Party with the First Graders.



Yesterday I went to Kendall's classroom to help out with her holiday party.  The class made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers.  I figured with all of my new experience,   I was perfect for the job.  It was a very good time.  Though I have only had children ages 0-6 thus far, I am pretty certain that 6 is my favorite age.  These kids were fantastic and loads of fun!  Here is Kendall with her finished house.  She ate about half of it on the way home and then complained about a stomach ache.

The kids had so much personality.  There was the boy that built an amazing house.  I had to ask him if he was really a construction worker in disguise.  The only problem is that his house collapsed at the end and he broke out crying.  Only a 6 year old boy could do that and still be considered the "cool kid".  There was the other boy who just sat and drank juice and ate his frosting out of the bag while each of the parents eventually built his house for him.  He seems to have it figured out.  Then there was the girl who basically said to heck with a house, I am going to make some gingerbread appetizers.  She frosted and decorated her graham crackers just like they were sugar cookies.  These kids were smart, capable, imaginative and absolutely hilarious!

Black Friday, Snoop Dog and Other Randomness...

I did not do any Black Friday shopping this year, but rather Thursday night shopping.  I am not quite sure what society is going to start coining that as (other than crazy).  I have never been much of a Black Friday shopper.  In fact, we usually host Thanksgiving for a crowd full of family and many of them head out at the crack of dawn to shop.  I stay behind and drink coffee.  The whole notion terrifies me, really.  I am a crowd phobe. 

However, this year there was quite a bargain on a gift that I cannot yet mention, so I braved the Thursday night crowd.  My only intended stop was Kohl's.  I must say the people were amazing.  Thankfully so, since I had to wait in the check out line for an hour and a half.  Not a short hour and a half, but rather slightly over.  I learned so many details about the lives of those around me.  Kind of bizarre and fun at the same time.  Oh, I did score the items in question (BONUS...for free even...excellent coupon)!   Since I was already out, I decided to shop all night.  I finally made it home at 1:30am. 

Kevin, I, and the girls decided to make gingerbread doghouses.  There were four in total and each one had a marshmallow snoopy to put on top.  It seems like a simple task to me, right?  Not so much.  Kevin decided to start assembling before laying out all of the pieces.  This SO went against my engineering brain.  I just went with the flow, because it was fun.  But seriously, our walls did not even meet with the roof and the roof did not really fit (because the walls were turned the wrong direction).  EGADS!

Good thing I had made a cognitive decision to let it go, or we could have had a real disaster on our hands.  I was talking with my sister and blaming the nonsense on the male species.  She started to laugh and said that she and Kevin are so much alike.  Jason and I are so much alike.  She would have dove right in and Jason would have planned the whole thing out methodically.  Hmm.  Now we have four super cute snoopy houses and a zeal to do it all again next year.  After all, we have experience now.

This was the outside temperature on our way to church this morning.  Seriously cold!