High School Tour!

Today was the day! Buddy and his classmates got to tour the high school that they will be attending in the fall! He had a BLAST!! He said he can't wait to go to high school. I really think he's ready for a change. He's been at the same small Catholic school since Pre-K. I know he's going to do great in high school, but at the same time, it'll be just a little bitter sweet that he'll be leaving our beloved Catholic school. Good thing we'll have Missy there for another four years!

Catholic Schools Week

Every year my kid's school celebrates Catholic Schools Week with a lot of fun things for the kids. This year they actually have tomorrow (Monday) off for a teacher inservice day. Tuesday will be crazy socks and shoes day. Wednesday they will go to Mass at one of the other Catholic churches in the county and will be joined by the kids from all the other Catholic schools in the county (there are four of them). Thursday is parent's lunch, when the parents all come to eat lunch with the kids. The principal also brings a treat on Thursday. This year they are adding a new twist to Thursday - they are having a non-uniform day and the theme is "dress as your future career". Missy immediately said she was going to dress as a fashion designer! I asked Buddy what he was going to do, and he said he would probably just wear his uniform. I asked what he would dress as if he dressed as his future career, and he said he would dress as a pro football player LOL. Good luck with that career, Buddy! Friday is roller skating for the K-5th grade kids. The 6-8th graders go downhill skiing. I hope it warms up by then! It should be a fun week!

Weekly Menu

I know many people plan their meals in advance and I always thought it was a great idea, however, I never seemed to have the follow-through to do it. So with the new year, I decided I was sick of the kids asking what was for dinner at 4:45pm and not having a clue. So I wrote down a month of meals - Monday to Friday only - and decided to jump right in.

The kids were actually really excited about the idea of having a weekly menu. I made a list and went to the grocery store on Monday. I have to say that it was SOOOO nice to have everything in the house that I needed for five complete meals. I really don't mind cooking - it's just deciding what to make that was the hardest thing for me. I even went so far as to look at the sports schedule and on the nights that Buddy has basketball, I made something simple or something that could be reheated, etc.

Last week was awesome - the kids didn't complain, I knew in advance what we were having, and we didn't eat out once!!

So we're on to week two - I looked at our menu this morning and made a list of items to get at the grocery store today. Interestingly, the list isn't even that big - we already have most of the items we need, so I won't be spending a ton of money at the store. And I even have a coupon for a free half gallon of ice cream that I got at the store last week!

I hope I can keep this up because it's really a stress reliever!

Juno

I *finally* watched the movie, "Juno" tonight. I borrowed it from a friend in August and it's been sitting in our family room ever since. Buddy (age 12) wanted to watch it, and he's seen plenty of PG-13 movies, but I'm really, really glad I didn't let him watch this! It was a little toooooo, well, a little too much of everything. I enjoyed it though. As an adoptive parent, I couldn't help but watch it with a critical eye, but I have to admit that there wasn't anything that was portrayed in a negative or inaccurate way about adoption. (Although I have to admit that Juno going directly to a potential adoptive parent's house to meet them for the first time is not normal.) But all in all, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Halloween Aftermath

We had a lot of fun yesterday! The weather was PERFECT - no wind, about 63 degrees during the day, and sunny. By the time the kids headed out for trick-or-treating, it was in the 50's and very comfortable.

We let 12 year old Buddy go out with his friends this year without adult supervision. They had fairly strict rules about where they could go. He also had his cell phone with him and we said we would be calling to check up on them. I was surprised that even though I was out with a group of five 8-9 year old girls (and several of my girlfriends), we never saw the boys. I called Buddy at one point and got his voice mail. I left a message saying, "Hi Buddy, this is 'Mommy'. Just wanted to see if you were having a good time." LOL. I never call myself Mommy! Anyway, they had a good time and were actually back at our friend's house before we got back with the little girls. Buddy is not much of a candy eater and ended up giving a few pieces of candy to my Hubby and gave the rest to his friends. He didn't bring any candy home - unbelievable! However, Missy brought home a haul of candy that will last for months.

The only mishap of the evening was when we were getting ready to leave our friend's house. I set an unopened bottle of red wine on their carpeted stairs and went back to the kitchen to get more stuff. Suddenly we heard a loud crash and realized that bottle of wine had fallen off the stairs and broken on their wood floor. Luckily 99% of the wine was on the wood floor - a little got on the very edge of their white living room carpet - ugh! But I think it'll be OK (I sure hope so, Jeanne!!).

Last Football Game

Today is Buddy's last football game of the season. This season has been a new experience for him - he's in 7th grade now and is playing on the middle school football team. Instead of recreational or intermural play, they actually play against other schools. Sadly, they haven't won a game this season. I guess there's always tonight :)

I've been less than thrilled with the entire program. There are 54 kids on the lightweight team (Buddy's team) and 34 kids on the heavyweight team. Obviously, the heavyweight players get a lot more playing time. My thought on that is that you can't get better if you never get to play. I get the feeling that the heavyweight team is the "chosen one" - the kids that they assume will play high school football. They get more playing time, and their games are always first and the lightweight kids have to sit and watch the heavyweight game. They told us at the beginning of the year that they would alternate who played first each week (lw or hw), but that hasn't happened. I wouldn't mind, but the heavyweight kids get to leave as soon as their game is over, after the lightweight kids have watched their game.

Oh well - it's on to basketball season. Hubby is the assistant coach for the bball team, and was just talking on the phone to the head coach last night, so it's starting up! At least it's warmer to watch basketball - it's getting pretty chilly outside watching football (and soccer for Missy).

Lyla