I'll Be Home for Christmas

.....and home for Christmas I was! We beat the snow and traffic on our way "Up North" and were snowed in for the rest of the days we spent there. Seriously, I didn't leave the neighborhood. We made our own fun by playing Rock Band, sledding, and having a little family Christmas program (my mom insisted!). Here are some picture highlights:

Dad, Gerrit, Greg, and Owen playing Rock Band. Owen was an essential part of the band.

Mom and Dad with the grandkids. Everyone was looking slightly dishevelled on Christmas Eve.

Mom teaching Aubrey to knit.

Jozie, Sophie and Aubrey

Christmas morning! It's finally here!My sister Courtney and her family: husband Paul, Jozie and Aubrey.My sister Carey and her family: husband Greg, Sophie and Owen. Me and Gerrit. The funny thing is....we're not really sledding........but we do have fun. We hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We love you all!

Kid Quote of the Day

Pre-Information: I'm a Para in Mr. Carlson's EBD classroom. We took the kids to the gym and on the way out....

8 year-old girl: Are you like Mr. Carlson's girlfriend and is he your boyfriend? (side note: this little girl has asked other male and female co-workers the same question.)

Me: No. Mr. Carlson is married to a woman who isn't me and I am married to a man (that I love) that isn't him.

8 year-old girl: That's really gross.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Immediately following Thanksgiving, Gerrit and I got to work on Christmas decorations and shopping. After fiddling with lights and decorations for way too long, we learned that we shouldn't decorate the same item together. Making a home beautiful can bring out the "uglies" in people. :) We were laughing at our "holiday spirit" by the end.

Here's our little tree. That actually is all of it (propped up on box). This year, Gerrit had some childhood ornaments to share. I used to decorate this tree when I was little. Hopefully, someday our kids will do the same.

This is the Nativity set my parents gave us as a wedding gift a couple years ago. They brought it back from a trip to Israel. It's from Bethlehem! This is the first year we've had a place to put it.

Last night as I was wrapping presents, I wanted to watch a holiday movie. I searched our OnDemand movies and found....MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS! I was so happy. It's not totally a holiday movie, but it is where Judy Garland sang the original "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and I love it. I used to watch it over and over when I was really little. I would just yell, "Meet Louie! Meet Louie!" and my mom would know I wanted to watch it.I hope the start of your holiday season has been lovely and that the "uglies" stay away from the festivities!

Gobble, Gobble

Happy Late Thanksgiving to all! Gerrit and I had a great Thanksgiving with his family. It all seemed to go so fast, but we managed to squeeze the fun into the days we had. There were about 25 family members and friends over for lunch on Thanksgiving day.

This is the "kids table." There was actually only one kid under the age of 20, but we were the youngsters at this gathering.

Gerrit and I had to leave on Thanksgiving evening so that Gerrit could work on Black Friday. Ick.

Here are the hosts! Gerrit's parents: Gwen and Ed. They always make sure everyone is comfortable and well-fed. :) Thank you! We love you!

Weekend Fun

We had lots of Adam and Maria time this weekend! Gerrit has known them since Jr. High/High School and we try to get together often.

I've decided that we're bad people. Here's why: I had complimentary tickets to see the high school musical in the district I work in. We left (quietly) at intermission. Ouch. But we just couldn't bring ourselves to stay! So, we've decided to make the most of this. We're going to go on a state-wide tour of high school musicals. I will blog/review them. That blog will in turn become a best-selling book, which will in turn become a motion picture. We'll all be famous. I can feel myself changing already.

We had better luck the next day at the ZOO! It was a bit chilly, but we got to see everything we wanted to--

from God's little creatures (the sea horses)....

...to His bigger creatures (the Russian Grizzly)...

...from God's beautifully strange (whatever this bird is)...

...to His strangely beautiful (our friends).

After this, we went to a lovely restaurant. We played board games with Adam and Maria. They left and I got sick. Bummer. Thankfully, I had all of Sunday to recover.

How was your weekend?

Dumb Things Happen to Me

It's true. I'm a magnet for ridiculous situations. Here's one that happened Sunday morning:

(pre-story: I had just seen a scary zombie movie the night before. If you know ANYTHING about me, you will know this was foolish as I can not handle scary movies.)

I wake up at 4:15am as Gerrit hugs me goodbye to go into work. Since I had just watched a scary movie, I knew I would not be able to fall back to sleep without the thought of zombies. What cures zombie thoughts? "You've Got Mail." I pop the movie in and expect to be having sweet dreams in about 10 minutes.

However, 5 minutes later, I hear vvvvmmmmm as the power in the building goes out. So right about now, I start to pray. I text Gerrit to tell him what's happening. More praying as the zombie thoughts creep in. I'm just beginning to fall asleep about 45 minutes later when Gerrit texts me back. "Power still out?" YES! and now I'm wide awake.

More praying....falling asleep.....building FIRE ALARM COMES ON. This had happened before and the alarm stayed on for an HOUR. I thought, "I gotta get outta here. This is ridiculous." So, I stumble to the bathroom, feel around for my contacts, and by the light of my cell phone attempt to put my contacts in. TEN minutes later, I have them in and I'm out the door as the fire truck pulls up. "Ma'am," the fireman asks me, "is the alarm going off?" I know this kind man was just doing his job...but at 5:30 in the morning, I was thinking, "Duh!" Out loud, I answered politely.

At this hour, I figure I can find a Caribou that's open. Think again, Cassie. Okay, how about a Cub Foods? 24 hour savings, they're always open! I thought, "I'll get a donut for Gerrit and bring it to him at work." There are no donuts! What kind of day is this???? I settled on cinnamon rolls, got the Caribou since it opened by then, and brought Gerrit breakfast. I was very tired for the rest of Sunday.


And Today (for those of you who are still with me):

I'm driving to work and I have to go through some construction. I can see that my side of the street is closing ahead. Then I see the construction worker guide a car into what are usually the two lefts lanes of traffic going the opposite direction. I had to stop at the red light. Just to make sure I'm understanding the man correctly, I point where he's pointing and make a "Are you sure that's where you want me to go?" face. He nods confidently and points there again. Green light. I hesitantly make my way down the usually one-way street when I see ON-COMING TRAFFIC in my lane!!!!!!!! Both lanes are full and the car can't get over right away. I had a "JESUS, TAKE THE WHEEL" moment before I start yelling, "UM! UM!" and honking rapidly. That car finally got over and I was able to sneak through a break in the median. The rest of the drive I was saying, "What just happened there????"

Dumb things happen to me.

TRICK...or Treat!

Once again, Gerrit and I got to be a part of Carey and Greg's annual Halloween party. Every year they have a "Connect 4" tournament and a costume contest. Well, I'm no good at "Connect 4," so I have to try to win the costume contest. I think I've come in second place a couple times (as Hermione Granger and Angelina Jolie). But this year, I was in it to win it! Gerrit found some big red glasses in a store at the mall....and I knew what I had to do. I went as.....my sister, Carey....in JUNIOR HIGH!!!!!! *high-pitched-horror-movie-scream* You can see the original school picture on her blog.
Gerrit was cleverly disguised as Waldo of "Where's Waldo." But after this picture was taken, I couldn't find him all night. ;)I was a little worried about how Carey might react to my costume, but she screamed and laughed when she saw me. She was a good sport (and was also pretty weirded out by how much I looked like her). And I finally won the contest! I beat Chuck Norris! Who else can say that?

And here are the host and hostess. Greg was a rapper (this is pretty much everyday wear for him though:P) and Carey was dirt! That's her hair dyed green to be grass. I thought that was pretty clever. Thanks for another fun Halloween party!

Cause I'm a Woman...W-O-M-A-N

This week, I had the pleasure of seeing some of my favorite female friends. And what a wonderful week it has been! Mandy was in town with her husband, Adam. We got to share some brief, yet precious, moments with them! My heart has had a Mandy-shaped hole in it since she left; so, it was filled a little bit while she was here.

(This is Mandy at one of her wedding showers, but I thought she deserved a picture!)

Jess, Rachel, and I took an adventurous trip "Up North" over a break we all had from school. They both teach elementary grades....but you can't tell, right?

The hotel was highly decorated for Halloween. So, we all made friends:

Jess

Rachel

Me

A glimpse at the shenanigans we enjoyed while shopping:

The trip was altogether too much fun. We laughed too much, ate too much, shopped too much, and hot-tubbed just enough.

Well, I had about 2 hours between getting back from that trip to go to another friend's house. One of my former college roommates, Tara, had us over to make applesauce and have dinner! Katie, Molly, Tara, and I all got married around the same time 2 years ago. In that aspect, we're in very similar places in life (which is always encouraging to share).

Tara, teaching us how easy applesauce is to make!

Molly and Katie take over

Molly and I

Thank you, Tara, for being a wonderful hostess.
Thanks to Maria, Ahna, and Mom for helping me put together my Halloween costume (more on that in a later post).
Thanks to all the woman in my life (those who I saw this week and those I didn't) for being wonderful and making my life so happy.

I've Been a Lame Blogger!

I'm sorry for my absence! I have no good excuse. But I'm back and would like to update you on the big events of the last couple months.

At the end of July, I attended my friend Holly's wedding. We've been friends since our AWANA days. She had a beautiful wedding and was a glowing bride. Lots of high school friends were there and it was great to catch up. We've all changed so much...and yet, so little. Gerrit couldn't be there. :( And I vow never to go to another wedding without him. I got hit on more at the reception than I ever did when I was single. No thanks!

In August, Gerrit and I made a quick trip to my hometown. My oldest niece, Aubrey, made the decision to be baptized and we wanted to witness it! The church was planning the annual baptism while Aubrey was visiting "Grandma and Grandpa" and she knew she wanted to do it. We all rushed to be there. The pastor performed the rest of the baptisms, but my dad got to be the one to "dunk" Aubrey.
Also in August, I went to my friend, Brittany's, commissioning service. She just left a few days ago to go to Ukraine. She'll be there for four years helping to build churches. She's a dear friend and she will be dearly missed. So, as you read this, pray for her as she settles into her life there. School started last month. I changed elementary schools, but I'm still an EBD para. I've already gotten sick once. Kids are so germy! I had a fever for 4 days! Gerrit was having a boys weekend with his dad. I was supposed to go to a baby shower and to his hometown, but instead I was dying alone on the living room couch. I had to recruit my friend, Jess, to take me to Urgent Care. They took blood to determine that I did NOT have H1N1...or anything else they could do anything for.

That's all for now. I'm sorry for being such a loser blogger! I've missed you!

The Day I Became an Adult....

...was last week, at a playground, no less! (My mom really wants me to blog this story, so here it goes:) I was at work and had taken my kids to the park, when my co-worker called me over to her. She said, "Look over there, under that tree." About 100 yards away was a VERY young couple MAKING OUT. Not just making out, but on top of each other too. We were all grossed out by this scene of two 12-year-olds going at it. Something had to be done! But I thought, "If I go and say something, they'll just go and do that somewhere else. They might yell at me." But then I thought, "No! That's terrible logic! We are the responsible ones!"

So, I marched myself over there and yelled, "Hey! Knock it off! We are at a playground. There are small children here who can see everything that you're doing. EVERYONE can see everything that you're doing!"

The young girl look mortified (as I think she should have). She said, "Soooorrrry." But when I saw her bicycle leaning against the tree, I had to get one more thing off my chest. So, I said, "If you have to ride a bike here, you're probably too young to be doing what you were just doing. Go somewhere else. Find something else to do."

They both hung their heads in shame. I wanted to stay and give them a little more education on this topic, but I thought I had said enough for the time being.

And with that, I walked away from the couple and into adulthood. Just call me the Young Love Buzz Kill.

An Unexpected Treasure

The most wonderful thing happened as my friends and I were celebrating Jess' birthday. We had been planning to go to the beach, but it was freezing outside! So instead, we were browsing the Farmers' Market when we saw an antiques shop that Jess had always wanted to go into. It's unique because there is a vintage/antique bridal boutique in the basement. And as we walked through those doors, our lives changed forevermore.

We were having fun looking at the usual antique store loot.

But as we descended into the basement we found vintage euphoria. And we could try it all on!!!!There were dresses lining the walls, some dating back to the 1800s. It was amazing (and I sang the word 'amazing' just now).

The sales girl was very personable. She knew we were not at all interested in buying, but she insisted that we try everything on that we loved. And we obliged. This is Mandi in a 1960s party dress.

We weren't sure what this was, but we found Jess wearing it.

This hair clip is everything Jess has ever dreamed of. For a mere $150, it could have been hers. I don't know why she didn't buy it.

Hanging on display was this wonderful find from the 60s. But in case you didn't know, it was made for me. The sales girl was very excited that someone finally tried it on. Again, I was happy to do her this favor.

We left.....leaving a little piece of our hearts there.

Well, to top it all off, we had my homemade beach cupcakes for what turned out to be Jess' not-so-beach-themed day. Vintage bridal shopping and cupcakes?! Life will never be the same again.