Back to work

Well, back to work tomorrow morning. Thankfully the break seemed long for once. It's sad though that I'm still on Thanksgiving break, and I'm already counting down to Christmas break.
Here's my week in review:
1. Went on Wednesday to Marc's game- first one I could go to and their first win.
2. Spent Thanksgiving in Bryan with Marc's family -ate a lot, read a lot. Good times.
3. Brenda's family was at my house when we returned Thursday night and stayed till Saturday morning. She and I spent about 6 hours out Friday morning, WITHOUT KIDS!!, shopping and going to the Sami Show. I spent way too much money, but it was all worth it!
4. Saw Twilight Friday night with Brenda -now waiting for the second one to come out.
5. Marc went to Houston to a game Saturday with his dad so the kids and I hung out all day together, and had a really good and relaxing day. Luke and I watched Iron Man last night together too.
6. At the TAG convention, I got 2 caterpillars to grow to butterflies. They turned to chrysallis', and the first one hatched (is that what it's called??) Friday and the other one came out this afternoon. So we have 2 butterflies, and we'll probably let them go tomorrow. In all the times I caught caterpillars at home and put them in jars with sticks, I never did successfully grow a butterfly, so I was as excited about it as Luke.

As I prepare to head back to work tomorrow, I leave you all with this thought - 15 school days until a 2 week break! :)

My tribute to Grandma Davis

Every year around the holidays, I get homesick, especially since I haven't been to Ohio for a while this time of year. I know all my relatives think I'm crazy, but I really miss the snow and cold weather. I have a hard time getting into the holiday spirit here when it's 75 degrees still, and some days are just a little sad for me. I miss my Ohio Thanksgivings, with all the gravy, mashed potatoes, and playing games around the table. This year I've been thinking about Grandma Davis quite a bit as I look forward to Thanksgiving, as she is known for her perfect spread of everything from turkey to jello molds to the tray of olives and carrots that I always passed by. After all, who wants to fill up on carrots when there's all the other great foods you only get once or twice a year? And I especially remember going back into the fridge a few hours later and snagging a huge piece of cold white turkey. So in honor of Grandma's Thanksgivings which I will not be a part of again this year, I made banana bread, her cheeseball, and drank some eggnog. I always thought grandma had homemade eggnog just because she put it in a bowl and added whipped cream and nutmeg. Thanks for all the great memories of the holiday Grandma, and I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! We will be at Marc's family's house for an equally wonderful meal, especially when you add in the Oreo turkeys Luke and I made tonight to take!  

7 school days and counting...

...till a much needed 5 day weekend from work! can't wait till thanksgiving break. this past weekend went way too quickly, but doesn't it always? i had a good time at the TAG conference in dallas. had dinner at cheesecake factory (but wasn't hungry enough for cheesecake! can you believe it??), got a bed all to myself, then went to several good workshops and one not so good (an old lady reading poetry. really??) i came home to mia with a goopy eye so we went to the dr. saturday and sure enough, pink eye! but she will be fine for daycare tomorrow. marc's first real game is tuesday but i think we'll have to skip it since it's in waco. different now that luke doesn't get to nap the next day - have to be more picky which tuesday night games we go to! off to get the kids ready for another week!

bloggedy blah blah blah

have nothing much to say, just bored and felt like blogging. so here are my random thoughts...
1. i leave tomorrow after school for my tag workshop in dallas. i get to go with my friend ginny - luke's teacher- and we are getting a hotel and then coming back friday evening. i know it's a short trip but it's 24 hours to only think about me and to get a good night's sleep! oh, and i'll probably learn something about teaching too.
2. christmas shopping is more than halfway done! woohoo!
3. basketball season officially started last night with a scrimmage. the team played well so maybe it'll be a better season than expected. now mia is going to be a challenge at the games though!
4. mia update - her favorite words are "nack" (snack), "emo emo emo" (elmo), and "mama mama mama" repeated. she talks a lot, but also cries a lot these days!
5. luke update - had a test today on word wall words and knew them all. brought home a turkey family project- make a disguise for the turkey so noone will eat him. after spending an hour turning him into an elaborate snowman complete with real buttons and stick arms, luke scribbled his whole face blue because he couldn't find any other crayons.
6. i've been on facebook a lot lately and this past week got back in touch with several high school friends and a college roommate. neat to see where everyone is, what they are up to, and how much they have/haven't changed.

Halloween

Despite a rough start to the day, trick or treating did happen for the Minatreas. However, Mia's school party didn't as she'd had well, let's just say many dirty diapers,  on her costume and change of clothes, then threw up on her plate of party food and her last bit of clean clothes. So we brought her home early. She perked up and went out begging for candy and she had a great time. Luke was so cooperative with photos and everything, and he did great too! 

I was so proud of the kids -they both came home from school with a certificate! Mia won first place in the costume contest in the morning, and Luke was one of 4 kids chosen to go to the library for a reading celebration for the first 9 weeks. I didn't know he was going, and was so glad to see him get chosen for his reading skills!

They look so tiny!!

It was hard to get a good photo of Luke's sword -he had it all over the place, not sure how he wanted to hold it for pics!

This was at the party, minutes before she got sick on those clothes and everything else in sight! 

To tide you over till Halloween pics are uploaded...

I am way too tired to upload Friday's photos, so here are a few from the past week just so I can't get picked at by a certain aunt for not blogging!
Friday we had 50s day - so this is my grade level and Jeff Ball (2nd grade teacher)

Big moment for Luke- he never liked tattoos, face painting, or even bandaids, and finally he wanted his face painted the other day at school!