Thanksgiving is Cancelled

I woke up Wednesday morning at 4:40 am to the sounds of vomiting.

Grant got sick.

Bless his little heart, he hit the trash can too!

Darn it, what terrible timing.

No Thanksgiving at the Broeker household this year.

That means no sister and family, no parents and no sister 'n law and nephew coming.

I pouted.

I cried.

I got mad about it.

Then I wondered what to do with a 18 lb. turkey that was thawed.

Can't re-freeze and don't want to eat poultry for a week.

Then I realized that the Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach could use it.

They took it with much gratitude and thanks.

That's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Think of others and realizing life could be so much worse than the darn stomach flu.

After work on Wednesday, I went holiday grocery shopping (again) and bought 5 Banquet dinners and told the kids we were eating these yummy, little numbers instead.

They cost eighty-eight cents each.

And guess what?

They didn't say anything.

They accepted the idea.

I was disappointed. No reaction.

Of course, I did purchase a turkey breast too.

Before cooking photo

After cooking photo

Then it was time to eat and this is what Tyler looked like.

White and fatigued.

He didn't eat the Thanksgiving meal and took a nap instead.

Not again!

Good news...he never threw up!

Madison enjoyed pumpkin pie with me.

The house was the quietest it's ever been for a holiday.

There were only five of us and it was peaceful.

No company.

Lots of sleeping.

And time to wear my favorite, lime green, comfy socks with nothing to do!

Hope you all had a relaxing, peaceful and joyous holiday with much to be thankful for!

Already 14?

Tyler celebrated his fourteen birthday yesterday, which I for one can not believe.
We celebrated by picking up PJ's Babycakes for him.
They are topped with his favorite candy...Butterfingers.

Andy was in charge of Tyler's birthday this year, so the pictures aren't really to my liking because I didn't take them, obviously. Tyler chose to take five friends out to eat at Cici's Pizza. No photos, of course, for odd reason guys don't like taking pictures? Crazy, I know!

I suggested going and catching a movie after the pizza. No response. Then Andy/Dad suggested going to Memorial Stadium and seeing the Class B Football Championship and it was a HUGE hit! Crete played Elkhorn and won 34 to 0.
My suggestion was a lot warmer, but I didn't have to go. Andy was freezing, but I guarantee the boys didn't feel a thing!

Add Sushi to the List

Just call me a blogger slacker...I just can't seem to get this done anymore. Life consumes me, but I would not have it any other way!

As you can tell by my picture, I am wearing a "I voted" sticker, so I'm only a few weeks behind. We had November's Girls' Night Out (GNO) at Kinji's Japanese Restaurant. This was my first time trying sushi. I'm not a fan of fish, but I liked it and I'd go again. There were only three of us at GNO this month...Dawn, Lisa and myself. It's apparently a busy time of year for many.

Dawn is showing us her talent in eating edamame. I've not had those either and can't say I'm too fond of them. It's a food I'd eat when I'm thinking "nutritious, but no so delicious".

The waiter suggested California rolls for beginners. They are a good starter for the inexperienced sushi eater like me. Very tasty!

We also had some weird soup (not photographed) that smelled like the water from boiled hotdogs. It tasted better than it smelled. Here I am with my flaming entree' sporting that dorky sticker. When I saw that I could order something on fire, then I was all about that!

It was called Nebraska rolls or something like that. It contained corn, so that's where it got it's name. When one thinks of sushi, one doesn't think of the state of Nebraska. I liked it!

I love the look on Lisa's face. She's wondering what she's ordered, but I do believe she liked it.

Lisa decided we needed to try the dessert. It's ice cream covered in shell that was chewy. The ice cream was good, outer shell, not so much. Of course, I would have remembered the name of this too if I blogged sooner! ;)

The Patch '10

I love pumpkin patches! I even love scrapbooking them even more. Oh, the colors and the fun! We went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch last weekend with free passes! Yay! This is one amazing pumpkin patch with 44 attractions and 3 live shows (so the visitor's guide says). Here are a few dozen photos from my two hundred that I took, so many to chose from.

Kindergarten Writing

Last night, I was finishing my fifteen hours of entering report card grades that I stumbled upon this darling journal entry. I had forgotten about this little gem. It was drawn on September 24th after a week of learning about "Symbols of our Country". At this stage of writing in kindergarten, students generally are making simple drawings of their family and labeling them. They might be writing some "I see _____." sentences, but nothing of this caliber.

This child, I'll call him Dylan, asked me to sound out the words for him. For example: I'll say okay, the word draw is Da, rrrrr, aaahhh. You get my point. I don't spell the words for the students.

Is it not the cutest thing? I think it's my favorite writing sample in my four years of teaching kindergarten.

And is it possible to look at this and not smile?? So precious! Lady Liberty is standing proud, Dylan!