There is much to be thankful for!

Three days is much too long to be away from my computer. E-mails stack up and I miss what’s going on with my blogger friends. To everyone who sent me a Thanksgiving greeting, thank you, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family had a great time with my mother and step-father. They drove in Wednesday afternoon from Santé Fe and we have had such a good time.

We decided that instead of making a turkey, potatoes, stuffing and all that other good stuff we would make reservations instead. We had a wonderful dinner ay Marie Calendars. The kids got ham and we had turkey so everyone was happy. We even had leftovers to bring home. My husband did make a turkey by smoking it ion the grill with wood chips and it was so good. It was just perfect for turkey sandwiches. Yesterday he used some of the turkey to make a turkey enchilada stew dinner in a Dutch oven which was really good. We have had a lot of wine. I don’t normally drink that much but over the last few days I made up for it.

My son attempted to teach them how to play Killer Bunnies which was unsuccessful but they enjoyed watching us play. For those of you unfamiliar with the game it is a card game where you try to kill off everyone else’s bunny with special cards while keeping your bunny alive until the last carrot card is picked. If you have the magic carrot in your hand you win. It’s a weird game but it grows on you after awhile. We ended up playing Phase 10 dice which every knew and enjoyed. We then watched the movie “Thunderbirds”, which was sort of like” Spy kids” but still enjoyable, it was a fun evening.

Friday Duane unfortunately had to go back to work so he was unable to join us on our outing. We have lived in Arizona for 5 years now, but we had never visited any of the museums. Phoenix has the most wonderful science museum. We spent several hours there and barely saw everything. They have the most fascinating hands on exhibits that you can touch, manipulate and explore. There was an exhibit on what goes into building a home. There was one on the human body that we spent a lot of time with. There was one on sound that was really interesting and another on the earth and the forces that act on it. The final exhibit we saw before it was tine to leave was called the digital word and that was really interesting. Cody learned how to send his name in Morse code. They also had a Star Trek exhibit which we wanted to see but it turned out that that was a separate ticket so maybe next time. Robyn was a little disappointed though because we ran out of time and did not make it to the doll and toy museum which is located in the museum complex in an adorable old house. We told her next time for sure we will go there.

All in all we had a wonderful visit. We played games, watched a movie, ate too much and had spirited conversations about everything from politics, to the economy and religion. I can’t wait until they come back again.

P.S. I just found the most perfect black pumps and matching clutch to go with my Christmas dress for my husbands company Christmas party! I am so happy!

Ten years ago today.

I decided to jump in on the 5 things meme form Dorkalina and give it my best shot.

5 things I was doing ten years ago.

1. I only had the one child at that time and he was three years old with golden curls half way down his back because I couldn’t bare to cut them.

2. I was working for a State farm agent.

3. Taking my baby to day care everyday and hating it.

4. Coming to know that the man I married was not only a wonderful husband but probably the best dad I had ever seen.

5. I was living in a really small town house that was just perfect for the three of us but was way too small when the next one came along.

5 things on my to do list today.

1. Make it up to my daughter for forgetting that tonight was the school skate party.

2. Clean the kitchen.

3. Give my daughter a bath and wash her hair.

4. Make sure daughter has finished her home work.

5. Make sure I have the dvr set to record “Life on Mars.”

5 snacks I like.

1. Dark M&M’s

2. Any kind of chip with dip.

3. Cheese and crackers.

4. Kettle corn.

5. Cookies or brownies.

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire.

1. I would buy a portable ultrasound for the neonatal intensive care f the hospital that took care of Cody for the first two weeks of his life.

2. Make sure that both my children could go to any college they wanted to.

3. Buy a swimming pool!

4. Pay off all our debts and buy my husband a truck.

5. Travel around the world.

5 Places I have lived for various length of time.

1. Denver Colorado.

2. Lompoc California

3. Littleton Colorado.

4. SCottsdaoe Arizona. (For a few weeks while we waited to move into our new home.

5. Gilbert Arizona.

5 Jobs I have had.

1. Office manager for a State farm agent.

2. Receptionist for the probation department.

3. Food service worker at elementary school.

4. Clerical worker for the data depository at Vandenberg Air force base.

5. Aid at Martha Negus School for orthopedically handicapped children.

Tag I’m it.

Rick over at Fuzzy’s Dad tagged me with the book worm award. Since I am sitting at my computer the nearest book to me is a text book. It is “Elementary and middle school mathematics. Teaching developmentally.

So here it is the fifth sentence on page 56 followed by the next few sentences. “Other lessons may begin with a statement of the problem and may or may not have a readiness activity. The kinds of things you do in the before portion of a lesson will vary with the task. Some tasks you can begin with immediately. For example, if your students are used to solving story problems and know they are expected to used, pictures, and numbers to explain their solutions in writing, all that may be required is to reads through the problems with them and by sure all understand it. The actual presentation of the task or problem may occur at the beginning or at the end of your before actions.

Sorry it’s not the most exciting book but it was the closest, it could have been worse the next closest book was Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus.

I really do appreciate being tagged by Rick but I think everyone else has done this one so if you haven’t considered yourself tagged by me because this is a fun one.

Here are the rules if you decide to play.

Rules: Pass it on to five other bloggers, and tell them to open the nearest book to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence on that page, and also the next two to five sentences. The CLOSEST BOOK, NOT YOUR FAVORITE, OR MOST INTELLECTUAL

Quote from "Elementary and middle school mathematics Teaching developmentally." A second edition for Rio Salado College by John A. Van de Walle

I am having a louse-y day.

Well not me actually my daughter. I get a call at work yesterday which is very odd because I never get called at work unless one of my kids is sick. So I assumed some one was sick enough to need to go home which was ok since I had just finished for the day anyway. I pick up the phone and it’s not the school but my husband. I told him I thought it was about a sick kid. He responds with your sort of right. A girl who sits at my daughters table had shared her little friends with my daughter and three other children. I needed to pick her up.

Before I leave to get her though I am given lots of helpful advice on how to treat her from just color her hair that will kill to put mayonnaise on and they will suffocate. Having been through this once before when another child shared his little buddies with my kid’s at day care I was not looking forward to dealing with them again.

The nurse however was very helpful, she gave me a bottle of was Rid and a little comb and told me just what to do. She even checked me to make sure the little buggers had not migrated to my scalp. I was clean, thank goodness.

I treated my daughter following the instructions and combed her hair till I thought it was nit free. Dear husband that he is took her to school this morning for the inspection to see if she would be allowed to stay or not so I could make it to work on time. A little while later he called and I ask so are you at work and he said nope she found a survivor and I am treated her again. She was eventually allowed back in school after the second treatment and we will be keeping a close eye on her head for the next few weeks. Those buggers are sure hard to kill.

I really feel for her teacher though, this is the third time this year that she has had to send home notes that there is head lice in her classroom. Now she has to be watchful for kid’s scratching their heads and totally clean her room to hopefully kill all the lice and their eggs. That’s one thing that they never covered in any of the classes I am taking to become a teacher, how to spot lice in a child’s hair. Maybe they should offer a class in things you will need to know that know one will ever tell you.