Here are the pictures we had taken on Thanksgiving weekend. The main picture I MEANT to have taken was of the three kids, but none of those turned out.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but yearbook deadline season is here, so most days I'm at work til dinnertime. Sometimes Jackie brings the kids to me and sometimes I go home, get them and go back. I was supposed to be observed during the last two weeks but that didn't work out. Furthermore, I've had substitutes twice since I went back to work; once for an essay-grading session and last week for training to become an official rater for LEP student writing (yet another new state mandate that even requires me to take two tests--one now and another online in the spring!).

Last weekend, Paloma and Gabe were too sick to go to church, and by Tuesday night I was burning up with a fever. I had to go to work on Wednesday anyway because I wasn't ready for the sub that was coming for me to go to that training. And then I was feeling better by the time the weather caused us to have a snow day. It was lovely to be home and get caught up (almost) on laundry before the weekend. We thought this would free us up to decorate the house, but we still haven't even gotten out the tree, unfortunately.

The outside lights went out last week. I encouraged David to do it last Sunday since it was in the 70s outside, but it turned out to actually get up to 89 degrees that day (very odd for me to break a sweat in December!).

In my "free time", I've been trying to get a Christmas card together and David & I have been working on a project in memory of my grandmother who died a year ago this week. I really got choked up when working on this on Thursday.

Sometime I will tell about the crime mysteries unfolding in our household in the last few weeks, but I am too tired tonight and have miles to go before I sleep. Let's just say that David and I are happy to have our wedding rings back and I am thrilled to have my cell phone back after it was missing for 12 days--we had suspended service with Sprint and I had bid on several replacements on eBay before it reappeared!

I would like to note for the record that Paloma is as sweet as can be and I'm sad to not have a better record of how she's growing so fast!