House of Estrogen

Teach A Child, Eat Goodies

I have such a great respect for teachers. I don't think I possess the brain, patience, or creativity to be a teacher, so I admire those who do. My kids have been blessed with great teachers so far in life - from infant age on up. Teaching is a tough job, an important job, and sadly, a job that doesn't pay what it is worth. Like many people, when the holidays roll around, I like to give teacher gifts. Some years the gifts are bigger than other years, but no matter what, I want to make sure the teachers know they are appreciated.

With all the craziness of the last month, the last day of school was suddenly looming one day away, and I had not even given a thought to teacher gifts yet. During a quick trip to Target on my lunch hour, I was able to pick up Target gift cards and the ingredients for reindeer mix. I neglected to buy any packaging while at Target though, so I would have to make do with whatever I had at home. It was entirely possible I would be sending teacher goodies in random mismatched Tupperware or plastic grocery bags.

I had a vague recollection of buying cellophane bags through the girls' Sally Foster school fundraiser. Sure enough, in the still-unopened Sally Foster box, I had a nice set of holiday bags with matching twist-ties. Score! Also, I'm slightly addicted to the website Sarah and Abraham. When that site ran a promotion earlier in the season, I had ordered personalized gift labels which worked just perfectly for these goodie bags.

Gifts couldn't get much more last minute and unplanned than these, but I was so pleased with the end result.

  

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I love trimming the tree... playing Christmas music, pulling out memory after memory in the ornament box, and even the heartache of the occassional broken ornament. I love the kids' homemade ornaments, the souvenir ornaments from vacations, the sentimental ones from my childhood, the fancy, gorgeous glass ornaments from my father, even just the plain ol' red glass balls. Despite all the stress of the holidays around me, I find a little peace in pulling all these treasures out of the ornament box and decorating the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  

Classic Photo

Two Christmas T-shirts: $20

Red Patent Boots: $11

Polka-dot Dress and Leggings: $24

Flash Drive with Photo on it: $12

Look on Santa's Face: Priceless

Yes... I'm THAT mom who forced my child to get in the Santa picture. Unfortunately, that meant being in the picture myself too. I'm sure Addie will need therapy for this at some point, but I assure you she did recover from this cruel and unusual punishment as soon as we were away from the scary man with the long white beard.

If you want to check out our previous years' Santa photos, click here.

Swim With Santa

This event always cracks me up... something about seeing Old Saint Nick out there in the middle of the pool and barefoot just doesn't scream Christmas.  The girls had a great time though, and it definitely makes for not your average Santa picture!

Definition

Friend: \'frend\; noun; one who is willing to trudge up to your dark, dusty attic to carry down heavy boxes of Christmas decorations and help put up your Christmas tree because your husband can't.

 
Thank you C, S, and J!

Elfed!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, spent time with loved ones, and ate loads of turkey! I'll keep this post short and sweet and just say that today, I am thankful for my three healthy kids, my loving (but limping) husband, stable jobs, Starbuck's, good friends, the Internet, cute boots for toddlers, sunny days, cranberry sauce, Photoshop, my parents' recent visit, Christmas music on the radio, and hugs from my girls.

Halloween Weekend - Everything Else

This post is just a hodge-podge of the rest of our busy weekend.

First, the requisite Halloween attire for the end of the week. Nina, of course, chose to accessorize hers a bit!

 

   

Friday Night was the Fall Festival at the elementary school. It had all the usual suspects - big inflatables, games, crafts, polish sausage, pony rides, popcorn, and a cake walk. There was one new addition this year though, karaoke... really, really LOUD karaoke, like wishing you had hearing aids you could turn off loud. It was cute to see the kids Elise's age up there singing their hearts out to Hanna Montana songs, but seeing the fourth and fifth graders belting out lyrics like, "I kissed a girl just to try it. I hope my boyfriend don't mind it" or "Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye" was just a bit unsettling. 

   

  

We have attended the fall festival every year since Elise started kindergarten, but somehow we have always missed the "kiss the pig" event. The kids vote on which teachers should kiss the pig. Since Nina's kindergarten teacher was one selected for the honor, we made sure not to miss it this time. When I had heard about this in years past, I pictured a cute little pink pot bellied pig, perhaps Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. I had no idea the teachers had to kiss this humongous grey boar!  If there was ever any doubt as to why it is hard to attact people to teaching, it isn't just the money, it is the fact that they are made to KISS PIGS!  Mrs. S - you go girl! I think I would have called in sick (with swine flu, of course!)

  
 
  
Saturday morning, Elise made bagged lunches for the homeless with her Brownie troop. With all the excess of the weekend, I think this brought some needed perspective in her life. She came home wanting to round up our old coats and shoes to donate. One of her troop leaders was homeless for a time in her life, so she spoke very passionately and emotionally to the girls about what they were doing and why. I think it really resonated with Elise.

Next on the agenda was Nina's end of season soccer party. Nina really had a great time with soccer this season. I hope she'll decide to play again in the spring. Her coach was wonderful!

 

 Finally, just a couple pictures from Nina's last soccer game.

 

  
 Whew! What a weekend... lots of fun, but I'm glad its over!
 
 
  

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!

By all accounts, this was a near perfect Halloween. It seems like something usually goes wrong on Halloween to put a damper on the festivities. The year I was pregnant with Addie and had pelvic separation, I walked about 6 houses with the girls and then could barely move the next two days I was in so much pain. The year Elise was a mermaid, she tripped on her costume and ended up with horrible skinned knees. Invariably, something always seems to get in the way of our fun - not this year though! We started out with dinner at Five Guys - nothing like great greasy burgers and fries to walk off while Trick or Treating. The weather was perfect - around 75 degrees and pleasant. We went out with Sharpay and Gabriella from High School Musical (Elise and Nina, respectively), and a very reluctant Piggie who refused to wear her cute shoe covers, and would only tolerate her piggie head for mere seconds before it was thrown on the ground.

 

How cute is that tail?

 
 

Once Addie settled in for the ride in her stroller with a miniature pack of M&M's, she was a slightly more willing participant with the pig head.

I even got in on the action this year. Can you believe someone seriously asked me if this was my real hair that I just dyed with green and purple streaks?

We met up with Dorothy and Anakin Skywalker and off we went!

  

We have two neighbors who do fairly elaborate haunted houses. Elise walked about 6 feet into one and ran back out. At the other one, the girls went into the "fun house" section but didn't brave the scary part. You can always hear their music, the chain saw, and screams of the participants from all over the neighborhood! Here is their display for giving out candy!

 

Addie lasted longer than we expected given that we had set out to trick or treat very close to her bedtime, but as her eyelids grew heavy, I brought her home and rolled the little piggie into bed. All of our neighbors in the cul-de-sac had pulled out chairs and were having a trick-or-treat party there in the street with beer and wine a-plenty, chips and dip, pita and hummus, and their bowls of candy. I grabbed our candy stash and a Mike's, and joined them. That was a great way to spend the evening. The kids trick-or-treating could hit four houses in about four steps, and we all sat around visiting all night. I think that may become a new Halloween tradition!

The girls made it home later, sorted through their loot, and then Nina lost her second tooth! Halloween and the tooth fairy all in one night - does life get any better than that?

 

 

A Fall Tradition

We took our annual fall trip to the pumpkin patch this past weekend. The kids played on the hay mountain and in the corn crib, went through the toddler hay maze (thankfully skipped the corn maze this time!), fed the animals, went on a hay ride, and picked out pumpkins. Fun day!