Needed a change....

I REALLY needed a change and a pick-me-up...this holiday season is a bit tougher for me without my mom. I guess I was more numb to it all last year and just in the mind-set of getting through all the first year milestones, but this year it is just settling in. Anyway, keeping busy and still enjoying the season, but it is an ever present force in my psyche.

Well, it was time to do my hair color - usually hi and low lights, but I decided to really go for a change...so, I am bright RED! I'll try to get a photo soon to post so that you can see, but if a change was what I was going for, then I got it! Still letting it (pardon the pun) grow on me, so the jury is out on that.

State Farm and the body shop decided that D's car was totaled...so, now David will be getting a new car for Christmas and Hanukkah. I am trying to convince him to let me put a huge bow on it like the commercials....he will be car shopping all weekend, but the good news is that I understand there are some FAB deals to be had on cars right now....and the other good news is that State Farm was very fair with us, and we didn't even have to go to the ropes with them....they have been great through this whole process.

Ethan has his first ever field trip tomorrow. The entire Kindergarten is going to see Nutcracker. I am VERY excited for him, and a bit nervous as well. I volunteered to be a parent chaperon/helper, but there isn't space, so they aren't taking any parents. Of course, the ratio is about 7 kids per teacher, so that's pretty good. They are dressing up, and he was so excited to help pick out his clothes. He wanted to wear a tie, but I told him he would need to wear it with a sweater vest as it will be too cold for a suit vest. We settled on something, and then he wanted to know which underwear would match :) and which shoes to wear. Once we had it all laid out, he said, 'I am going to look so handsome tomorrow'. I LOVE IT!

The boys are loving their karate. They have both earned several stripes on their white belts. They get to stripe test after 8 classes, and we are averaging 4 classes per week (they recommend a minimum of 2 per week)...once they get enough stripes, they get to test for the next belt. The next opportunity to belt test is early January, so not sure if they will be ready for that or not, but I am just thrilled that they are still so excited about going, learning and doing it all now that we are almost 2 months into it.

Ethan had his annual eye check up on Monday. He is still farsighted, but still has perfect vision and no eye strain, so we are monitoring versus going with glasses. He was such a brave boy again with the eye drops, and I know it isn't fun to have your eye dilated, but he was a trooper! He has his 6 year check up with his pediatrician on Friday - no shots (I hope there isn't anything new that I don't know about).