September

We had a good and busy month of September!  We started out with Anna's first ever volleyball game on Thursday the 2nd at home.  It, and all of her other games, have been so much fun!  She has really enjoyed learning and playing volleyball.  Who knew?!  Also, she has apparently signed up to try out for basketball.  We have an athlete!

Erin had a fun day at friend Carson's pool on the 3rd, and I enjoyed a nice girls' dinner out with neighbor friends at Osteria G that evening.  Sunday was some pool time and a family walk/frisbee golf at Middle Creek Park.  It was nice to have an extra day off for Labor Day on Monday, which Anna spent at Sarah's pool!  I had a fun book club evening on the 7th, and we all continued to adjust to the new school routine, plus 2 more volleyball games.  Bob worked at the Peak Fest in Apex on Saturday, and Anna slept over at Addie's.  When the cats are away, the mice will eat dinner at Cristo's!

The following week was the usual busy-ness of school, work, piano, soccer, volleyball, and dance.  Whew!  Anna stayed home with a cold on Friday and had to miss her soccer game the next day, but she was much better by Sunday.  Bob and I had a blast at the NCSU football game on the evening of the 18th!  Erin altar served on the 19th, and she also auditioned for the Christmas dance show, but sadly did not get cast this time around.

The next week was more of the same except for no school on Friday for a teacher workday.  Erin altar served for her first school mass on the 22nd, and Anna is also on the schedule now, too! 

Erin and I went bright and early to the dermatologist on Friday and got some input on her itchy spots, as well as a bonus freezing of a wart.  We finally were able to visit our neighbors' condo at Indian Beach in exchange for our dog-sitting services.  We had a great weekend there with beautiful weather!  We biked, swam in the pool and ocean, played mini golf, and enjoyed some yummy food.  It was wonderful!  

We left and headed straight to Clayton for Anna's soccer game on Sunday.  Whew!  Bob got called in to ref at the last minute and did a great job!

The last week of the month was a little cooler, thank goodness!  It's starting to get dark earlier as well.  We are ready for a fun and very busy month ahead - lots of school activities, more volleyball, Halloween, and, of course...Erin's birthday!

August!

Well, August was a hot one around here!  We had a great and very busy month, beginning with our super fun and exciting trip out west from the 1st to the 8th.  The blog post for that awesome adventure can be found HERE.  Upon returning and being reunited with Finley (who did surprisingly well at the Pooch Pad all week), we spent the next week getting back to normal and preparing for the beginning of the school year.  I enjoyed book club on the 9th, and Erin started piano lessons back up and Anna soccer on the 10th.  I got back into the school cafeteria on the 11th by helping with a baked potato and salad lunch for the teachers, which was a lot of fun!  We girls were back at school on the 12th selling used uniforms.  Saturday the 14th was a fun and hot day rebuilding 5 picnic tables at StMM, as well as Anna's soccer practice!  Bob and 7 other guys did the building and assembling 2 basketball hoops.  I was just the lunch delivery service and clean-up crew.

Sunday the 15th was the annual (except for last year) back-to-school Mass and picnic.  Due to covid, we could not enter the school building to drop off supplies or meet teachers, but we were grateful that we were at least able to attend Mass, meet some teachers, and have a yummy Knights dinner outside (until it stormed!).  Monday, Erin and I were back at school assembling bags of balls and recess equipment for the classes and organizing the storage hallway.  I have agreed to help with the school PSO this year, so that has been busy as the year gets started!  Monday evening was a fun 7th grade gathering at a park nearby.  Tuesday was Anna's 6th grade social before soccer practice, as well as Erin's piano lesson.  Wednesday, I was back at school bright and early to help make breakfast for the teachers.  

Thursday was the big first day of school!  It was HOT (as well as the two weeks after), but everyone had a great day.  Things this year so far are somewhat improved on last year in that the kids have lockers again (no more clear bins at their desks), can switch classes (instead of the teachers rotating and kids being stuck in one seat all day), and mix amongst other classes in their grade at recess.  All of these have been huge improvements for them over last year.  On the flip side, they still have to wear masks all day, though not outdoors, and they still have to eat in the classrooms.  There is still definitely the stress and anxiety related to all of this, but I guess, sadly, we are used to it.

That Saturday was finishing up the table and bridge projects at school, as well as soccer for Anna, Sawyer Mattingly's first birthday party, and the girls completed altar server training ahead of the new and improved altar server responsibilities coming up in September.  Anna is going to try serving as well!  Sunday the 22nd, Anna went to Addie's house and Erin had a fun adventure at Margaret's birthday party when a huge storm blew up while they were at the pool.  All ended up well, though.

The next week was their first full week of school, and it was spent getting acclimated to the school routine.  Additionally, Anna tried out for the school volleyball team and made the JV team!  We are so excited and proud of her!  Volleyball is a short but intense season with practice or games 4 days per week for 8-9 weeks.  Her first game is tomorrow (9/2) and we are all very excited about it!  Erin also started up dance classes this week; she is taking 2 ballet classes this year in preparation to possibly go en pointe next year.  

Anna's first soccer game of the season was on Saturday the 28th, and it was HOT!!  Temps were around 95 degrees.  The girls were real troopers and played really well; they beat the Wave, who they had lost to twice last year.  Go Breakers!  Monday and Tuesday were busy with school, cafeteria, piano, volleyball, soccer, and back-to-school parent meetings for each kid.  We are just thankful that all of these things can happen this year.  The news continues to try to scare people about the "delta variant" of the covid virus, but the fine print is that people who are vaccinated most likely will not get sick, or will get very mildly sick.  We don't know what to believe other than we just want it over!  The good news, however, is that many more events can happen, such as sporting events, gatherings, etc.  We hope and pray that this will end eventually!