Pitch Party!!!

mr. curtis decided that he was in the mood to play some pitch so we called the johnson's and harden's to come over and learn. I have played somethings like it before (hearts, spades and maybe pitch) but it has been so long that a refresher was needed!!! I decided at the last minute that we could NOT have a pitch party without crazy hats (a long running tradition of ours while playing cards!) It is just so much more fun to play cards and not take yourself so seriously when wearing a crazy hat!!!

the SEE-STERS

Randy aka Chachi and I


da boyz (Heath had cat ears on top of his hat at one point---until they fell off and we found Bruiser chewing on them!! Darn dog!)

The kids were all snuggled up on the chair together--sooooo cute!! I love that the girls have a brother in Davin. He is so good to them and has a strong relationship with each girl differently. He is a very special guy to us!!

and then there was my early bird. Ads is always the first to crash no matter what is going on!!

It was a good night had by all! We didn't get many rounds of pitch in (maybe 3 or four) once we got the hang of it! but we didn't care...it was fun to laugh and visit!!

The Curtis/Harden/Johnson Annual Christmas Dinner

Each year we get together with the Harden's and the Johnson's for a little seasonal celebration. This year Heath made brisket and we made eggnog in Dave's new blender.

Here are the kiddos having their gift exchange After we ate we played a homemade game of "Would you Rather...?"

We each put slips of paper into the hat listing two options of things you would rather do and the person who drew it read it aloud and chose the lesser of the two evils!!!

As you can imagine with this group the slips of paper got pretty interesting. Much to his dismay many of the options included "...or wear Dave's holiday sweater?" (as seen below)

There is of course nothing wrong with Dave's sweater but we were giving him a hard time because he had also worn it on Thanksgiving (see those pics for confirmation!) so we assumed it was his FESTIVE holiday sweater!!!

And as if he hasn't been picked on enough this year, (I KNOW you all saw the post of his BUMBUM on a Christmas card!!!!) someone suggested we all take pictures wearing "the sweater." Here is Dave probably sick of us and wishing he wouldn't have worn this sweater tonight!!

Heath "Excitement " Curtis as the Harden's call him

Dave's SIL Anna (who he picks on ENDLESSLY) happily donning the sweater!

Uncle Randy aka Chachi looking not too shabby!

Silly Auntie Teresa!

they thought I looked best with my hair tucked into le sweater!

Getting Cros Cros in on the fun!!

As always we laughed our heads off and had a great time with our extended family!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is the toughest holiday for me... I don't have family on my side to get together with and the 2 big girls were both gone for the holiday so mom, heath, and I decided not to do the whole big dinner. It is pretty sad but that is just how it is for us right now. We decided that no matter what we would have a dinner at our house next year on Thanksgiving Day even if it is just us (we will have the big girls next year ). It is hard when I think about it too much...with my dad and grandparents being gone and the rest of my family spread out all over the world...we really are thankful to have my mom and Heath's family but I miss my brother's family and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins soo much this time of year. So HECK with it...we had an invite to go with our oldest friends, the Madrigals, to celebrate with them. We went out to David and Jennifer's (who is also Adler's teacher at school) for lunch. We ate a ton of great food and then just relaxed for a while after. Heath had to go to work for a little bit, so we were back home by four.

Paisley napping with her auntie Teresa

Uncle Dave and his thanksgiving turtleneck sweater!!

The Johnson's

Jennifer Madrigal

And I think we are going to have to move to the country! Crosby had so much fun just running and playing all over outside at their house! If we had a house with some land like this we probably wouldn't see much of her...she is just a PLAYER!!! She loves to be outside no matter the temperature!

Dia de Los Muertos

I am finishing up my last few days of teaching before maternity leave. Today Anna came with me to observe for the second time. Anna is going to be doing my long term sub while I am at home with the baby. It is so nice to know that one of my good friends is taking care of my class while I am gone! She is going to do an awesome job! It is so nice that it worked out so this way... Anna is in the teaching program at Southwestern to be a science teacher. She decided to sub this semester to get experience before she student teaches in the fall. So we are both pumped about how everything has worked out. We had our monthly FLC (Foreign Language Club) meeting at school today. We talked a little about Dia de Los Muertos (a spanish holiday) and the kids made sugar skulls and ate my homemade chips and salsa. It was a little chaotic but I think the kids had fun. Anna put together all of the sugar mixture, she was in wet sugar to her armpits!! Welcome, my friend to the world of teaching!!!