November started off with a punch.
Literally.
Katie's Cadette troop took a self defense class.
Whack!
Mikey got in on the action as well.
On a side note, this self defense class was supposed to be for the girls and their moms.
I was the only mom that participated with the exception of the troop leader.
The rest just sat and watched.
It was weird.
I was kinda pissed about it.
Why would you not want to show your girls that its okay to be strong?
Grrrrrr.
That next day, Katie had her first big drama performance.
As an assignment during the semester, the kids were tasked with creating a short play based on their favorite children's books.
Katie selected "Harold and the Purple Crayon".
Her spin was that it was narrated by the Muse of Tragedy and the Muse of Comedy.
Her play was selected to be performed in a montage of about 5 other mini-plays.
Not only that, but she got to star in her own play with one of her buddies she's know since preschool.
Katie played Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy.
They did great.
Katie played it very straight and monotone while her friend was bouncy and overexcited as the Muse of Comedy.
In the background, behind the kid who played Harold, they had someone drawing with a purple marker on an overhead projector.
Very clever.
They did it!
Not only was Katie in her own mini-play, but she had a part in two other mini-plays.
Crazy girl.
Show #1 was in the books.
Here are the Muses, post-play.
It snowed a tiny bit.
I was really, really cold here in November.
Well, cold for here.
Right at freezing is considered cold.
The problem is, when it rains and then gets really cold, it freezes.
That makes for a harsh bike commute for Huzbend.
Speaking of Huzbend, we went to visit him at work during a no-school day for the kids.
They love to "go to lunch" with Daddy.
I think that it's not so much about the food as it is about the air hockey competition they have afterwards.
And they like to talk his ear off.
Most of the leaves had fallen off the trees in our backyard.
It wasn't pouring rain or cold or windy, so that meant that it was
gutter/roof cleaning day.
That job falls to me since I have a little less fear of heights than Huzbend.
The siding on our chimneys need work.
Another thing to spend money on in 2018.
The evening of that same day we celebrated a friends birthday with an 80's party.
There was trivial pursuit, karaoke (mostly bad) and a bit too much overindulging in tacky 80's food (tiramisu, mozzarella sticks) and deceptively strong alcohol.
We will leave it at that.
In November, something happened that I thought would never, ever happen.
Katie began to eat breakfast! Regularly!
I know that doesn't sound earth shattering.
But, Katie just doesn't eat breakfast.
We started really pushing it and she acquiesced.
I was excited that at first she ate GF waffles.
But that ended soon. She now eats half an apple.
I'll take it.
At least it's something.
November brought with it cold downpours of rain.
I actually like running in the rain.
I think Ralph does too, although you can't tell from his face.
But, inside information here, it ALWAYS looks that way.
When we get done running, he's usually soaked.
I give him a wipe down with a big fluffy towel and then he spends most of the rest of the day just like this.
Curled in a ball in his old puppy-sized dog bed in the kitchen.
What a life.....
Okay.
This picture will need explaining.
Mikey is dressed as Katie.
Katie is dressed as Mikey.
They do that sometimes.
Yes, Mikey has boobs.
He wanted to be authentic.
Thanksgiving was rolling up soon.
That usually brings with it projects at school.
Here's Mikey's Most Awesome Thankful List Ever.....
A - Apples, Argonath (LOTR reference)
B - Baked Ziti (spelled horribly wrong - "big Z de")
C- Characters
D - Dads
E - Ebonstone (from Terraria, a video game)
F - Friendship
G - Greek Mythology
H - Hats
I - IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease - ie Crohn's)
J - Jungles in Terraria
K - Khazaddum (LOTR reference, spelled correctly!)
L - Lothlorien (LOTR reference, also spelled correctly!)
M - Me
N - No
O - Ogres
P - Passages
Q - Questions
R - Running
S - Silmarillion (collection of LOTR myths from JRR Tolkien)
T - Time
U - Up
V - Violins
W - Walking
X - Xandar (planet from Marvel that houses the Nova Corp)
Y - Yetis
Z - Zelda
Or this one...."How to Help A Turkey Escape"
"First, grill a zombie instead of a turkey. Next shoot off the turkey in a cannon. Last HE IS FREE!"
Meanwhile, at the middle school......
The kids that have Phys. Ed. in the Fall are taught to Square Dance which then culminates in a competition the day before Thanksgiving Break.
Katie and her friends worked hard to gather a team - 4 girls and 4 boys - to compete.
There was some drama, as all good middle school related things must have.
Some kids dropped off the team, the team dissolved for a day, but then it came back...etc.
Finally, the day of the competition rolled around and Katie and her team were ready to roll.
Mikey spent most of the competition like this.
I guess he wasn't impressed with the Square Dancing as much as I was.
It was fantastic to watch them competing and having fun.
As the songs played, the moves got quicker and more complicated.
If they lost the form of their square, they had to sit down.
The last square standing won the round.
I think the best thing about this, for me anyways, was the realization that Katie only knew two of the girls on her team before the school year started.
Everyone else was someone that she met and befriended this year.
Katie's team came in second in the 6th grade competition, but didn't win anything.
They were exhausted at the end.
Katie really liked square dancing and was sad that it was over.
She said now they would have to go back to running their "Couch to 5K" which, I guess, was quite boring compared to dancing.
(On a side note, they do play games in PE called "Zombie Apocalypse", so it can't be all bad)
After the competition, Katie and her square dance teammate met up with another old friend and walked back to our house for a well deserved long weekend.
Turkey time!!!
Turkey was brined overnight, de-gutted and robed in fancy bacon.
I didn't think of it until it was too late, but Huzbend used a screwdriver to remove some of the frozen innards packets from the turkey. Would've made a funny picture. I'm pretty sure we've had past pictures of turkeys with tools somewhere...maybe before the digital age.
We're so old.
Katie volunteered to help prep for the meal.
Mikey and I were no help.
We sat on the couch, cuddled and watched the parade.
This is what Thanksgiving looks like at our house.
All six burners going at one time.
This is Ralph's customary spot, Thanksgiving or even on a regular night.
He lays down right here so that he can lick any oil splatter that falls on to the floor or catch any tidbits that might not make it to the pot.
DONE!
The turkey was great.
Everything was great.
Except the gluten free box mix stuffing.
Blech.
Next year, Huzbend says he'll make his own.
Katie had a full plate.
Mikey, not so much.
He doesn't like turkey or mashed potatoes...so mostly he ate rolls.
At some point, when eating a turkey leg, I think too much about it and get totally grossed out that I am eating the leg of an animal. It usually happens about 5-10 minutes into chomping on it.
I think Katie came to the same dilemma during this picture.
We had lots of leftovers.
Especially of mashed potatoes.
Huzbend made enough for a dozen people.
So, what do you do with leftover mashed potatoes?
Make pizza with them of course!
At least Huzbend does.
Mikey refused to eat mashed potato pizza, so Huzbend made Mikey his own normal-pizza part.
Mikey liked it.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving marked the day when Katie could once again have special treats.
Her punishment from a month ago had ended.
So, I held off making candied yams until then.
Once again, she only ate the marshmallows off her portion.
Mikey tried a tiny bit and didn't seem totally put off by it, so maybe next year he'll try it again.
I ate all of it over the next few days.
There was one last week in November.
Christmas was faaaast approaching.
I took the kids to visit Santa at the mall for their annual pictures.
This year, I asked if they wanted to go and they answered with a resounding yes.
They're getting older now and at some point they might think it's corny.
After visiting with Santa, he gave them these glasses.
Wherever you looked at a light a snowflake or snowman would appear.
They walked around the mall wearing them.
I guess if they aren't afraid to walk around the mall with weird glasses on, they might never be too old to visit Santa.
Who loves Christmas and has thumbs.....
Mikey bristled at having to hold the naughty sign.
He thought it wasn't fair.
Our furnace died.
We bought a new one.
Yay.
Happy Christmas to us.
That last week of November was also the first Spirit Week at Katie's middle school.
One day was "Fictional Character Day".
Can you guess who Katie is?
Annabelle Chase from Percy Jackson, of course.
