The Last Christmas Celebration of the Year

Sunday night we had our last Christmas celebration of the year. We got together with our good friends, the Van Grootheests for dinner and presents. It was so nice to be able to sit still and catch up as we have all been so busy lately. All four of us adults are teachers and we all teach at different levels and in different school districts. They gave John the new Tiger Woods Golf game for Wii so Mark and John were busy battling it out on the t.v. Lauren got new pajamas so the girls turned it into a pajama party in their bedroom. We gave the girls, Tess and Chloe, new graphic t-shirts and Twilight key chains. Jason got a new Nintendo DS game to play and I got a beautiful new serving platter from our favorite company, Southern Living at Home, to match some bowls I had purchased earlier. I gave Barb some cute holiday wine glasses, which we had to use right away before they got packed away for next year. One of the nice things about the evening was that Barb took a picture of us in front of their tree and it turned out great. Their dog, Luna, even got into the act posing at the table with a couple drinks in front of her. Don't worry, dog lovers, we did not let her actually drink anything. She is just a poser.

Christmas Day/John's Birthday

What a wonderful Christmas day! We celebrated quietly at home while the rain fell and the wind blew outside. John made our traditional Christmas morning breakfast and we enjoyed cup after cup of coffee from my new coffee maker. The kids played with their new Wii and DS games after we watched Lauren's movie from Santa, HouseBunny. Lunch was delicious, as was the cheesecake Lauren made for John's birthday, and we got Eldon and Diana off to the airport on time. Thanks to the Hickory Farms gifts, we had a fun snack style dinner and I am ready for bed. I will try to hold out until after the 7:00 hour. Our favorite Two and a Half Men is on at 7:30 so I will try to remain alert until it ends. Anyone have any toothpicks to hold my eyelids open? Anyway . . . Here are a couple pictures from the morning. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Christmas With Grandma and Grandpa G and Christmas Eve

We had an early Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Gottschalk over the weekend since they are leaving Christmas day for Italy. It was a fun weekend filled with secret stocking gifts, Christmas gifts, and excellent food. I think we all came home a bit heavier than we left. Jason and Lauren have been busy with their new Wii games, spending most of today in their pajamas in front of the television playing away. John is waiting for a break in the weather to try out his new bike gloves, and I am shopping feverishly with my new Land's End gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

We have a great group of friends here in California. The ironic thing is that almost nobody is actually from California, John being the exception to that rule. We all got together tonight to celebrate Christmas Eve. The Lynch family hosted (they are from Massachusetts), the Glass family was there (South Africa), the Osbornes arrived as we were leaving (North Carolina), the Thompsons and their father from Iowa, Peggy (New York), and many others. I have found that out here, people all band together as so many seem to be away from family and loved ones. On our way home, we drove around looking at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. It made me homesick for Christmas Street, and the near by street that has the Bible story of the birth of Christ. I long for the snow, Dad trying to get us to drink eggnog mixed with 7-Up, and Grandma's house on Christmas day. I know that so many things have changed over the last few years. Grandma has a new place to live and I missed the last couple of years that she hosted Christmas at her house. I think that is what I will miss the most. Looking forward though, I can't wait to see what my children think of their new gifts. I look forward to our family traditions of mincemeat coffee cake for breakfast and John's birthday celebration in the afternoon. I can't wait to eat the Honeybaked ham sitting in the fridge calling my name.

This Christmas I wish you all plenty of great memories of the past, as well as traditions, old and new. I wish you all hope and peace for the future, and pure enjoyment of the present. Merry Christmas!

Baby It's Cold Out There

Oh Man! My children are confused. I thought since we visit Utah a couple times a year, including ski trips every winter, that they got the whole "cold weather clothing" thing down. I guess I was wrong. Lauren's ears were cold and she thought this was the best way to take care of that. Really our hearts do go out to all of you dealing with monstrous amounts of snow and bone-chilling temperatures. It does serve to remind us why we live here. By the way it is currently 61 degrees and sunny outside. We will probably need to find real shoes, not flip flops to wear today.

Jason's Winter Musicale and the Boat Parade

Sunday was Jason's annual Winter Musicale (piano recital). He has been practicing so hard and was ready for this. The way that program usually goes, the little kids start out and the program works up to the players with more experience, with the kids in the fourth grade narrate the whole thing. Jason nailed his solo, Tarantela. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments in music. We video taped his performance and are trying to find a way to post it here, but we are having technological difficulties. Check back in a few days.

Saturday was the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade. Each year we go as a family to join my book club friends and others to enjoy the boats all decked out with lights and music and decorations. Unfortunately, we had some winter weather that day and many boats chose not to join the parade. It was a very small group of boats. We did have a couple favorites, and if I had taken my camera, the pictures would have been here. Next year. . .

Go Elf Yourself

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Decorating Two Trees

I know that those of you that have seen our house are wondering where in the name of all that is holy we could possibly put 2 trees. Well, one is not ours. Wednesday we put up our tree and decked out the house with "A Christmas Story" playing in the background. I think we can all quote the movie line for line at this point, but I would never suggest we have seen it too many times. Friday, while out in "the Desert" we helped Grandma and Grandpa Gottschalk with their tree with classical Christmas music playing in the background. It is much larger than ours and they have 50 years worth of ornaments to decorate it with. I love listening to the stories behind the ornaments as they go on the tree. The kids have their favorites that they like to put up, also. Grandma did scare Lauren with the "Christmas Pickle" and story that goes along with it. I have included a couple pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's decorating as our kids were in pajamas the whole time we decorated our tree, and I decided that they were not photo worthy pajamas.

Starting Out Thanksgiving Right

For the second year in a row, we started out Thanksgiving by running in the 3 mile Torrance Turkey Trot. John blew us all out of the water with his time of 22:37. Lauren came in next at around 26 minutes. My time was not note-worthy, at a couple minutes over last year's time, and Jason had to walk most of the race due to a twisted ankle. He did run half of the first and last miles, though, and came in right around 42 minutes. I gave extra credit to my students that ran for PE so it was fun to see several of them there. Now we feel justified to overeat today because we already worked it off. We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.

I'm an Aunt - Again!

Eric and Christie had their baby on Monday at around noon. His name is Jesse Leo Parry and he weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and is 20 inches long. I hear Christie is doing well and Eric is a very proud dad. It is killing me not to be there to see little Jesse. Thank you Eric for the pictures.

One Down, One to Go!

Lauren's soccer season officially came to an end on Saturday. The girls played their hearts out to a team that beat them just a couple weeks ago. Lauren's team scored first with a beautiful goal in the opening minutes of the game. The other team came back towards the end of the first quarter to tie it up. They scored again in the third quarter, and we tied it up in the fourth quarter. Because this was a play-off game, they could not leave it in a tie, so they went into overtime. Everyone played so well. Shots were taken on both goals and the girls all hustled like I have not seen in a long time, but the other team ended up with a goal in the first overtime period and got the win.

Jason's team played their last game of the regular season yesterday. I got to see the first three quarters before I had to go take Lauren to her game. I am always impressed with Jason's skills when I get to see him play. He played goalie the fourth quarter and from what I hear, he did very well. He did not allow any goals! (Jason is in the white goalie shirt in the picture.)

The Great California Shake-Out!

Last week California had a huge earthquake simulation drill. Most schools, several businesses, and almost all emergency agencies were involved throughout the state. As a teacher, I dread this day. The kids just do not come back from an drill and sit right down to learning. It takes a lot to rein them in again. I was approached by one of my administrators to supply a couple students to be "injured" during the drill. I volunteered one of my students, and Jason. Well, Jason was awarded the "head injury". He was rescued from the classroom and wrapped up, but he succumbed to his injuries and was "blue blanketed." We have given him a lot of grief about this. At dinner that night we joked that we did not need to set a place for Jason as he was no longer with us. He does not always appreciate our sense of humor. Anyway, this brought up a couple things to discuss. What does Lauren do if there is an emergency? John and I are mandated to stay at our schools until the students are taken care of. We let Lauren know, for the first time, who is on her emergency release card. Those are the people that can pick her up and sign her out. We also had to find out if she would be allowed to come onto my school's campus in the case of an emergency to stay with Jason and me. I say all this as a reminder to you to see if you have had the simple discussions that we had put off.

Game Cancelled on Account of Air

John and I sat watching Lauren's first play off game Saturday. I was so excited for a couple reasons. First, Jason's game was not for a couple hours and I could actually see one of his games. Second, it was very warm outside (90+ degrees) and I was wearing shorts in the sun. Then John asked me if I could smell smoke. The only smell I could smell was the trash nearby. A little later we noticed a huge wall of smoke moving our direction from the Orange County direction. There are a couple of fires between where we live and the Palm Desert area and the strong Santa Anna winds are pushing all the smoke in our direction. One of the girls on Lauren's team had an asthma attack before the game was even over. If you have been following the soccer results you won't be surprised to hear that Lauren's team lost by a large margin. Since play offs are double elimination, we have another game to go before her soccer is over for the season. Jason's coaches decided to forfeit the game because of the number of kids on the team that have asthma. They didn't want to risk the health of the kids. Luckily, Jason's division does not start play offs until later so it was just a "regular" game that they missed.

By Saturday afternoon it was "snowing" here in Southern California. The ash is raining down and making it look like snow. The whole "snow" effect might be a little more believable if our temperature had not topped out at 93 yesterday with the same predicted for today. John has made himself available for life guarding, so if you go to the beach today, tell him HI!

Another Sports Filled Weekend

Soccer was the same for both kids this week. (Another one in the "L" column for each.) But they looked great. It was so nice to see Lauren fight to stay in the game when the coach needed someone to sit out for the 4th quarter. She used to be the first person to say, "I'll sit out." Now she stays in for the whole game and plays hard the whole time. She is a trooper. Jason also plays his heart out.

Lauren had a swim meet this weekend also. She only swam Sunday because her age group swam at the same time as her soccer game on Saturday. She swam the 100 Breast and the 100 Back. She has not had an official time in the backstroke yet, so she was entered with a no time and did very well. She was ranked in the breaststroke, and bettered her time by about 1/2 a second. We are just impressed that she was able to swim at all. The wind was terrible at the meet and kept the pool very cold over night. While Lauren was up on the blocks for the breaststroke, a huge gust of arctic wind swept through making everyone groan, and most of us were dressed warmly. I can't imagine how it felt to her, in just a swim suite, wet. She felt much better after she got home and had a hot shower.

WOW

As I browsed the blogs I follow this morning, I was impressed with the eloquent words of my cousins about our new, historical president. I, also, am trying to impress upon my children how important this is. I think of my friend, Lyn. Her daughter, Savannah, a grad student in journalism in Chicago, was there, in the park, with a press pass, last night. How impressive would that have been? I was very emotional just watching it on TV. I am glad that Tina Fey got her wish and does not have to "do" Palin for the next 4 years.

Possibly the Last Soccer Update

This may be the last soccer update. Each week it gets more and more difficult to find a way to say both teams lost again. Both teams lost by a wide margin this week. It has really been a long time since the kids were on a winning team. They enjoy playing so much, though. I know Lauren plays for the social aspect of it. I took a couple pictures of Lauren playing and some even turned out. John was at Jason's game and couldn't really take any pictures due to his whole coaching thing. Maybe next week.

Halloween

Lauren and Jason had another great Halloween this year. Lauren was a flower child and Jason was a knight, with a K. Everyone that asked Jason what he was going to be for Halloween kept asking him what kind of night he was going to be so he started answering that he was going to be a knight with a K. The kids did their own trick-or-treating this year. John and I did not know what to do with ourselves. Due to the location of our house (back house) we don't have trick-or-treators. We went out to dinner and took a quick trip to Home Depot to buy a new medicine cabinet for our bathroom. The old one was grossing me out - rust and all - and I could not put my toothbrush in there one more day. Well as most quick tasks go, it turned into a big task, and will have to be finished tomorrow. I measured very carefully, and assumed that most medicine cabinets come in a standard size. So they do, and we bought the one to fit our space, and the space was too big. Now we have to anchor it with screws, but the new cabinet does not have screw holes. OK go get the drill and make holes. Well, three holes into the four hole project, the batteries died. Charge the batteries blah blah blah . .. No more rust and my toothbrush is happy! The screws jutting out into the cabinet look a little dangerous but they will be dealt with tomorrow - or the next day. But back to Halloween, the kids got lots of candy and had a fun time terrorizing the neighborhood. Jason has passed out on my bed. Big day. As for John and I, we have survived one more Halloween as teachers. His students were a little nuts today, as were mine. I still get to dress up and went as a Starbucks Barista with the other 5th grade teachers. Thank you to Filomena who has two lovely daughters (who were in John's PE class at Dana years ago) that worked at Starbucks before starting their own teaching careers, and let us borrow their aprons and hats.

I hope that you all had a great Halloween this year and that your little goblins were not too spooky!

Family Movie Night

Saturday night was one of those rare times that we had time to ourselves, just the Gottschalk clan. Everyone was home, no extra kids, no sleepovers, no plans. We decided to have Family Movie Night. These nights have gotten more and more rare, especially since our video store closed down and the closest one is clear across the city. Here I was waiting to see what "family" flick we would end up with. John was voting for the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, but Lauren was quick to point out that we all fell asleep during the last Family Movie Night that involved Indie. Lauren's pick wasn't out on video yet, and Jason is not a real fan of movies, so he was not real picky. So now are you asking what classic, wholesome, family movie we ended up with? Sadly, it was What Happens in Vegas. Yes, our family has aged right out of the cute Disney version of Family Movie Night, right into the Ashton Kutcher, bathroom humor version of Family Movie Night. When did that happen? Where are the little cuties that wanted to watch The Rugrat's Movie every day? My question was quickly answered when the kids asked if the next movie we watch together could be "Ralphie," which is what we call "A Christmas Story." I guess they are still in there.

Lauren had a week off from soccer this week, and Jason's team chalked another one up in the "L" column this week. They held it together really well for the first 2 quarters, but ended by giving up 3 goals in the last half. I felt bad for the kids as they were playing in the heat of the day and it was in the upper 80's. It kind of wore them down.

A Busy Weekend

As I got up to go for my run this morning, I wondered where the weekend went. Then I remembered all the fun things we did and the great friends and family we got to spend time with and it all fell into place. Soccer first - Lauren's team played their hearts out and lost. Lauren got to play the whole game again, which I always enjoy. Jason's team also lost, but Jason scored a beautiful goal!!!!! Grandma and Grandpa Gottschalk were in town for their own busy day in the city but got to stop by the games to watch the kids play. We followed that up with lunch at Lazy Dog.

Lauren had a friend spend the night Saturday night so we were all a little short on sleep by the end of the weekend. They seemed to have a fun time, taking advantage of the warm weather and hanging out outside most of the time.

I had progress reports due today so I got to spend most of Sunday assessing and recording half a trimester's worth of work. I always promise to keep up better on that, but it is like saying I will do better eating less chocolate. Oh well. I hope you all had a fun, friend-filled weekend.

The Weekend in Sports

What a weekend for sports! Both kids had soccer games. Lauren's team played very well again. They came out strong, scoring right away. Once again, the other team came back and tied the game by the end of the first quarter. By the end of the game they were down 4-2. Their record just does not reflect how hard they have been playing. Jason's team tied this week. Once again, I was at Lauren's game and John was at Jason's game, so I didn't get the details. I do know that they boys had to play the whole game because they had a couple boys out so they were pretty tired by the end. Jason was not too tired to go play at a friend's house after, though. That saved him from having to go sit through Lauren's swim meet.

Speaking of swim meets. . . Lauren also swam on Saturday and Sunday. She did very well in all of her races. Due to just aging up, and never swimming short course before, she was entered in each race with "no time." She did so well in her 100 breaststroke that she won her heat. She is very close to her red time in that event. Her 50 and 100 free were both strong and she looked so good! Some of those swimmer genes must have gotten passed on to her. Unfortunately, I confused her with the 100 back and gave her wrong information that got her disqualified. I told her she could take too many strokes in the flip turn so the nice lady in the white shirt visited her lane at the end of the race. Now we will know for next time. The only other meet this year is in November so we will see how she does then.

John refereed a soccer game as he does every week. He refs the U10 boys games and really seems to enjoy it. I think he would really like to get into refereeing other sports, like water polo, as well. He seems to be good at reffing the soccer, at least. I often have people come up and tell me that he was the ref for their child's game and that he did a good job. It keeps him out of trouble.

Gottschalk Family

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Apple Picking Time

We took a quick trip out to a little town called Julian, near San Diego, yesterday to check out the apple festival. Though the festival was a bit of a disappointment, we made our own fun. We had a great tri-tip sandwich for lunch, and went apple picking. I really think that John and the kids ate more apples than ended up in the bag. Now we are all set to make applesauce. After picking some apples we went into the town to get one of their famed apple pies. Well, we ended up with two, because who can agree upon just one flavor. So we went with the apple crumb and a cherry apple crumb.

Soccer update -

Lauren's team tied again 1-1. We were so proud of Lauren and her assist on the one goal. She played her heart out! It is amazing when you consider how far the kids have come with their sports. Next weekend will feature soccer and a swim meet for Lauren. Jason did not play on Saturday because the head cold he had earlier in the week has now settled in his lungs. He is feeling better, but can't quite run yet. Hopefully next week.

Haircuts

Jason and I got haircuts yesterday and we both went for drastic changes. Jason went back to spikes, and I went back to many layers. Jason looks great! He always likes to have spikey hair, but doesn't want to go through the actual process of making spikes. We will see how it works this time.

Deciding Who to Vote For

John's Dad sent a link the other day from ABC news to help you see which candidate you relate to. We tried it out with no surprises. I have been very open about my support for Obama and when I did this little "test" I related to Obama on all except one comment. Give it a try and, if you are comfortable doing so, let me know how it came out.

I will be watching at least part of the debate tonight - as much as I can handle before my blood boils and I have to step away. I do not have high expectations for them revealing anything new or clarifying anything. I just want to see how they handle themselves.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

The Weekend

First things first. Lauren's soccer team played very well together this weekend and their efforts ended in a tie 2-2. John was so happy to finally get to watch one of her games and commented about how well they worked together. Jason's team played the best team in the division and had a loss, 4-1. The ref commented that the Sharks held in there better than any other team he had seen.

Salt Lake was rushed and fun. I got in Friday night in time to have a late dinner with my mom, my dad and Jill, and Chris and Steve. Saturday was the shower and we had to pick up all the last minute things and get ready, but we made time to go up Little Cottonwood Canyon to see the autumn leaves. I was so happy to see some beautiful colors. I love the patchwork quilt look of the mountains this time of year. I would post some beautiful pictures so you could see, but I forgot my camera. I have 2 pictures on my cell phone if you want to see. Just ask.

I have included some other pictures from the shower. The shower went very well. Christie and Eric got some nice things for the baby. I want the quilt Grandma Dykes made for the baby. It looks like camoflauge, but the camo is frogs. Too cute. Most people at the shower made a baby book page for Christie to add pictures to later and we found a cute baby blue and white baby book to put it all in.

Heading to SLC

I am heading to SLC today. I just have to get through the school day and I am leavin', on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again. Oh wait! I'll be back on Sunday morning. I am going up for Christie's shower and I can't wait. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. Lauren is not happy about having to stay home. I wish she was going with me, but we vacationed to the nth degree this summer and now I can not afford 2 airline tickets. Truth be told, I can not afford one ticket. Besides, she has soccer tomorrow. I wish it was a little later in the year so I could see the autumn leaves. I definitely miss fall colors very much. We don't really have fall here. John always tries to convince me that the leaves falling off the trees from pollution are "autumn leaves" but I don't buy it. Well, I hope to see all you Utahns in the next day or two - if you are not going to the shower call me so we can meet up. I am staying at my mom's house.

I just read over this and it is a perfect example for my fifth graders of an unfocused writer. Chalk it up to excitement and I will try to stay more on topic in future posts.

Soccer Dads

The Golden Bullets had a week off. Lauren took full advantage of her time off and stayed in her pajamas until 1:00.

Jason and the Killer Sharks had a tough week. They lost 3-1 against a team that really knows the definition of defense. I was just happy that I got to watch the whole game.

On the other hand. . .
I was ashamed to be on the sidelines with the current "soccer Dads" that are affiliated with Jason's team. (John is not included in this group as he is one of the coaches and would never act like this.) They were yelling at the kids the whole entire game in these loud, booming voices. One Dad is actually a Marine, and uses his drill sergeant voice to full advantage when yelling at 9 and 10 year old boys. One Dad pulled another kid aside, not even his own kid, to "teach" him what off-sides is. I guess he felt that the coaches were not doing a good enough job, and said loudly to the boy, "I know you have never been taught what off-sides is. . ." I wanted to ask the man if his children remember everything he ever tells them the first time he tells them. Surely his kids never forget anything in the heat of the moment. Maybe if he volunteered to help out with practices, he would know that the coaches do spend a lot of time teaching about the rules. They need to remember that every coach for Little League or AYSO is a volunteer. They have full time jobs and families and still take the time to promote a sport and try to make sure that the kids are having fun at the same time. The kids will have good coaches, so-so coaches and fabulous coaches throughout their lives. Unless you are willing to step in and be the coach, I do not believe that you have the right to criticize. Besides it is week 3 of the season. How about sitting back, drink your Coke, and tell the kids what a great shot they took, or how well they dribbled the ball down the sidelines. Cheer them on and let the coaches do the coaching.

Soccer Update

This weekend the Golden Bullets lost another close one 3-1. Lauren played forward and actually enjoyed it. Unfortunately, they had a lot of girls out so they all had to play the whole game with no subs. On top of that, Lauren and another girl on the team had slept at a friend's house and not gotten very much sleep. Better luck next game.

Jason's team had a great day won 7-3. WOW! Jason played midfielder and defender and played really well. I only got to watch a little of his game before going over to Lauren's game, but what I saw was great!

The Fall TV Schedule

John called from the car yesterday afternoon (using his blue tooth, hands free earpiece of course) to tell me that the long awaited Entertainment Weekly had finally arrived. Yes, you guessed it the "Fall TV Lineup" edition. All I can say is, "Thank God for Tivo!" I was checking my season passes, making sure that no Survivor or Biggest Loser would go untaped. I reviewed the new shows to see what I just had to try out when it hit me. There was no Moonlight. last season it was on Friday nights on CBS. I need my vampire show. What will become of him? His love interest? I fear, if it does not come back, it will be another victim of the whole writer strike. How dare they!

On the brighter side, my many shows that are coming back are starting to show up on my Tivo "to do" list. The "Now Playing" list actually has a couple shows on it. I just love fall.

Another Soccer Season

Coming from a community that did not really value soccer, it is a relatively new sport to me. I grew up with my brothers playing Little League Baseball, running track and getting a little football in. I, myself, was into gymnastics and swimming, with a little church softball in on the side. I must say that I don't get the sport but, my kids love soccer. They look forward to the start of soccer season every year, where they have their practices twice a week and games on Saturday. John is the assistant coach for Jason's team, the Killer Sharks. Jason likes to play mid-field and forward. Lauren is on the Golden Bullets this year and wears a bright yellow jersey and socks. Her team looks like a bunch of giant hornets on the field. She likes to play mid-field, and pouts if she has to play any other position. I am starting to think that Lauren's main motivation to play soccer is the social side of the game. She has several friends on the team this year, and I fear they will be in trouble with the coach quite a bit. Whatever the motivation, I can't help but say that it is great exercise for the kids.

The first games were this weekend. Lauren's team suffered a disappointing loss 5-1. Jason's team had 2 scrimmages, and he thinks they tied one and maybe won the other one. Clearly he is not the most competitive one in the family. Unfortunately, most of the kids games are at about the same time. Since John is the assistant coach for Jason's team, he has to be at Jason's games. That means I get to go to Lauren's games, but it is not evenly divided. I love to watch her games, but not at the exclusion of Jason's games. Oh well.

I hope you enjoy your soccer games this fall. Cheer your favorite soccer players on for us also.

A Year of "Lasts"

Today the kids go back to school and I find I am a little nostalgic for this year of "lasts." This is Lauren's last year in Middle School. This is Jason's last year in Elementary, and this is the last year I will have one of my kids at the school I work at. It has been such a great experience to have them at Hickory with me. I got to see all their events, chat with their teachers almost daily, and know who all their friends are. I wonder what next year will be like with all four of us at different schools. I will put that thought off for another day. For now I will cherish this last year with Jason at Hickory. It looks like I may even get to be his math teacher. I will feel safer about Lauren being at a school I have strong ties to before she heads off into the big parent-free zone known at High School

Read any good books lately?

I just noticed on my update from Barnes and Noble that Anita Shreve has a new book coming out in October. She is one of my very favorite authors so I am very excited about this. I have actually been known to buy her books without waiting for paperback. The new book is called Testimony. I hope that she has woven her favorite house into this one. I love the way she does that. Anyway. . .if you have not read one of her books, start with Beach Glass, or The Pilot's Wife.

I read several good books this summer - 14 to be exact. Some were repeats like the Twilight series so that I was ready for the disappointing 4th book when it was released. I also read Stephenie Meyer's adult book, The Host. I read 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult and highly recommend that one. I loved the mystery, They did it for Love. I even got a hold of an advance copy of a book that is coming out in January called The Little Giant of Auberdeen County (or something like that) and really enjoyed it. Right now I am reading a book called Moloka'i. It is about a girl that is sent to the island because of leoprosy when she is 7 years old. It is especially meaningful right now because of our recent trip to Maui. We could easily see the island from our house.

Birthday Dinner

Lauren got to make the dinner plans for her birthday. She chose Bubba Gumps. Here is a picture from them making her stand up on the chair and dance while they sang. She was a really good sport about it

Where did the time go?

Today Lauren is 13 years old. We officially have a teenager in the house. Where did the time go? She was just born the other day. We blinked and she was walking all over, we blinked again and she was talking, another blink and she was off to school, we stopped blinking at this point and she still grew up. Well we are very proud of her. She is a pretty great kid.