Christmas

In regards to Christmas, I thought we had a very nice Christmas season overall. Jillian made out the best with 4 Christmases, we had 3, which was more than enough! I am very blessed to have been able to spend Christmas with pretty much all of my family. The Abells and Wilsons, the Dunkerton/Locke side, and the Neuhauser side. I would say the highlight for me was seeing how surprised and excited Brooks was to get his big gift from me--a Wii system. He usually gets clothes for Christmas, and he always does something really cool for me for Christmas, so since I found the funds and the gift, I decided to go for it! I'm glad I did. Now I just have to make sure Brooks remembers to stand when he plays the sports instead of sitting (especially with bowling, since he has perfected the "sit and spin"--staying seated but getting a great spin on the ball and getting strikes. We don't have any other games or accessories, but I hope that this year will bring some. :) We really liked playing MarioKart with Torrey in Pittsburgh, I love playing DDR, and Tennis is just more fun with 2 players competing simultaneously, which requires another remote. I don't expect us to get too many games, just the ones we can play together as a family and have fun. :) Brooks also got a really cool digital picture frame from his parents that we have on the piano displaying our favorite horizontal pictures. It's really neat!

My parents gave us a Costco membership, which is great since we live so close to Costco and it will certainly help when we have guests over. I was excited to receive an iPod "skin" (flexible cover) to protect my awesome birthday gift from Brooks. :) I like it because it has ridges that make it easier to grip, but it's transparent, so I can still see it. :) I also got some iTunes gift cards from Brooks and my secret santa at work, Marsha, my co-worker. :) Yay! I was also suprised and thrilled to get the new ESV Study Bible from Dad and Mama Locke. It is pretty brown leather and has so much historical stuff in it, I am overwhelmed! It's great and has helped me understand some of the context for some of the passages that I have been reading. Mama Locke picked out a really nice suit from Ann Taylor, one of my favorite stores, and Aunt Nancy gave me some cute tops from Gap (another favorite!) to wear with it. Unfortunately, it didn't fit, and I couldn't find a "suitable" replacement (pun intended) so I got a really cute spring jacket/trench coat/pea coat that is navy blue with white piping. I've been admiring Linda's adorable yellow one, so when I found this, I was THRILLED! I also used my gift cards to Ann Taylor from Linda and Hamille and found some cute sweaters. The pink top that Aunt Nancy gave me is so cute--it's perfect, and I wear it all the time, alone and layered with other things. I LOVE how it is fitted but not clingy, and is very flattering on me, despite my mommy belly. Heidi gave us Scene It? and I look forward to playing that with Brooks and Jillian especially since she has "scene" so many movies! :) Jillian started reading Alice in Wonderland this week, a gift from Aunt Nancy, and she is really enjoying it, and has read some of it to me. We also started reading from her Julie (new American Girl) books from Grandma and Grandpa Locke last week.

We are reading that one together; we take turns reading, since she is at the low end of the recommended reading age for those books. However, I am so glad to have some books that she can "grow into" instead of growing out of. Jillian loves her new webkinz, Pinky Doo (the pink poodle) and Bessy (the cow). We are still looking for Bessy's code, but Pinky Doo is already online. Jillian got a new "bed spreading" set from us for Christmas, and she really seems to like it, even though it wasn't Hannah Montana or High School Musical like she asked for in her top 2. Her #3 choice was one with polka dots, and that wasn't nearly as cute as this one!

It says BLOOM in her new room!

Hope you like the pictures!

Snow Day! I mean, Too Cold Day!

So, I heard the phone ring this morning, very early, and I KNEW school had been closed for the day due to the cold. I just can't believe how many snow days I have had since I started teaching at Cloverdale! I guess the staff says the same thing...they never had snow days until 3 years ago. In all my growing up years, I never had a snow day until my senior year, and even that was quite a surprise, despite the mountains of snow, since all the other school districts around us closed, but noooo, CUSD #430 NEVER closes. Not anymore! They must have a new superintendent, too. :) Yay! Keep those kids safe! However, since we didn't have school today, my observation got moved to Tuesday. Please pray that it goes well like the other 2! I want to get tenure!

We had school yesterday, despite all the other districts staying open...rumor has it that it is because Glenbard North, the local high school had finals yesterday and they refused to close, and all of its feeder schools therefore didn't close, either. Well, finals must be over now! I just hope we don't have anymore, especially while I am in Peoria!

Yes, in less than 2 weeks, I will be in the amazing Peoria, IL! No, it's not really that amazing. It's just IMEA All-State Conference. I get to go to all sorts of cool workshops (instead of going to school) and get CPDU's and better yet, I get all sorts of new ideas and stuff for my class and students! Yay! We just got all new curriculum (and I have 2, the one we picked and the one we didn't pick!) PLUS a bunch of other great resources. It has been so overwhelming going through them, but I decided to just go through as much of the core stuff (just the main curriculum and the secondardy one) and then next year I will explore more of the other supplimentary materials. I just am not sure what to do with the rest of the old stuff! Ooh, I just got an idea--I could donate them to the Elmhurst College curriculum library collection! Then, I would still have access to them, if I really needed something, but then others could use them, too! I'll have to look into that so I can make room for the stuff I will actually put to use. :) The other books aren't bad, just not being used. They are older, and if the district is spending all that money on new stuff, I should at least try to make use of them!

Jillian and I are staying warm at home today while Daddy is in a court hearing for a case that was going to be very hard to prove that the suspects were guilty (although common sense would tell you that they must have been involved based on some of the facts). However, as long as the documents that the victim has (estimating the value of what was stolen) are enough, Brooks will be in a much better situation in this case. He told me he is taking a risk by not having an expert present to testify, rather that just documents, so I am praying in my heart that it goes well. I feel very sorry for the poor victim. You can ask Brooks more about it...I don't want to post more details here.

Mac has joined us and is listening to the Princess Diaries Soundtrack with us. :) Jillian is wearing a cute purple vest that she got from Aunt Nancy and Uncle John for Christmas. I am still in my pajamas...hey, I don't get to do that often! ;) Elliott has been with my mom since Wednesdsay afternoon in anticipation of the poor weather and driving conditions. After Brooks gets home, we are going to do a kid swap--Elliott comes home, Jillian goes to Nana and Grampa's house for the long weekend. We all miss Elliott very much, but it has been a good opportunity to get him more comfortable with the Abell house since he will be doing the same when we go to Peoria...yes, Brooks is coming with! He is off for the weekend after bond court on Thursday, so he decided to join me! I think it will be fun to drag Brooks along with me and see what we do when we go to IMEA. I just hope he enjoys it, too. :) Today is Grampa Jim's birthday, so when we do our kid swap, we will get to eat chili and Boston creme pie (for those who like it) to help him celebrate. He still had to go downtown for work today, so I'm sure he is looking forward to his pie tonight!

Ms. Purple is cutting a rug here in our bedroom to a song from Princess Diaries called "Happy Go Lucky" by Steps. She is so cute!

I will post more about Christmas later. It may not be today, but I will make the goal of having it done by the end of the weekend. Happy Birthday, Martin King Luther! (Jillian is so cute!)