Friday the 4th, Bob and I got to go to the Red Hat holiday party downtown, which was lots of fun! There was yummy food, and I enjoyed meeting some of Bob's co-workers whom I had not already met. The 5th and 6th were packed full with gymnastics and Erin's friend's Alyssa's fun art birthday party, then Little Flowers on Sunday. The week of the 7th at school, I was able to help with Santa's Secret Workshop, which was a really fun event where classes took turns shopping for their families at school! It was really funny to see what some kids picked out for their family members. Erin had her 7- year checkup on the 8th, and to try to spare you a lot of bragging, let me just say that she really impressed the doctor. Sometimes it's hard to know with her if we are pushing her enough, if she should be doing more therapy-type activities, forced socialization, etc...so it was really great to hear from the doctor (who has a son on the autism spectrum himself) that she is doing "phenomenal" and that he is "tickled at her progress". We are so proud of our Erin! She's still tall and thin, her vision, hearing and blood pressure were all good, and she got an A+ report. She has a spot on her leg that we have to see a dermatologist for next week, but otherwise, all is good.
The ladies had their first dress-down day on Friday the 11th, as well as a half day for a teacher Christmas party. Both were a big hit! After gymnastics on Saturday the 12th, we headed to Concord for Ben and Cole's super fun fire truck/construction 4th birthday party! We came back in time on Sunday to go to the neighborhood Cookies and Cocoa with Santa, including a fun hayride through the neighborhood.
We all made it through the last week of school before the holiday break, but I did feel sorry for the teachers at school! Erin's class got a turn to lead the daily Advent prayer service on Wednesday the 16th, and Anna's did on Friday the 18th.
Bob and I both got to help in their classes on the 18th as well, which we definitely enjoyed. We went to a live nativity on the 18th at Anna's old preschool, then had gymnastics and a fun holiday party at Liz and David's on the 19th. Unfortunately, Anna started that day with a week-long fever which eventually ended up being pneumonia, so I represented us at the party. We had a quiet start to the week of Christmas with poor Anna under the weather, but we thought she was better on the 22nd to head to Concord. We had lots of Christmas fun there, including a trip to Defy Gravity with the cousins, then came home on the 24th and went to our neighbor's "elf party" that evening before Santa came!
We had fun checking out our loot on Christmas morning, then enjoyed a low-key day together. I took Anna in to the pediatrician on the 26th, and then again on the 28th for a chest x-ray when they finally diagnosed her with pneumonia and got a mega dose of amoxicillin. She was a trooper and even managed to enjoy watching the Nutcracker ballet at the Progress Energy center on Sunday the 27th. We spent the rest of the week helping her recuperate, giving Bellamy a sewing lesson, watching our Wolfpack lose their bowl game, dog-sitting Ruby, and having some New Years fun with the neighbors.
That was it for December, and for 2015! It was a great year, with highlights being a trip to Disney World in April, our big family week in Nags Head in July, Daddy starting his new job at Red Hat in August, and the girls starting school at St. Mary Magdalene in August. We look forward to a wonderful 2016, watching our ladies grow and learn!
