I had the excitement of going to Costco on December 1st to get new tires for my car. That place was hopping! Our new refrigerator also arrived on Friday the 4th, so that was an exciting week around here. We enjoyed Santa coming through on a trailer pulled behind a fire truck on the evening of the 4th. We had a busy day on Saturday the 5th with Erin's virtual mock piano recital in the morning, gingerbread house making, cleaning out our old fridge to sell (the guy who bought it ended up claiming that it didn't work, so we refunded most of his money...hopefully he was telling the truth, but it was working fine when he picked it up!), then Erin had Olivia's birthday party that afternoon, and Anna had a bonus soccer practice, which was a lot of fun. Whew!
The week of the 7th was pretty routine. I had the fun of helping my boss in the cafeteria deliver hot cocoa and donuts to all the teachers on the morning of the 9th. I have never been so popular! We made a few cookies during the week.
Erin and I went to confession on Saturday the 12th because she had missed her class's time in November. She also had a virtual audition for the Carolina Ballet summer intensive that day, and while she was already leotard-ed up, she also made her video for the HSSOD 2021 Dance Theater production. She got the good news this morning that she got a part in the Dance Theater show! Way to go, Erin! We probably won't hear back on the summer camp for awhile. Hopefully the summer camp will be in person this year, and hopefully she will be a part of it! We were supposed to go to Concord on the 13th for Ben's birthday, but poor Elliott had been exposed to Covid at his preschool and tested positive for it. Luckily, he never had any symptoms, and the rest of the family all tested negative.
The following week was the last week of school for the year, and it was busy! The kids got out of school at 11:30 on the 18th and were ready to relax. Erin and I enjoyed helping at Brown Bag Ministry in Apex on Saturday the 19th...they modified their structure and don't allow nearly as many people to volunteer, but we still had a great time and made 98 lunches for a site in downtown Raleigh! In the afternoon, we made some sugar cookies and watched Santa come through the neighborhood for a second time, with a surprise appearance by the Grinch!
On the 21st, Erin had her 12-year checkup and passed with flying colors! She is perfectly healthy and had no issues other than some eczema, which is ongoing for her. Grandma A. then came up that morning and stayed with the girls while Bob, Finley, and I went to Lake Gaston for 2 nights! We had a great time checking out the area, hiking, and enjoyed the (dog-friendly) Rosemont Winery. The girls and Grandma were busy with several craft projects, walks, and playing games! We were so thankful that she came!
Grandma went home on the 23rd, and we mostly hung around here since sadly the Summer Family quarantine was going into January. We all made the most of it by having a fun Zoom Christmas Eve present opening and played a Christmas song game that Erin made up.
After that, there was some excitement with our washing machine that ended up requiring a part that was going to cost at least $200...so we decided to order a new washing machine instead. Then we went to the Tierneys' Christmas Eve party which was lots of fun, even though we were the only guests this year. We had a great time eating yummy food and playing Ticket to Ride! Then it was to bed for Santa to come, and he sure did!
We had a fun Christmas morning opening gifts and then went to church at 10am, where Erin was an altar server. We spent the rest of the day checking out our new gifts (Erin got a phone! Anna gets to redo her room!). It was a very nice day. The rest of the week was very relaxing - I got to visit the laundromat 2 times and also borrowed neighbor Karen's washing machine. It is crazy how much you take things like washing machines for granted! The laundromat has been a good experience, though - just more expensive than I expected!
The rest of the week, we were busy painting Anna's room a light gray with a darker gray accent wall, cleaning, playing with our new presents, and just relaxing. It was great!
It seemed weird to me to not be shopping for Santa's Secret Workshop this year...since the school didn't have the shopping for the kids this year, we are going to try to save everything to sell next year. Hopefully that will work! We had a fun outdoor playdate with Tom, Pam, Jimmy, and Danny on the 29th. Tom was very happy to try out the hot tub!
We ladies plus Sarah got pedicures on the 31st, which was lots of fun! True to 2020, we stayed home on New Year's Eve and had fun playing games and enjoyed Jello cake and cheese fondue. Yum! Anna tried her hardest to make it to midnight, but 10:30 was the best we could do.
So, that was December. Their school announced that they are going to have remote learning at least for the first week in January due to more cases of Covid in the community and within the school. So, it continues. I have heard of more people getting vaccinated lately, so we eagerly await our turn! May December 2021 be back to normal, because we really missed a lot this year!
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