ThanksGIVING

 My mom and Jim had planned on coming to our for Thanksgiving a while ago. Jim hadn't been to our house, minus one quick night on the way back from Costa Rica when he escorted Kai here while the rest of us were sick with covid, since before covid. So it has been 3 years at least. Jim likes to keep busy and do projects. While we still have plenty of things to work on at our home, there haven't been as many work projects as there used to be when Grandpa Jim made his annual trip with my mom. With a two-week stay, I kept everyone busy, including a project with Jason to finish up our garage organization.  

I pushed up our traditional Salvation Army bell-ringing tradition to the first Thursday they were here, partially hoping the weather would be warmer, since in times past it's usually extremely cold during the two hours we ring the bell. Well, wouldn't you know but that was two days before Erik's party when it was super cold and it was dang cold during the bell ringing! Even Erik, who loves the cold, commented how every year when we ring the bell it's the coldest time. We can't catch a break! However, it was still just as festive and fun. We enjoyed singing with Grandma and Grandpa and since Austin is now a percussionist in the band, he added a little to our carols with the bucket, the kettle,  and the "stuffer" stick (used to stuff the money in the kettle). It was a fun night! We missed Victoria who was at dance class.

Friday I had to volunteer for the last big fundraiser for the marching band- setting up for the craft fair. I had signed my mom and Jim up as well. We helped set up the tables and the numbers for where each crafter would put their set-ups. 

On Saturday was the leaf raking I mentioned in my previous post for Erik's birthday party. We helped the youth project by raking leaves with them for two different sisters. It was cold, but it was worth it!

Our last "giving" project was the day after Thanksgiving when we all went to the Detroit Temple to perform baptisms for our ancestors. Jim and my mom went in the help assist in the witnessing and recording, and of course for Jim in the confirmations. Jason performed the baptisms. Erik isn't quite ready to go in, which will happen in January, so he and I stayed outside and played games, walked the grounds, and went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful morning and a nice time to be at the temple. He hadn't been there in a long time, so I was able to discuss with him about the temple and help prepare him for when he'll be able to go inside. 

Backtrack to Thanksgiving: Victoria and Kai set up and decorated the Christmas trees while the rest of us went to the turkey trot. Jason and the boys ran and did amazing! With the low temps and snow that we received the week before, they didn't train as much as they had planned, but the weather was nice that day and they all felt good! I believe Jason and Erik beat their times from last year! Austin and Erik made a quick appearance at the church turkey bowl, which was fun for them and gave them some more good outdoor time. The rest of the day we were prepping the food and decorating. 

Before the race.

Austin, coming in at the end.

Erik and Jason looking good!

Erik actually felt pretty good, but he had to make an awful face!

Grandpa and Kai, working on a puzzle.

Dinner was amazing, as usual, with Jason doing the turkey, sweet potato casserole, and dressing. I made the rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin pie, and my mom and Jim made an apple pie and cranberry sauce. 

Jason guided Victoria in making the sweet potato casserole.

Victoria has always loved the drumstick!

Erik and his pile of noodles and rolls!

We played a draw-a-turkey dice game and wrote what we were thankful for on our thankful picture. We ended the day watching The Grinch. Now I can't believe it's already over- Happy Thanksgiving!

Big 11!

 My baby is now 11 years old! This whole school year so far I have been very aware of the fact that this is the last year I will have a child in elementary school. This past Primary Program in church was the last time I'll have a child participate in one. Due to the recently changed age advancement in the Church, at least it seems still new to me, though I think it's been this way for many years now, Erik will be moving onto Young Men and receiving the Priesthood in January because he turns 12 next year. Our ward is shrinking and he's the oldest in Primary and then his best buddy twins are a few weeks younger than him, so they'll all be passing the sacrament as new Deacons next year. It will be so different not to have a child in Primary!

Erik celebrated his birthday last Saturday with 9 friends at our house. He had initially wanted to invite 27 friends (all boys) over to our home. I turned that down pretty quickly! We settled on inviting 15, and lucky for me, only 9 could come! Not that I wouldn't want 15 friends at our house, but it was supposed to be an outdoor sports party in our backyard, and what do you know- it was the coldest day of the season so far! I thought that could be the case, so I didn't want too many friends. The real feel was about 19 that day. Erik happens to love the cold, so it wouldn't be a problem for him, but I worried about his friends. So I planned some minute-to-win-it games to play inside. That morning, we participated in a leaf-raking service project for some ladies in our ward. Erik's twin buddies were there; they all seemed to handle the cold fairly well. By the time the party started, I was confident that we could hold at least an hour of the party outside and go from there. 

As they arrived, they played with the air hockey table in the living room.

It was great to see the smiles on all the boys' faces as they ran around the yard playing infection and Jackpot. They came in after being outside for about an hour and I was ready for them with hot chocolate and snacks. They were ready for birthday brownies by then as well, so we sang to Erik and they enjoyed their brownies before we played the M&M game, where they see who the fastest is to suck up the chocolate candies with a straw and move them to another plate in less than 2 minutes. They got to eat more chocolate after that! We played a cup-stacking game and a rock, paper, scissors tournament next. Afterward, Austin led them in a spin-off of Apples to Apples called Not Parent Approved. It's just all gross tween-boy stuff, like butt acne, cheese balls, and stinky gym bags. It's always a hit in my family, with all my kids!

I was happily inside taking pictures!

Party food and goodie bags!

Erik opened his cards and a few gifts before his friends started to leave. He and some buddies played dodgeball in our living room with a beach ball in between other games and that's what they settled on as friends were leaving. It was a pretty calm version of the game with the beach ball, but I was still nervous about something breaking. Luckily, nothing did! 

The goody bags had some mind puzzles in them, big balloons to punch around, candy, and pop-it bracelets. Everyone had a great time and though the weather was cold, at least it was sunny! It was great to celebrate with Erik's friends.

His actual birthday fell the day before Thanksgiving, as usual. We had off of school, so that was nice. My mom and Jim were here, so it made it extra special! He started the day with an edible breakfast turkey, which will have to be a tradition because he loved it! He then had the privilege of going to the dentist on his birthday (which wasn't the original plan). We had gone 2 weeks before and it turned out Erik had a cold sore that they didn't want to spread in his mouth, so he had to sit in the waiting room playing on the phone while Austin and I got our teeth cleaned. Erik was kind of annoyed because I had taken him out of the last bit of school and he had to miss the last recess. He doesn't like to miss school and especially not any recess. So, when given the option of going to his make-up appointment on his birthday morning, when there was no school or another day of leaving school early, he opted for his birthday. It was actually enjoyable because he got double prizes and lots of birthday wishes. The best part, though, was the fact that they praised him so much for his teeth hygiene, saying that his teeth hygiene looked better than most adults! He loved hearing that! It was a very fast cleaning for the same reason. He attributes it to the fact that he scrapes the plaque off his teeth after brushing and flossing. It's amazing he has such good teeth with all the candy he eats!

It's some chocolate doughnuts with bacon in the back. Pretzels for feet and chocolate chips for the eyes. A candy kiss for the beak.

And the other side of the counter, that isn't so neat for a picture, but Erik wanted to do a selfie.

Dentist appointment, before they told him how good his teeth are!

After a McDonald's lunch for almost everyone, Grandma, Grandpa, Jason, Austin, Kai, Erik, and I went to Maybury to ride bikes and walk around. The weather had warmed up and was sunny again, so we were happy to have the opportunity to go and enjoy the bare trees. When we returned we had a dinner of noodles, bread, and veggies, in honor of Erik's one and only dinner he ever eats! We watched Hocus Pocus II after dinner, as we did some final Thanksgiving prep. 

Happy boy with a McDonald's lunch!

Super fun swing!

Erik's birthday dinner!

Kai gave him an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, since he's 11 now. He loved it!

It was a great day and I was so glad to celebrate my youngest. He's still so helpful in school and his teacher this year said that he can always rely on Erik to help his fellow students with things they don't understand and that Erik will explain and help without giving the answers. He has a lot of friends, is a great leader, and loves to play games, active and board games. He loves to read, play soccer, build with Legos, and be on time. He especially loves geography and knows the location of more countries than most adults do! In addition to that, he knows random facts about states, countries, and landmarks, plus all the capitals of the US states. He now likes to eat fried eggs, but not very often. At least it's something new and different. He really loves the Orgain protein drinks from Costco that are full of all sorts of good things, though I don't think he realizes that, and brings one to school every day with his bag of goldfish crackers. He had stopped eating lunch altogether because of the smells in the cafeteria that were bothering him, so he was only eating a bag of goldfish in class for a snack in the whole 7+ hours he was at school. He decided to try the drink one day and was hooked- I'm so happy! I just have to make sure I have them on hand all time. 

We love Erik and are so happy to be able to celebrate him!

Band to the Future!

 It's hard to believe the marching band season is over. The past couple of months have been full of weekends with either Friday football game performances or competitions. The past two weekends have been the biggest competitions. Last weekend was States at Ford Field in Detroit. PCEP, being the closest high school to Ford Field and with a strong band program, always provides the parent volunteers to run the whole event. From bus greeters to band guides and even members of the hospitality crew to provide refreshments to the judges and band directors, we do it all and then get a lot of the proceeds from the event as one of our major fundraisers. My friend was the volunteer in charge of the volunteers from PCEP and somehow she convinced me to assist her with that. We had to be there from 5:15 am to 11pm. Luckily, I was able to go home an hour and a half early because our volunteers had all showed up for their shifts to the very end and I wasn't needed to train and cover for those who didn't show. I was tired but fulfilled and best of all, I got to hear band music all day! PCEP's flight (band level) was in the first section this year, so they also had a very early morning, though they got to go home by noon, whereas the parents who were volunteering still had to stay! They ranked 5th in the state for their flight. It wasn't a great placement, we thought they would do better, especially since they were scheduled for Nationals the next weekend. 

For the next few days, they practiced very hard. They had to leave for Nationals in Indianapolis on Wednesday evening. Their preliminary performance was on Thursday. There were 100 bands there from around the nation. I had scheduled a hotel there for Friday and Saturday nights for myself, with the hopes that they would make at least the semi-finals, which they have made every single year. They're the only band that has made the semi-finals every year since attending Nationals. 

I arrived just in time to see the awards ceremony. Out of the 100 schools, 30 were chosen to be in the semis. They were announced in no certain order, and guess who was announced 30th? Yes, PCEP. We had to wait through 29 excruciating announcements of bands until they finally announced Plymouth Canton Educational Park. We were sweating bullets! 

They were to compete at 8:30 am the next morning and the announcements on Friday night ended late, so we had to get to bed quickly! Kai had some intense knee pain during some of the practices leading up, especially on Friday. They had to give her lots of painkillers and she even had to use crutches to stay off it for a while. At one that morning she suffered from some food poisoning, she thinks, but somehow was able to get up at 4:30 and then was on the field by 8:30, ready to perform. They did amazing! 

While they were unwinding at their hotel, I was enjoying watching all the other bands. There is some fantastic talent in the marching band world. I was blown away! American Fork High School was there, a couple schools from Florida and the south, a few from Texas and Oklahoma, and a bunch from the midwest. Two schools from Michigan. 

When the semis were over, I knew we probably wouldn't make finals, and we didn't, but I was still so proud of PCEP and all the time and effort put into their performance. Theirs was more of a storyline than other school's performances, but I loved it! The schools that went to the finals were the top 12 of the 30. They didn't announce what we placed after those 12 were announced. We were happy to have gone as far as we did. 

I loved visiting Indianapolis! A canal runs right through the city; my room was right next to it! I enjoyed walking back and forth from the stadium to my hotel on the canal and through other parts of the city. It snowed all day on Saturday, so that made everything more magical! A thing to note is the Lucas Oil Stadium is indoors, so we didn't sit in the freezing cold. 

I can't wait until next year. I will bring Jason and the boys, now that I know what to expect. Lots of money, lots of walking, lots of bands, but all so worth it!

Kai, on crutches after hours of practice.

Warming up on the field before their semi-final performance. You can see Kai's little head amongst the band. 

Hamming it up!

I love this formation in the show- the heart.

The view outside my room- the canal!

Here it is from the lower level.

Walking along the canal.

The capital building on the way to the stadium.

My car, before I left after I wiped it with my gloved hands a couple of times. Don't worry, I cleared it before I drove home, but my hood was still covered in snow until a few hours into the drive. I hadn't put my snow scraper in the car yet!

In case you missed it on social media, here's the performance. https://youtu.be/MDqUfwvu6IU