I'm home this Sunday after a few long nights with little Sir Coughsalot. 

I think we might be heading to the doctor tomorrow morning…it's been a few long nights around here.  Thursday night I put Caleb in our bed and slept in his after he'd been up 3 or 4 times.  Friday night, Tom was in bed by 8:15 while the kids and I watched The Music Man (which they both loved.  And bonus – we were all excited to recognize Harold from The Red Green Show in it).  Caleb was up and down another half dozen times between 9 and 10, and I ended up in his hard little bunk bed again.  Last night, he slept in a bed on the floor of our room…and coughed all night long. 

It's been a loooong couple of nights.

A couple bunch of things rolling around in my head:

• Aunt Cindy – thank you so much for your comment about the Ralph Moody book!  Mrs. Green read Little Britches to us in 6th grade and I loved it.  In fact, she brought in her copies of the entire series for me.  It popped into my head a few months ago when I was trying to come up with ideas to read with Caleb, but I couldn't remember the author or the name of the book…which makes it a little hard to find.  It's in my Amazon cart waiting for my next order.
• I've been a little obsessed with these lately:
  
  the secret to a good enchilada?  Homemade sauce!  I'll share the recipe as soon as I can finish up the post…hopefully with better photos!
• Also good?  This recipe for crock pot chicken.  Quick, easy, and the juice the chicken makes turns into an easy, super good gravy/sauce with a little bit of milk and flour (although I think a quarter cup of red wine would really be amazing).  I served it with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli for a perfect Saturday night supper.
• The kids have been in craft production mode lately – we've got ghosts hanging from doorknobs, what seems like hundreds of itty bitty pillows and plans for bat garlands.  I gave them each an old sheet a few weeks ago and those things have been cut and sewn and cut some more…drawn on…designed.
  I love it.
  They also spent several hours this week building and running an Indian bazaar in the doorway between their bedrooms.  No idea where that idea came from, but it was wonderful to watch.  I've also been seeing a lot of our stories from history coming alive…proof to me that they're listening and understanding.
• Random Christmas gift idea for the kids – Michael's gift certificates.  They love to create and are constantly ransacking my office for supplies.   They're getting to love the store as much as I do.
• Excited about this blog series.  12 weeks until Christmas…good grief!  I'm starting a few plans for schooling during Advent, but haven't thought much beyond that yet.  I'm looking forward to each week's installment and hoping to learn something.
• I'm thinking I'm going to do a daily post of Thanksgiving again this November – it was a nice daily reminder.  I love this idea and am thinking I might start it as a 2010 challenge.  I am thinking 2010 might be the year of gratitude.
• I'm listening to Matt Maher's new CD, Alive Again.   I think I might actually like it a little more than his last one (which I love and still listen to on a weekly basis).  A little less produced feeling, perhaps a little more honest.  Perfect for my mood today.
• This book arrived Friday and as soon as I can get a big enough container to hold my dough in the fridge, I'm in!  I am so intrigued by the whole concept of easy artisan bread, especially the fact that it eventually becomes a sort of sourdough.  I've attempted sourdough starter from scratch and it just didn't go well. 
  Let's be honest…it grew massively overnight and started taking over the kitchen counter.
  We don't eat a lot of sandwich bread, so I'm hoping this works!  
• My lesson plan book is filled for next week – it feels so good to have that done Friday afternoon.  The kids next books are planned (A Wrinkle in Time for Hanna and Dinosaurs After Dark to go along with Caleb's dino unit, with The Whangdoodle thrown in for reading out loud during handwriting).  The last couple of weeks have been a little wonky and I'm hoping to get back to normal this week…or maybe figure out what normal is =)
  My schedule continues to be a problem…I know what I should be doing… finding the energy to do it all is the issue.  
• A new week begins tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to it!