November News

It's the end of November and we've already had our first snowfall. We awoke the morning after Thanksgiving to find everything covered in pretty white fluff. It all melted later in the day, but it was a nice surprise and definitely got us in the mood for Christmas.

Keaton finished his trimester with all As...only two more tri's to go until graduation. He was the senior class sponsor of the National Honor Society and read one of the value statements in the induction ceremony. He was smooth...and didn't drop the candle during the candle-lighting ceremony or catch the stage on fire. (Luckily he takes after me and isn't clumsy like his dad, Mr. Butterfingers.) Basketball season officially began...and so did the every-other-day laundry service. Since the team had a day full of scrimmages scheduled the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to spend Thanksgiving at home. (Our first in 19 years!!!) It was awesome! We could sleep in (well, as much as we can with a dog), we could wear sweats (which we did), and we could take naps (which we did). Keaton went to Elizabeth's for dinner and Matt and I played Scrabble. We snacked a little too much and when dinner was ready we decided we weren't hungry. (Thank goodness for Reynold's Wrap.) When we finally did get around to eating, Cyrus was thrilled to have a Thanksgiving plate full of goodies too.

                                 

                                 

                                 


Matt attacked his Black Friday shopping spree with his usual gusto. He seriously studied the ads a week in advance online. He thoroughly took notes and meticulously mapped out his shopping route. He planned and plotted until the wee hours of the morning, took a nap to recharge, and then hit the stores running at 5:15 a.m. He was a warrior...dodging carts, jumping over shoppers, grabbing items, elbowing his way through the crowds. No, seriously, he said it wasn't bad and he really wasn't out for any hot-selling items this year. He did get some new pots and pans for me and some new basketball shoes for him. Nothing too exciting, but good deals. He came home to go to Keaton's scrimmages only to find out there was a mix-up and the games were scheduled for the following day. Keaton, being the mini-Matt he is and thinking he's funny, broke the news to us with a phone call from school that began, "Don't worry, I don't have another concussion." I about had a heart attack. He's NOT funny trying to give me gray hair...especially when I don't have a hair appointment for another two weeks. So, the change in basketball plans cut into our weekend visit with the family so we decided to stay home and help out the economy instead by ordering new furniture for the basement. Yay!!

We celebrated Matt's birthday at The BOB in Grand Rapids with his brothers and friends. He picked the restaurant/bar with classic rock and I was happy to hear lots of 80s music thrown in as well. The food was good and I discovered a Wasabi sauce that numbed my gums and throat. It was great...once I could talk again.

                                

We went to watch some college basketball between two teams that have been recruiting Keaton. We sat behind each bench to watch (and listen to) the coaching styles and Keaton decided he doesn't want a coach who yells. He's still undecided about playing in college, but will keep his options open for now. He really doesn't have to decide until next spring. He was accepted at Western Michigan University and has decided he wants to stay within three hours of home. He's not thrilled that we have the motor home since he's seriously afraid I'm really going to come and stay in the parking lot of his dorm. Silly boy...the motor home would take up too much room. I'll rent an apartment or stay in a motel across the street so I can watch him with binoculars.

The Christmas lights are hung and the shopping has begun. We hope you have the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years.

October's Occurrences

October seemed to fly by, as usual. For the first time since Keaton was four years old, Matt had to miss a parent-teacher conference. I carried the laptop around with me to all the teachers with Matt online for a video conference (like they do on The Big Bang Theory). Just kidding! Matt was in China and they were 12 hours ahead of us...so I didn't think Matt would really be up for a parent-teacher conference at 3:00 a.m.

Matt enjoyed his two weeks in China. There were lots of interesting things to see and do...and eat. He worked a lot, traveled around a lot, but didn't pick up much of the language. On some free time (which he didn't seem to have much of, but made the most of when it was available), he tried some new things. He took a ride on the world's fastest magnetic track train and went up to 275 m.p.h. He drove (well, he had a driver so it was more like rode) over the world's longest bridge (21 miles). He also ate some very unusual food. The diet in China didn't contain Big Macs or pizza (or even rice). He was a good sport and ate lots of interesting things like eel, duck tongue (yep, you read that correctly...TONGUE - how gross!), frogs (not just frog legs, but WHOLE frogs!), octopus, pig ear (yep, like the dogs eat when they get a treat), and puffer fish (yes, it's poisonous unless it's cooked perfectly by a licensed chef) to name a few (and that's all I can name without gagging). Ewwwwww! Matt said I would have been fine with the food since they also had a lot of vegetables, but I'd definitely have a problem with the food looking back at me and, much more importantly, the DOUBLE-DIPPING. It seems the food is placed on a rotating platform in the middle of the table and everyone at the table takes what they'd like from each plate with their chopsticks THAT THEY EAT FROM AND THEN KEEP TAKING MORE FOOD WITH THOSE SAME CHOPSTICKS THAT THEY JUST HAD IN THEIR MOUTHS. Yuck! Obviously they're not worried about H1N1 in China. Matt enjoyed shopping while in China. He liked the open market and using his bargaining skills to get next-to-nothing deals. (Authentic Red Wings jersey for Keaton and Gucci bag for me!) His longest flight was 14 hours (from Atlanta to Tokyo), but he said it went by surprisingly quick. (Maybe it was the free drinks in business class.) Keaton, Cyrus and I were very happy to have him back home. Keaton didn't have to watch Lifetime with me anymore, Cyrus had his wrestling buddy back to play with him, and I could finally sleep. Matt was happy to be home so he could have some dessert...especially chocolate. They don't typically eat dessert in China...most dessert was fruit. Now we all know why the Chinese are so thin. I was sure to have a chocolate fondue for him the night he came home.

                                     

In honor of Keaton's birthday, the high school was closed for two days. We had a high incidence of illness and they closed the school down for a a thorough disinfecting. Unfortunately, Keaton caught a small bug and spent his birthday with a fever, a super sore throat, and then a trip to the doctor's office. Poor kid. Oops, sorry, poor adult. It's hard to believe he's 18. To commemorate this historic occasion, he did run up to the store to buy some lottery tickets. He broke even...he bought $9 worth of tickets and won $9. If his luck improves, we're going to take him to Vegas and teach him how to count cards.

                                               

The seniors decided to have a long Halloween weekend. They skipped on Friday and spent the day up at Craig's Cruisers in Grand Rapids. After go-karts, laser-tag and video games, Keaton and his group went to the mall so Keaton could spend some of his birthday money.

Halloween was fun...as it usually is for us. We all dressed up (even Keaton) and sat on the porch to pass out candy (and Pucker shots for the adults...yum). It was chilly and I was glad to have the shots nearby to help keep warm. The kids enjoyed seeing Cyrus dressed up and quite a few had to come and give him a hug and talk to him. After we passed out candy, we headed down to Kalamazoo for dinner with friends and checked out the block party downtown. It was full of college kids, so we called it an early night and headed for home. We didn't have nearly the usual amount of trick-or-treaters we usually have...which means more leftover candy for us!

                              

                              

We had planned to go camping the weekend after Halloween since it was going to be a beautiful weekend, but Keaton decided to have an allergic reaction to some medication and broke out in hives. So, we stayed home, played connect-the-dots with his hives, winterized the motor home and worked on projects around the house. Definitely not as much fun as camping, but I guess it's better than doing those projects in the snow.

I redid my scrapbook room while Matt was in China and it's now my Princess Studio. All I need is a boa (not the snake...the feathered kind) and a tiara and it will be perfect. I've been working on Keaton's scrapbooks in a frenzy and have come to the conclusion that I'll never catch up. That's okay, because I love taking pictures and documenting all the fun we have.

Here's hoping everyone has a fun and Happy Thanksgiving!