A Week in Review (November 16-22)

A Week in Review (November 16-22)

Watched: Jack get to play 3 quarters as a goalie of his game.  Whenever his coach asked, Jack always shot his hand up in the air and no one else did.  I am sure that it helps that his coach likes the way he plays goalie too. I think we may have to look for some indoor soccer shoes for his longer league.  Maybe I will use my good camera to get some action shots next time too. For now, you will just have to deal with the blur. 

Read: I finished up Grave Mercy. It was an okay book. I don't think that I would rush to read the second book if not for it being the reading for my face to face book club. The idea is intriguing, but the story telling fell flat for me.  In addition to the love story that develops, the main point questions what if the God-given orders are actually altered by the desires of man.  I finally finished 11/22/63 and so close to the actual date marking the anniversary of the JFK assassination. I for sure thought this was going to be a 4 or 5 star book, but the ending just didn't do it for me, so I would probably give it 3.5 stars. If you are looking for an excellent audiobook, I highly recommend this one. It was one of the best narrations that I have heard in a long time.  As for the plot, it's about a "rabbit hole" that drops you out in the summer of 1958. What would you do if you could right the wrongs of the world and what effect would it have?  Next, I started on the book The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It is the first book in the other YA trilogy that was in the running for the book club. It is a pretty cheesy and fast read. I am sure I will finish it up next week.

Listened: To the sound of baby giggles. We were able to help a friend out and spend some time with her son. He thought I was okay to be with, but when Jack got home, that's when the giggles got in high gear. A baby giggle is just pure joy!

Made: Some turkeys from Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies. I think they turned out very cute. I hope that the kids on Jack's friends enjoy them.

Felt: Relief that Jack's dentist appointment went okay. He has a lot of apprehension so I wasn't sure how it would go. We did some oral sedation drugs and then combined it with laughing gas at the office. He stayed pretty calm.  I think we might be able to try the next apppointment with just the gas. :)

Planned: To have a big trip to Wal-mart. I bought the vast majority of our Thanksgiving Menu, my holiday baking supplies, and my standard weekly trip.  My cart was so full so I decided to play my own version of Price is Right version of Facebook.  In total, I had about 30 people guess. My mom was the closest, missing only by 1.58. Second was close behind only missing by 1.67.  You can see the crazy cart below. The total was 220.33.

Loved: That Jack is learning to play cribbage. It is one of my favorite games and I love that he is picking it up. He has watched me play several people play so he understood the general format of the game.  He actually likes practicing against the computer on an app I have on my iPad.  He still needs a bit of help counting his points, but I think he does well. He beat Nick and I pretty badly in his first game of 3 player. 

Here are the pics for the week:

A Week in Review (November 9-15)

A Week in Review (November 9-15)

Watched: Jack's team get another win at soccer. He loves playing goalie. He didn't let the other team score any goals on him, but he was quite surprised when one of his own teammates kicked it in his goal. :)  The look on his face when I told him that counted for the other team was pretty funny. 

Read: I am still making good progress on my two books, Grave Mercy and 11/22/63. No reviews this week, but I have a feeling next week will bring double reviews. :)

Listened: To Jack's classmates come up with some good responses as to what they would eat if they were the little old lady at Thanksgiving.  I volunteered to put together a lesson on There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie.  The kids seemed to have a good time with it.  It's really nice to be back in the classroom, even if it is just on a volunteer basis.

Made:  Our annual turkey handprint plate. This year's plate has a Bronco turkey on it. What is even funnier is that he dreams of scoring a touchdown by running through the Chief's players leg. I know I am going to treasure these glimpses at his personality as he grows.

Felt: So cold. We, like most of the rest of the country, got hit with a blast of arctic air. I think it was harder to handle because the forecast had claimed we were going to have 60s. We have lit our gas fireplace. We were disappointed to learn that while it looks like they wired for a blower, they didn't install one. Seems to defeat the purpose. 

Planned: Out our Thanksgiving Menu. With all thr travel we will be doing at Christmastime, we decided it was best to stay at home this year. We will be having turkey, stuffing, prime rib, mashed potatoes, potato salad, sesame green beans, rolls, and pumpkin pie. 

Loved: Getting the flag from the KU game. It was so hard to see the flags waving in the stadium knowing that this is the first one we would miss in years. Imagine our delight when showed up in the mail. We are so thankful to Uncle Kevin for picking one up for us and to Aunt Debbie for getting in the mail.  Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Here are the pics for the week:

A Week in Review (November 2-8)

A Week in Review (November 2-8)

Watched: I finished up How I Met Your Mother. Definitely just a later version of Friends. So if you love Friends, you would like this one. I thought the ending was lackluster for the awesomeness of the show. However, I thought the writers did a decent job at leaving you satisfied. 

Read: Because I so thoroughly enjoy the audiobook of 11/22/63, I decided to just mostly listen to it and start on the His Fair Assassins trilogy, which the book club read for December and January. The first book is called Grave Mercy.  I am only about a 1/5 of the way in, but it's a decent premise so far. I will have to see where it takes me before I say too much. 

Listened:To several different bloggers at the Pinner's conference that I attended on Friday. I took two classes on cooking, one on distressing and antiquing wood, one on iPhone photos, and one on Christmas traditions. My favorite was actually the first one. I have started following her on Pinterest and am looking forward to making several of her recipes. It is called Real Mom Kitchen. She made three recipes and they all looked yummy! I also made a fun wood sign and got lots of great freebies. :). Pics are posted below. 

Made: My master list for our Elf on the Shelf. I am hoping that I can use some of my spare time to craft all the extra things for the days, like a Spider-Man mask. Should be a fun time.

Felt: Relief. Our house is sold. We are done.  Now I will just be able to drive back to KC and see the place where we made some awesome memories and met some great friends.

Planned: On attending the Reflections Assembly and seeing Jack get his participation award. But it turns out that he is actually moving onto the district level. He was so proud of himself and I was so happy for him. They gave out awesome trophies to the kiddos that moved on. I was super impressed that they had the names put on each trophy.  He pretty much toted it around the rest of the day telling the story to everyone. 

Loved: The weekend. Nick was able to take off early to pick up Jack while I was at the Pinner's conference. The boys got to have fun together. At 6:45 that night, Jack headed to our neighbors and Nick and I head to a place called Brewvies for dinner and a movie. It was okay. It was really busy and would probably be better for food and drinks if you got there early. We watched Gone Girl. It was an awesome adaption of the book. It is one that just leaves you going WTF??? Saturday was a great family day. The boys got haircuts, Jack got some new boots and shoes when we were searching for Nick, the Jayhawks one, Jack's soccer team pitched a shut out, and we had some great time just talking while we read books. We even watched a YouTube video that showed one of the moments in Jack's baseball book that he checked out from his school library--The Carlton Fisk ball wave.

Here are the pics for the week:

An old pic edited during the iPhone class. 

Jack loved this picture of Coach Bowen. He does wonder what the players who were thirsty drank though. 

A Week in Review (Oct 26-Nov 1)

A Week in Review (Oct 26-Nov 1)

Watched: Jack be totally grossed out by cleaning out a pumpkin. He was also quite messy at it. We had seeds everywhere. He came up with the design on his own and Nick only helped him carve the word Boo in it.  I used simple cookie cutters to make my pumpkin. The skin was super thick so I am glad I didn't do anything to complex. 

Read:  I finished up Rooms and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  For Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Rooms is told from several different points of view, so it took me a while to get the hang of it. If you have enjoyed her other books, you will like this one as well. Or if you are looking for a good ghost story for Halloween, I would recommend this to you.I wasn't as intrigued by the story line as I thought I would be.  I really enjoyed the freaky pictures more than anything.  I thought that the author did a good job integrating the pictures as bits of the story.  I hated how the end just left you hanging.  I think that books, even with known sequels, should be able to stand alone and this one just didn't do that well.

Listened:  I am continuing to 11/22/63. The narrator does such a great job with the story and I really am intrigued by it.  I am currently in between paper books to read, so I have read that a bit as well. I am not quite half way done and have been listening to it for 3 weeks. 

Made:  These yummy cookies for my book club.  The parchment paper is a must as the toffee sticks pretty badly.  My spatula was covered in toffee bits by the end of the baking session.  Another gal brought the cowboy salsa listed below and it was great as well. Perfect side dish for so many occasions.

Felt: Excited for Jack. He really enjoyed indoor soccer. His favorite was being a goalie. I found out that was because he was angling for 50 cents a blocked goal.  I am interested to see if he will choose soccer or baseball in the Spring. 

Planned: On having to be more hands-on for the bowling game that I made for Jack's Halloween party. But the awesome thing about 1st graders was the fact that they could do it on their own and the only need me to supervise and give occasional pointers. I think all the kids really enjoyed it.  I forgot to get pictures during the party, but I did put one of Jack testing it out at home. 

Loved: Trick or treating with our friends, the Sanner's. We had supper before hand and then went up and down the two streets of our neighborhood. Jack had so much fun sharing in the experience with other kids his own age.  Jane even brought me some beautiful sunflowers which reminded all of us of Kansas.

Here are the pics for the week:

A Week in Review (October 19-25)

A Week in Review (October 19-25)

Watched: The Royals win 2 and lose 2 in the World Series. They won the lucky 3rd game and now get a chance to bring the Win back to KC. 

Read:  I didn't finish up anything or start anything new.  I just keep moving farther away from my reading goal of a book a week. I will really have to pick up my game to make it. 

Listened: To my little man get sick Friday morning. I had heard that there was a stomach virus going around, but I was so bummed he came down with it.  On the good side, it passed within 6 hours and he seemed back to his regular self that evening. 

Made: The long trek back from my mom's. It was full of bad news. We got the call that our buyer had fallen through again. It is seriously upsetting. I almost feel like there is a curse on the house.  When we were almost home, I got a text from my mom saying her kitty had been hit by a car that afternoon. It was so sad. 

Felt: Thankful that my dear husband stopped and took the time to buy me flowers after hearing all my tales of woe on Monday. There bright yellow blooms make my heart more light when I see them. 

Planned: To just have to wear random blue things for the World Series, but then my shirt arrived in the mail. My former boss, Rhonda, was awesome enough to think of me and mail me a Royals shirt. I was pretty glad especially because they won the first night I wore it. 

Loved: Attending the Spook Alley at a local church with our friends. Jack had such a good time playing all the games and doing the Spook Alley. They did a pretty good job making it freaky. He even ran into a classmate and they had a great time playing together. As you will see from the pictures below, Jack was all about the donut on a string activity. 

Here are the pics for the week:

The framed pic that Jack submitted for his school's Reflection contest.  I was so glad my mom had a mat for it so I didn't have to track that down Monday night. 

Nick was unable to stay home and watch the whole Thursday night game with us, so Jack took this picture to be able to text him the final score. :)

A Week in Review (October 12-18)

A Week in Review (October 12-18)

Watched: The Royals sweep the ALCS. I am not a baseball fan, but there is something infectious about these boy's spirit. Plus, it all really counts now and they seem to manufacture plays out of nothing. I am so into it that I have the batting order memorized.  Because they had to cancel Monday's game due to rain, Wednesday's game was played in the afternoon. It really cramped my style, but thankfully we awesome cable that has an app for watching TV on the go and so I took my tablet with me do I wouldn't miss anything while I picked up Jack. 

Read: I am still working on Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I am enjoying it, but it isn't a fast paced read. I also decided to make the commitment to 11/22/63. I am starting it on audiobook as I wrap the other three books I need to finish . I say it's a commitment because it is 25 disc long.  While I am only just starting out, it really has been drawn in. I also had the book Rooms come off my hold list. It looks to be a fun book for the Halloween season. The other Lauren Oliver books I've read have been very fast paced. so I am hoping for this one as well. I also need my November Book Club read to come off my hold list so that I can have it done by the 1st. It's getting to be quite full on my reading palate.

Listened: To the roar of lawn tractors during the Lawn Tractor races at the Harvest Moon Fall Festival we went to on Saturday. It was pretty funny to see them zoom around. They had really suped them up. A couple even turned corners on two wheels. Kyle and Jack both participated in their first ever cake walk. We also got to play the human foosball game that is sweeping the Pinterest boards.  It was a ton of fun. I hopped out to share my spot with a younger kid and so I could take photos.  Jack also decided that a haunted maze that kids had warned us was scary couldn't be. So we paid our money and went in. A first it was pretty boring, but about half way through one of the actors wearing a half mask and swing a plastic machete ran at us and said "It's your time to die!"  I see Jack look down at his pants to see how much had leaked out. It truly scared the piss out of him. He laughs when I tell the story. Although he wanted to cut and run out the back way, we pushed on and the people kept coming. It was pretty well done for something so small. I don't think we will forget it anytime soon. 

Made: The 600 mile trek to see my family on Thursday. We are having a great time with them. I hope that when Jack is my age he still loves coming home. I know that my mom's tradition of taking care of the kids will live on. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mom.  We are also loving having Kyle back in Alliance too and Jack continually wears him out with his requests for one game of football, baseball, or whatever other high energy game he can think of. 

Felt:  Super lucky. On Thursday, while driving through the poor cell service in Wyoming, I was lucky enough to be able to orchestrate getting the owner of the other side of the duplex to sign a document. The lender's bank requested that this be done within four hours. Say what???  I am just now hoping for no more glitches in the road. I couldn't believe it actually worked out.

Planned: For Jack to play to soccer on four Saturdays in November. One of the area rec centers has an indoor soccer league. There are no practices, but I think it will be good for him to try it out and see what he thinks of the game.

Loved: The beautiful views of the Alpine Loop in Northern Utah county. It was so breathtaking and the pictures below don't really do it justice. I loved seeing all the names carved into trees. I think the oldest one I spotted was from '77.  I think it was so funny that Jack chose to go out in his full football gear. He was really just in the mood for pass, but did okay just enjoying the scenery. Definitely something unique for our time in Utah.

Here are the pics for the week:

This just really cracked me up. 

Jack at an Abraham Lincoln monument at a WY rest area on our way to my mom's. 

Jack boxing Poppa's ears. Notice he is smart enough to wear the helmet to save himself from retaliation.

Me in my new Bronco's shirt that my mom got for me. 

Harvest Moon activities

A Week in Review (October 5-11)

A Week in Review (October 5-11)

Watched:  Jack have such a great time playing with the big kids of the neighborhood.  They played some box trolls game, played some stuff in the house after snacking, and then tried to play baseball.  I wish we had some kids his age that lived closer, but he seems to have fun so we just embrace it. 

Read:  I finally finished up Pride and Prejudice.  So it makes me feel rather low brow to say this, but I really did not like this novel at all.  I only gave it two stars.  It just was so redundant without much story line.  I still don't understand why women would just die for a Mr Darcy in their life. I will be watching the BBS mini series to see if the actors add more to the story for me.I also made some progress on Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  Not sure if I will have a review for you next week with the trip to my mom's. 

Listened: To Jack's teacher during conferences. They want him to practice reading "nonsense" words to help build phonics blending. I knew that he was more a sight word reader and so I am not surprised that he had trouble in that area. On the plus side, his math skills continue to excel. 

Made: Some more reader's theaters for Jack's teacher. I actually have a really good time breaking down the books into different parts.  She said she received lots of compliments from the parents and so she will be doing it again.

Felt: Glad to have signed and shipped all the documents for closing the house. Now just to count down the days until it happens!  So glad this journey is almost over.

Planned: To try and build something from these Crazy Fort balls and sticks.  I stumbled upon directions on their website and was able to make a really fun igloo. Jack turned it into an obstacle trying to get his body and football through without hitting any of the sticks. It was a lot harder than it seemed like it should be. 

Loved: Spending the day with Jack at the Children's Museum downtown. I feel like he is just on the border of not enjoying those places anymore, unless he would take a younger friend, so I am glad that we got to go and explore. We even saw a bird show done by another group here in town.  The museum was in the middle of a outdoor shopping area and Jack fell in love with the store called Fanz. We had to end up going their twice.

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack's car that was cooler than mine as voted on :)