Happy Thanksgiving...Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a nice, quiet holiday. We celebrated Wednesday evening and then just lounged around all day yesterday eating leftovers. Yesterday was a cold, wet, windy day so it was nice to just be indoors. I have never understood the insanity of all the people who get up the day after Thanksgiving to be at the stores at 5am (or before) so once again, I did NOT attempt that day-after-Thanksgiving tradition...ha! The goal for today is laundry and finding a good turkey tetrazini recipe for all the turkey leftovers.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving...Well, preparations are under way for Thanksgiving (what that really means is the ingredients have almost all been bought...ha). The grocery stores are a madhouse. And of course, I have to go back since they were are of two of the most important ingredients: karo syrup for pecan pie and cornbread mix to make dressing...both of which are John's favorites. Not sure which day we are doing the actual celebration since John is on reserve but so far Thursday is looking pretty good. Yum!

Quick Update...It has been fast and furious around here. Had a quick trip back to Oklahoma to see Grandma and Big Daddy. Had a really nice visit and some downtime. But of course, how it always happens, Julia got a stomach bug and was throwing up part of the time. Which of course limited our contact with other friends and kids. Didn't get to see everyone we wanted to but now that Julia has had her first plane ride, we'll be back soon, I'm sure.

Now we are in catch-up mode with school, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! I have done absolutely NOTHING to get ready for Christmas so I have some major catching up to do. Hoping to get some shopping done this week so I am not caught up in the post-Thanksgiving crowd...they are always nuts! The last 2 years I have done my shopping while humming or whistling Christmas carols and it made a big difference in my stress level while everyone around me was psycho. So, that is the goal for this year as well.

Still trying to solve the picture posting problem on blogger. It has something to do with our updated virus protection. John is looking into it for me. Will have several pictures to post once that is done.

Jacob was thrilled to be back in school and at swim lessons this morning. He has said several times that he is glad to be back in NY. And as small as our apt is, it is good to be home.

STAR of the week...Jacob was the "star" of the week in his class this week at school. On Monday, he took a poster to school all about himself. On Tuesday, it was the Storybook Parade and he brought his Show-n-tell but it had to wait until Wednesday. On Wednesday, he got to sit and work at the teacher's desk. On Thursday, he got to pick his favorite "work center" in class to work at. And today, I came to school and read his 2 favorite books to the class. I read Scooby Doo and Lucy Goose Goes to Texas. Each child in the class will have their own week during the school year. It really makes them feel special.

Julia started back to Toddler Time at the library today. It was the largest group we've had so far (probably 10-12 kids). And Julia is now one of the older kids of the group. She did really well and only got antsy when the arts and crafts segment was taking so long since their were so many kids. Miss Donna even commented on how well she was doing. And the fact that we rode to bus to and from Toddler Time was a BIG bonus for such a busy girl!

Sorry everyone. Haven't been able to post pictures for some reason. Think it is our updated McAfee Security. Will have John take a look and post Halloween pictures when we have it figured out.

Halloween Night...After opting for chinese food for dinner, we headed out to trick or treat at the neighbors houses that we knew. We even stopped off for a little singing and piano playing at Mr. Greenberger's house. The kids loved that stop because they got not only candy but Alan gave each of our kids $3 a piece. They thought that was pretty cool! He is such a nice man.

Storybook Parade and Class Halloween Party... Yesterday, they had the Storybook Parade and Halloween Party at Jacob's school. It was a real hoot! I went up and helped the boys in Jacob's class get their costumes on and then helped with the party. Boys are rowdy enough as it is but if you stick 9 boys in superhero, Star Wars, and ninja costumes then it is magnified...BIG TIME!!! Most of the girls were either the Little Mermaid of some form of princess. It was a lot of fun and nice to get to know some of the other moms a little better. Jacob's teacher was in hog heaven because for about 45 minutes while the kids were in computer class, she had 4 moms to help with projects around the class room. She was transitioning the room from October/Halloween to November/Thanksgiving. She really goes to a lot of effort to have lots of variety for the kids. The woman in the duck costume at the parade is Jacob's principal.