Horse Riding!

Went to a wonderful birthday party that  had horse rides. And those horses were FAST!!!!

William was in heaven! Emily wasn't too sure about it but I think she had a great time!!

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And the horses were FAST!!

1st Grade Christmas Sing + Party

Em's class did their sing ---- and it was AWESOME!! The songs were upbeat and fun and the kids had lots of hand/body movements. They were grinning and laughing through the entire performance!

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Then it was time to celebrate the holiday in Em's classroom......

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Every table had an activity ---- I was at the "measuring" table ---- where the kids had to determine how many marshmellows, pretzels, twizzlers, etc would fit into and around a paper gingerbread man.

It was a learning exercise with fun, yummy treats. All of which the KIDS could NOT eat!!! It was torture for them!! And it was really funny to watch some of them try to sneak bites!!!

I'm going back to the cookie decorating table next time!!

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this is what the typical cookie looked like ---- they all had moustaches which I thought was hilarious , gobs of frosting, and all types of candy! And below, is Emily's cookie ---- it made me laugh with the green. flowing hair!!!

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Flu season

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Hi. It's me.

Writing from "the other side" of Emily's flu.

I kid you not, we must have gone through over 7 boxes of tissues in less than a week.

The month started off with Emily having one of her insomnia stretches ---- not falling asleep until 11 or so.....(and please, don't ask, yes, we have tried EVERYTHING to get that kid to unwind and just drift off to sleep).

So, when she was acting lethargic I assumed she just needed some good old fashioned sleep.

Then the fever kicked in. Followed by aches and chills. And then for about 12 hours she seemed completely fine. Then her nose nearly dropped off her face with the weight of stuffiness. The drainage --- oh, the drainage. The coughing. Did I mention the nights? It never failed that JUST as I was closing my eyes about to fall into a deep sleep..........the moaning would start.

Something like this, *cough, moan, cough, moan, cough, long moan, cough, slight sob".

Silence.

Then * cough, moan, cough sob....*

You get the idea. I'd start thinking she was OK and had fallen back to sleep when the whole cycle would start all over. I'd force myself out of bed, find a clock to work out the dosage of medicines, etc and try to settle her back down.

I think I could easily work for Vick's, Advil, the Humidifier company, Kleenex or Sudafed.

After a solid five days of her laying in bed, we did a visit to the Dr. ---- and the Doc told us EXACTLY what I knew she would. "It's a virus, nothing can be done."

I think there should be a small grocery store next to every Pediatrician's office --- it would be so nice to pop in and grab a few items with your sick kid in tow ----- find some lunch for yourself and then head back home to your disgusting, germpool home.

I probably just thought of a million dollar idea!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year it's a little bittersweet. My Mom and Tom could not make it because of what's been going on with her broken shoulder. Due to some clots she was not allowed to fly.

And this year Emily was determined to run the Turkey Trot.

So we signed both kids up for the 1/2 mile Wing Ding in Long Beach and began a new tradition.

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I was surprised at how crowded it was and how many parents were running it with their kids. I suddenly realized how hard it would be to find the kids if they didn't see us right away at the finish line. We made a quick meet-up point for post-race and I was more than THANKFUL that William went right there and was waiting for us!! I guess they are growing up!! :)

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And what's the Turkey Trot without some chicken chucking?!

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Even Pearl got a treat as she swam down at the dog park.

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Later that day we had our neighbors over and enjoyed lots of food and drink! The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful weekend getting all the Christmas stuff out. I did a little shopping and am feeling a little more organized going into a very busy season!! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

And now ---- a few candids I just had to show you!

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