I'm taking advantage of my father's absence to do some dejunking of his place. Like the non-functional microwave that takes up half the countertop (I already gave him my working one a year ago - it perches precariously on a rickety tv table). And the broken bar stool that sits in the corner with a post-it attached - "Careful: broken".

mac is whizzing through homework and not fussing. My gameplan for getting through the story writing he has been struggling through seems to be working (most of his classmates have written 5 stories, he is at 1.5).

Can I just vent on the amount of homework he had on this "break":

- 3 book responses (read a story or a chapter of a story, write 3-5 sentences responding to it, NOT retelling it)
- coloring 5 turkeys, cutting them out, then completing sentences about the 5 senses on the (On Thanksgiving I tasted_________"
- writing a funny story about a Turkey, the beginning of the first sentence was provided, it had to be at least 4 sentences long.
- one 5 page story (3-4 sentences per page) with pictures drawn and colored for each page
- 4 pages of math
- WOTD written 5 times, and 2 sentences using it

That is second grade. I am writing a note to the teacher. How in the hell would a kid that was traveling get through all that?

MsBelle, are you sure all this was assigned JUST before break? Because when I was a kid I would complain about any homework due after break, even if it had been assigned six weeks earlier. Not saying Mac would ever do such a thing.

I spent part of my work day watching John Mahoney being artfully buried in a pile of clothes.

Call me crazy for not wanting to drink anything with "clot" in the name.

Cashmere channeled a direct quote from my brain. Seriously. Clot? t struggles against gag reflex

Beth is very wise.

Also, I went to Target and ... spent money on myself. Which was not the intent. Still, at least I now have cheap tennis balls--the dog was destroying the expensive dog-proof ones at a rate of two per week, so I might as well get the cheap ones.

I picked up a few things at Target today, too. The Christmas decoration section is dangerous—I'm lucky to get away with two birds for the tree.

How to make bath bombs

Can I just vent on the amount of homework he had on this "break":

That's too much homework. Emmett's homework load is literally about four times as much as mine was growing up, and started about four grades earlier.

I'm tempted to now call you tommyrocks!

Thanks for the instructibles link. You have just made my holiday season. I'm one of those people who has a 'thing'...the thing I'm famous for making every year. For about 15 years, it's been Martha Stewart's gingerbread cookies. Very cool design with as holly leaf cookie cutter, 9 leaves pressed into a wreath with red hots for the berries. Believe it or not, people anticipate them.

This year, however, I think I'll switch it up. I love Lush so much but have not purchased anything in a while. Now I'll make my own!

Now to figure out where to buy citric acid.

Thanks!