Thanksgiving 2009 (2)

8th Annual Alsop Thanksgiving Connect Four Tournament

Watch this video!!! (took me 3 days to get it loaded)

And a good time was had by all.

TV help

Faithful readers, facebook friends and acquaintances, random "next-bloggers",

I need your help.

We like to have our own TV marathon as a part of the Thanksgiving festivities. Last year we watched Monk, and it was great!

This year we didn't think ahead and watched Monk when it came out.

So now we need a TV show that we all will like, and that is Anna appropriate. (If you're wondering about Monk, we just sent her out of the room for the first five minutes of every show, and that worked pretty well).

It can be an old show or a new show, 30 minutes or an hour, maybe even a movie or two...it just has to be good.

For reference, some family favorites include; Gilmore Girls, Monk, NCIS (not Anna appropriate, and too gory for MJL)...we like character driven shows, funny shows.

Any help?

Halloween!

What?

I'm not THAT late.

You want pictures? No complaining.


We're still in the age of the clenched teeth fake smile and camera avoidance, but she still managed to look pretty cute.

This is serious.Outside she demonstrated some more ballerina poses. She's learned all of the ballet she knows from Angelina Ballerina (A British mouse who dances. Anna, not knowing about foreign accents, came and told me the other day: "Mice say 'to-mah-to', instead of 'to-may-to'" ). I wore one of the extra moustaches. Too bad I couldn't find another one for Matthew.



Abby went trick or treating with us in town. She was a librarian. Anna was mostly excited about her glow stick.

Happy Halloween! :) On Friday the 13th!

El día de los muertos

We're celebrating in school today. I set up a mesa de ofrenda, we're having pan de muertos, the kids made calacas and papel picado to decorate. I think it's going to be a good day.

¡Día de independencia de México!

Independence Day in Mexico is September 16. People gather in the zocalo (town center) on the 15th, and at midnight the president comes out on the balcony, remembering the leaders in the fight for freedom. He gives the "grito" about 4 minutes in, it's neat, you should stick around to see it. Someday I'd love to be there.

The song you hear in the beginning and after the grito is the national anthem. When people say that the anthem for the U.S. is too bloody, I always think of the Mexican himno nacional. Way bloodier. Here it is, with lyrics, if you're interested (English translation).

¡Feliz día de independencia!

Answers!

We had a great 9 day-I celebrated 9 with all of my classes, yelling "nueve" with the second graders at 9:09:09, playing 9 games with everyone else.

Matthew and I drove around town looking for a tasty #9, finally settling on Taco Bell.

Then I worked on my class for what felt like 9 hours. :)

Now I know you've been waiting with bated breath...


9 Quiz answers:

1. William Henry Harrison

2. New Hampshire

3. Here's a list

4. Kazakhstan

5. 1 Kings 9: 9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

6. Self-checking.

7. Hotel Room Service by Pitbull (but I'm checking at night, so is it possible it has changed? Linda answered with something different earlier today) (additionally, I have never heard of the band or the song. Does that make me old?)

8. Another list

9. Fluorine

I was tempted to try and make something for prizes, even entertaining the idea of 9-patch quilt blocks...I could make potholders, or table runners! Thankfully I was able to reign it in.

I made up little prize baggies of 9 each of 9 different flavors of Jelly Bellies. I'll be sending those out to all the participants; Linda, Mary Ann, Sarah, and Sara, thanks for celebrating with me!

And, because the point of the day was to commemorate 09/09/09 and really enjoy it, I'll also be sending out a baggie to Michele, who celebrated by having a baby boy...9 lbs! Made my year. :)

Now, I've got 4 gifties left...leave me a comment and tell me how you celebrated, and I'll send you one!

09/09/09

*********09/09/09*********

Wednesday's not a great day for a party because I have my online class on Wednesdays this year, and I didn't get anything organized in time. :(

But we'll still be celebrating-you can count on that! Hopefully 9 people for lunch, ordering 9 number 9's from somewhere.

And here's a 9 quiz:

1. Name the 9th president:
2. Name the 9th state in the union:
3. Make a list of 9 9 letter words that begin with the 9th letter:
4. Name the 9th largest country in the world.
5. What's the 9th verse from the 9th chapter from the 9th book in the Bible?
6. Write a math problem using only number 9's.
7. What's the number 9 song on 09/09/09?
8. Name 9 countries that speak Spanish.
9. Which element has the atomic number 9?

First 9 correct answers win a prize! Answers tomorrow, so hurry!