Well we enjoyed the treats from Halloween, but we did not like the tricks very much. On Monday morning Tom walked out to our cars parked in the driveway overnight to discover that both of our vehicles had been broken into and several items stolen. We lost both GPS systems, Tom's work laptop and Scott's DS game. We usually park in the garage, but with the Halloween party the night before, our garage was full of tables and chairs. In the 13 years we have lived here, we only had one other break in to Tom's car with nothing seriously taken-change and an electric razor. This was a bit more serious, and more expensive. So I called the police and they no longer make housecalls I guess. You just phone in your report or file online! So Tom did the online method and called the insurance company and we cancelled our credit card just in case. What a pain. We had to stop into the bank to pick up new temporary cards, and Tom has had to backtrack to get all his security clearance back. Not to mention the data he lost from presentations that he had in his laptop and on backup disks in the briefcase. I can imagine our stuff is probably sitting in the pawn shop in the town of Catonsville nearby. Tom thinks everything went for sale on ebay. Let me know if you see any of our stuff! I was just glad that my car was so new and did not have too much stuff in it to steal. I think it is jinxed though since the week before I had to take it into the dealership to have the DVD player replaced. Now I am waiting for the dealership to send back our netflix DVD that was stuck inside! At least our thief/thieves didn't rip out the radio or the DVD player! Anyhow, it has the kids a little freaked out. None of our other neighbors seemed to have had any problems. Guess we are just the popular house.
I didn't have much time to worry about our lost items. Tom went off to Charlottesville, VA to work for the week. I was busy with the kids homework assignments and studying for tests. Allison finished her first semester with a second round of state assessments and Scott was right behind her since his first semester ends this coming week. At least Allison had Friday off. Scott was supposed to have a half day, but they rescheduled it for this coming week. Scott also had a cub scout meeting this past week, and I had my Girl Scout Leader meeting to attend.
On Friday I ended up taking Allison alone to the dentist office. She wound up with two small cavities on her molars, so she needs to go back for her first drilling(at age 14) and Scott will have his appointment next week also for a cleaning since he will have a half day. We are busy with our end of the year medical and dental appointments. I had to drop into the doctor's office to give blood for my yearly physical which is scheduled for this coming week. I would have liked to have had the H1N1 flu vaccine but our medical office does not have them in stock just yet. There are certainly alot of people getting sick around here with the flu, but not enough to close the schools. Allison healed up pretty well from her flu symptoms a week ago, but Tom and I keep harboring cold symptoms. Scott has been staying pretty healthy though. Glad someone is feeling good! He and I both had the regular flu shot. The tricky part is staying healthy enough to get the flu shot!
Scott's school has been busy celebrating our National Blue Ribbon award for school excellence. The principal spent two days last week in DC participating in the program honoring all the schools in the country that won the award. The school has been decked out in everything blue, including the fluourescent lights in the hallways, and the kids have received lots of blue trinkets including blue shoelaces, candy canes, pencils and even a blue fortune cookie! Tomorrow they get to dress in blue, and they can even spray their hair blue! And to thank all the parents the school put on a free dinner and DJ Saturday night. We went with our neighbors and enjoyed our cajun dinner with the Blue Bayou theme. They had the school gym all decked out in a Louisiana Blue Bayou setting and served hush puppies, jumbalaya and crayfish(I skipped the crayfish). But I really enjoyed the shrimp and crab cakes. We left when Tom had enough of the really loud DJ.
I was surprised I made it to the dinner last night on top of all the other activities I squeezed in on Saturday. I started the day out with a trip with the kids to Harpers Ferry for a hike with Scott's Environmental Club. Harper's Ferry is located west of Baltimore where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia all come together on the Shenendoah and Potomac rivers. There is a small historical town there and you can visit all the little shops. The town was very busy during the civil war days. There are lots of trains that pass by the town as well and travel through a tunnel cut into the mountain as it runs across the river on a bridge. We parked in the National Park and took a bus to the trailhead. It was a long hike up into the mountains but well worth it when we reached the rocky outcrop overlooking the town and the two rivers with the mountains in the back. The Appalachian trail runs through the area as well. The kids couldn't spend enough time climbing onto every rock and peeking into small caves. We parents didn't rest until the kids were off the overhangs and away from the edge of the cliffs. It was a long way down. And with all the leaves on the trails it was very slippery. Down near the river we only had to worry about the kids falling into the freezing water and getting swept downstream as they climbed from rock to rock at the waters edge. And their fearless leader Ms Buppert was no help as she was right down there with all of them. Along with the art teacher and her two year old pit bull Maxwell. At least Mr Bateman, the spanish teacher had more sense(he spent most of the day telling the kids to stop throwing rocks and to get down!). It really was a beautiful day and we had a great time. The kids would have loved to stay longer-as it is I stopped for a quick bite to eat and ice cream in town, but I had to get back home to sell girl scout cookies during the 430 mass. Allison and I still had to pick up cookies from my cookie mom and set up a table at church. We made it just in time. We only stayed for one mass though since I wanted to get home and clean up before the school dinner.
Tom stayed home during the day so he could cut the grass and rake leaves and knock a hole in the wall. I mentioned that our upstairs kids tub was leaking through the ceiling, so Tom pulled down all the drywall and replaced the rotted seal. Then he discovered a cracked pipe and had to fix that. So we decided since the wall was already torn up, we might as well install the french doors that I wanted between our family room and the play room(our old garage). And while he was busy installing things, I talked Tom into adding some more lighting. so Sunday we spent a few hours picking out a set of french doors and a ceiling fan with a built in light fixture as well as some decorative track lighting. Tom spent all day Sunday rewiring the switches and building the frame for the new doorway. So far it all looks great(except for the big mess he left me on the floor!).
Speaking of messes, Allison was a big help on Friday as she helped my deHalloween the house-both inside and out. I left her to make cookie booth sale posters though in the morning while I volunteered at the nursing home for my Dragon Boat race fundraiser for CAtholic Charities. Next year I will race again, but during the year we put on activities for our sponsor, a local nursing home. We made breakfast and helped serve it and passed out small gifts that we donated. I whipped up two batches of French Toast casserole so I had to time myself to get the dishes out of the oven and over to the nursing home right when they were serving up the meals. I also had to pick up groceries that day since Friday night I hosted a Pampered Chef party for mom's and daughter's. I originally planned the party for my girl scouts, and then opened it up to neighbors and fellow GS troops as well as coworkers to increase our sales opportunities. We get a portion of the sales and we are using the funds to help pay for our Holiday service projects-like cookies for the mental health patients and Christmas gifts for children at the Women's shelter. Plus the girl scouts earned part of their cooking badge by discussing cooking methods, and trialing different cooking tools while they made dessert. We also made a pork loin in a roaster in the microwave-a 3lb roast in just 18 mins! It was delicious. Along with a BBQ sauce that the rep mixed up from one of the Pampered Chef spice packets. We all had a lot of fun, and everyone bought a little something. Including myself.
Sound like a busy enough week? I have even more scheduled for the coming week, but it looks like I will have to cancel my Girl Scout fundraiser dance this coming Friday since everyone else is just as busy and I did not get enough participants this year. Although we will miss the income, I am not too upset. Next Friday is my birthday, and I can think of better ways to spend the time than supervising a bunch of bouncing Brownies and Juniors. And Allison will be able to attend her end of the year Field Hockey party. The Varsity team went on to win the County championship and now they are in the State Championships. Good Luck Vikings!

So as soon as I figure out how to find my photos on the computer I will send out lots of pictures of the kids and the many activities we have been participating in. Can you believe it is just 3 more weeks to Thanksgiving? Not to mention Christmas.
We don't have any definite plans=I am still waiting to hear about my time off requests from work. We do have Tom's parents scheduled for a visit early in December. We are looking forward to seeing them! We will probably spend Thanksgiving here at home and Christmas away somewhere.

Let us know what everyone else is doing for the holidays-Kathleen and Family