Archive for December 2008



Sean and I have watched several good movies lately. Juno and Outsourced are very light movies that are easy to watch. Mongol was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is not a movie I would have chosen on my own, but I am glad Sean got it because it was well worth it.

The Shack has been recommended to me by many people. It was not what I expected, but it did leave me with a lot of questions. I am not going to tell you what it is about, but I will tell you that I would recommend that you read it and get out of it what you can for yourself as I am sure everyone takes something different from it.

Liam had his Christmas concert last week. The first graders and kindergartners performed together and they did a great job. I will say, however, it is so funny to watch them because when little guys like that are up there performing, there is a whole lot more going on than just singing. They’re looking for their relatives in the audience, waving, talking to the person next to them, looking around at all the lights…and that was just Liam. 🙂


Monday-Italian Sausage Soup and Salad
Tuesday-Chinese Salad and Egg Drop Soup
Wednesday-Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Potato Salad
Thursday-Taco Soup
Friday-Salmon, Asparagus, Bread and Butter
Saturday- Pasta


The Tub People’s Christmas is Colm’s new favorite book. It is a cute book and (if I may put on my reading teacher hat for a moment) is a great book for kids to practice predicting.

Happy birthday to my MIL who also goes by Pam, Mom and Nanny. 🙂

Today after Liam’s Tae Kwon Do class, two kids tested for their yellow belts. I was glad we were there so Liam could see what a testing looked like so he would know what to expect when it’s his turn. Now, back to the point of this post. One of the kids who tested today has been in Liam’s class since we started. He is probably about 12 years old, very tall, very lanky and not the most coordinated kid in the world. The first time I saw him in class he was literally bouncing off the studio walls. Their teacher was very patient with him and was very good about redirecting him. My heart just ached for this kid. He just seemed like the kind of kid who is very sweet and loveable, but his body and his brain were just not cooperating with each other. I am not a person who thinks every kid who might have a hint of ADD/ADHD should be medicated, but this child’s actions were just screaming for help. I have had kids like this in class. It is so hard to watch them. They struggle in so many areas: their school work, friendships, emotionally, and it is so painful to watch them in their daily struggles. Well, today this child tested for his yellow belt and got it. I started crying for him. I was sitting next to his parents and I just can’t imagine all of the struggles they have had and to have this awesome moment just brought me to tears. I can’t even put it into words, but it was awesome. Their teacher even commented on how far he has come. I know that many parents who have kids who struggle in school for various reasons put their kids in martial arts to help them. I don’t know the whole story of this child, but whatever they are doing seems to be working. I hope and pray that he has many continued successes and I am sure both he and his parents deserve them all.

I like to read this blog from the New York Times while waiting for the boys in the carpool line after school. Enjoy!

Writing their letters to Santa

From December 2008

Crafts

From December 2008

Cute Photo Op

From December 2008

We went to go see Santa at the high school last weekend. We enjoyed a light breakfast, made some crafts and then visited with Santa. There are no pics of Santa here because they are coming in the mail.


My book club has picked Middlesex as our next read. I have heard it is very good. I am just waiting for it to come in from the library so I can get started, but first I need to finish the book I am currently reading.