No evening with my boyfriend for me. He was off to the youth dance.
But I did have quite an evening making cookies with Courtney, Carter, Jonah, Natalie, Kirstie, and Brianna.
The cinnamon rolls were also made and ready for eating just after midnight...
...right after we watched the new Macy's Spaceball make it's first descent.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Happy New Year
The boys collected their IOU Christmas Presents.
For Carter, the Antwork Farm which has the kind of gel that the astronauts took ants in to outer space. The ants eat it and dig in it and it must have kept them from floating around in the rocket. We used a couple of these type of farms in my classroom a few years ago with success. For Jonah, it was something that had big fatty-fat boosters. And he got it.
She has been sick since she arrived with a horrible hacking cough.
I would have to say that she seems restless rather than resting.
My grandkids usually make a trip to my classroom when they come to visit to check out their reading levels. They are "stars."
Courtney at academic age 3.4 tested at 5.3 and
Carter at academic age 1.4 tested at 3.2
We are making use of our Sea World passes this last week of December before their's expires. I got a new free one today, which they give to all teachers. It is a really nice perk that I wanted to take advantage of before I retire in a couple of weeks. Fortunately for me, the pass is good until next December. But now I am wondering, who I will go with?
And all through the house...
...we were celebrating. 
The Doerfler Family came over to join us. We had traditional English fare including roast beef and yorkshire pudding. I opted to make a pumpkin yule log rather than trifle (which I have never made, but plan to in the future. ) Our friends the Blakemores never fail to send us crackers from England. George was feeling quite special that he got the purple crown. My favorite joke: What do you get when you cross a shark and a snowman?
Later, Britta and I were amazing and won all the games that we played much to the chagrin of our opponents!
Now,
there's only
one more
sleep 'till
Christmas!
frostbite
Christmas is such a great time of the year, but in our culture it generally requires extra effort of some sort. Today it was house cleaning day...at least for the downstairs. I worked Brianna for quite a few hours, nonstop. We were both good and tired when we finished. I probably wouldn't have thought anymore about it until I saw this...
...this morning in my laundry room.
Is that a bit of ribbon in your beak?
Since I was only getting unintelligible information from her friend--
I opened up the window, which facilitated a hasty retreat.
I figured I better give Brianna the day off...
...either that or follow her tonight!
We have played almost every weekend since summer.
We always have fun. We try to play three sets: One with Doug and I playing Rick and Linda. One with Linda and I playing Doug and Rick. One with Linda and Doug playing Rick and I.
We always laugh. That is because Rick says really funny things like "dag nab it" and "it makes me sick" with enthusiasm!
We get some exercise running around the court and a few injuries from wayward flying balls and unintended muscle abuse.
We might even be getting a little bit better at
playing the game.
When I walked into class today, or I should say when they kids came into class today, they were already wild and crazy. I could not believe that I was going to spend the next eight hours or so with them. Surely only a crazy person would then attempt to make gingerbread houses" with graham crackers and loads of candy with that kind of group...
...I was completely and utterly exhausted by the time school got out. Fortunately, Doug and I had been invited to see the Encore Performance of The Christmas Sweater.
It was the perfect antidote.
Fathom and Mercury Radio Arts present an Encore screening of Glenn Beck’s The Christmas Sweater on Thursday, December 18th . This show will be recorded live the previous night and is being rebroadcast for this special Encore showing. The Christmas Sweater based on Glenn Beck's novel of the same name. It is an exciting and compelling piece of theatre, featuring national television/radio personality Glenn Beck, a 10-piece orchestra and a Broadway gospel singer. Filled with warmth and humor, The Christmas Sweater tells the story of real people as they come to terms with tragedy, family, redemption, love and the power of faith. The Christmas Sweater is, quite simply, a good story well told.
A number of years ago, Marty Share, from the Fort Myers Stake sent my husband a copy of their stake's scripture study program. I thought it looked very cool. I thought about it off and on throughout the year as I struggled with my inconsistent reading patterns. The next year Marty sent the next version. I asked my husband if I could have it and he told me that I could.
I read faithfully for the first six months and then my study fell apart during the summer. When December rolled around, I collected the booklet from my husband and tried again, armed with a plan. I realized that during the summer, I needed something lightweight and portable, so I would save the conference issue talks for vacation days. It worked like a charm and after three years I was successful in completing the entire program. But even the two previous years, and even with my inconsistencies, I still felt that I was doing better than I had in the past.
On a fairly regular basis, when Doug and I were having a discussion, I would be reminded of something that I had just read.
The next year Doug decided to implement the program in our stake. We are now in year five! The Bend Oregon Stake joined us last year, and so it became a coast-to-coast program. It has been such a blessing in my life.
The 2009 downloadable version is here in pdf format.
I am pleased to send a booklet to anyone who 
2009 Scripture Study.
I love to go Christmas shopping with my husband. Luckily for me, he is a shopper. Today we walked around Millenia Mall and went to lunch, but the only purchases we brought home were from the Whole Foods Market in Winter Park. 
I have been enjoying my "all natural peppermint Candy Cane Taffy" this evening as well as the happy feelings evoked from the day just hanging out together.
This one...and she brought six of her friends along with!
Another winter favorite in Florida that I am so pleased to finally have had some success with is cilantro!
The Swedish fig baskets are still beautiful!
I have green beans growing...not very many, but I am delighted with my farming pursuits this winter anyway.
The other day when I saw flowers on the sweet peas, it was so exciting. The flowers are deep purple, but obviously camera shy. I have hope for peas at some point!
