Those of you who pray....

If you have not blog-hopped over to my babysitter Laura's blog about her daughter Jessica I ask that those of you who pray take a little gander over there. They have found some cancerous spots again and are waiting for answers as to what to do next. I cannot imagine the torture a parent endures when their baby has to go through this. I pray with all my heart that this beautiful baby conquers cancer once again....

Back to Work

Today was officialy my first day back at work. BLECH!!!! :( On the bright side I only have 4 weeks of school to go followed by 2 more weeks of vacation after Christmas. I know, I know you are rolling your eyes at me. Teachers have such an easy schedule don't we? Hey, I DARE YOU to come in and control 20 kindergarteners the month before Christmas. It's not too bad except when they've been up late shopping with mommy, or are on a sugar high from eating too many Christmas cookies. It's fine as long as their girl scout troop/ dance class/ soccer team doesn't have any holiday celebrations or their parents don't drag them to umpteen parties. As long as they don't overstimulate their immature senses with Christmas carols every time they're in the car, or expose them to bright lights on every house and blow up nativity scenes, giant snow globes and singing snowmen in every yard. As long as no one forgets that these little people have only been on this planet for 5 years and ALL they care about is when Santa is coming. As long as none of that happens, AND you can corral them, keep them quiet, entertain them, put on a festive singing performance for their families AND teach them how to read, then you are right in rolling your eyes. If just reading about my upcoming month exhausts you, go out and buy your kid's teacher a nice gift- and tell her to enjoy a much deserved vacation!

Disneyland

The dad of 2 of my previous students treated our family to Disneyland yesterday. For my friends who are not parents yet, trust me when I say watching your children's faces at Disneyland is priceless. It was decorated for Christmas and it was so beautiful. Santa and his reindeer were there, It's a Small World was covered in twinkling lights and Sleeping Beauty's castle was capped with snow. It even "snowed" on Main Street. It was pretty crowded but the boys had a ball and we got to ride a lot of rides. Gavin loved Pirates, Derek loved the choo-choo in Fantasyland and Jeremy loved Buzz Lightyear (ADMIT IT it is a pretty fun ride) :) It was a really good day, made even better by the fact that it was free. "C" family THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Girl Time

Don't you love when you get to go out with a good girlfriend? Tuesday night I met my high school pal Emily for dinner. It was so great to catch up, reminisce, and vent with her. There is something to be said for a little girl time. I feel recharged & can't wait to do it again soon....

Go Chargers!

Sunday afternoon Jeremy and I got to enjoy an entire day out, with no kiddos in tow. Our good friends Doug and Pam treated us to the Chargers-Colts game in San Diego. Jeremy's mom and sister helped us out with babysitting. Even being soaked from the rain could not take away from an exciting game. Apparently Gavin thought he saw us on TV and was very concerned that I was one of the cheerleaders showing my tummy. Ha! If only my tummy looked good enough to bare on national TV! What a fun day. Thanks Doug & Pam.... :)

Surprise!

Friday night we celebrated my brother-in-law Dino's 40th birthday by throwing him a surprise party. I'm not convinced he was totally surprised, but I know everyone had a great night. Happy birthday Dean!

Legoland

Friday was Legoland's teacher appreciation day, so the boys and I met my sister Devon for a fun, cheap day! It was super chilly but the boys had a ball. They especially loved the giant playground. It was so neat to see Derek's face when he would see one of the giant fairy tale characters made out of legos start talking. His mouth was just wide open and he was aware of nothing else! Devon was a great sport and even braved the log ride where they got good and wet. Thanks Auntie for a fun day!

Escape Artist

Well folks, we have a problem. Derek has been climbing out of his crib! We have a gate up in front of his door so he can't really go anywhere, but he's still making us nuts. What he does is open and close his bedroom door a hundred times. Not too hard, just loud enough to wake everyone up. At 3 am, at 5 am at 6 am, etc. So last night before we went to bed I told him he better not wake mommy and dadddy up tonight opening and shutting his door. Stay in bed! So what does my clever boy do? Well come 6 am I hear a knocking noise. I got up and asked Gavin who was going potty why he was knocking. He said it wasn't him, it was Derek. Sure enough, Derek was on the inside of his bedroom door knocking to come out!!!! He was't opening and closing the door, so I guess in his little mind he was doing what I asked!

What did you do today?

I played king and queen of the castle with Gavin. We saved our crowns (made of linker letters) from the neighbor's UPS delivery truck. Good thing we had our magic wands (flashlights) to wave at him through the windows. Unfortunately he came back just a few moments later (apparently he forgot part of his delivery) but never fear we zapped him a few more times and "poof" he drove away!You gotta love little imaginations...

Happy Halloween

Our day started with a costume parade at Gavin's preschool. I then mad dashed home to clean & bake homemade mac and cheese. I started this "pre trick-or-treat" tradition of making dinner last year and really enjoyed carrying it on this year. I don't really like Halloween at all but I do love having so many of our family and friends over for food and conversation. Thanks to all who came. We ended the night with some trunk-or-treating at the local church. The kids got a ton of candy and we kept Derek reasonably quiet (see yesterday's Disney post to understand how he feels about candy) by shoving Tootsie Pops in his mouth every couple of minutes! Hey, sometimes having a peaceful event trumps perfect parenting... :)