Quick Takes Friday

1-
Charlotte is 5 now...5!  I'm having trouble getting over that fact.  She had a really fun swimming party on Saturday, which we then followed with a trip out of town for a visit to the library, church and dinner at her favorite restaurant (she's 5, so it's probably no shock that her favorite restaurant is McDonalds.)  A pretty awesome day all around until we got home and took her temperature because she was acting really fussy, and found out it was 103.  But, we got it down, sent her to bed and she was fine the next day.

2-
This week was insanely busy - Charlotte had an extra day of preschool (for their Thanksgiving feast), we all had dentist appointments, and then there was Catechism classes, Girl Scouts, Bible study, and hubby had an eye appointment.  That's a lot of driving around.  Good news is: today is our last day of school until after Thanksgiving.  That being said, I guess I'm not feeling too ambitious today, since it is now 1 1/2 hours after our normal school starting time, and the girls are happily playing in the playroom (and I am happily playing on the computer!)  But, since we don't have to leave the house today, I have ALL afternoon to do school (YEAH!)

3-
Well, we don't HAVE to leave the house today, but Puss in Boots (in 3D) is showing at the movie theatre in town, so we may leave the house this evening to celebrate the beginning of our Thanksgiving break!  Bonus for me, maybe I can convince the family that popcorn is a legitimate dinner option.

4-
We are finally starting EPIC, a study of church history this weekend.  Not really sure how many people are going to be able to come this first time, but EPIC has 20 sessions, and we are planning on once a month - of course, taking off time for summer and harvest most likely, so I think it will be about a 3 year study.  I guess that works out fine, because right now we are doing Volume 2 of Connecting with History, and it is used in Volume 3, and I assume will be used in Volume 4.

5-
Monday will be Homeschool Picture Day - sad news is that I usually schedule it during our planned school time, so the girls usually get an unexpected day off.  This year, I managed to schedule it for during our break.  It should be fun, though.  The girls have very pretty purple dresses, and I am contemplating taking in their pink Christmas tree (that Eva bought on clearance last year) for the pictures, or is that too much?  We'll also be doing birthday pictures, so I still need to figure out what the girls will wear for those.  I'm only 2 1/2 months late on Eva's birthday, but for the first time, Charlotte is getting her birthday pictures taken AFTER her birthday!

6-
I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I am excited about having everyone over.  My parents and brother are even coming down (and my brother finally found a job after being unemployed more than 2 years!  Yeah!)  We will have 21 people, which isn't that big of a deal (I don't think I've had a holiday with much fewer than 15 since we've been married) but we are having difficulty figuring out what to do for tables.  I'd like to get a big folding banquet table (like 8 feet long) but they all appear to be around $150.  I can find 6 ft tables for under $40, so I was contemplating getting two of those, but I bought tablecloths for Thanksgiving (because I don't own any, and I hate having to borrow and iron MIL's tablecloths) and the bigger one I bought is too short for two 6 foot tables (120 in).  We will just have to see if I find a creative solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

7-
Hubby's grandpa is so funny.  He is always worried about how much I spend when we host Thanksgiving - last time, he tried to give me money for the meal (and to be honest, I think I spent less than $50 last time - since everyone always wants to bring stuff, I don't have to make too much stuff), and this time, he asked hubby if I had bought the turkey yet.  Well, no - because we just got a huge amount of beef in our freezer, and haven't had time to use it - so grandpa said that he'd buy the turkey.  Not only that, he called hubby a few hours later to ask him if a 14 lb turkey would be enough or if he should buy two (since it was the biggest one he could find).  Since I have MIL bringing an extra meat (not sure if it will be ham or prime rib, or what) I think 14 lbs will be more than enough.  So, basically, I am down to making stuffing and a pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake (with the pumpkin Charlotte got at preschool) and cooking the turkey - so I think I'll buy some wine this year!