December

Well, December flew by. I didn't even realize it was nearly over until I had started the Christmas Break. And oh what a break it has been. We have two full weeks off. I'm on the Tuesday of the 2nd week, and I'm pretty dang happy. Yes, the anxiety of next week has been creeping in, but I've planned an easy day so that we can slide in easily. Oh, there's Charlie, just woke up. Be back!
WellI'm back after an hour and a half. Kinda, I have to type when Charlie's back is turned or he yells at me. He's been pretty selfish with my time lately. All I've done for the last week is play with Charlie's new Christmas cars. Every time I get out my phone to text Jay or check Facebook he points at me and says, "Momma, pocket." It kind of cracks me up because that's what I do all day long with my students.
Anyway, let's see. There's not a whole lot to talk about right now. Everything has been going as usual,  busy busy Brooke with hardly no time to play. So, I'll talk about the holidays.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was kind of business as usual. We went to both Jay's family dinner and my family's dinner. I can't think of anything particularly crazy happening. Charlie at more than cranberries this year, which was nice for me later on.
After Thanksgiving the rest of the year flew by. I didn't even realize December had come for a long time.

Christmas

So, let's jump into December and Christmas. Once again, it was pretty much business as usual. Jay and I couldn't really stop to take a breath most weeks. Busy busy busy. Christmas shopping, Christmas Carol at Hale, Christmas parties at work, other meetings at work... no wonder the month flew by.
Charlie unwrapped his present the week before Christmas. After he unwrapped it, I rewrapped it, but he called it hid Big Truck Present afterword.

He really enjoyed Christmas once he got to start opening presents. It was tough at first, because he wanted to play with the stuff he had already opened more than unwrap more presents. Needless to say, he was spoiled.

Jay and I were also spoiled this year. Thank you everyone! We got a lot of cash. Instead of saving it and using it for the good of our finances, we've decided that we want to take a trip to Wendover soon. Now, we won't spend it all. Usually we take 40 bucks, split it between us, and once it's gone, it's gone. I know our church doesn't want us gambling, but I think of it more as spending some money to go relax and play some games. I just love watching the little wheels spin on the slot machines! We never spend more than we've set aside.

New Years

Well, today is New Years eve. We're planning a couple of fun things. First, I'm going to Leatherbys with my friends around noon. I haven't seen them for a long time. We're all so busy, it's nearly impossible to get together. But I love them!

Then, we're going over to Grandma's to play games and eat food and some fireworks. It should be fun. I don't know if Charlie is going to make it to midnight, but that's ok.

New Years Resolutions.... Yeah, I have a lot this year. 

1. Jay and I want to start paying our tithing again. We've been extremely bad at that lately. We haven't paid in a long time.

2. Walk every day. We always hole up during the winter and both of us are a lot happier if we walk a mile every day. The dogs are too. We also want to start snowshoeing on the weekends. I'm excited!

3. Take my iron pill every day. It'll make me happier.

4. Clean and feed the small pets every day. they are all the way downstairs, so sometimes, since we're so busy, they got forgotten. I always feel awful....

We'll see how well these go.

Charlie

Charlie is growing, growing, growing. His vocabulary is exploding and he's learning sentence structuring and even pronouns. It makes me happy. Now, if only he'd be willing to be potty trained. He is not there yet. In fact, a couple of weeks ago he told me, "Mamma, I'm not ready." Little turd.
Yesterday, he picked something up that broke my heart. When I put him down for his nap, he started screaming, "Don't leave me, Mamma." :( That is just plain mean, Charlie. He did again when it was time for bed. He knows what buttons to push.

Pets

All the pets are doing well. I think the rat might be ready to kick the bucket, he's getting older. He always looks grumpy. 

I got a lizard for a classroom pet. It's a bearded dragon. His name is toothless, and he's kind of a pain in the butt. Lot's of maintenance. Next time I'll be getting a simple leopard gecko.

Whitney is actually beginning to grow on us. I think she's finally become an official member of the family. If only she'd stop jumping the fence.

Jay and I

We're doing well, just busy. Our lack of time to relax has caused a few arguments lately, but I think as things calm down a bit we'll be able to relax.

School is going good, I always feel like I'm behind and I'm a little worried about next year for reasons  I can't talk about, but I love what I do and that won't change.