Rewind

So I know that I haven't blogged in about 3 months so I have some making up to do. I had a friend kindly remind me of this (Lauren Hunter). Therefore, I need to backtrack....

Thanksgiving:

We were able to travel to St. Louis to be with my family. It was the typical Oberle holiday celebration. We made about 20 pies on Wednesday and prepared for the coming feast. Thursday consisted of cleaning the house in preparation of 35 visitors and building a protection hut for the 8 turkeys soon to be deep fried. This contraption consisted of 2 wooden doors and 4 tarps for 3 sides, the floor, and the roof. Needless to say, the necessary drilling noises, the smell of boiling peanut oil, and the appearance of a refugee camp in our backyard sure gave the neighbors something to talk about. Wish we had a picture to prove it!

Oberle Mystery Readers:

On December 4th, my parents came to my classroom to be our mystery readers for the week. What is most enjoyable about when our guests walk through the door and the kids have no idea who they are is definitely allowing them to guess. They recognized my parents' escort, Mr. Schirmer (remember the skittle incident). However, they proceeded to guess who my dad was. They wondered if he was Mr. Schirmer (the other I guess - I have two?), Ben's dad, or my grandpa. I then had to explain that just because he looks like their grandpa, they have to think about the fact that I am older than them and therefore my grandpa is really old. Good cover up right? I don't know if my dad bought it. 

My mom read the book If You Take A Mouse To The Movies while my dad held the mouse character for the story. It was adorable and they loved it! The book was about if you take a mouse to the movies then he'll want some popcorn and then he'll want something else and so on. Therefore, we had to have a popcorn party!!! I love announcing surprises to my class because when they get really excited, they scream and clap with pure joy as if they have never experienced anything so wonderful before. It makes you feel like Oprah (which I love of course)!

As our popcorn party proceeded, I was on crowd control and just let my parents mingle with my wonderful students. I thought everything was under control until I found out that my dad was playing with 3 of my troublesome boys. He was telling them that if they take the kernels and put them in their pockets then their moms will put them in the washing machine. This will get the kernels really shiny and clean. Then when she places them in the dryer, it will create real popcorn! Needless to say, my boys believed them and I would soon be expecting a few phone calls and possibly bills for new appliances. Oh dad.

Here are a few pictures:

Mom reading and dad enjoying the kids' entertaining reactions and comments.

Christmas:

Since we were in St. Louis for Thanksgiving, we decided to stay in KC for Christmas. We were able to drive into St. Louis the weekend before Christmas for Meximas. This is my mom's family's Christmas celebration. It normally consists of delicious Mexican food, amazing margaritas, and hilarious family stories due to inappropriate comments and actions. Now that Ben's brother Joel is a part of the family, he decided to join. It was not nearly as eventful as the past years. However, it was worth the 8 hours of driving.

We went over to Ben's parents' house on Christmas Eve and planned to be there through Ben's birthday. We had a wonderful steak dinner and enjoyed playing board games with family friends. Christmas Eve service was cancelled due to a winter blizzard. We then woke up on Christmas morning with white snow covering everything you saw outside. It was beautiful. The day consisted of resting, exercising with the Wii, watching about 5 episodes of Glee (I had to catch up since Joel got me the soundtracks), and then ending the day with playing in the snow. My father in law Dave, my husband, my two new brothers, and I played football in the foot and a half of snow for an hour and a half. It reminded me of being a kid again...just playing with the boys. My first married Christmas in Kansas City was a beautiful, white memory that I hope to never forget. 

It was wonderful to be with Ben's family who have treated me like their own since day one. However, it was a little sad to have to break my own family traditions that I have had my entire life. I only cried once though. It was on Christmas Eve thinking about a tradition my dad and I have had since I was a little girl. We always woke up early and went shopping for a gift for my mom. Just he and I. We would then have a lunch date and then go home to wrap the gift specially. It was hard thinking that I wasn't going to be able to do this every year like you just expect to for the rest of your life. And then you get married...and everything changes. It becomes about the two of you (and each of your families) instead of just what you want or what you're used to. Overall, it has been an easy tradition, but the holidays were a little difficult to sacrifice. I'm sure it gets easier as time goes on.