November!

November flew by, as it always does!  It was a beautiful, busy month, with many days off of school (I've heard it accurately called "No School November").  We started out with my favorite feast day, All Saint's Day!  Then the kids were off for 2 days for teacher conferences.  We spent those 2 days wrapping gifts for the school's Santa's Secret Workshop and thankfully got a lot done with just a few more rounds needed to be done at home.  Erin had her student visit day at Cardinal Gibbons on Friday the 4th, where she got to attend 3 junior-level classes, go to adoration, eat lunch with students, and learn more about the school.  She had a good time and was happy to be with one of her friends from school all day.  Anna had a fun babysitting gig for Tornado and Sheeba down the street for a few days, and we had our last-for-the-year-as-of-now boat ride on Saturday the 5th.  

Bob worked at the Knights pasta dinner that evening, too.  Sunday, Erin and I went back to Gibbons (I am learning how to get there now after all of these admissions events!) for the open house.

Bob went to Lake Tahoe for work the next week and braved a heavy snowfall in his rental car.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to explore the area very much due to a busy work schedule and the weather.  The kids were off again for Election Day, and Anna and Addie went to Defy for a little trampoline time.  Thursday, I was able to join the girls, one of their teachers, and 2 other boys on an off-site service project at the Durham Community Food Pantry run by Catholic Charities.  We had a great experience!  Bob returned on Saturday the 12th, Anna went shopping with friends, and Erin and I made some apple cider at Ms. Karen's annual party.  We also saw Ms. Karen the next day when she took some beautiful family photos of us! 

The week of the 14th was our only full week of school/work this month!  Bob and I had our parent presentation at Gibbons on Tuesday (we are down to only 3 more admissions-related events to go; the end is in sight).  The rest of the week was fairly routine.  Anna and I enjoyed watching some middle school basketball on Friday, and we all had a blast at a Wolfpack volleyball game on Saturday (thankfully we were distracted by that and didn't have to watch the sad football game going on at the same time).  

They had 1-1/2 days of school the next week, followed by Anna babysitting the afternoon of the 22nd.  Erin enjoyed a sleepover with Olivia for her birthday on the 23rd after a fun family outing for soccer and frisbee golf at the park, and we had a nice Thanksgiving at home on the 24th, except for Anna being a little under the weather that morning.  

She bounced back quickly, though!  Friday, we watched a very exciting football game, along with some basketball and the World Cup, all going on at the same time.  Saturday, Bob and the girls headed to Concord to meet up with the cousins for some park time and a sleepover at the Summers' (change of camping plans due to rain).  I went on Sunday due to dog sitting, and we all had a super fun day with a taco lunch, baking sugar cookies, making a Christmas craft, playing Pit, looking at Grandma's pictures from Europe, boys' football game, girls playing with the little guys, doing our Christmas exchange drawing, and taking family pictures (not in that order)!  Whew!  It was so much fun!

The girls were still off on Monday and used the day to relax and get ready to go back to school.  Anna and I did some shopping for the sleepover that she's hosting on December 3rd.  Tuesday was back to school and back to the grind for 3 short weeks before Christmas break!  Bob has an exciting time ahead: he's going to Japan and then to London for work over the first 10 days of December!  Hopefully he will be able to see a few sights, especially in Tokyo, while he's there.

So, we are onward to the Christmas season...ready or not!

October!

October was busy as always!  I continue to be thankful for normalcy that I took for granted prior to 2020.  We started out with a fairly quiet rainy weekend, ending with a date afternoon to what I thought was a play that my mom friend Jenny was in, but she actually was not in it this season!  Whoops!  Bob and I still enjoyed doing something out of routine.  The week of the 3rd was busy with the usual events, ending with the Oktoberfest adult social at StMM.  On Saturday the 8th, Anna tried an open gym at a volleyball club in Fuquay.  She did a great job, but ended up deciding to do winter indoor soccer instead of the club.  Our wallet appreciates that!  Bob, Erin, Finley, and I took a boat ride while Anna was shopping with friends.  Sunday, we enjoyed a NCSU/UNC women's soccer game at UNC, and then Bob headed north to New York City for the week.

We ladies and Finley held down the fort the week of the 10th, including dance observation week (they have one in the fall and one in the spring).  Erin did a really great job!  

Anna also had her last volleyball game of the season on Thursday.  They did a really great job but couldn't quite make the win happen.  Still, to only lose one game all season was pretty amazing!  Way to go, ladies!  It was so fun to watch them improve and gain confidence this season.  

On Saturday the 15th, we had a busy day including a day trip to Charlotte for the annual Buddy Walk at UNCC!  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time!  Then we all went back to Elliott's house and had a great lunch/birthday celebration for Erin.  So much fun!  

On our way home, we dropped Anna off at Addie's for her birthday sleepover.  Sunday, Bob, Finley, and I went out on a boat for a few hours.  It was warmer than the week before, peaceful, and very relaxing!  Anna and I also went to the 7pm mass at the cathedral because she missed Sunday morning.  That was beautiful, and we really enjoyed it.

Anna went on her class trip to DC from the 18th to the 20th.  They walked a LOT, saw a LOT, and had a really great time!  We missed her!  

They timed it well, coming back Thursday night and then having a teacher workday on Friday to recover.  Erin had a blast with her friends on Friday - they came here and then we went to Kabuki for dinner!  

Erin was busy on Saturday with a piano group meet-up as well as a dance master class, then baking her birthday cake.  

Sunday was Erin's actual birthday, which you can read more about HERE.  

Monday the 24th was back to normal, plus Bob took a 4-day trip to tropical Detroit for work.  Anna had a sick day on Tuesday, but it was just a cold.  I did a few things at school, and we were just generally busy.  Friday was a really fun and busy day - school trunk or treat and middle school dance!  We did a movie theater-themed trunk, Bob helped at the Knights grilling tent, and the girls broke it down at the dance.  Such a fun night! 

Saturday, we enjoyed a yummy and fun lunch out with Grandma and Grandpa F., and Anna also had her first real babysitting job that evening for a family in our neighborhood.  She did a really great job helping to put the boys (Charlie, age 5 and Jones, almost 2) to bed and then helping Jones get back to sleep when he woke up a little while later.  She was there until 11:30pm and didn't even fall asleep!  It was a big weekend for Anna, between the dance and that!  Bob enjoyed going to Martinsville for a NASCAR race on Saturday with Chris, Logan, Ben, Doug, and Sean, and we ladies took it easy and I also helped sort fundraiser shirts at school that afternoon.  We carved pumpkins that evening, too!

Monday was Halloween - the kids got to wear their costumes to school, and Erin went trick-or-treating at Vera's while Anna had friend Gracie over here.  We had a fun time at neighbor friend Ms. Karen's annual potluck dinner in her driveway, then braved a short rain shower and enjoyed seeing kids in costumes and scoring lots of candy.

So, that was October.  It was fun, busy, and I am now excited for my favorite month of the year!  Bring it on!