Birthday and Thanksgiving

Last Wednesday was Cody's 24th birthday, but we had the party on the Saturday before that. As usual, the family combines his with Casey's birthday for one big fun time. Here's a picture of their cake:

Cody and his gifts:

Casey with his new "man bag" for work:
We had our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple....
Here's our feast:
My favorite table - the dessert table!!
Along with the cranberry sauce and rolls, I brought these little pecan pie things.
Aidan was our entertainment for the day! This picture is from when Michelle was giving him some punch - he LOVED it and couldn't stop drinking! There's nothing better than a big cup of pink sugar!
Our first Christmas tree. We actually set it up and started decorating the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait anymore! I'm so proud of myself four having gifts bought and wrapped already and it's still November! I already have 5 people's gifts completed! I'm doing good this year.

So that's what's been going on in our lives lately. I only have 2 1/2 more weeks of student teaching - then I graduate! I can't wait to be totally done with everything. Tomorrow begins mock TAKS test - boo! It's going to be the most boring week ever. I wish I could bring a book to read. Oh well.. I'll survive.

In other news - Amy and Matthew got engaged! : ) We are so excited for them!! Her engagement ring is BEAUTIFUL! Amy - you can start a blog now and it won't be weird.. haha!

2008 Presedential Election Vocabulary

Because of the election tomorrow, my mentor teacher at school planned a week's worth of lessons about the election. I didn't realize how fun it was going to be! Today, with each of my four classes, we got a set of vocabulary words about the election. The students were to use these words in a sentence. I love reading the sentences they come up with.. but these were so much more fun! Along with their vocabulary words, they had to write an "I wonder" sentence about what they wonder about the elections outcomes.

Vocabulary words: ballot, election, Democratic Party, Republican Party, inauguration, Barack Obama, John McCain, voter registration

They had the definitions to each word and I explained them very carefully so they could use them in sentences... and this is what we got:

Election
The people was at the election.

Democratic Party
They had a Democratic Party yesterday.
When did they first throw their Democratic Party?
I wish I could go to the Democratic Party.

Inauguration
My brother does not know what inauguration is.
I wonder when HEB Plus inauguration.

Barack Obama
Barack Obama was once a president.

Voter Registration
I am not registration to vote.

Now for the "I wonder" statements...
Most people put this: "I wonder who will win the election." or "I wonder if Barack Obama will win the election." Only one person wondered what will happen to John McCain.
But then we had some others:
I wonder if Oracka Obama will win.
I wonder if Obama will be assassinated before he is elected.

Then...I had some great conversations with the kids:

Kid: So... Mrs. Bean... what is the Decorated Party? Is that where you decorate a party...
Me: No, it's the Democratic Party.. it has nothing to do with parties.

Me: (Quizzing children about the candidates) Ok.. which party is Barack Obama in?
Kid: Black!

Kid: We need a president so we can get a new mall.

Kid: Mrs. Bean, did you vote?
Me: Yes.
Kid: Who did you vote for?
Me: Don't worry about it, it's not any of your business.
Kid: I bet you voted for John McCain.
Me: Why do you say that?
Kid: Y'all are the same color.
Me: Mmmmk.

Since I work in a school of mostly black children, it's very interesting to see what they are thinking about the election. Clearly, they all want Obama to win. And I think it's interesting to see that some of them, from conversations, think it's about race. Who knows what their parents tell them. I will only get more interesting as the week goes on....

Halloween and Football

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!! I love to see the little trick-or-treaters in their cute costumes! And I love to carve pumpkins. Me and Cody each got our own pumpkin to carve. Our apartments are pretty plain looking on the outside, so we had to spruce it up with our pumpkins! Too bad they shriveled up... they weren't cute for long!

This is our "porch"

For the past few years, Cody has gotten his pumpkin stencils from www.homestarrunner.com.... This year's pumpkin was Trogdor. Notice the toothpick holding the teeth. He accidently cut them off!

My pumkin was cute the first day. I forgot to take a picture before the sun shriveld it up. I had to secure it with a toothpick to keep it from falling over. It looked totally different when it was first carved. Some edges actually disappeared so it looks really strange.

On Halloween night, we made three stops. First, my older brother was in town after a deer hunting trip in Oklahoma so we had Olive Garden (YUM) with him and my family. Then we stopped by my old neighborhood to see some friends. They usually have a cute little spook house on their front porch. It brought back lots of memories of my childhood trick-or-treating days. We had so much fun back then!!! After that stop, we headed to Cody's parents to pass out candy and make smores. It was so fun. Me and Carrie actually had some of our students stop by. They seem shocked that we do things outside of school. After a while, the Ruckers stopped by after their church Halloween thing. Good thing they did because I finally got to wear a costume! I borrowed Aimee's pumpkin costume for a while!

Today, West Brook played Sterling. My uncle is the head coach for Sterling, so all of the family came to see the game. We had to sit on the Sterling side... West Brook won though.. sorry Uncle Herb!

Here's the gang: Grandma, Lynda, Dave, John, David, Dad, Darlene, and Courtney

Here's West Brook's band (or what's left of it...)

Marching....

Uncle Herb in action!

So - we've had a fun couple of days. And we should be having lots more because of the upcoming holidays and Cody's birthday. This is my favorite time of the year, and I'm so glad I get to spend it all with Cody! I love being married.. it's so fun.