Thanksgiving

This is what it looks like at our house.
Meet the family.

life update

it has been a week full.
full of dad here
and dinners in and out.
full of walks with the dogs
and cold november air.
full of grocery shopping
and holiday preparations,
apartment cleaning,
recipe selections,
and lots of wine tasting (sulfite-free, of course).

we have been wandering the streets of easton
and dreaming about the future.
playing cranium with friends
while children play nearby.
eating cookies and dips,
and spoiling ourselves with treats and friendships.

the week has been full of teaching
about dinosaurs and extinction
about thanksgiving and native americans
about how thankful we should be
and all the things we should be thankful for.

our fridge is full
our home is warm
our family arrives tomorrow.
we will be together.

what more could we ask for?

i will never outgrow...

i will never outgrow my love for a warm pair of tights and a skirt good for spinning.
to see what other people love to wear click here.

gratitude

we can feel blessed and happy.
for this i am grateful.
i am grateful for week-end festivals, even if they are in celebration of "waterfowl",
because you can still spend time with your family
and watch dogs retrieve and jump from docks,
which is actually more fun than you'd expect.



we spent the week-end with my dad who is visiting through turkey day.
we ate amazing green curry and thai soups in annapolis,
warming up from the cold fall air.
we walked the dogs and watched them swim.
i planned the menu for the week ahead.
todd bought planters to move our herbs inside for the winter.
the last of our garden is harvested.
i am engrossed in a good book, both on my iPod and my bedstand.
holiday preparations have begun.

for all of this,
i am full of gratitude.

exhaustion

first, i apologize for my MIA status as of late.
i am exhausted.
happy, but exhausted.

things feel abundantly joyful around me,
peace and happiness at work,
a caring community of friends, new and newer,
kids who follow directions,
praise from my supervisor at work,
hope for new things to come.

today i went on a fieldtrip
with 34 children and 22 chaperones.
we were spoiled.

my partner and i wandered around the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
looking at gems and dinosaurs
amazing photography
and were just filled with wonder for the world around us...

while the parents all had their kids.

we drank coffee in the cafe,
and shared jelly bellies...
savoring each new flavor
and loving to guess what each one would be.

a return to childhood,
a day to enjoy the support around us,
and sip a cup of coffee with a new work friend.

this is halloween

beware of ghosts, ghouls, goblins, or dogs that can steal your heart.


it took a whole lot of jumping and treats, but i finally got the shot i was after.

happy halloween!

gladness and sadness

there is so much to be glad about here.
and i am appreciative of every moment,
each day of love.
enjoying friends, new and old,
sunny days and rainy days,
fall festivities and cooler air.

yet there is also a sadness.

i lit a candle in church today,
for baby althea grace.
born to my sister and her family this week
at just six months.
we are mourning her loss
and i am deeply sad,
that i never got to know her.
sweet baby, althea.

may you light a candle for their family
and keep them in your thoughts.

How do grown-ups change?

After reading a social studies passage about "growing and changing" the kids were asked,
"How do adults change?"

The top three answers were:
1. They run slow.
2. If they drink alcohol.
3. They do it and then they don't have any energy.

Kids crack me up.

parade of parents

its conference time again.

exhausting, challenging, tiring

this smile is enough to make my cheeks sore for the next two days.

we met until 8 last night and we go all day today.

i love the chance to communicate,

but i am never quite sure how what i have said has been interpreted.

and then there's the girls' cliques and clubs to work out-

ah, second grade.

my husband was sweet enough to brighten my day.

my business:

the calender marks all the fun we are having, birthdays and conferences, picture day, and ice cream parties, programs on bullying, and then halloween, of course.

all, of course, as we finish out our rock theme and move into dinosaurs.

i am in preparation for boy nephews, i suppose... all these dinosaurs.

the things we learn when we're teachers...

in the works

when willy went to visit my parents, he fell in love with a little bear that was mine when i was young. out of bear-preservation, we needed to make willy a replacement that could be all his own. so while he was here, i let him pick out some fabric and then in about an hour, i traced the old bear, sewed a new face, cut and sewed the body, and stuffed him up, halloween style.

he's a bit awkward and mangy, but you gotta love a personalized bear, made while you watch.
build a bear has nothing on me.


now i have begun willy and maggie's christams gift. its an advent calendar with a small gift each day, to make the holiday last. christmas has so much from santa that i figured this would be way more fun... and it already is.

creating the calendar, selecting and wrapping all of the little gifts, and being able to start christmas at thanksgiving.
now that it what its all about. :-)