A Merry Christmas to all.....

except for the cat!! Knocked the tree over 3 times. Coincided with him getting neutered. It almost felt like revenge!! Isn't that pitiful? Note how the colored lights no longer go all the way to the top. So, this is our once glorious tree. It was such a happy tree. Huge! Tall and big and fat! Perfect tree! I had so much fun decorating it. Heavy sigh here. So, the kids are in bed, the turkey is in the smoker in the garage. It smells soooo good! And Santa is on the way! Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope you get everything you asked for and feel loved by everyone!

Applause, applause

I am so behind at posting. This little event actually took place at the beginning of the school year. Ethan and Emily received awards for achieving perfect, PERFECT, scores on their SOL tests at school. And, hey, SOL stands for Standards of Learning.....just sayin'. Emily scored her perfect score in history. Ethan made perfect scores on history, reading, and math. He was the only one in the whole student body that scored perfect on 3 tests. Do you think he got credit for that? Nope......he is a terrorist. THAT is a LONG story and I shouldn't even say it here because I'm afraid someone from the school will read it and the whole mess will start all over again. Call or email and I will fill you in. Although, every time I think about it, I think I need a bigger soap box!! So, for now, we just celebrate the smartness of our kids! And just because John did not get perfect scores, do not think that he is not smart. He is a very mature, very smart boy. He does things (managing his money) already that I see some adults (me) have trouble with. So...John, Ethan, Emily....take a bow for all your hard work and effort....we're so proud! (someone hand me a tissue)

The Great Hunter

He doesn't look very excited does he? OH MY!! Everyone who has come near has had to hear the story. John's first deer. He was so proud. He had a hard time getting the cross hairs on the scope to line up because his heart was beating so hard. But he got it! All that sitting and watching and sitting and watching and sitting and watching paid off. And in the cold! I could not sit still that long, much less in the cold.

Catchin up

Now that I am on Christmas break I can blog. Ahhhhh, I feel so relaxed. Got 3 As and 2 Bs. Got an A in Pathophysiology. That's my trophy. That was a hard class. And next semester I start my first practicum in Women's Health. Class starts again on January 19th. Until then I will be sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching Oprah if I am needed......and DON'T need me!

Isn't that the most spoiled cat you have ever seen. We set that up to take a picture, but the cat never moved. He napped right there just like that for the whole afternoon. He did push the little teddy bear away, but never even took his head off the pillow. He does pay a price, though, for all that spoiling............and the price is.....he has to wear baby doll dresses for the kids. It is a male cat. Poor thing! He takes it like a champ. Emily is sitting here beside me reading this and reminding me how much the cat enjoyed wearing the dress. He also likes the Christmas tree. He has a favorite low branch he loves to sit on. It's going to get him killed. And every so often I catch him sitting in the middle of town square of my Christmas houses. It looks like he is really waiting for someone to come out of one of them so he can pounce on them. Also something that is going to get him killed or maimed.

And now we can talk about Halloween, yaaaa now that it's Christmas, just a little behind. Loved my purple lights. And there are five pumpkins...one for each of us. Halloween was not as much fun for us this year. Our neighborhood changed the way they do our Halloween celebration. We did the trunk or treat this year with a hayride. It was fun; it just wasn't quite the same as going door to door. BUT we still got chocolate and that's all that counts!