Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and not just because of the turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie (although they rank pretty high). I like it because it gives us an opportunity to really reflect on the things that are important to us. I think it is particularly important to do this right before Christmas. It is so easy to get caught up in the things we want and buying just the right gift. Thanksgiving gives us a chance to get the holiday season off to a better start.

This year, Thanksgiving is even more special. My brother and his entire family have traveled from Texas to be with us. It has been years since we have shared this particular holiday with them. My girls are so happy to spend time with their cousins and I am looking forward to some quality time with my only sibling.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with many blessings.

Shopping

I took the girls shopping last night. They both needed new winter coats and new church shoes. No hand-me-downs available for Anna this year. Well, not in coats and shoes, anyway. She is just in a different growth pattern than her sister was. Anyway, we went to Kohl's to look for coats, since they had a sale going on. We didn't find anything that excited us very much. We looked at shoes there, also, but we have never found anything there. Then it was on to TJ Maxx. My sister-in-law had told me that she had found shoes there before. No shoes, but we hit the jackpot on coats! I found coats for both of the girls and paid less than I would have for one coat at Kohl's! Yay!!! Next door to Famous Footwear. We had been there a few weeks ago but hadn't found anything. Not so this time. We found each of them a pair of nice, low-heeled black dress shoes. I am so happy!

I used to love to shop when I was younger. I could spend hours traipsing through the mall, ducking in and out of stores, trying on all kinds of cute things. But since I've had kids, I just don't get the same thrill. Not that I mind buying cute clothes for the girls. It's just that it all takes so much TIME! It is time that I could be spending doing other important things...you know, things like laundry, dishes, ironing.... Not that those things are fun, but they do seem to be more urgent (well, I guess getting winter coats is pretty urgent since it is November). But you know what I mean. Now, shopping is just one more chore to be done. Ah well, things change in life, don't they?

Your chance to win...

Challies.com has another giveaway contest! Up for grabs this time is a cool Outdoor Bible, which is fully waterproof, plus another book! You have until Nov. 24 to enter. Be sure to put my referral code in your entry. It's 110077.
Now, what are you waiting for? :)

Dumb commercials

Have you seen the new TV commercial for Total cereal? I think it must be one of the dumbest ads yet. It is a take-off of the home makeover types of reality shows. Oh my goodness, it is just stupid!

And speaking of commercials I hate--another one that ranks at the top of my list is the Hanes underwear ad that is kind of like a country music video. First of all, I'm not a big country music fan. But what really makes me mad is that whenever I have to watch that ad (i.e. I can't hit the mute button fast enough!), I have that stupid song stuck in my head for the rest of the day! Nothing like the phrase "You can't overlove your underwear" floating around in your head.


Feel free to add your all time most-hated commercials in the comments section.

Phooey! Now that song is going to be in my brain all night!

What in the world was I thinking?

Well, I have agreed to teach a geography class for my homeschool co-op next semester. What was I thinking?! Do I really need this pressure? I thought I had this really great idea for teaching it, but now I have to put it together.

My idea is to teach it in kind of a "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" format, although we wouldn't be tracking down criminals. I thought I would give clues at the end of each class about the country we would be studying the next week (all in the same continent for the semester). The students' job would be to go home and figure out what that country is. Then, the next week we would go into more depth about that country, such as geographical location, major geographical features, climate, surrounding countries, and maybe a little history and current events. Then I realized that first I have to go over basic geography stuff like NSEW, looking at maps and globes. AAAGH.

And then I heard about this girl. So, now I have to worry about teaching these kids to predict impending disaster. And all in 12 weeks. Too much pressure.

But, hey, I'm not one to back down from a challenge, so if anyone has any great geography curriculum or other ideas, I'm open to suggestions.

Kid bloggers

My 11 year old has suddenly become interested in having her own blog. I'm hesitant to let her do that. I'm just afraid that she will put too much personal info on it. I suppose I could act as the monitor for her--delete anything that I don't want published. But the other problem is...then I will have to share the computer! Seriously though, any opinions on this?

Do you have a clue?

This is Anna and Emily in their Halloween costumes. Do you know who they are supposed to be? I think they are very clever costumes...and thanks to my sister-in-law, who came up with the idea!

First person to guess wins...well, nothing, really, except the satisfaction of being the first!

Trying to be heard isn't always easy, especially when people don't want to listen

Well, my kids had a learning experience this evening. It wasn't one they particularly enjoyed, but nevertheless it is something that will probably stick with them for awhile. I think it was more of an exercise in frustration and futility than anything else, but I hope that they also learned something about trying to make your voice heard.

We attended a Girl Scout meeting--they called it a "Fireside Chat,"--and the topic was about something which was very important to them. Our Council is evidently having some financial problems and one of the ways which they are trying to save money is by closing one of the nearby camps. It just so happens that this is a camp that Emily's troop has been to several times and we love it. It is far enough away from the city that you just are really able to enjoy nature. Anna has been looking forward to the opportunity to go--she just had to wait until she was old enough for the more rustic adventures. This was supposed to be that year.

I won't go into too much boring detail, but the meeting was a total sham, in my opinion. The Board of Directors had already made up their mind and this meeting was pretty much a formality. They wanted to give the appearance of listening to us lowly volunteers and girls, but they really didn't want to hear what we had to say. The thing that made me the most upset, though, was the way they treated the girls. I had called several days ago to make sure that the girls would have the opportunity to speak. My girls took time to write down their thoughts into a speech. Those who were in charge of the meeting pretty much ignored the raised hands of the girls. There were times that they looked right at them and then moved their eyes to someone else and called on them. When Emily was finally called on, she didn't even have a chance to finish her statement, let alone read her speech. So much for teaching girls that they have a voice and that they are valued. Anna never did get recognized. Another girl, whom we did not know, actually got called on. After she finished her short statement, one of the women replied with a very rude comment, which she later tried to explain was meant as a joke. Not funny. I wanted to throttle her (and that wasn't the only time she was rude--she continually interrupted people all evening long).

So, I'm not sure what my girls learned tonight. They came home feeling very discouraged. I will keep trying to encourage them to speak up when they feel something is important. I just hope that this experience doesn't knock them down forever.