This and That

The Box Family Thanksgiving Week
The Box Men

A picture of our tree. I hope everyone wants books:)

Our nutcracker family. We add at least one each year. Can you guess the new one? Check out last year's Christmas post to see if you are correct!!!

I love snowmen, and this year I created snow for them to sit in throughout the season.

BOOKS:

A great book for 4th grade up. This book is about the realities a family and young girl face with a younger brother with autism. I really enjoyed the book Rules by Cynthia Lord. The author has real life experience with autism too, so it really makes the challenges and joys come alive in the book.

Another good book for ages 4th grade and up. Olive's Ocean is about how Martha's life drastically changes over one summer spent with her Grandmother at the coast, time with the Manning boys, and the death of a classmate.

I am currently reading Remember the second book in the Redemption series. The first book was awesome. I strongly suggest you reading this series. Book one is about the Baxter family particularly about Kari, the second born of the Baxter's. She faces the incredible challenge of dealing with a cheating spouse. See how God brings redemption to Kari and many other characters in the book. I will let you know about Remember later.

This is what Patrick has been reading: I really don't know much about them, but he really likes them and wants me to try reading them. I guess I will put them on my list to read.

"Filled with magic and glamour... complex and compelling... a world so intricate and real that it's hard to step out of and hard to forget." (San Jose Mercury News)

He is now on book two of the series. If you have questions about this series post them and I will

get back to you.

Until Next Time!!!

Beyond the Score

Last Friday night Patrick was playing in the pit for the show The Music Man, and I looked out the door and saw this around 9pm.

Then on last Saturday, we took the band to the symphony in Des Moines. The symphony is called Beyond the Score: New World Symphony. The conductor, Joseph Giunta, talked with us and answered some questions before the symphony started. We all enjoyed our time! Go to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_FrPV4uNic to hear some of the lovely music from Dvorak's Symphony Number 9 in E minor "The New World" Op. 95 (1/5).

This is the dress Patrick surprised me with to wear to the symphony. I didn't get a picture of myself so this will have to do.

I did not have the correct shoes, so darn it, I had to go shopping. I had to look high and low for the right shoes. Here is what I found and they were half off so I did not feel guilty.

These are a few of my favorite things

I couldn't resist adding a few of the things that have been making me happy lately:
Knitting is one of my favorite hobbies and this is one of the many dish clothes I have made lately. I cannot take credit for the pattern. If you knit and want this pattern go to www.krisknits.blogspot.com . I have been on a knitting streak lately and I even taught myself the very beginning stages of cabling. Keep a watch out for these knits in blogs to come.

I also have been enjoying books from young adult fiction and contemporary Christian fiction. You might enjoy some of the same authors and books. Here are a few of the authors that have captured my attention and my daily reading times: Marian Hale, Karen Kingsbury, and Ann M. Martian. Marian Hale has books that focus on historical coming of age novels they are great, but keep the tissues handy. Karen Kingsbury's novels have touched my heart and helped me grow in great knowledge of God's redemption. Speaking of Redemption start with that series if you wish to start with the Baxter Series like I did. I made the mistake of starting with Book 1 Sunrise which is the last series about the Baxter family, so now I am going back and starting in the correct place. Last but not least the book above is an excellent book set in the 1950's. I am sure it will touch your heart and make you start searching for your corner of the universe. If you have read any of the above or have any suggestions let me know.

These slippers are called Snoozies. They are warm, comfortable, and have little grips on the bottom. Definitely a good idea for Christmas for those cold feet people in your life. They come in children, men, and women sizes in various colors.

The flowers above are from my husband he brought these home to me last night for no particular reason. He is such a sweetie.

Murder Mystery Dinner & Fun Halloween Cookies

There was a murder mystery dinner in our town at the library hosted by the community theater and friends of the library. Kim, Mike, Patrick and I made up part of the green team. The murder mystery was about a new wing being added to the library, and the mayor ends up not showing to the ribbon cutting of the new wing addition. The Mayor was murdered by someone. There were about 6 to 8 teams that were to investigate the suspects and reach a conclusion of who the murderer was. At the end each team was to make a decision of who the murderer was and why they thought their suspect was guilty. Each team had a very interesting conclusion, but our team was the only one to get it right. GO TEAM GREEN!

The following pictures of my sad attempt at making Halloween Cookies: they are supposed to be 3 eyed monsters, spiders, spiders in spider webs, a cat, ghosts, various other monsters, and pumpkins. I had fun even though with these abilities I would never get a job with the Cake Boss. I'm sure they are still yummy though. Maybe the High School Band Students will enjoy them tonight.

I got the idea from the following website: http://snackpicks.com

Senior Night

Marching Band Seniors 2010

Two

Over the past 3 or so weeks we have been down to one vehicle. Let me tell you it has been a unique situation at the Box household. We sold the CRV around September 17th, and this past weekend we went to pick up our new used truck in St Louis. We are extremely excited to be back to two vehicles. Patrick is like a kid in a candy store having a truck. We will see if I ever get to drive it or not.

Fall Fun

Friday after work Patrick and I decided to take a trip to Minnesota. It was a nice little trip and we both came back refreshed and recharged. The first few pictures are of our room it was beautiful and Patrick found a great deal on it.

We went to the Mall of America. This mall is so big it has a park and aquarium in it too. We spent all day enjoying downtown and the mall. There is so much to do and we talked of a return trip as we left late Saturday.

This next picture is for my niece she loves Dora the Explorer.

Today I decided to do some fall decorating.

Wow What a Week

This has been one of the busiest weeks of my life I believe. I have had lots of fun, and I did something I thought I would never in my lifetime have the courage to do. I introduced our homecoming court at coronation in front of a crowded gym. Those that have known me my whole life really understand how not me this action was. I am so glad that it went well. This whole week has went well from the assembly on Monday, powder puff on Tuesday, coronation on Thursday, the parade today, and the football game tonight. All that is left is the dance tomorrow, and cleaning windows of businesses we painted last Sunday for homecoming. I hope that all the students enjoyed this week. I am extremely thankful for all the help from the faculty and staff, the students, and the community.

Iowa State Fair and The Kitchen!!!

The Iowa State Fair was a blast from all the food, entertainment, and getting to spend some time with my sister and brother-in-law. Enjoy some of the pictures of our time: Mandy and Andrew
Brooke and Patrick

Patrick and Andrew as they begin their journey to consuming as many calories as they can at the fair, and I believe they did a great job. I'm sure they enjoyed every minute too.

The Tractors

Sheep being sheared.

Beautiful horses

Patrick with one of many beautiful horses.

Me with a big horse.

Yummy!!!

Andrew and Patrick waiting on the concert for Sugarland.

Mandy and I doing the same.

A night shot of the fair

The performance

Before shots of the Kitchen:

The hallway had the same wallpaper before. This is an after shot with my wall of fame on it.

After shots of the kitchen:

If you would like to see the full blown experience click on the following link. Boy was this a learning project. We are very thankful to our friends Melonie and Jeff for the help on the Kitchen. Y'all are AWESOME!!!

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos