November 2014

November involved a lot of errand running, party hopping, play practicing and performing, cooking, baking, driving to visit family, etc.  It was a busy month, but what month hasn't been busy.  

November we had choir practice at our house for most of the month.  Naomi loved it because everyone was at our house.  I didn't mind because it gave me an excuse to get the house straightened up once a week.  The boys loved it because they had an excuse to hang in their rooms on Sunday mornings.  Steve loved it because he got to go for a drive.  

November 4th I drove the boys to school and got to stay for a Principal Chat at the high school.  I had never done this before and was excited to hear all that was going on at the high school.  I learned a lot about classes that are beneficial to take and how to help Jeremy pick his classes for the coming year.  I also learned that I am a laid back parent.  I thought I worried too much about academic performance and placed too much emphasis on getting the best grades possible.  NOPE!  There was one mother there who was worried that her daughter was not going to get into the same prestigious university both she and her husband attended because she was getting a B in one class (one of 4 AP classes I might add).  The message was, encourage your student to do their best and then push just a little harder to make sure it is their best.  Beyond that there is little to nothing else you can do.  Be a good support.  I left the meeting and headed straight to my voting site.  I was surprised that the line was as long as it was.  It took me an hour to get to the voting booth, but voting is always worth it.  I then delivered water to the work crew at Hind's Feet Farm.  Steve's company was doing a day of service there and they were all thirsty.  I got home just in time to get Naomi off the bus.  We turned the afternoon into a play date with the Tufts girls so that Tabitha could go vote as well.  It was fun and busy day.

November 6th was much less hectic.  I stayed home all day and caught up on the growing list of things that needed to be done around the house.  When Nick got home from school he wanted to go on a bike ride.  He came back in the house after about an hour and was holding his tailbone.  Apparently he had taken an abrupt turn (probably trying to drift like the big super cars) when his pedal hit the pavement catapulting the seat of his bike right into his tailbone. I think he may have broken his tailbone.  (It is now the 31st of December and his tailbone is still a bit sore).  That night we went to Lake Norman Charter to see the plays before the kids headed off to competition the following day.   We were able to give feedback as well as the experience of performing in front of a live audience.  

November 7th Jeremy headed to the North Carolina Theater Competition with his class mates.  I subbed for Mr. Willits that day since he was with the kids.  Drama and dance are much more fun to sub than any other subject.  One class was working on pantomime and so we got to watch Mr. Bean videos so they could get ideas.  It was great.  After school I took Naomi shopping for a birthday present for her friend Anusha.  By the time we got home we had just enough time to fix dinner and then get back to LNC to pick up Jeremy.  He had a great time watching all the other plays.  He realized just how limited his writing has been up to this point and wants to expand his abilities.  YAY!  Today Jeremy was stage crew for one of the plays.  Tomorrow is the play he is actually in.  I sent him straight to bed once we got home since it would be a long day.  

November 8th - I got Jeremy to school at 6 am.  He was really excited to be performing today.  Since Steve will be helping with the district scout training during the regular performances he drove to Statesville to see their performance.  He was so excited when he called to tell me they had nailed it.  The audience loved the performance.  I took Naomi to Anusha's birthday party and Nick and I went to Dairy Queen to get one of their pumpkin pie Blizzards while we were waiting.  I am so glad Dairy Queen only does this flavor during the month of November otherwise I would be as big as a barge in no time flat.  We picked up Naomi (who had a blast with her friends playing laser tag) and hurried home to clean the house.  We had received a letter from the home owners association pointing out that there was "unsightly mold" on the side of our house and we needed to remove it by the 10th.  So we literally had to clean the house - outside!!  Thank goodness it was a nice day.  We got out the power washer, ladder and our rain gear.  Steve and I went up on the roof with the power washer and got rid of all the mildew and mold and anything else we thought they might complain about.  Our house is now really clean on the outside.  While we were doing this the Wolfe's stopped by to drop off Ryan so he could hang with Nick.  They got a good laugh out of me in my rain gear holding the power washer so it wouldn't fall off the roof while Steve was halfway up the side cleaning.  I had to wear rain gear because the hose on the washer had a small hole in it and I would have gotten soaked otherwise.  FUN TIMES!  I am glad that our neighbors and friends were amused.  That made it all worth it.  That was the last job our power washer would be asked to perform because it turned out that there was not a hole in the hose but the entire piece where the hose attaches to the machine was cracked.  I guess we are getting a new power washer.  This one had a good life and washed many garbage cans while raising funds for scouting.  May it rest it peace.  

That night when we picked Jeremy up at the school he was so excited because their plays got "Superior" ratings as well as two of the five awards.  Mr. Willits got the "Best Director" award and the young man who designed the set got the top tech award.  All this said, they are not moving on to State.  

November 9th we celebrated Naomi's birthday since Jeremy would be performing in his play on her birthday and Steve would be at the district scout training.  We had the traditional stroganoff for dinner and this year she wanted a cheesecake for her cake.  It was a fun night and she got all the things she really wanted.  She was especially excited about her Skechers Go Walks because they were a ladies 5 1/2.  She had graduated to women's sizes in shoes.  She felt so grown up!

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Favorite book series - Spirit Animals

Go Walks in womens size 5 1/2

November 11th the kids did not have school and I took advantage of this and the sales to get pants that fit for my two growing boys.  They hate to shop but they wont stop growing!!!  We did eventually find some pants they both liked and everyone was still smiling by the time we got home.  Back at home the boys were hard at work doing some homework when the Elders arrived.  They wanted to say hi to one of my neighbors who had questions about the church.  Naomi and Nicholas were out playing with the kids in the neighborhood but Jeremy was still in his room.  Elder Jackson and Elder Couch asked if they could go get him out of his room.   Sure.  A few minutes later I heard Nick laughing and Jeremy shouting as both elders come out the front door with Jeremy over their shoulder.  Lisa and Mackenzie thought it was hilarious.  Nick got the whole thing recorded on my phone.  We put to rest the myth that teenagers will melt if exposed to sunlight.  

November 13th I spent the morning getting the brakes replaced on the truck and then got to have lunch with Naomi at school.  She wanted Burger King for lunch and ice cream sandwiches to share with her friends.  She has a really cute class this year.  They all enjoyed the ice cream very much and then ran off to play for recess.

That night we went to Jeremy's school play and the cast sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  She ate it all up.  

The performance was SOOOOO much better than the first time we had seen it at the Parent's Preview night.  The kids were really into their characters and we all enjoyed it much more than the first time.  

November 14th I subbed at Highland Creek Elementary as the music teacher.  That was so much fun!  I had a new class each period and because they were all different grades I got to do things a little differently each class.  It was kind of bitter sweet though because there had recently been a change in our carpool.  The lady who had been picking up the boys in the afternoon was not going to be able to do that anymore due to a family situation.  I would have to be at LNC to get the boys every afternoon and that meant I would not be able to sub at HCE.  Oh well.  Things happen for a reason. She did agree to do carpooling through the 18th because I had already committed to subbing through those dates.  

Because I was subbing in the music room I was unable to go to Naomi's awards ceremony.  She got four awards - Perfect Attendance, Reading Challange (2,500 minutes of reading), "A" Honor Roll, and Super Scientist (for getting the top grade in science).  Way to go, Naomi!

November 15th I got up bright and early to make cookies for the cast party that night.  I got all of Jeremy's food packed up (two shows today so he would be at the school from noon until 9) and took him to school.  On the way Steve called and said he needed another dutch oven.  Would I bring it down to him?  No problem.  We dropped off the dutch oven and then headed to the church for Naomi's primary program practice.  We had an hour to chill at home and eat some dinner before we headed to the final performance. Mr. Willits asked if I would take some pictures for the young man that won the tech award.  Mr. Willits was helping him put together a portfolio which we would be presenting the following weekend to a committee that could possibly award him a scholarship.  I had a blast taking all the pictures they needed. 

At the end of the performances the kids presented Mr. Willits with a little gift of appreciation for all the patience and hard work he put in while getting them ready to compete and perform.  

Naomi and I headed home and Jeremy went to the cast party with Sophie, Kate and Jarom.  When I got there at 11 to pick him up he was having a great time.  This whole experience has been so good for him.  He saw that if he put in some hard work it would pay off.  He now has a group of friends that are fun to hang with and they get to be in class together every day.  

November 16th was the primary program.  It went very well.  Naomi sang the third verse of "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" with two other girls from her class.  She sounded amazing.   

November 17th I subbed for Mrs. Rosales (2nd grade).  It was miserable being in a portable in a rain storm. The kids were soaked by the time we got back from specials and lunch.  I let them take their shoes off so their feet could dry out.  November 18th I subbed for Mrs. Stinson (1st grade).   Her classroom was inside the building which made the day much easier.  I found out something that shocked me about myself.  I don't like working with little kids as much as I like working with older kids.  I would rather sub at the middle school and high school level.  I did NOT see that one coming.  

November 20th the elders taught my neighbor and her daughter the first discussion.  It was interesting to hear them talk about the restoration.  Elder Couch described it this way.  I really liked it.  The church in Jesus' time was like a glass table being supported by twelve legs.  One by one the apostles were killed and the legs of the table began disappearing until eventually the table came crashing down.  It shattered into pieces.  The churches through the years picked out pieces they wanted to put in their church but there were pieces missing.  When Joseph Smith prayed about which church to join God gave him all the pieces needed to put the church back together.  The other churches are not wrong, they just don't have all the pieces needed to truly be Christ's church on Earth today.  Pretty cool.  

November 21st Naomi was in the school spelling bee.  She was representing Mrs. Favaloro's class.  I was so proud of her.  She was really worried but kept her cool through four rounds.   During the fourth round she mispelled a word that was in her Guardians of GaHoole books.  She spelled it properly according to the books, but the author is from Britain and was using the British spelling of the word.  Ooooopppssss!  You can't fault her for being an international reader.  

November 25th, after subbing a half day at LNC I went to HCE to help with an activity Mrs. Favaloro and Mrs. Bloomquist were doing for the kids in their classes.  They had some traditional games the pilgrims and natives might have played on that first Thanksgiving.  The kids had a great time.  These ladies are amazing teachers.  After helping out we rushed home to get some baking and packing done.

November 26th we drove to Knoxville to spend Thanksgiving with Bradden, Sunny and the kids.  It was a great weekend and the kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins.  

Olivia was very excited to see Naomi

Naomi performing her Jig.

Everyone got in on the action.  

Roasting marshmallows.

On the 27th Sunny and I cooked the dinner and got everything ready for when the sister missionaries arrived. Sister Hales was from Sandy, Utah, and knew my niece, Katie.  Small world.  The dinner was amazing and so was the conversation.  We relaxed the rest of the day once dinner was put away and dishes were done.  The kids made gingerbread houses.  

Steve and Bradden were up early the next morning to hit all the Black Friday sales.  Bradden had never been out shopping on Black Friday before and wasn't sure if he was going to like it.  He loved it!!!  They found all sorts of goodies.  Bradden even bought a Christmas tree.  Olivia was so happy.  This is her favorite holiday.  She couldn't wait to start decorating.  While the dads and kids decorated the tree, Sunny and I went to aerobics.  Sunny teaches classes at a local gym and I got to go with her.  She is a fun teacher and works you just hard enough that you feel it but not hard enough that you don't come back.

Back at home, the kids wanted to go swimming so we packed everyone up and headed back to the gym. The guys swam with the kids while Sunny and I goofed off with my camera.  I loved getting to just sit and talk with Sunny.  Having them so close it the best thing that has happened to our family in years.

Of course all that swimming made everyone very hungry.  We headed to Chipotle.  Sunny and I headed out from there to catch the movie "Mockingjay".  When we got back to the house we switched with the boys  (Steve, Bradden, Jeremy and Nick) and they caught a later show.  

Group hug before we left. 

We started for home early on the 29th.  In order to miss all the road construction we went the back way through Gatlinburg.  It was a gorgeous drive.  We decided that one of our future trips would involve a stay in Gatlinburg so we could explore some more.  It had the same feel as Park City and it felt like home.  We didn't like Pigeon Forge as much.  It was very commercial (almost a Vegas feel).  Jeremy pulled the best prank on me while we were driving through Pigeon Forge.  

Jeremy:  "Mom.  Did you know that Dolly Parton is not her real name?"

Me:  "Really?  I did not know that.  What is her real name?

Jeremy:  "E. Norma Stitz."

It took me a minute to get it which only made Steve and the kids laugh harder.  

A Christmas tree in Gatlinburg city center

Crossing a river coming into Gatlinburg.

Houses on the mountain.  

Our trip would not be complete without stopping in Sevierville at our favorite stores - The knife superstore and the Lodge outlet.  We were home by 6:30 that night.  It was a great way to finish out November.