AndersonPlanet

I am lucky to have a thoughtful brother-in-law who likes to read and travels a lot for work. This means he buys books, and he hands me a pile of books almost every time I see him. Usually he gives me your classic spy novels which I enjoy, but recently he gave me something different. Looking at the cover I saw 3 tiny birds perched on a line with a yellow cover. The title is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I was so intrigued by this book I had never heard of that was so completely different from the usual Todd Bailey fare that I had to read it immediately.

Well for my birthday I got an InStyler from Jean. I was so giddy and surprised over the present that it made it laugh. I have to say it is the best hair invention ever. Straightening my hair is a pain, but with my InStyler it is quick and easy. When the boys are home they make quite the audience while I InStyle my hair. Thanks again Jean!

Yesterday we went to the Baileys for Thanksgiving. We have determined that this will be an annual tradition. We have gone to their house for more Thanksgivings than not since we have all lived here and it has been a lot of fun. I provided 2 pies and the Trader Joe's cranberry sauce; Ellen provided the gravy, fruit salad, and clam dip, Todd provided the Turducken and stuffing, and Carey provided potatoes, coconut cream pie, apple crisp, homemade white bread, etc.

We are attempting to continue our house hunt. As much as I would like the kind of house we can afford out by our sisters in Gilbert, we have decided to modify our search to the same areas we have lived in for the last 7+ years. We are looking at older, smaller fixer-uppers and yesterday I felt hope that we could find a house that would be perfect for us. Basically a few things happened this quarter at the kids' school that made me realize how much we would be giving up to switch their school.

Xander and Seth will be baptized Saturday, January 16th at 2 PM. We are inviting everyone who wishes to be there. How exciting to have a cousins' baptism!

Old Navy also will donate 5% of your purchase to Feeding America.

Xander is home sick today after being sent home yesterday. I also kept him home on Friday but since he was fine all weekend I thought he was fine on Monday. He has spent the day working hard on his creation of the Newest Pokemon. It is pretty funny.

A few years back, Sara started an interesting Halloween tradition. After lunch and dinner on the days following Halloween, the boys get 15 minutes to gobble down as much of their Halloween candy as they possibly can. They grab their huge bags of candy, head to the table, set the timer for 15 minutes, and pig out. It's pretty much the only time during the day that there is silence.