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!