Holiday report part 1

November was a pretty busy month. We got used to Addie’s preschool schedule with no trouble, and she still loves it. Today she got to take a big poster with pictures we picked out that was “All About Addison”. We practiced what she was say to her class while telling them about the pictures, and I typed up little captions underneath so that the teachers might be able to prompt her or translate if they couldn’t understand her. But her teacher told me that Addie said pretty much word for word what was written on the posterboard while she was talking! They have one child present their poster every week. Now I know why Addie was telling me so much about a little girl named McKenna’s trip to Alaska.

Addison went camping with her Grammie and my brother’s daughter Sarah (2) for a couple of days before Thanksgiving. She had a lot of fun! My sister and other niece came down early and then went to Matt’s parents’ farm for the day with us. Addie, Sarah and Grammie met us there, and Addison was in hog heaven to have Cammie to play with! We all had a good time, running around and eating and going on the hayride. It was hot and humid during the day ,and then about 4 pm a big wind gusted up once, and then twice, and with the 2nd gust the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Just like that. It was in less than 30 seconds. And man it got cold cuick! We had to break out Casey’s coat to keep her warm!



We do have a little bit of fall here!



Up on the haystacks



Aunt Caiti and Ryan



Addie and Farmer Cammie



Me and my niece Sarah - one of the only times she wasn't crying when I came close.



Ryan with turkey and Sarah



That weekend, I headed to Baton Rouge by MYSELF for a few days to visit my friend Kate. Her house is not really built to accommodate 4 extra housegusts (and she’s still nuring a baby at night too), so it was just easier for me to come alone. Matt took a couple of days off of work and was fully immersed in the kids for 4 days straight. I had a good time hanging out and laughing with Kate, and we are starting to plan our 2011 road trip to Napa, California for an old friend’s wedding in June. Woohoo!



Now that Abrielle moves everywhere, fun times like this are ahead for Kate and the girls



The Pied Piper and the Rat (sorry Kate!)



Matt took another half day off and went to the zoo with us. They were doing a preview of the African Forest section that is not yet officially open, and it had been nearly a year since Matt’s gone with us, so that was fun. The weather was great.



New drums in the African Forest at the zoo





Riding the carousel



I had a preliminary screening done for Addison for speech, and this Friday is our big assessment to see if any therapy might be needed. She has a couple of sounds that she has trouble with, and that are on the borderline of being considered “delayed” for her age, but overall the teacher said she officially was not considered a candidate for therapy. Due to the oddness of Addie’s G sound (or lack thereof), the teacher was able to squeeze in a recommendation for the full assessment. Basically it means we will go to speech therapy once a week or so, if they decide she needs it. Nothing big.

  

What else? This weekend we have a dress rehearsal for Addie’s first Christmas progrm at church, then a birthday party, and then the adults Christmas party for our Sunday school group. Next week, we have a MOPS Christmas party (my group), a cookie exchange with the rest of MOPS, and a Christmas party with book exchange at Addie’s school – the parents are invited! And then next weekend is Christmas at the farm with Matt’s family, and then my sister is coming for a few days, and that takes us right up to Christmas! Yikes! I’ve been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving and I still can’t get enough of it.