The month of December FLEW by. I hardly had time to sit and think. I have been subbing for a 2/3 combo class for a teacher who had knee surgery. I have one week left after break. I have enjoyed my time with the students but am really missing working in Dawson's class once a week.
Brad and I offered to have Christmas here at our house. My mom just had reconstructive surgery on her arms and chest. We have yet to see the full effects of surgery but what we can see she looks awesome and she seems so happy. We had to do a lot of work to get prepared for Christmas here. Everyone helped pitch in so I wasn't stuck with a TON of work. I was really thankful for that. We had about 29 people here for Christmas dinner. I hardly got to sit down that day but it was so worth it. I loved being around my family and loved ones and providing a wonderful Christmas for them.
Dawson was spoiled as usual--it is hard not to spoil him when he has so many people who love him and care about him. We are thankful he has so many awesome people in his life. He got to spend time with everyone the week of Christmas. I had him on Christmas Day and enjoyed watching him come downstairs to see what Santa had brought him.
Brad and I also have redecorated our living room this month. His parents big Christmas gift to us was recovering our 2 sofas in there. They were in excellent condition just pink and teal (can we say 80's?) They are now red and we love them! Brad's mom made us new curtains and recovered our piano bench as well. It looks amazing and looks like a totally new room. We also finally found artwork we love for that room and got it hung and bought new coffee table--the other one was just way to big for the space. We are thankful for all that his parents do for us. Our lives are so blessed with having them close by. I look forward to the day when my parents live close to us as well.
We really missed having Lori and Michael and their families at Christmas. Hopefully next year. Lori is due in less than a month with baby Iris--we are looking forward to seeing her and took bets on when she would be born and how much she will weigh. Mary has 3 months left until Asher is here--I'm happy that they are having a baby boy.
Brad and I have one week left of vacation before returning to work so we are taking Dawson up to Sunriver, OR to play in the snow. It should be a lot of fun as long as we can actually make it up there.

Merry Christmas

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Thanksgiving Week

It is Thanksgiving Week. I love working in the schools because I get all these wonderful vacations. I am going to be working the whole school month of December (3 weeks) and the first week back in January in a 2/3 combo class. I met the class and it seems like we will have a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to getting to be in one classroom. I'm bummed that I won't be able to go in weekly and help in Dawson's class though. Dawson had a Thanksgiving performance at school. He and another classmate had to tell a joke together and he did a great job. He is not shy in front of people like I was. He's quite the opposite which makes he happy.
Brad's musical Once Upon a Mattress is finally over for the year. It turned out great and I enjoyed watching it. One of Loni Anderson's granddaughters attends his school so she was there again this year to watch her in the musical. She brushed up against my arm as we were walking down the aisle. I can now say I had an encounter with a famous person.
My parents bought a house here in Redding and will be retiring there in a few years. I'm looking forward to that. It's less than a mile from my house. Mary and Ben will be renting it from them so I am looking forward to having them even closer.
Since it is the week of Thanksgiving I should mention that I have so many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for my family--I can't even start to mention people because there are so many people in my life that I am indebted to forever (parents, in-laws, sisters, brother, nieces, nephews (Mary is having a boy!!), aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.). I am thankful for how hard my husband works for me and how much he loves me and Dawson. I am thankful for the freedom we have living in America. I am thankful that I don't have to work full time right now, for my beautiful home and our cars. I am thankful for all my great friends I have. I am also grateful for my church and all that it has done to help me so far in my life. My list could go on and on and on but to sum it up I feel so blessed and everyday I am so thankful for my life and where I am at. I feel like I am in a really good place right now and I have worked hard to get where I am.
I hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving and remembers to give Thanks for all that they have.

Babysitting

Last night Brad and I babysat Mary's 2 daughters. They both spent the night and it was so much fun! We got up early and made french toast and eggs. Mary said Cora did not like french toast but she sure LOVED mine :) I guess I make it better than them. Brad's sister's kids also came over for a couple hours. We had told Dan (brother-in-law) that we would babysit one night for his birthday present (that was back in September.) They finally took us up on our offer. We ended up having a houseful of children (7 total.) It was a ton of fun and all the kids had someone to play with. I especially enjoyed listening to them talk to each other and giggle. Dawson has his last soccer game of the season today. It should be fun and I am looking forward to having my Saturday's back until March when baseball starts back up.

The last couple of weeks have been busy. Lori had her baby shower on October 25th. It was a lot of fun--now we just have to wait until January for baby Iris. The picture of Cora and I was taken there. Mary finds out today if she is having another girl or boy. I get to go with her and am looking forward to that. Mary's family and Dawson and I went to the pumpkin patch. It was an adventure! The kids had a lot of fun choosing pumpkins. We decided that Natalie and Dawson were old enough to gut and carve the pumpkin on their own and they both did a fantastic job. Dawson loved all the gooey guts and using the knife. It rained on Halloween but the kids did not mind. They had a blast trick or treating and both filled up their buckets with candy. Dawson was Darth Vader and I decided at the last minute to dress up like a witch. Cora was also a witch and Natalie was a vampire princess. We have truly enjoyed having Mary's family close by and to do be able to do these activities with them. I feel like my life is so blessed.

I've finally decided to start our family blog. Currently Brad is in full swing at school and working on this years musical production "Once Upon A Mattress." He is also working on finishing his Masters Degree and will HOPEFULLY be done sometime next summer. I am working as a substitute teacher again this year and still loving it. I LOVE being able to have flexibility with my schedule. I also love being able to go in and help out in Dawson's first grade class. Dawson is doing fantastic at school and really loves it. He has been busy with tee-ball, hip hop, and soccer this year. I love watching him grow and perform in his talents.