The FEAST Must Go On

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner today by having a few friends over. Everyone brought part of the meal so it wasn't totally on my shoulders. I did cook my first turkey ever but unfortunately wasn't able join the group in the feast. I got the flu this morning! I thought it was food poisoning because I felt fine, despite the vomiting so I continued preparing for lunch. I kept saying that the feast must go on and it did. I even did some cleaning once things were in the oven. But around noon (when guests were suppose to arrive) I felt the signs of the flu - tired, and just icky, so I passed the baton off to Adam and went to bed. Luckily all the food I touched, the bacteria was cooked off in the oven! Adam said it was a great meal; the turkey was moist and all the other fixings were yummy too. The only thing he messed up on was making the gravy (I probably would've too seeing I've never made it before either). So my Thanksgiving meal consisted of jello and saltines around 6 pm watching the Spartans lose big time to Maryland (that in itself made me sick again! - just kidding).

I did try a few bites of turkey and must admit it is pretty good. My brother had given me a turkey recipe 10 years ago and I've always wanted to try it but never had the chance. It called for a lot of garlic! I think I used a whole head of garlic - my kind of turkey! And another 1/2 a head in the mashed potatoes.

I felt bad leaving Adam to finishing the meal and deal with the clean up on top of watching Gerrit. He handled it all like a pro. Gerrit knew I was upstairs so while Adam was busy, he'd sneak up stairs and open my door real hard; I wasn't sleeping so it didn't startle me. I felt bad as he wanted me to play with him but I tried to stay away.

Tomorrow we are suppose to head to Iowa for Adam's last bike races of the season. We went last year and had a blast. One other family went last year, and we were able to convince 2 other families to join us this year! But, I think I will be staying behind. The idea of getting others sick or still being sick myself in a hotel doesn't excite us. I give Adam credit, he will be a single dad this weekend and I can lay low and get better. We shall see how I feel in the morning before we make our final decision. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Never a Dull Moment

I don't often write about school but as I sit here an knit, I am reminded of some things that happened this week (note: we only had 2 days of school this week) and felt like sharing them:

A 7th grader, during a volleyball game, said he "lost his mo-jo" when he lost his serve.

A 6th grader taped a sign that read "kick me" to her teacher's back! (I didn't think kids tried that trick anymore - especially on a teacher! bold move - made me laugh too)

A 5th grader tried to tell me (and the class) that you must win by 2 in basketball! Yikes, I've got my work cut out with this one! He did explain himself and say that is true in a basketball video game.

And people think I'm crazy for teaching middle school!

We've Entered A New Era

As much fun as Gerrit is becoming the older he gets, the more difficult he is also becoming. Tonight for example...he was into throwing things - especially items that are not suppose to be thrown like the coaster holder (solid wood). He threw it when his father had told him not to so he got a 'talking to' at least 4 times. He was in a time out of sorts (held tight by dad on dad's lap) and even I had to talk to him after he threw it again.

As Adam was giving Gerrit his 'talk', I looked on from a distance and saw Gerrit's eyes - looking everywhere but at Adam and showing Adam that he could care less about the lecture Adam was giving him in a stern voice. I wanted to laugh but of course didn't but it was very obvious Gerrit knew what he was doing and that he wasn't suppose to be throwing the coaster holder.

At one point, Adam was so frustrated/mad that he said I had to put Gerrit to bed - he was too upset with him! (Adam had agreed to put him to bed so I could continue knitting) Again, I wanted to laugh at how upset Adam was.

We both have come to the conclusion that we are entering the 'terrible twos' a bit early and we've heard from some friends that the threes are worse! Man, its going to be a couple of long years! :)

Spoiled

Living across the street from the movie theater has its perks:

Don't mind the mess in the background. Gerrit was playing with the socks in the laundry basket and became distracted when Dad brought down the tub of popcorn.

Gerrit sat so nicely eating his popcorn and watching football. Too bad the theater is only open 1 weekend a month (not so bad for my diet though) because we have been spoiled with the Sunday evening popcorn 'dinner'.

Milestones

It seems like this weekend Gerrit is able to do a lot of new things:

gives kisses (mouth wide open, so beware!)
waves bye bye
works on puzzles
follows directions (usually)
covers his mouth when he coughs (Julie at daycare must have taught him this one!)

Ok, so it's 5 new things; it seems like a lot to me!

Hangin' with my Aunt

We didn't shop quite as long today as we did yesterday. Adam was willing to take Gerrit for the day so we could go about our business and hit some shops that weren't Gerrit-friendly. Adam took Gerrit to get his haircut (2nd time - he sat like a perfect gentleman!) and they did laundry! Following dinner we were all able to hang out at home and unwind before Omah and Aunt Cara leave tomorrow.

Gerrit is 'hiding' from Aunt Cara - little does he know...we can still see him:

SAY CHEESE!

(Ya, we know the Spartans got killed - guess Gerrit wearing the colors didn't help today! But not killed as bad as the Gophs!)

A Day in the Life of an Elf

Here are some pictures of the Macy's display. My sister Cara has never been to a Macy's (Daytons/Marshall Fields) display before. My mom has as she has made many trips for Christmas shopping. I love going and Adam doesn't so it was great to go with others who wanted to see the display too. It was a chilly night be we only had to walk 3 blocks from the train station. There was not a line to wait in either (thanks to no Holidazzle parade!). It was a quick trip but well worth it. Gerrit did stay awake long enough to enjoy it which was my hope.