Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, and Cranberry Sauce... Woooooo!

I think this might be my favorite TV commercial ever. And it's very appropriate for post-Thanksgiving.

Mom Knows All

A conversation with Jack in the car yesterday:

Jack: Mom, you know everything.

Me: (smiling) I do?

Jack: Yes, you know how to cut the brown stuff off apples.

Me: (trying not to laugh) Oh, right.

Jack: And you know how to buy stuff at the store, and all kinds of things. That's hard stuff for me.

Me: (busting up) I see.

Well, he's right, you know.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. We ate with my family on Thursday, and then that evening we drove to the cabin for the weekend. We enjoyed relaxing and visiting, and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins.

It was really cold, but the kids played outside most of the time, though they would run inside and stand by the fire for a while, and then run off to play again.

Oh, and Mary finally lost Tooth #2 at the cabin. Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy found her. She was excited to lose it, of course, but also a little disappointed that she didn't lose it at school, because (as she informed me numerous times over the last few weeks) if you do, "you get to go to the Nurse's office, and you get a little necklace with a plastic tooth on it, and it opens up and you can put your tooth inside so it won't get lost."

Oh, well. Maybe with tooth #3.....

"You gotta get some mawble cawlumns!"

I became physically ill while viewing the photos of this house ("house" hardly qualifies as an appropriate term for this monstrosity), which Emily blogged about. (Don't take the "Property Tour" on a full stomach.) It certainly can't be called a "home" because no one could actually live a normal life with a family in such a place... you would never SEE your family. Obviously, they were going for the palatial look. It's really ridiculous, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Then I had a good laugh when I realized anyone can get this look by following the instructions from one of my favorite SNL skits.

This is not a commercial

Can I tell you how much I love my kids' school? I really love it! Can I also tell you why? (For the sake of privacy and my kids' security, it shall remain nameless. But you can ask me about it later.) I will try to be brief. Here are just a few of the reasons:

1) Academics: Our school uses the wonderful Spalding Method for language arts (unlike some schools who claim to use the program, our school truly does), the Open Court literature series, and the excellent Saxon Math program. I also love that the children are required to memorize and recite poetry every term.

2) Patriotism: Flag Ceremony is held every morning before school, and parents are invited to attend any time. The children sing a patriotic song, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, observe a moment of silence, and hear a message about the Virtue of the Month. In addition, they learn greetings in various foreign languages, and practice skip counting aloud on the way to class. It is so amazing!

There are several "special" Flag Ceremonies held throughout the year, and one of them was today, in honor of Veteran's Day. The children are invited to bring any family members who have served or are serving in the Armed Services to enjoy breakfast and a special program where the children sing all the Armed Services songs, and the winners of the Veteran's Day essay contest read their winning essay. (Each student writes an essay... in class, without parental help... and the teacher selects 2 as finalists. The principal then chooses one winner from each grade.) This year Collin won for the 3rd grade! He was so excited, and we were so proud of him. Each of the winners receives a medal too.
3) Fund-raising: We don't send our children door to door selling crap! We have ONE fund-raiser a year organized by the parent association ... a carnival-type event, with games and other activities, food, a silent auction (the biggest money maker), and a raffle. Ours was last Saturday (which is one of the reasons I have been super busy... I was on the committee... big sigh of relief), and it went really well. Our profit was over $6500 (I know because I'm also the treasurer of the parent organization), and ALL of it will benefit the school and our kids..... not some "fund-raising company."

4) Dress Code: Our school has a pretty strict dress code, and they enforce it. I won't go into the details here, but I love that there is complete modesty on our campus.

5) Our school is not afraid to have a CHRISTMAS concert where religious songs are sung, have CHRISTMAS parties in class, and refer to CHRISTMAS break. (That's probably because it's a charter school.)

Thank goodness for charter schools because we have a choice. I'm not saying that all charter schools are good, because there are a lot of terrible charter schools around. (Though the really bad ones don't stay around long.) But thank goodness for our awesome school!

Doing the "Best" I can

Everyone keeps asking why I don't blog very much anymore. Well, I'll tell you. (Though I don't think I EVER blogged "very much.")

1) I'm stirring too many different pots, wearing too many different hats, I bit off more than I can chew... choose your favorite cliche. (read this)

2) I've been trying to heed Elder Oaks' most recent conference talk entitled "Good, Better, Best." While blogging is "good" it's not the "best" use of my time.

That doesn't mean I'm quitting. Just take the posts as they come.

The Big #1

Mary FINALLY lost her first tooth. She was so thrilled that she said she thought she was dreaming. She kept looking in the mirror and commenting on how different she looks. She was especially excited to find a shiny gold dollar coin under her pillow the next morning.

Tooth #2 is on it's way out. Should be any day now.

Disneyland Trip - Day 1

This is a first for my blog; an entry with a commercial sponsor. This Disneyland Report is brought to you by our friends, Jason King and Jocelyn, who let us stay at their lovely home in return for publicity on this blog.

[Jason King is concerned about his "Google Rating", and seems to think that my blog will give him enough of a boost to edge past "Jason King's Bail Bonds in Hackensack, though he will never surpass "Jason King" the 1970's British television series whose title character inspired Mike Myers to create "Austin Powers."]

On Wednesday, we drove to the home of our friends, Jason King and Jocelyn (did I already mention them?). We enjoyed visiting with Jason King and Jocelyn. Jay threw out his arm playing baseball on their Wii, but he and Jack had a great time watching the races at the Jason King Family Motocross Bonanza.
[This portion of today's entry was brought to you by our friend Jason King, and the DVD release of "Jason King." The following material is commercial-free... unless you count the publicity for Disneyland... as if they need it.]

On Thursday morning we drove the short distance to Anaheim and checked into the Park Vue Inn (the cheapest and closest motel to the main entrance) and spent the day at Disneyland having a great time. This was Jack's first time, so it was especially fun to watch his reaction to everything.
Jack was very excited to ride on Space Mountain....

Then somewhat concerned....

Then sort of stunned....
But in the end he loved it, and wanted to ride it again and again, which we did. He also enjoyed Splash Mountain... can't you tell from this photo?
The kids also enjoyed the Woody's Roundup show in Frontierland.

We felt really lucky when we somehow got selected to ride in the VIP car on the Disneyland Train. We had no idea it existed before. It was nice and plush, and a nice break when our feet were killing us.
We went on all the other rides too (not the first day though), including "It's a Small World".....

And the Haunted Mansion, which Mary wasn't so sure about.

I thought it was fun that we ran into this little "Band of Pirates" (get it?) in New Orleans Square after riding "The Pirates of the Caribbean."
We watched the big parade on Main Street that evening, and didn't stay up too late.

The weather was great, and we had a blast!

Now do you get it?

My sister featured me on her blog yesterday. I'm flattered, but kind of embarrassed by something. I guess it's my own fault for being so vague with the title of my blog.

Even my own sister thought my title referred to me being a "kind" person. Though I would love to be known as a kind person, I'm afraid that is not always the truth.

She did get it right that "aliceknd" = my first name + middle name initial + maiden name initial + married name initial. But the "i" is in there to create a word similar to "mankind" or "humankind," as in "alice-and-her-husband-and-children."

So, I hope that clarifies things.

And thanks, Liz, for thinking I'm kind. I'm not so sure about the part where you point out my big nose, and how I'm SO much older than you. But I'll forgive you, since that would be the kind thing to do.

"Super" Halloween 2007

Spiderman costume.... $0.99 on eBay.

Wonder Woman costume.... $14.98 from Lillian Vernon.

Batman Costume.... FREE from mother-in-law's stash.

Continuing our tradition of theme-dressing for Halloween....
Priceless.