jersey, shorts, shin guard, cleats, and a small soccer ball. As you can see from the picture above Dogger has a whole new do. He is sporting a red Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, red, white and blue Adidas sneakers, and if that wasn't enough Dogger is a dog on the move. He now has roller skates to get him where he needs to go. Lucky Dog!
While we were in shopping for Dogger we saw cute Christmas pj's for Dogger. Nick is hoping that Santa brings these for Dogger. I guess he will need to be a good dog, no peeing on the carpet.

Birthday Weekend: Miniature Golf

Today we played miniature golf. Nick made sure he picked everyone's color of golf ball. Nick got an orange ball his favorite color. Nick played great. He tried very hard and stayed focus. I on the other hand had one almost in the parking lot. Steve had some young kid many holes away retrieve my ball. I really don't think the PGA tour will be calling me anytime soon. They may call if they want that Tiger Woods taken care of, I could do some real damage with a golf ball.

Fore

First Grade is Hard Work!

Today I had a parent teacher conference with Nick's first grade teachers. He is doing so well in first grade. He now reads chapter books. I can still remember when he couldn't read and Steven and I could spell things around him to keep things secret. Now he is way past that spelling trick.
His favorite subjects are math and science. His least favorite subject is writing. He has such a hard time coming up with story ideas. So as a way to help him. Nick and I spend a little time each night writing in our journals. We both keep a story journal. When time is up, we then read each others stories out loud. As a special bonus we illustrate something from the other person's story. Then we surprise each other. He is becoming such a creative story writer.

Fall Soccer 2005

Fall Soccer
Tonight was a big night for team Lightning, they played their last game of the fall season. This season Nick earned his fifth trophy. Each year he has continued to work with his dad and has become a great player. He works hard and enjoys what he does. This season his dad was the assistant coach. Nick loved that his dad was there as part of the team. I of course get to sit on the side lines and cheer my boys on. I am proud of both Nick and Steve. They worked hard and they had a great season.

Rice Baby

At school my second graders made rice babies as a fun way to learn measurement. The students brought in some baby information about themselves from birth. We then had them measure rice, cups by cups to equal their pounds and ounces and birth. They then had to measure out their length and weight at birth and now. We had so much fun with this project.
Well everyday Nick would come into my classroom and just play with these cute little rice babies. He of course begged that we make one together. So I got out the food scale and measured out rice to equal 6 pounds 12 ounces. He dressed the baby and has just had so much fun with it. We have really working on daddy for a real baby. I think that daddy would rather just have a rice baby to worry about. They are cheap, they are quiet, and if they are bad you can make them into a casserole.

Thank Goodness Halloween is over!

I am so glad that Halloween is finally over. I will not miss the scary commercials for the Halloween Horror Night at Universal Studios. Nick never enjoyed Halloween because of the scary costumes. Well every time our doorbell rang he went running down the hall. Every time the bell rang the dog started barking. Before I could even answer the door I had to get my crazy family in order. Even through Nick does not enjoy Halloween we still do many of the traditional things like carving Jack-o-lanterns, roasting pumpkin seeds, and handing out candy.
As you can see from the picture on the right this is what Halloween has done to us these days. I however am the one on the right, the cute happy one. Steven however is the one complaining on the left. Leave it to a man!
As for Nick he loves to pick through the goo and find all the pumpkin seeds. I think it's kind of like a treasure hunt for him. I however should have stayed out of the pumpkin seeds. I ate so many with the shells and seeds that I ended up with such a belly ache. I think I learned something that I am sure to forget by next October.

Happy Halloween Y'all