{ Nutcracker - Ring in the Christmas Season }

We started off our day with mass for the first Sunday of advent. Then, we went to the Old Town Theater to see the Nutcracker ballet by a local dance group. It was very nicely done. We were so impressed. It was a great way to ring in the Christmas season. We went to a couple of shops in Old Town, and the kids got to see Santa. DD was totally stuck. She has no idea what to ask Santa for. Then we had dinner at Pat & Oscar's and then walked through the Christmas tree lot. We came home and had Mexican hot chocolate and watched a Christmas movie. What a wonderful day.

{ Sewing Lessons with Grandma }

We have been so happy to have Grandma here this past week. Too bad it's under such circumstances. Some day I might detail my four day hospital stay here, but really it was a lot of waiting averaging about one diagnostic test per day.

Of course, Grandma is busy with all kinds of Christmas projects. So, she brought her sewing machine with her. She's been quilting away, and my daughter asked if she would show her how to make a quilt. She sewed all of the squares together and did a lot of the quilting. It's hard to get into the center, so Grandma helped with that. What an amazing duo these two are.

{ Thanksgiving 2009 }

My husband and mom pulled it off and made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I helped, too, but only a little. Mom won't let me do anything! I think she's right because I was up most of the night with my awful side pain. Really wish it would go away.

My daughter demonstrated the spinny quality of her beautiful dress. I can't believe she can still wear this dress. We bought it two years ago. It's a size 7. She wears size 10 - for the length.

Here's hoping everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving this year! We were so blessed to have grandma with us this year. It was really nice to have her here.

{ Stone Soup }

It was career day at school today. DD dressed up as an author and DS dressed up as a paleontologist.

My son's class had a stone soup Thanksgiving feast today. It was so cute. The kids made stone soup and then acted out the story of the pilgrims coming to America for the parents. It was really cute. Then they sat down to eat their stone soup.

{ Chili Feast }

The third grade had their annual Thanksgiving chili feast today. Since the new principal is adament that we stick to the nutritional guidelines, we had to have store-bought canned turkey chili. It was a cute day. This was the best picture I got because some bratty kid kept putting his hand in front of my camera and I didn't feel up to marching him over to the wall!!! Seriously, though, it was nice, but not as fun as first grade's feast will be tomorrow.

{ First Piano Recital }

My duaghter had her first piano recital today. There were about twenty kids there playing their songs. I was surprised at how many people were there! She played "Shepherd's Hay" and "Music Box Dancer." I'll try sometime to see if I can get the video online.

{ So Proud }

My daughter got an award at school today. It was on the new principal's pyramid of success. She got the award for skill, which is the closest thing to academic acheivement they have on the pyramid. I think the class gets these awards once a month. We're so proud of her.
Here's the new school mascot giving her "five."

The kids in her class did a tunnel.

Her friend got the award for friendship. What great kids!

{ Pain & Nausea }

Ok, folks. I'm having lots of pain and nausea. I was back at the doctors office today, and they really can't help me get in to the urologist any sooner. It looks as though it's going to be a laying low kind of holiday season this year. Surgery is in my future, if the specialist doesn't give me the ol' there's the door bit. I'm thinking about donating money to charity:water in leiu of Christmas gifts. I'm wondering what everyone will think of that. I'm pretty sure that God didn't send His only Son to the world just so that we can go crazy at Christmas time and buy each other presents. It's just a thought. I have a few things bought already. We shall see. It may not be up to anyone else if my health continues the way it is. I'm not capable of going shopping for anything other than the essentials.

{ Results Are In - it Could Have Been Worse but I Don't See How }

Hahaha. Seriously, though, I have kidney stones. In both kidneys. Hence pain and nausea. There is, of course, only one urologist whom I can go to, and his earliest convenience is Dec. 1. Go figure. Doc thinks it might be a good idea to remove them before they pass. I wonder what the urologist will say. My hunch is he'll say, gee, too bad about that, goodbye!

P.S. I have bronchitus, too. Just in case you were wondering. More antibiotics. How on earth can you get a respiratory infection while already taking the strongest antibiotics for UTI? I'm back to the first antibiotic, again. They keep on rotating between Cipro and Bactrim. I should just constantly take the two. Maybe I'd stay healthy for a change!

{ Sick Sick Sick }

DS was sent home sick on Monday. He had a 99.8 degree temperature, not usually enough to send a kid home from school, said the nurse, but he had a headache, too. We went back to pick up DD a bit early for a doctor's appointment to see about a lingering cough she's had for weeks. Oh, yes, she's wheezing. A bit of bronchitus, then. That night, she started with a headache and a low grade fever. Oh my.

DS stayed home from school on Tuesday, but was absolutely fine today and went back to school. DD, on the other hand, is really sick. Her fever keeps spiking to 102.5 and she complains and cries from a bad headache. No pain killer is helping. Poor thing. This morning, I woke up to find her downstairs playing the piano. I'm going to school today, mom, she informed me. Really, I replied. Her temperature was 100.2. Sorry, kiddo, you're staying home today. The fever increases and decreases throughout the day. It seems to max out at 102.5. Now, she's upstairs playing quietly with DS. She must be a bit better, although she'll miss school tomorrow, too, because of the fever. Hopefully DS won't come down with this, too. Who knows what he had, the same or not, I'll never know.

As for me, my side still aches, I'm still getting a bit nauseous. Waiting for my CT results. We'll see, I'm not holding my breath for any great revelations.

{ Dia De Los Muertos }

We went to the San Luis Rey Mission today for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. It was so interesting to see all of the altars set up everywhere. The scent of marigolds was so strong in the air. Also, some really good mexican food. Apparently that can be had in California. My son and I had tamales, the only weird thing about them were the potatoe and carrot strips inside. I thought they were good, he had to remove his. The carne asada tacos were also delish, my daughter and I sampled those. My husband had the carnita burrito which he enjoyed, too. There were dancers, who we watched for a little bit. There wasn't enough room to get a good view. Too bad, it was really entertaining. The kids made some crafts, tissue paper flowers and skeleton masks. We didn't stay too long, but it was really interesting. I think I'd like to go to a Dia de los Muertos celebration where the dancers parade around instead.

We bought some pan de muerto there. It's ok, not as sweet as we were hoping. I'm wondering if I can use my Easter braid recipe to make this. He was good. Traditionally, a figure is hidden in the center of the bread. We'll see tomorrow if our little guy has one!

{ Post Trick or Treating Candy Buzz }

I am happy to report, the only one who has a belly ache this morning is me (due to my infected kidney.) The kids have dumped their candy and are now sitting on the rug saying "Trick or Treat" and handing their candy to each other one at a time. It sounds something like this:

"Trick or treat"
"Oh, yummy"
"Trick or treat"
"Tastes good"
"Trick or treat"
"Thank you"
"Trick or treat"
"So much candy"
"Trick or treat"
"I love candy"

My daughter had to estimate how much candy and treats she got, count it, then round to the nearest ten. She estimated 25, counted 100 which of course doesn't need to be rounded. So, she concluded that her estimate was not a reasonable estimate. The things they learn in third grade.