dear santa

I always have a hard time figuring out what to get the boys from Santa every year. I want it to be fun and exciting, but then they get so much from grandparents I run out of ideas. I also think it'd be more exciting if Santa would bring them the items they actually ask him for. So I was so happy that Mason's teacher sent home a letter he had written to Santa last week. Finally I can get him what he wants. Here's his letter:

To: Santa
I want a pinball machine and a mini motorcycle. (And by mini motorcycle he means one of those pocket bikes that big people can ride.)
From: Mason

Sure is aiming big that kid.

AHHHHH!!!

Finals will be over soon. I won't have school for two weeks. I will have time to mop my floors. I will be free to take treats to Mason's class. I can finally get to reading Lost Symbol. I won't have to think about where marginal revenue = marginal cost, the problems with monetary and fiscal policies, how lighting effects the design of a room, if I'm correctly using MLA style for my research paper or when Paul wrote which epistles. It will be nice.

That is all.

school work can be random too

So, I was working on a powerpoint presentation for one of my classes. While looking for pictures online I found one of the most awesome websites EVER.

awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Go there. And make sure to read this one too. It's not a picture, but it's funny.

And, I also found this picture while searching:

I don't really know who he is, but I'm not so sure it matters. Yes, I understand I have semi turned into a high school girl. I'm sorry.

i love mashed potatoes.

...and most of the other foods associated with Thanksgiving. Emily Fact: mashed potatoes with some sort of meat and veggies are one of my most favorite things. My other favorite thing is to be warm. I also like having fun and trying something new. And never saying I can't do something.

So this Thanksgiving I wrapped all those things into one. I decided at 10:00 am Tuesday to take the boys on a road trip to San Diego to visit my sister and her family. I picked up Milo from school at 11:30, went home and packed, picked up Mason at about 1:30, stopped by my mom's for some portable DVD players and we were on our way! It turned out to be a pretty good drive too. Mason even commented at one point (more early on in the journey), "this is so fun!"

After a couple gas stops, a drive down The Strip and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe - we arrived at my sister's house at about 2 am. The drive was SO worth it! The kids loved playing with their cousins every day. We took a swimsuit beach trip to Del Mar, had a HUGE, delicious meal for Thanksgiving, took a non-swimsuit, shell-hunting trip to Mission Beach, had a day in Balboa Park (which included a visit to the aerospace museum and an awful, awful puppet show), and ate dinner right on the beach.

I asked Milo which part was his favorite and he told me "that place we went to eat dinner. The one with the jello and the grapes." Yep, we took a 12 hour drive so Milo could eat at a Sweet Tomatoes.

Well, I enjoyed the fact that I never saw my breath when I went outside and I got to walk in sand and swim in the ocean - and that was definitely worth the drive!

Thanks Manning family - it was lots of fun!

oh, the student life.

You know when you were a college student and you went to your school's basketball games? Then at the end of the game you loudly sang the school song. As you walked out of the game to the car you happen to see a few people you know from classes. Then you go hang out at some apartment where boys are playing video games and making brownies. You talk about the game and school, tests coming up and papers due.

Then you go home...to your house...with a garage and a dog and 2 kids.

Oh wait. You're college life wasn't like that? Weird.

monsters

Milo: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and open my eyes and the shadows look like monsters in my room. But I know there aren't really any there, it's just my imagination.

Glad he has that all figured out. Makes my job easier.