My son rocks! And he doesn't get it from me... :)

From what I understand, which is not much, it's five timed tests taken throughout the year. And Colton took first out of all, across over 200 6th graders (although I'm pretty sure they didn't all participate).

Here's more on what The Continental Math League is all about.

I need to ask him if he was in the Pythagorean/Euclidean Division or the Calculus League, although both sound equally torturous to me.

IMAGE: Middle School awards (hilariously presented at the high school) from last Wednesday night. He said, "I thought the medal would be bigger."

UPDATE: It was Pythagorean/Euclidean ... and he said only about 20 kids got invited to try.

So yeah, the kids are a TAD excited about it being Christmas Eve and all. A few of the quotes:

Ab: (see post title)

Eric: "It feels so weird that it's Christmas. It doesn't even feel like I'm alive!"

Colton: "You guys are annoying me."

Ab: "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH"

Eric: "We gotta get to sleep. NOW! Oh man I'll never get to sleep. Never. What am I gonna do?"

Colton: "Seriously you need to can it."

And so it goes. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. I'm feeling extraordinarily lucky and blessed at the moment.

OBLIGATORY PHOTO: Every year the cat messes with Santa's cookies. Hopefully he'll mess with them next year too, but you never knows as (A) he's almost 14 years old, and (B) Eric is hanging on to that Santa Belief by the tips of his fingernails.

So I was reading this article about how to get lucky (no not THAT kind of lucky) - and it was talking all about how lucky people see the world differently, and I got to thinking about my daughter noticing then counting all the bird nests in all the bare trees on the way to dance class last Saturday morning.

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Yesterday I had one of those "good lord don't let that happen and it's happening anyway and I can't stop it" kind of moments.

Little E was playing soccer with his buddy in the front yard. I was watching through my bedroom window. I saw the neighbor pull in to his driveway. Then I saw Eric's ball roll under the back wheel.

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Don't tell anybody.

I stayed up past midnight NOT because Michael Phelps was on SNL - good lord how did they work around him, he was that bad, a good sport, but wow no acting talent there and please don't throw me any flamers about Michael Phelps here, very cool guy, just spends a lot of time underwater, and judging by my flabby ass I could use a few pointers - but because I didn't want the day to end.

Ab and I had such a great day. The most perfect day on the planet. David Ford sang it, "Just give me one way to spend my last moments in life, and I choose this, I choose this, I choose this."

I'll spare you the details (and no, Tim, it didn't involve *too much* money spent). It was just ... mother/7-year old daughter awesome.

YOU MAY BE WONDERING: The boys are camping this weekend. Only stopped by once yesterday for dry clothes. Hence girl time. (Katie = No Likey Sleeping Baggy)

Kristie gave me the coolest Christmas gift today ... the motherload of Jolly Ranchers. I eat them like popcorn. (Seriously. I have issues. If it's not coffee, it's those darn little things.) I've never had a cavity in my life ... but not for lack of trying.

The jar holds 5 big bags. I'll post periodic shots of it on the blog so you can see the levels. It will be quite the insight into my psyche. For now: generic Ranchers.

So of course, all this got me thinking...

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Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for so many things ... my family, my job, my friends, the garbage guys who take my garbage away, the late-night grocery store shift so I could pick up some stuff last night I"d forgotten in Iowa, my neighbors for never calling animal control or the regular cops on my dog (who never seems to quit barking at them). And pretty much everything in between and outside all that.

I'm also thankful for the Internet - so I can write this blog, and carve out a few minutes a day to "stretch my brain" (as little E's kindergarten teacher would say). One of my favorite sites is TED.com - the conference has been around since 1984, and I've been paying attention since about 1999 or so.

Take a look. It's a great place to see a mind-blowing speaker in 9 categories for zero cost - and get a new perspective (even if you don't agree with what they're saying). I hang out a lot in the creativity section, but if you know me at all you probably guessed I'd be skipping science, huh?

So last night, as we wrapped up a great Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house in Iowa, little E. grossed me out so completely and totally - while still amazing me - I just had to share it:

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