Full of thanks

I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. Bold claim? I love that it's all about family, friends, and food (and football), not about the stuff, though we did get each of the kids a new toy to keep them entertained :) I also love that we don't have to travel. We've hosted most of the last 7 or 8 Thanksgivings at our house, and last year, only had to go one mile over to B's.

We had another excellent Thanksgiving this year. We we lucky to have both Jason's parents and my parents in town. Betsy, Archie, James, and George came over as well. We had a pretty full house, but still missed everyone else who couldn't be there to celebrate with us.

Betsy, Archie, and I started out the day with the Evanston Flying Turkey 5k. It was a pretty nice day for a run -- in the low 50s with just a teeny tiny bit of rain. I think we earned our Thanksgiving dinner! And then we spent the rest of the day cooking, eating, and hanging out with everyone. It was a good day from start to finish.

Two turkeys about to run the Evanston Flying Turkey

Kids table

Post Thanksgiving snuggles

Winding down with Magna Tiles

Pre-Thanksgiving -- watching Paw Patrol with Grandpa

Happy Thanksgiving!! Next up ... my other favorite holiday! Time to turn on the Christmas carols and get shopping :)

Mini me?

Molly used to be the spitting image of Jason, but I think she is looking more like me every day!

Obviously, I wasn't quite as picky about my clothes ...

Also, as an update to an earlier post, it seems Molly has started to turn things around at school. She said her teacher whispered to her in a quiet voice the other day that she was doing really well with her listening. That's what I like to hear!

An interview with my daughter

Answers to 15 questions (because she lost interest before I could get to 20).

What is your favorite...

• Color? Pink (still holding strong with pink ...)
• Song? Shut Up + Dance - Walk the Moon (we like to sing this at top volume in the car, it takes me back to the 80s)
• TV show? Star Wars Rebels (a cartoon set in the years between Episodes III and IV)
• Movie? Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Thing to do? Play at the park
• Sport? Swimming (she's definitely more comfortable in the water now)
• Book? Lucky Duck (recently checked out with her very own library card)
• Toy? Good old Barbie (I must admit, I do like the latest Barbie commercial)
• Friend? Larry (a friend from soccer who is also in her Kindergarten class and the before and after care program)
• Food? Mac and cheese (stock answer)
• Dessert? Popsicles
• Restaurant? Trattoria D.O.C.
• Place to go? To a castle (good timing for a Disney trip!)

What do you wish you could do?

• Learn to read (we're working on it!)

Final question ... what do you want for Christmas?

• A Star Wars bike with lightsabers on it (Good luck with that one, Santa!)

School rules

We're a couple of months in now and things are still going pretty well at school, but we have hit a few bumps. Interestingly enough, I think Molly prefers the before and after care program to Kindergarten ... probably because she can be her goofy self there without having to worry about so many rules.

Yes, my sweet child has had a little bit of trouble following the rules these last few days. She's been chatting with friends, not listening, and just being a little too social in general for her teacher's liking.

It's hard, as a parent, because I feel like I'm also getting in trouble whenever the teacher pulls me aside or calls me about a problem at school. I also feel bad for Molly, because I know she's starting to feel like she's always making mistakes. She's been really good about turning things around whenever I have to talk to her about something. But then something new will pop up that the teacher doesn't like. There seems to be a lot of stuff that the teacher doesn't like ... but I have to save my frustration for the blog and just try to help the Molls be a better listener :)

I don't want to be one of those parents who can't accept that her child isn't a perfect angel. Molly doesn't always listen to me, so why would I think she'd always listen at school? But I also don't really think I need to receive a call at work because Molly pretended to lick a friend on the arm. Ha! Jason and I decided that one wasn't worth talking to her about, but then it backfired when he tried to make light of it by asking if she was acting like a puppy in class. She acted like she didn't know what he was talking about and then totally broke down crying. Stressed much?

She still likes school (for now) and is having a blast at after care. She's even picked up an admirer. We ran into one of the first grade boys from after care over the weekend and he completely spazzed out when he saw Molly. His mom looked at Jason and whispered, "Crush. He doesn't know how to act around her." Adorable.

It's early, we're still figuring this all out. I can't get too worried about it yet. Hopefully Molly can keep up her enthusiasm for school while also learning how to follow all the rules.

May the force be with you

A belated "Happy Halloween" from my 2 favorite Star Wars fans:

Storm Trooper and Chewie

And because the Kindergarteners were not allowed to wear masks to school (too many collisions in Halloweens past ...), Molly was also a witch for her very first Halloween parade:

I also wore this hat to hand out candy when Molly was running around as Chewbacca

She wants us to come to her school events and then shuns us when we're there! Ha! 

A few of Molly's friends and their parents came over to our house after trick or treating and it ended up being a pretty fun night. I'm glad Molly's making new friends at her school and that we are too. Happy Halloween!