November!

Well, my favorite month came and went all too quickly!  It was a busy and fun one with lots of beautiful weather as well.  Bob spent the first week of the month in California for work.  The girls were off school on Monday and Tuesday for teacher conference days, so that was a nice way to recover from Halloween!  I got a haircut on Tuesday which I enjoyed very much.  The rest of the week was fairly routine.  Our laundry room renovation by Turnkey (neighbor friend John's handyman company) began on Friday the 4th and was quickly completed in just a couple of weeks!  We love how it turned out!  

We had a fun photo shoot on the morning of the 6th with neighbor friend Karen.  She did such a great job as always, and she even got great pictures of Finley, too!  

Sunday the 7th we visited the Cardinal Gibbons annual open house.  It was great and we got to see a lot of the school.  We have not yet decided where they'll go to high school, but it was good to get some research started! 

Anna tried something new on the 8th - basketball!  She had actually been to 2 open gym sessions prior to that and liked it enough to try out for the team.  She made the girls' JV team and has been enjoying it so far.  They've only had one game so far after just one practice as a team, and it didn't go their way, but the season is young!  Her team is made up of about 16 5th-7th graders, and she is having fun so far.  

We enjoyed Olivia being here from the 9th-17th while her parents were in Switzerland.  Bob took a quick trip to Dallas on the 9th-10th for a presentation.  Erin, Olivia, and I had fun volunteering at the Mother-Son event on Saturday the 13th.  I got a workout in chasing runaway wiffle balls!  Olivia got to watch both Erin and Anna altar serve on Sunday the 14th.  I enjoyed helping Anna's social studies class with their version of the Ancient Greek Olympics on the 15th, and also had a really fun Moms' Night Out with the school that evening.  

Thursday the 18th was the ever-popular Thanksgiving feast in the cafeteria.  It was a wild time, but lots of fun, too!  Friday the 19th I got to help with a teacher breakfast at school.  This PSO gig this year has been keeping me hopping!  Bob got to catch back up with his OFTN buddies on the morning of the 20th while they passed out turkeys to the community that they had served from March 2020-July 2021.  We girls had a fun afternoon at Megan's pottery sale and checking out the new Costco by our house.  

The 22nd-23rd was a short week of school, which the kids appreciated.  We had a fun carpool lunch at Moes after the early release on Tuesday.  Our project that afternoon was moving the hot tub in preparation for the porch project to start the first week of December (!!), so with lots of planning and careful engineering by Bob, we 4 Callaways got it moved! 

Wednesday, we met up with Jimmy and Danny and their parents at Crowder Park and had a blast playing on the playground, walking, and playing Spud!  Bob and I enjoyed a dinner out at the Mason Jar Tavern that evening as well, and we also got our Christmas tree...probably a record earliest date for us!

Finley went to the Pooch Pad on Wednesday evening, and the rest of us headed to Concord on Thursday morning for Thanksgiving fun!  We had a great time with everyone there, including a taco lunch with pie taste-testing, hiking in the woods, a trip to the park, cooking, eating, a fun game of LCR, and girl sleepover!  Friday, we ladies all went to the beauty supply store in downtown Concord, where they had fun trying on wigs and browsing.  

Then it was Ben's early birthday party at his house, which was lots of fun, too!  We got back in time to pick Finley up that evening and then watched a VERY exciting NCSU/UNC football game!  The Wolfpack managed a win, but Wake Forest also won the next day, so we did not clench the ACC title.  Oh well, it's still been a pretty awesome year for us!

Saturday morning, Bob set up the nativity at church with the Knights while the rest of us got the Christmas decorations out and started setting them up.  Anna also got her first covid vaccine that morning and did well with it.  

Sunday was church and then a fun and yummy lunch with Grandma and Grandpa F. at PF Chang's!  After that, we set up our Christmas tree, which was a joint effort and lots of fun! 

The girls were off school on Monday for the extended Thanksgiving holiday. Sarah came over for a little while and then Anna had an appointment at the eye doctor to get contacts.  She had her first "training" session and goes back to finish on the 17th.  And today was back to the grind, but just for a few short weeks before Christmas!  Ready or not, it is coming! 

So, it was a fun and busy month.  Recent covid developments include a new variant, "omicron".  This has affected the grocery stores and masking strictness around here, but I am hopeful that it will be short-lived.  Kids continue to wear masks in school, but that's about it for us other than medical/dental offices and airplanes.  It's still not fun, and we still have the kids eating in the classrooms at school, but other things are slowly returning to normal...very slowly!  Hoping and praying for continued improvements!

October!

Whew, we made it through October!  It, along with December, and May, always seems to be the most busy months for us.  However, we are all so happy that this October was much more "normal" than last October, so we embraced crazy, as they say.  We jumped right in to the month with a fun parent Oktoberfest social at school on the evening of the 1st.  It was a blast!  Bob ended up grilling with the Knights, but I think he even enjoyed that!  I helped clean up Saturday morning and then Anna had an away soccer game.  Sunday we took Finley for a pet blessing at church.  The jury is still out on its effectiveness. 

 Erin got a day at home on Monday the 4th due to a covid case in her grade late Friday night and the school needing to contact the health department on Monday.  The following week was fun and busy with my book club, 2 volleyball games, and the other usual activities.  Friday the 8th, we ventured to our first official Cardinal Gibbons event - feeder school tailgate night.  It was lots of fun!

Saturday the 9th was a fun day - soccer got rained out, but Anna went to Addie's birthday party, and I got to go to dinner with friends and see Jenny's play in Apex.  Sunday, Erin altar served at 9am and Bob left that afternoon for a week in Los Angeles for work.  The following week was more of the same, plus observation week at dance, where I got to sit in on Erin's classes and observe. 

 Erin's chorus elective sang at mass on Thursday, and they did a beautiful job!

Saturday the 16th was another soccer game, some shopping fun for us girls, and Bob went to his Knights friend's wedding.  Sunday, we ladies helped give tours at an open house at school.  The next week was Anna's last 2 volleyball games, including an ice cream party after the last game!

  We had a super fun trunk or treat and movie night at school on Friday evening!

  Saturday was Erin's 13th birthday!  She had a great day from beginning to end and continuing on Sunday, post HERE.  

The last week of the month was more fun, including Anna's last 2 soccer games and party, picking out a new sink and counter for our laundry room, Halloween costume day at school, Buddy Walk in Charlotte with Elliott and family (plus a Cici's pizza lunch and stop at their house to see their new front door and carpet!), and adult dinner out with Liz and David! 

 Sunday was Anna's first time altar serving, and she did a wonderful job!  Then we had some fun Halloween pumpkin carving and prep for a neighbor party and then trick or treating!  Anna went with Addie this year, the first time they haven't both stayed around here for Halloween.  They are growing up!

So, it was a super fun and extra-busy month, partly due to the 3 school events that I had to help with and attend for the PSO.  But we got it all done, everyone stayed healthy, and we can't complain!  Now, November - my favorite month!