November and December were just as busy as the rest of the year.
We started November with Chris, Chandler and Cooper going to a Cowpoke Campout with our homeschool group. They went to a "dude ranch" of sorts (could there really be a dude ranch in Florida?!?!?), had a hot dog/smores cookout over a bonfire, went on a hayride, rodes horses, slept in a tent and enjoyed nature. This was a BIG deal for my city-slickers. They had a blast and came home dirty and tired.
Max and I stayed home and went shopping. I was on a mission to find Max a cute pair of shoes, that had a flexible sole (cute is almost impossible for boy shoes for a reasonable price). I finally found a cute pair at BabyGap, exactly what I was looking for and at the right price. They are hunter green with accents of a mustard yellow, a letter G on the tongue, very cute. So we buy them and he wants to put them on right away. So we are off to PotteryBarnKids to check out the sales. I notice a man and lady looking and kind of pointing at Max's shoes. Finally the man walks up to me and asks "Where did you get those shoes?". Well, I am just beaming, I KNEW they were cute shoes, even a MAN noticed them. So I tell him where and tell him to hurry because they were on sale and only a few left.
So the big boys get home for their camping trip. I tell Max to run over and show Daddy his new shoes. Chris looks at them and ooh's and aaw's for Max and then looks at me and says "Why did you buy him Green Bay Packer shoes??" WHAT?!?!?! I tell him he is just being silly. So, later in the day, we go outside to play. The neighbor, who knows our house is a Denver Bronco's household, asks why Max is wearing Packer shoes!?!?!? THEN, and ONLY THEN, does it dawn on me WHY that man in PotteryBarnKids was so interested in the shoes. Ugh, men and football!!!!
Cooper had his end-of-season Soccer Party. It was held at a local park and all the parents pitched in to do a potluck lunch after the last soccer game. Cooper was estatic to receive his first trophy. One parent created a dvd show with pictures from all season. It was a fun time and Cooper really enjoyed the day.
Chandler decided to use his Angel Money (part of his monthly allowance that he saves to use for charity) to put together a package for a soldier. We went to http://www.anysoldier.com/ and he picked out a Marine to send a package to. He and I went on a shopping trip to CVS, since most of the stuff the soldier wanted was personal hygiene stuff. With coupons, Chandler was able to purchase over $50.00 of products for $18.00. He was pretty impressed with this (a valuable life lesson). Chandler wrote a nice letter to the Marine, and we put it all together. He ended up needing to use two boxes to ship it all. He still have some stuff left over so he took that to his American Boys club, which as also doing a similiar project for soldiers. He really enjoyed doing all of this and he learned quite a bit about the lifestyle of a soldier in Iraq these days.
Thanksgiving was upon us. We celebrated with a nice quiet dinner at Grandma Bosket's house. Okay, well not quiet, as it is never quiet at our house. That afternoon we went to see the Bee Movie. Cute movie, but I think Jerry Sienfeld's humour is a bit over the head of children. I think Chris and I laughed more than the boys'.
The holiday season had officially begun. Although alot of our normal activities seemed to slow down for the holiday season, the holiday activities picked up. We went to the annual Christmas light show, where you drive through this big park that has a ton of stuff lit up. We were slightly disappointed in this here in Jacksonville as we are used to a HUGE one in Charleston that we went to every year. Another night, we went to a holiday concert at a local church. Once again, my boys are not so much into these sit-n-watch type things. Chris and Max ended up out in the lobby, Chandler and Cooper just trying to make it the end so they could go home.
Cooper and Max both came down with horrible colds. It took a good week for each of them to get better, and of course, this was at seperate times. Chandler has my immunity system (he rarely gets sick), he had the sniffles for a few days, but soon was back to normal. Cooper is the opposite, he gets every germ that goes around and then takes a while to get back on track. One thing that is definately a remnant from prematurity.
Chris and Chandler went on a field trip to the Musuem of Southern History. Chris really enjoyed this as he is a huge history buff. They learned alot of interesting things about the history of the South that most people probably don't know. They sampled Hard Tack, which was the staple of the diet of soldiers back in the Civil War days. It is basically a rock hard cracker/bread thing. They shot a replica gun from the Civil War. Chris made the mistake of wearing a Yankees hat and t-shirt that day. The tour guides (true blue "southerns") enjoyed teasing the "Yankee". I thought he deserved that...who wears something with the word YANKEE to a SOUTHERN HISTORY Musuem?? Duh?!?!?!
Max developed a staph infection on his face!!! We noticed he had a red scab thing on his face. A few days later, another one, and then another one. Finally it dawned on me that he probably has Infantiago, which is a relatively common skin thing with young children. Chandler actually had it when he was about 2. So I thought we should take him to the Dr. and they diagnosed a staph infection!!! That is a scary word!! They gave him a very strong antibiotic, and thankfully it is gone now. This boy is going to kill us with his skin issues!!!
Christmas was a much talked about subject in our house, with lots of anticipation. We put the tree up in mid-December. I was avoiding it because I did not want the hassle from either Max or the cat. After a few times of us scolding Max that "No, the ornaments are NOT balls, and you can NOT hit them with the bat"...both he and the cat were actually pretty good this year. Neither messed with the tree too much.
Christmas finally arrived and everyone had a good time opening gifts. Max was not into opening gifts that much, we really had to coax him to join the scene. All of the boys received some wonderful gifts, and we are still trying to figure out where to put it all. Chris was again in charge of cooking both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I refused to spend my holidays slaving in the kitchen and would prefer to eat out. Chris has offered to cook these last two years, and I took him up on his offer. He is in charge of planning the whole menu, shopping, and all prep work. The only thing I have to remind him is to please include food on the menu for the children. He tends to want to get these fancy gourmet dishes, that are wonderful for adults, but I know my boys won't look twice at them. I also have to remind him that there are only six of us eating, and it is only for one day. He does it with gusto and comes up with a unique menu, and we have decided to kick the bucket on all of that old-fashioned typical fare. We decided who says we have to eat turkey or ham at Christmas??? How many years do we have to eat green bean casserole? What is so special about mashed pototoes and gravy??? Kick the bucket!! Christmas Eve we do a appetizer buffet and he created (all from scratch): Pizza Calzones, Lobster Fondue, Cocktail Weinies (for the boys), Mexican Queso, Pumpkin Gingerbread (from scratch, made by Chandler), Sourcream Banana Bread (made by Chandler, WONDERFUL!!!)...and some more things I can't think of right now. For Christmas Dinner, he went with the surf-n-turf theme. He created: Steak in Burgundy Mushroom Sauce, Baked Au-Gratin Scallops, Roasted Aparagus, and Cheese Bisquits (like at Red Lobster). I have to give him applause as he has really learned to clean as he cooks. Last year, the kitchen was just a blown up mess when he was done. But this year, he kept on top of his mess and it wasn't too bad at all for the amount of food he created.
And nope, I didn't make pies. I completely forgot about pies. Oops! Oh well, maybe next time.
Well two more days in 2007. Can't wait to see what is in store for 2008!
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