The nutcracker

The girls all danced in The Nutcracker this weekend, and Charlie danced in the St. Lucia Festival as well. They all did a great job and had a great time. The only problem was that Lily needed to sit with us except for her dance and the final curtain call. It was my job to get Lily to the dressing room and to pick her up again. When Lily was dancing I noticed a mistake that I had made, instead of her dance slippers she was wearing her winter boots! (the picture where she has her dance slippers on is the rehearsal) She looked so cute but I was embarrassed. Also, Shawn's mom, Kathy made Lily's "costume", it was the beautiful Christmas dress from last year. I barely fit, but looked so cute and all of the other "cookies" were envious of the fact that Lily's dress had jingle bells sewn in. I hope your holiday season is going as wel as ours. Happy Holidays!!!!

Being an example

Shawn, Lily, and I went to Walmart today. Shawn thought up this great game. He silently took off and Lily and I chase after him. Lily loved it and thought it was so much fun. So much so, that as Shawn returned to shopping Lily quietly headed to a mani aisle and yelled, "Mommy, Daddy come catch me!" And, just as her dad had she darted in and out of the aisles. It was scary for just a minute, but she kept popping her head out at us. Still, no more crazy games in Walmart.

Twilight

I went to twilight with a group of great friends. It was a ton of fun. The movie was FABULOUS. I absolutely loved seeing the characters come to life. And, while at times the scenes weren't what I'd imagine, they were still so worth watching. which I am very glad for because I'm off to watch it again tomorrow with Charlie.
After the movie, we went to dinner at a favorite Chinese place. It made for a great night- even though the weather was so cold. Thanks to Bonnie and Vanessa for organizing such a great event and to Bonnie for holding the best seats in the cinema for all of us.

The Days are Just Packed...........

Both Emily and Charlie has their school plays this week. Emily was the Trunchball in Summer Reading is Killing Me, and Charlie was a flower girl and a card in Alice in Wonderland. It was so much fun to see both girls acting. They both can't wait to do it again. Also check out Tweedle Dee, he's a friend of the family. Great job everyone!

Black Friday

I was reading an article about Christmas shopping and it listed a great site called www.SundaySaver.com where some black Friday and Thanksgiving day ads are already listed. I know it's early for Christmas, but as I type this Charlie is practicie Christmas carols on the piano and all three girls are getting ready for their Nutcracker/Santa Lucia Festival Dances, holiday concerts etc, so really it's not too early. I'm even getting ready to start our holiday newletter later this week. So, if you haven't at least thought about the holidays, you might want to start now, or if you're like Shawn, grumble that people are talking about it before Thanksgiving. Either way the add are great.

Don't take life to seriously- no one gets out alive

That's my new life motto. I'm watching it snow, hanging out with Lily and enjoying the day. You should all enjoy the day as well. I love my job, I love my fabulous husband, my 3 daughters, and even the cat who is curled up on my lap. I have some of the best friends ever and am glad it is Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow. I hope that you are all enjoying a great day as well!

So WHAT are you entitled to????

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**********************************I went to pick Emily up from play practice this afternoon. As I waited for her, an old beat up car pulled up. The driver and passenger stopped their car in the middle of the road going the wrong way on a one way and four small children scrambled into the car. I waited for them to realize their mistake and after a few minutes decided that not only were they unaware that they were driving/sitting the wrong direction. so, I pulled up to them. They noticed that we were now head to head and motioned me to back up out of their way. One of the women got out of the car and agressively came up to me and told me to move. I told her that they were going the wrong way and that they needed to back up. They proceeded to tell me that they have rights and I had better move. I told her that they didn't have the right to drive the wrong way down a one way or to cause an accident. They insisted that they weren't going to move so I made a phone call. Afraid i was calling the police or ticked that I didn't care, they turned their car around- at which point I notice that they are missing their bumper and have numerous dents. They then roll down the window and tell me that they are facing the right way and aren't going to move. I told them that i was fine with me but probably not the 4 cars behind me, at which point they drive off.

So, what ticks me off isn't that these people are made a mistake, but that they felt that everyone else had to move (illegally backing up a one way) to make room for them and felt "entitled" to drive the way they wanted. They are not only poor drivers but have a misguided sense of the civil liberties.

Are you stupid or a coward?

Over the last week I have read/heard about some really rude comments on many blogs all from "anonymous" posters. These posts have picked on a child's project, tried to express political views but included rude language and no substance, or have simply been vicious attacks. My friend Vaneesa and I were talking about it today and we can't come to a consensus. Are these people just really stupid or cowards? What do you think?
Post a comment and let me know- but not anonymously, because I won't post it.

Meredith's vote- they're cowards. They know their veiws are illogical and rather than signing their name and saying this is how I feel, they pick on other people for having a different view,

Should I be THIS tired??

I have a whole new respect for teachers, which is really hard because I already respect them A LOT. Still, I'm here on the computer because I am just too tired to rake my leaves. Why am I so tired? Well I ran a voting booth, helped write 15 campaign speeches and helped make 15 campaign hats, counted the ballots, caused two volcanic eruptions, and help 15 people with line dancing-before 11:30. I'm exhausted even though I only work about 3 and 1/2 hours a day. I don't have any idead how full time teachers do it.
BTW- golden oreos won out over animal crackers 11 to 4, and Christmas may come 4 times a year, depending who gets elected. Oh and we'll be eating a lot of corn and ice cream.Okay, I'm off to rake the leaves now...

Halloween Fun

We had hands down, the best Halloween ever. It was warm enough that we didn't wear coats- a first for us in the 7 Halloweens we've spent in Minnesota. Great friends to go out with, great friends to run into, (including a couple who were doing the BYOB thing- i didn't even know you could do that! But no need to worry, I reminded them that we don't drink lol) , two parades at preschool (yes i posted both of my classes), a parade for Em at her school, hot chocolate at the Andersons, and no one caught whatever Lily had earlier in the week. We finished up with an early round of shopping for Halloween leftovers (which included NO candy as the girls made a HUGE hall. Check out the picture w/ the orange bowl. That's the "extra" candy we buy from then every year. I know a lot of people at Shawn's work who are going to be very happy on Monday. I can't wait until next year!

Vampires and a werewolf in Minneapolis

As many of you know, Charlie and I are HUGE Twilight fans. So, I was excited to see that Jacob, Laurent, and Victoria will all be in Minneapolis on Novemebr 14th. More details will be available soon at http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ This is great new, though, of course, I am always aware of what I'm missing in Boston, where Edward (robert Pattison) will be this Nov. Details for all of the casts trip are available at the same website. If anyone in boston sees him, I had better get pictures!!!!