And oh yeah, we probably should get the Christmas tree up at some point.

Big and juicy.

That's how the ENT described Andrew's tonsils and adenoids after he took them out.  Lovely.

A month earlier, when the ENT took one look at Andrew's tonsils and said, "Oh yeah" I knew surgery was around the corner. And that was the easy part. The surgery went just fine. And then we had to deal with the aftermath. Four days of vomiting everything except Gatorade, being startled out of sleep by a cowbell beckoning us to Andrew's side, a lethargic boy with barely enough energy to lay and the couch watch ESPN, communicating through writing notes and a crude form of sign language that strangely enough I could understand, and the loss of 8 pounds (on Andrew's part, not mine).

These pictures are from the day after.  Andrew still had rosy cheeks, enough energy to sit up and play some PS3, unsunken eyes free from dark circles, and a smile.  Milli came over to snuggle and watch over him and give him some kisses.  (And clean my kitchen floor for me.)  The day after wasn't so bad.

The next three days, however, were pretty brutal on the poor kid.  He was wasting away to practically nothing.  I threatened to take him in to the ER, which horrified him.  He was terrified at the thought of having another IV in his hand.  My threats didn't do much good though, as he refused everything for fear of throwing it all back up.

While toying with the idea of becoming extremely freaked out with my son's condition, Sunday I talked to a resident friend of mine and realized that anything they did in the hospital would pretty much be the same thing I would be doing at home.  So with great hope that we could avoid another bruise to the back of Andrew's hand, we picked up some Pedialyte (nasty stuff), mixed it with some soda, and voila!  It stayed down.  Not only did it stay down, but so did some applesauce and toast at dinner.  And some appetizer's at Sister Jones' open house.  And he has slept all night for two nights in a row.  I hate to be so bold, but I dare say we have turned a corner.

Poor Andrew has been such a trooper through all this.  No complaining (was that just because he can't talk???), only a couple times crying (which I was grateful for because he had tears--not fully dehydrated!), and being willing to sleep during the day, which normally is like his worst nightmare.

I know that in the long run this was a good thing for him, and that someday his wife will thank me.  Because now, when he's sleeping, he is SILENT.  I know, because I tried to sleep next to him in my bed one night.  Yeah, that didn't work out so much.  But it wasn't due to any snoring, that's for sure.

Hold on to your horses.

It's hard to believe, but this little butterball...

...is now ten years old!

With burritos and nachos for dinner, cherry cheesecake (courtesy of Daryl!) as his cake of choice, and the whole family to help celebrate, Andrew has officially entered our family into a whole new category. 

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Location, location, location.

So Emma tried out and qualified for the Geography Bee at school. She was a reluctant competitor. But she ended up taking all but two students down, and after a fierce run-off, ended up as the third place winner! I don't think she really expected it.

I was working at the school that day and just happened to have my camera with me. I was excited to watch it and hear all the kids cheer each other on.

I thought the questions got harder as it went on, and was completely stumped at the final one, which was essentially, "Which country is Timbuktu in?"  At home that night, however, I was very quickly put to shame by all three girls, who immediately knew the answer was Mali.  All righty then.  No Geo Bees for me.

She got a rather large trophy for her efforts.

Even though the state which shares the Bitterroot Mountain Range with Montana eluded her, Emma did a super job and we are super impressed with her geography skills.

Winter Concerts, round 3

4th grade musical

Elfis and the Sleigh Riders

Andrew's line: "I think I am going to cry!"

He got some laughs for that one!

LOVE the second soloist in this song.  It was such a neat surprise to hear this quiet little girl have such a big voice!  I asked her if she was going to try out for American Idol and I think I scared her.  She would totally have my vote!

P.S. Not included--a jazz band concert.  I decided to just listen and enjoy instead of worrying about the camera.  It's a lot to get to all these performances, but the kids are so talented and they get better and better every year.  In all reality, it's a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

Winter Concerts, round 2

6th grade orchestra, Greensleeves, and choir

This is Greensleeves, a group of kids who meet in the mornings to practice.

Winter Concerts, round 1

8th grade band and choir

(This song from the band is good, but I really wish that I had been recording the song from Pirates of the Caribbean like I thought I was, because that song was exceptional.)

WINTERfest? Not hardly.

I had read about a Winterfest activity that was going on downtown the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  There would be free concerts, free activities, a tree lighting, fireworks, and food trucks! I saw a lot of free-ness was involved, so I got the fam on board and we headed down.

The thing about that day was not necessarily the activities. The thing was the weather. It was the most gorgeous fall day. No coats! For the end of November that is remarkable. So pretty much it didn't matter what we were doing...watching a lame non-holiday concert, getting confused by the Occupy Cleveland signs that were projected onto the side of one of the buildings, taking a long time to decide which food truck to get dinner from, camping out on Public Square to wait for a Radio Disney performance, suffering through too many Glee-wannabes stuffed onto the stage, or being shocked by the lounge-lizard singing Santa who popped out of a box...it was just amazing to be outside.

Ok, ok, we get it!  We don't understand it, but we get it.  Now go home.

Heading to the Old Stone Church for a concert.  While the church was beautiful inside, the music left a lot to be desired.  We walked out early...into the lovely fall sunshine.

A couple police horses to pet.  They were stinky.

Dinner would be from the strEAT food truck.

Pulled pork (cooked in root beer!) sandwiches!  Yum!

4 cheese mac 'n cheese for the some of the littles.

Ok, one person was wearing a coat.

Is that Michael Buble under that beard?

Tower City and the tree all lit up

Cleveland sure does love its fireworks.  They always do 'em up right!

It's beginning to look more like a California Christmas, if you ask me! We'll take it!  (Till the 25th.  Then I want snow!)

Thanksgiving love.

As much as I can't be bothered with Halloween, I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  It is a day of dreams for me.  The lounging around, catching a couple Broadway songs during the Macy's parade, scouring Black Friday ads, planning shopping strategies, preparing food, delegating out food preparation, family, and finally!  Eating the most miraculous dinner known to man.

We hosted this year, but I felt like I didn't have much to do.  I handled the turkey, dressing, and cranberry jello salad, Melissa did the mashed potatoes, Jill did the green salad and sweet potatoes, and Glenn's mom did the croissants and green bean casserole.  Dessert was a group effort between Melissa, Jill, and the Ryans. Apple. Pumpkin. Pecan. Key Lime. Cheesecake. And some divine brownie peanut butter concoction (that I may have to ask for when my birthday rolls around).  I mean seriously.  If one was to hold that dinner up as an example of all American dinners, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that this is the land of plenty.

The fun really began as we began getting serious about Black Friday shopping.  Tyler started thinking that he might want to come along with my sisters and me.  He had his eye on an Xbox and some potential birthday and Christmas money burning a hole in his pocket.  We decided that we'd try heading to Target at midnight instead of going the usual 5:00 am route.  We would brave the elements, and Tyler would brave standing in line for an hour or so with us three crazy girls.

After freezing outside in line, watching some drama take place over some cutting in line, and then after standing in yet another line once we got into the store, the whole trip ended up being a success.  Tyler, getting more and more anxious as we approached the pharmacy counter (all electronic deals were found there), proved to be a perfect gentleman by carrying packages and holding the doors.  He impressed my sisters by scoffing at the potty-mouthed teenagers in front of us and denouncing Grand Theft Auto.  He was a good shopper and a good sport for being willing to be seen with the three of us, that's for sure.  And it must not have been too horrible for him because he has said he wants to go back out with us next year.

I don't know...for small and simple reasons, this day might just have to be added to my list of best days ever.  Perfection.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

The day before Thanksgiving Glenn worked from home, and when he decided to wander downstairs, we all decided to wander down to the Cleveland Art Museum and Little Italy.

Art.

More art.

Gazing down upon the art.

The hall of armor.

Is this anything?

Yes, I was there, too.

Heading to Presti's for pizza and subs.  The pizza needed more cheese.

Heading to Corbo's for cannoli.

Delish.

We got our own private dining room.  It felt like we were part of the Family.

Yay for Cleveland and all the fun things to do here!

Social networking.

Brooke has been quite the busy little lady recently.  The day after Halloween she up and left for Mohican with the rest of the 6th graders.  She was so excited to go and had no qualms about leaving.  After all, she pointed out, she's been away from home before.

Mohican was great for her because she got to spend the week with her friends (with fabulous weather, I might add!), and it was great for us because we got to sing all the songs from her summer play in their entirety without her yelling at us to stop. Too bad we didn't think of this till the last night.

 

She and her friends all got matching necklaces, which she still wears pretty much every day.  She had such a great time she plum wore her self out, and despite assurances that she didn't need a nap, promptly fell asleep on the couch after arriving home.

Brooke and her friends have a very active social life, at least for their age.  There are always some sort of plans being made, usually via chatting online just about every day after school.  She has gone to see one friend in a play and will see another on Saturday.  And this is with a whole group of girls.  There are invitations to "hang out," which I guess is the new "play date."  Tomorrow is mix-it-up day at school and the girls are dressing up as each other--not quite sure what that means besides making t-shirts that say "Hi! I'm _______!" and on Brooke's part, wearing a headband.  Because that's what her friend does.  The girl who is dressing up like Brooke is wearing skinny jeans and her hair down (which sets her apart from every other 6th grader how?) and writing "I was born to be a star!" on the back of her t-shirt.  Now that makes sense.

Despite all these big plans, Brooke still had time for a  special night with her dad.  The activity days girls had a fun Daddy-Daughter Night.  It was a 50's theme, complete with poodle skirts for all the girls (their leaders are amazing).  Brooke loved hanging out with her dad, and came home with stories of how he tried to flip her (you know, that 50's dance move?) but she was having none of it.

Whew.  It makes me tired just writing it.  And she's only 11.  I hate to think of how it's going to be in junior high (next year!!!), or when she's 14 and going to stake dances, or when she turns 16 and starts....ok, I can't think about that.  For right now, I am happy that she has a good little group of friends who are nice girls, and that she is so happy with her life.  I can only hope it stays this way forever.