the balkmans came to town

this could get long. but, it doesn't get much better than being surrounded by your favorite people and amazing food. my mom, dad, little brother and sister came for thanksgiving this year. we kicked it off with the mcdonald's thanksgiving day parade bright and early (and then there were some who slept in...)

with my dad, you always manage to get in where you're not supposed to be. we walked into the mcdonald's employee section where they were handing out free hot chocolate with front row seats to the parade. perfect.

chandler let me play with his lenses

the turkey was fabulous. so was the company. and so were the five pies for six people...

we did the black friday thing, only with the start at 9am part. it was still a little crazy, but so fun.

nine floors of macy's decorations at the flagship store. unbelievable.

chandler doing what he does best - taking pictures

the view from nate's office building. we took my family to the top of the aon center instead of the sear's tower. almost as good.

oh i love her.

and because we live in the heart of tourism, we did touristy things. like navy pier. and the ferris wheel.

steph acting her age

dad acting his age

we ended the weekend with chicago deep dish pizza and the blue man group

it was so good. thanks family!
geoff and kash - we missed you a lot.

grateful

i used to keep a poster above my bed as a teenager that said "gratitude is an attitude" and i wrote everything i was grateful for to remind me everyday (pretty sure nordstrom was the top of the list, followed by starbucks hot chocolate...hmmm, where were my priorities?). my young women's leader gave me the idea and actually had a poster up in her house that her whole family created, so it included things like ariel the mermaid and college football. i've been slacking on making one for our apartment, but i think this is the perfect time of year to finally do it.

nate and i have either been really, really lucky or extremely blessed. we have so much to be grateful for. i think working in the area i do intensifies my gratitude for the simplest things. i also think being married, and being far away from my parents, has made me realize how privileged i am/was to be raised by them. why is it so easy to throw aside gratitude in the day to day? i think "be more grateful" is on my new year's resolution list every year.

at the moment, i'm so grateful for...

nate.heat.indoor plumbing.parents.a roof over my head.a job.chicago friends.far away friends.my siblings.my sweet sister-in-laws.never being starving.baby niece aspen.fleece.a body.vitamins.a car.hope for the future.dayquil + vitamin c.a college education.the book of mormon.dark chocolate.tupperware.cellphones.computers.family.a bed.email.cinnamon scented pinecones.christmas lights.a camera.christmas music.and all those tips on cooking a turkey!

happy thanksgiving week.

turkey turkey

okay. so. i bought my first turkey. and i want to know...since i am completely clueless, what are your turkey secrets? is there an amazing rub (i love a good lemon pepper rub) that makes a turkey divine? do i need to put it in a roasting bag? my mom will be here to help me but claims that turkey is on her "not the best" list when it comes to cooking. my chef uncle normally does the turkey at our family dinners. got any tips?

i want to know!

if anything, please help me so my turkey will not end up like the one on "christmas vacation"

p.s. nate and my brother say what's the big deal about turkey? they want steak for thanksgiving. i say no way. i'm all for tradition. now i just need help making this tradition turn out edible...

up by maine huh?

quote of the day from a parent at school:

him: "so, where are you from?"
me: "well, i moved from utah, but i'm originally from washington state"
him: "oh, yeah, it must be really cold up there by maine"
me: "um, yeah, it's not that cold. nothing like a chicago winter"

i decided not to correct the error and make him feel stupid that washington state is in fact on the other side of the country, but definitely cracked up later.

my babies

mondays are hard. okay, sunday nights are hard. it's back to the grind and i always seem to feel unprepared for the week. today was hectic and my behavior management skills were lacking. my class was kind of out of control at times. the great thing about teaching pre-k is that the kids take a nap for two hours in the middle of the day. nap time = HEAVEN. i get a lunch break, then spend the rest of nap time working on paperwork, laminating things, and the other paperwork-y things i do not love about teaching. if i was frustrated with my little devil children before nap time, everything changes at 2:30 when they wake up. i love them again and they are soooo cute. this is a sampling of who i get to hang out with all day:

when my students say, "i want my mom!" i look at them and say "ME TOO!" they always tell me i don't have a mom because i'm the teacher, and i always say my mom is far away. they are very interested in the fact that i do, actually, have a mother and that her name is susan. we talk about what we did over the weekend every monday, and today N asked me, "did you play? with susan yo mama?" no, N. i did not. wouldn't that be nice?

scout's honor

it feels like the weeks just fly by in our lives right now. there isn't much news around here...except that nate and i got a new church calling (volunteer job): cub scouts.

ahhhhhh! i don't know the first thing about pre-teen boys. help! luckily we get to do it together, but i am still scared. i think my brothers were most annoying at this age, or maybe i am remembering wrong. pine wood derby? pretty sure i'm gonna need a lot of help with this one...

smells like the holidays around here

i am not a potpourri kind of girl. i like scented oils, candles, and the occasional plug-in. didn't get on the scentsy train either, but love the smells. however i came home from the grocery store with a giant bag of cinnamon pine cones. i couldn't help myself. jewel-osco smelled like christmas and i wanted in on it. i also used to be pretty staunch about the no christmas before thanksgiving...mmm nope. i brought the christmas decorations out this morning...

68 degrees...

...in chicago today! oh we love this weather. just bracing ourselves for the inevitable cold.

these last weeks have been a little busy. nate has had some late nights working and i've been trying to get over this cough while teaching. my class went on a field trip to a community health and safety fair yesterday. when we got there, my cute little deveion started crying. when i asked what was wrong, he said through sobs, "where are all the pumpkins?" turns out field trip = pumpkin patch in his mind. after i explained that we already went to the pumpkin patch, he still said, "but i just wanted a pumpkin!" he melts my heart when he's not running/wandering away (i lost him at the pumpking patch. oops!)

right now, i'm just thinking about thanksgiving.

these guys

will be here in 18 days. i'm not sure if i've ever been this excited to see my family. the fun part about living somewhere out of the ordinary is that people want to come visit you. can't wait!