March!

March was quite busy! It always feels like it's a long month without a major holiday or break from school. We started out with a Sunday of church, Erin working, and Anna going to youth group. Erin went to The Raleigh School on the 2nd with Service Beakers, and Anna started her new gig as assistant soccer coach for the StMM girls' team. She is really enjoying being there 3-4 afternoons per week helping the coaches and cheering on the team, which is off to a really great start! Bob and Jeff went to a sad Wolfpack loss to Duke that evening, and I enjoyed a monthly book club meeting. Erin helped at the Gibbons Welcome Night that Wednesday, which is a really fun event for the 8th graders who will be joining the school next year. Bob had a blast at an Eric Church concert in Greensboro with Chris on Friday the 6th while we ladies and Joe watched poor Gibbons fall in their Final Four playoff game. Saturday, I went to a funeral for my neighbor friend's mom, Erin worked, Anna hung out in downtown Clayton with Joe, and then Bob and I watched a nailbiter of a last home game for the Wolfpack where they ultimately fell to Stanford by 1 point. It was, as usual, an emotional roller coaster of a Wolfpack sports season! 

Anna tried something new on Sunday the 8th. She went to a Greek Orthodox church service with fellow students from her theology class (and other classes with the same teacher). It earned her quite a bit of extra credit on the final exam, and she enjoyed the experience! The rest of that week was fairly routine with the added excitement of Erin's Junior Meeting with her college counselor on Wednesday morning. Bob and I went with her and discussed her college search and everything associated with it. Exciting times! We introduced Joe to the KofC fish fry on Friday, which he enjoyed quite a bit. The kids' third quarter of school ended on Friday. Erin took the SAT on Saturday the 14th, and we all enjoyed a beautiful evening at a Wolfpack softball game; thanks to Anna for the Christmas gift! 

Additionally, Bob took a little road trip to Columbia, SC that morning to pick up our new 2023 Toyota Rav4! It is super fun and easy to drive, and we are all (especially Anna) enjoying it very much. We bid a fond farewell to the 2014 Accord which had served us very well for many years.

The kids had another weather day on Monday the 16th for forecasted high winds and potential tornadoes that did not end up happening. No complaints from them, though! I went to a group penance service at St. Bernadette on Tuesday for Lent and was quite surprised at how organized it was! Gone are the days of the free-for-all at these things. I enjoyed another shift at the Gibbons school store on the 18th. Anna and I had a couple of cat-sitting gigs over the next several days, both of which went smoothly. Olivia came home with the girls on Friday for a shrimp scampi dinner and then she, Erin, and I met her mom and Josie at the musical at Gibbons. They put on "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat", and it was amazing! The froyo trip after was also great!

Anna had a fun night out on the town on the 21st for Lyla's Sweet 16. They had a party bus that they rode to a restaurant in downtown Raleigh and then to get ice cream in Apex.

 Bob and I enjoyed a nice dinner out at Serafina in Apex that evening while poor Erin was stuck at work. Sunday, Anna went to Drive Shack with Joe's family and a couple of his friends for his birthday, then on to watch his brother's soccer game. Anna had a great weekend! The kids were off on the 23rd for a teacher workday, which we used to get Erin an orthodontic consultation (still don't know what to do about that) and Anna a hair appointment. After that, Joe came over to hang out and have birthday cupcakes. 

I had a first on the 25th: my first colonoscopy! They now recommend to start them at age 45. I was nervous about it, not knowing what to expect, but it went fine. As everyone says, the prep is the worst part! I did not like following the clear liquid diet the day before, but I had a lot of chicken broth that was delicious. Our other excitement that week was that our formerly-beloved basketball coach, Will Wade, quit after 1 year and is moving back to LSU. Drama! Anna also had a couple of soccer games that went well, and she also interviewed several cast members of the school musical for a newspaper article. 

We, plus Joe, went to the last fish fry of the year on Friday, and Anna and Joe enjoyed the Gibbons play on Saturday afternoon, followed by an NC Courage game with his family. She shopped with Lyla on Sunday, enjoying some freedom with Lyla's recently-obtained driver's license. Erin worked hard all weekend, drafting her college essay, doing school work, and working 2 shifts.

So, it was a bit of a wild month, but we accomplished a lot and everything went smoothly. The final two days were routine as we all look forward to Easter and Spring Break! Bring it on!

March!

March was very busy!  We accomplished a lot this month, for sure.  We started out on the 1st with Erin having her second musician's meet-up of the year (driving herself there!), and Bob and I went to the countertop store in an attempt to choose one for the kitchen remodel in May, but left without a top choice and with lots of confusion.  There are so many material options, let alone colors and patterns of each!  Anna had a fun evening going to Lyla's birthday party, including dinner out and a sleepover.  Meanwhile, the other 3 of us went to a Mexican place for dinner and saw Anna and her crew at a red light on the way!  Sunday the 2nd, Bob did a practice run for the new fish fry setup this year (sadly, without any actual food to bring home).  He was off to Washington, DC Monday-Wednesday that week, then home for a day to host a meeting in Durham, and then off to Sydney on Friday the 7th for his twice-yearly trip there.  

The kids had an all-school Mass on Ash Wednesday, followed by a tornado warning that required them to hunker down for awhile.  Erin and I enjoyed Olivia's band chamber concert on Thursday evening, and Anna had a 3-day pet-sitting job for Ruby and Luna beginning on Thursday, as well as another dog-sitting job for Jack from Friday-Sunday.  Friday, we got fish fry takeout.  

Saturday was the long-awaited night of theater, where Erin and I saw Shucked at the DPAC with Olivia, Jeff, their moms, and Jeff's sister and friend.  We also enjoyed a yummy South American-themed dinner at Luna before the show.  Shucked was so funny and had great music!

Between the late night out and daylight savings time, we were dragging on Sunday.  We watched some basketball and did chores before going to youth Mass at 6pm, where Erin lectored and did a great job, followed by youth group.  Erin's in the home stretch before Confirmation next month, which we are all happy about!  

Finley went to the vet on Monday the 10th for his annual checkup, which has turned in to quite the saga.  The vet wanted to clean his teeth, which was fine because he's never had it done in his 6 years of life.  In order to do that, they needed to do blood work, so we had a second visit for that the following week.  The bloodwork showed elevated liver enzymes, so we had to go back again for a fasting blood draw.  The fasting blood draw still showed elevated liver enzymes, so it's back for an ultrasound on April 2.  I'm always skeptical about how much is a money grab and how much is real, but you can see that we have been talked in to it.  Stand by for dog medical developments!

Anna had fun attending an StMM soccer game on the 11th, watching them beat Cathedral.  Erin helped at the Gibbons welcome night on the 12th, greeting the rising freshmen.  Thursday the 13th, we all rushed down to Fuquay after school for Erin to interview at Harris Teeter, and...she got a job as a cashier!  Yay!  

Bob began his trek home from Sydney, via Fort Wayne, on Friday (Thursday, our time).  He landed in Fort Wayne (after connections in Houston and Chicago) and had relatively uneventful flights other than delays in Sydney and Houston that ended up not being an issue.

I left early Saturday morning to fly to Fort Wayne via Charlotte for Gregg and Meghan's wedding!  Despite a short delay in Charlotte and some weather entering Fort Wayne, I arrived, more or less on time.  Bob picked me up at the airport; he had landed the night before.  We went straight to Fazoli's and had a yummy lunch with Grandpa, and then all headed to visit my grandparents at their apartment.  We had a really nice visit with them and enjoyed seeing their apartment.  Then it was on to the hotel downtown to get ready for the wedding.  We were able to walk to the wedding from our hotel.  The ceremony was very nice, and the reception was lots of fun!  Both were at the historic Baker Street Station.  We really enjoyed being there and catching up with everyone.  

Sunday morning, Grandma met us for Mass at the cathedral at 8:30, then we did a short driving tour of Fort Wayne and stopped to see the houses on Kruse Drive before grabbing our stuff and car back at the hotel and heading on to the airport.  We had no issues getting back other than a short delay leaving Fort Wayne due to weather in Charlotte, which meant that we couldn't catch the earlier connection in Charlotte.  We got home around 6:15pm, and the kids and Finley were all in one piece and happy!  They went to church with the neighbors as planned and we got unpacked, hit the grocery store, and walked Finley.  It was a great weekend, and the kids did well with staying home alone for 36 hours!

Erin interviewed for a parks and rec summer camp counselor job on the 17th (when it rains, it pours!).  She had applied to around 18 jobs; after a slow start, and she ended up with three invitations to interview and two job offers (she declined the interview at the snow cone place).  She was back to Harris Teeter on Wednesday to complete new hire paperwork, and then had a rehearsal for her piano concert on Thursday.  This girl has been BUSY!  Anna had a great time on her advisory service day on the 19th, where her advisory (group of 14 kids that meets twice per week with their advisor for the entire 4 years at Gibbons) went to volunteer at a day care, lunch, and to a historical site in Raleigh.

I enjoyed an hour of adoration at Gibbons (and even got to see Erin there with her theology class) on Thursday as well.  Anna watched Ruby and Luna again from Thursday-Saturday.  Friday was the second fish fry, which Bob got to work at this time, but we ladies could not participate because Erin and I were heading to see Jeff's play, 9 to 5, that evening, which was really great!  

Saturday, we all enjoyed a delicious lunch at Red Robin with Grandma and Grandpa F.; it was so good to see them and catch up!  That evening was Erin's (rescheduled due to snow) piano concert organized by her piano friend Emmett to benefit the American Heart Association.  8 students played the piano, guitar, and/or sang and did an absolutely wonderful job!  It was so much fun.

Sunday was just church, and I helped collect kids' clothes left over from a consignment sale for CPO that evening.  The kids were off on Monday the 24th for a teacher workday, and Erin had her first shift at Harris Teeter that evening, which ended up being computer training.  I had a fun time at book club that evening.  We got our house power washed on Tuesday, which was badly needed.  Finley and I checked out the new Middle Creek Greenway near our house.  

Anna surprisingly got the call to do her 6 hours of driving with the instructor that week, so she drove Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm.  She was a little nervous, but did a great job and got a lot more comfortable.  Now she has to wait for her permit (written test) appointment on May 19.

Erin had her second work shift on Wednesday the 26th.  It sounds like she will have about 3 shifts per week - one or two during the week, and one or two on the weekends.  She has been driving to/from with us in the car because the traffic at 5pm is hectic, but I think she will be driving herself soon.  She is now driving herself to piano since it's not dark after the time change, and she drove herself to the rehearsal and performance last weekend.  She is doing great, and we are loving the independence!

Erin and I enjoyed a dance performance on the 27th at Apex High as a part of her honors credit for her dance class.  She will write a paper to critique the performance.  Friday, I went to an hour of adoration at StMM as a part of the parish 25-year anniversary celebration.  Olivia rode home from school with us, and we all went to see Shrek at Gibbons (Anna and Lyla, too) and had a fabulous time!  I must say that we have become quite cultured of late, with 3 shows and a concert in one month!  Erin worked 6 hours on Saturday while the rest of us spread mulch, and she had a fun time at an escape room hangout with her friends on Sunday.  Anna and Bella went shopping on Saturday as well.  Bob and I had to make some decisions for the kitchen project at our final meeting on Monday.  We are looking forward to the project in mid-May!

So, that was the wild month of March.  This does not include the 3 ladies having a cold one week, my Thursday shifts at the CPO food pantry, cooking dinner for families at church through the parishioner assistance ministry about once per week, workouts, school, and all of the other usual stuff.  We are enjoying the spring weather, and are looking forward to a less-busy month of April, complete with spring break! 

March

March was busy!  We enjoyed some nice weather and lots of fun activities and events.  We started out the month with a couple of volunteering events through StMM on Saturday, then Erin had a fun outing to the new Downtown Cary Park with her friends on Sunday.  Bob headed to DC on Sunday evening for the week.  Anna had a far-away soccer game at St. Catherine in Wake Forest on Monday, but the trip was worth it as they won!  

She then slept over at Annie's house because they had no school on Tuesday during the primary voting day.  We had the normal stuff the rest of that week, and Bob returned on Thursday in time to help with the second fish fry on Friday.  Anna babysat for her new client, Reuben, on Friday evening.

Anna got the news on the 8th that she was admitted into Cardinal Gibbons!  Yay!  They did not send a fun mailing this year, but she did get an awesome yard sign at the Welcome Night on the 13th.  Erin participated in the Young Artist Auditions at Meredith College on a rainy Saturday morning, and she got great results!  

Anna went to Lyla's bowling and sleepover birthday party that evening.  Sunday, Bob and Gina had a fun trip to Greensboro for the ACC Women's basketball championship game.  Sadly, the Wolfpack fell to Notre Dame, but it was a fun game with great seats! 

Erin enjoyed a trip to the Cathedral School after school on Monday the 11th where she taught a science lesson to some of the students there as a part of her Service Beakers club.  Anna had a 4-day cat-sitting gig this week, as well as 2 soccer games and 2 practices.  She's been busy!  We went to the super fun Gibbons Welcome Night on Wednesday, where she enjoyed hearing some talks, eating snacks, collecting her yard sign and t-shirt, and taking photos with her friends.  

Friday the 15th, Erin went with 2 friends to see Addams Family at AFHS where her friend Jeff was on the stage crew.  It was great!

Bob headed to Europe on the 16th for a 2-stop work trip (London and Paris!).  We ladies held down the fort, including dentist appointments for the kids, the usual soccer and piano, and a curriculum meeting for Anna at Gibbons.  Finley also had his annual exam on Tuesday and got a passing report - no dental cleaning needed yet, thank goodness!  Bob returned Friday morning in time for the final fish fry of the season, which was successful, though a bit light on attendance (rain was to blame for that).

We had a fun visit Friday-Saturday from Aunt Leslie, Logan, Ansley, and Grandma!  Leslie and Logan went to the Engineering Open House at NCSU on Saturday, while the rest of us went shopping and had a yummy Mexican lunch.  We had a fun weekend of cheering on both of the Wolfpack basketball teams, too!  Anna dog-sat for friends Tornado and Scout over the weekend as well.  

The kids have a short week of school ahead of spring break coming up!  We are all looking forward to our "road trip" from South Dakota to Utah.  It shall be a fun adventure!  Bring on the trip, more spring, and the end-of-the-year busy-ness!  

March!

We had a very busy month of March!  It started out with Anna's first soccer game of the season.  They've had a full month of practices and games, and they are doing great, with a record of 6-3 for the first 9 of 15 regular season games!  Anna had a fun time at Lyla's bowling and sleepover birthday party on Friday the 3rd, and Bob returned from London on the 4th.  Erin got her acceptance to Cardinal Gibbons on Friday the 3rd as well, so we had fun celebrating that with a girls' dinner over at Olivia's house that evening.  

The following week was busy with the usual activities, plus the Gibbons welcome night on Wednesday for parents and kids.  It was a lot of fun, and Erin really enjoyed being there with her friends!  

The second fish fry happened on the 10th, as well as Erin's dress rehearsal for Dance Theater.  Her 2 performances were on Saturday the 11th, and they were wonderful!  Erin and all of the other dancers did a wonderful job performing Alice in Wonderland!  

Sunday the 12th we all crashed after a busy couple of days and recovered from the time change. 

The week after, I got to help at each kid's retreat day.  Monday, I helped the 8th graders spread mulch, and Wednesday I helped the 7th graders make fleece blankets to donate.  I really enjoyed that!  Wednesday night, I went to curriculum night at Gibbons which was very helpful ahead of Erin registering for classes.  Thursday the 16th, Anna had a game at St. Raphael (another win) and then went to Ada's amazing birthday party at her mom's wedding venue in New Hill!  She had a blast!  

The girls were happy to have that Friday off after a busy week.  Erin and I went to her first of 3 educational assessments to help her get some extended time on tests in high school.  After that appointment, I enjoyed a nice lunch out with my neighbor friends.  Then, we watched our Wolfpack lose to Creighton in the NCAA tournament.  Better luck next year!

On Saturday the 18th, Bob, Erin, and I enjoyed a beautiful day at a Wolfpack softball game!  

The week of the 20th was a little wild:  Erin missed school on Tuesday for her second assessment day, Anna was home sick Wednesday and Thursday with a fever and respiratory virus, and I got rear ended on Wednesday morning!  All ended well, and ironically it was a neighbor kid who hit me (though it did not happen in the neighborhood) and everyone was fine after.  Another high school kid hit him immediately after.  I got 2 repair estimates, and they have already covered the cost of the average of them.  We actually already had a new car on order anyway, but we are still going to get this one fixed to get more out of it in resale.  I enjoyed observing Erin's ballet class on Thursday that week!  

The final fish fry was on Friday the 24th, and I got it takeout since Anna was still not feeling 100%.  Erin is planning to try to audition for the second level dance class in high school, so she and I borrowed a studio at her dance school on Sunday to film her audition video.  

This last week of March was back to normal.  Anna got inducted into the National Junior Honor Society on Monday, and Erin participated in the ceremony as a current member.  It was fun to see all of the kids dressed up and celebrating academic success!  

Anna had 2 away soccer games this week, and I got to observe Erin's Tuesday dance class.  Bob took an impromptu road trip on Wednesday to pick up some equipment for the Knights.  

All in all, it was a great month!  We are looking forward to a week of no activities next week (Wake County schools are off, so dance and piano are also off), and then our spring break the week after.  It will be nice to have a little break!  After that will be the home stretch of the school year and graduation fun for Erin.  She's ready for that!

March!

Whew!  March was a whirlwind of a month, but also was a great one!  We started out the month with lots of busy-ness, including Anna's first school soccer game on Thursday the 3rd.  They had a big win on a beautiful day, and it was so much fun!  We are very proud of her for trying this more competitive team where she is one of the youngest girls playing.  

That weekend was fairly quiet, and the following week was more of the usual, plus book club for me and a day trip to New York for Bob on Wednesday the 9th.  Their school lifted the mask requirement on Monday the 7th, and it has been wonderful to be able to see kids' faces, breathe and hear better, and stop washing those masks all of the time!  We are so happy!

Saturday the 12th was Erin's first-ever in-person YAA piano competition, which was held at a piano teacher's house in Cary to avoid many people crowded together.  She did a wonderful job, and found out the week after that she got very good marks!  Anna's soccer game was canceled that day due to weather, but Erin and I then went to the dance school's dance theater performance later that day.  Erin decided to do the piano competition this year instead of dance theater since they both happened to be on the same day!

Sunday the 13th was an early day after the time change (boo), and the girls altar served at mass.  Monday-Wednesday was the usual routine, and Thursday was the beginning of our Anna-Mom trip to Universal Studios!  We left school around 11:15am, stopped at Panera, went to the airport, and got on our1:55pm flight.  Arrived at Orlando, took an Uber to our hotel (Aventura Hotel), ate dinner, hit the pool, and got smoothies. Friday was our day at the parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).  We were up and at 'em early and into the parks via bus by 7am, made a beeline for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and, after a lengthy wait, had a blast on it!  

From there, we rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, then got a wand at Ollivander's (or maybe in reverse order), 

tried butterbeer, then rode Hogwart's Express to Universal Studios and got off in London!  We had baked potatoes for lunch, then rode Minions Mayhem, then a snack stop and Anna got a temporary tattoo, then rode the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster 

and Race Through New York twice!  

The lines were pretty long and we missed our chance at buying express passes for the rides.  We then walked back to the hotel, got dinner, and crashed.  It was a busy day but so much fun!  Universal is great!  

Saturday, we got up and had a leisurely breakfast, then took an Uber to the airport for our 10:30am flight.  The flight was overbooked and they were offering big rewards to rebook that night or the next day, but Anna had a busy week ahead of her and needed to get back.  Plus, what would we do all day?!

We got home just fine!  Bob, Erin, and Finley had a good time while we were gone.  Erin hung out with friends at Olivia's house on Friday the 18th (teacher work day).  They both helped at the fish fry on Friday, which went well.  Sunday I had a couple of PSO buddies over for a meeting and we prepared for the week ahead!  Monday, Anna and the rest of the 6th graders hit the road for the Sound to Sea field trip in Salter Path.  They had wonderful weather and did lots of fun science activities!  The place looked really nice - much nicer than what we all expected.  She had a blast, though she had been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks before and it turned into a sinus infection on the trip.  She is finally now clearing up with the help of our old friend amoxicillin.  

She returned on Wednesday afternoon, and the rest of that week was fairly routine.  Erin played one of her YAA songs at school mass on Thursday, and it was beautiful!  Saturday the 26th was Anna's first soccer game for her Y team after a weather cancellation and our weekend out of town.  They did a great job!  They played again on Sunday, and Erin also auditioned for the ballet company at her dance school for next year.  We have not found out yet if she made it.  

Monday the 28th was a busy day with a soccer game at St. Raphael's and then hightailing it back to Apex for Erin's NJHS induction ceremony.  Go Erin!  

Tuesday the 29th was the long-awaited 7th grade trip to DC.  They return this evening and it sounds like everything has gone wonderfully!  

In Erin's absence, we have had some soccer and some school and work.  Finley had his annual checkup on the 30th and got a clean bill of health as long as he doesn't gain any more weight.  Eek!  Also, our porch was finally finished on the 30th.  We love it and some of us are very excited to get the hot tub reconnected and up and running after a (very) long time away.

So, it was a great month, full of back-to-normal activities which makes us so happy.  We are thrilled to finally not have the masks at school any more, happy to be traveling, and so happy for normalcy!  We will never take it for granted again!

March!

 Well, March has come and gone.  It sometimes feels like a long month because there aren't many major holidays in it and, well, it does have 31 days!  We had a good month, despite the continuing pandemic.  We keep hoping that the end is in sight, though it's hard to know how close that end is.

We began the month with a fairly routine week, busy with school, work, activities, etc.  The second fish fry happened on the evening of the 5th, and it was a success.  The weekend of the 5th-6th was soccer practice, dance rehearsal, OFTN (Bob's meal program with the Knights - Operation Feed Thy Neighbor), and church.  I enjoyed going to book club on the 8th - one of the very few things that feels "normal" right now!  The 8th-12th, we had neighbor dog friend Ruby stay with us while her parents went out of town.  Finley behaved himself much better, so we now have hope that he can socialize nicely (for the most part)!  

Saturday the 13th was Erin's performance for dance theater - "Lost in the Museum".  Due to covid, there could not be a traditional show with a large audience, so instead there were 2-3 groups of 6 dancers in each studio of the dance school, and audiences walked from room to room in groups of about 10 people to watch each group perform.  It was really cute and lent itself well to the museum theme.  However, that meant that Erin had to perform her piece 6 times per show, and there were 5 shows!  So, by the time the last show ended at 8:30pm, she was wiped out!  But, for Erin, there is no such thing as too much ballet.  So, she had a great time. She even navigated the time change that night and was up to altar serve at 9am the next day!  Whew!

The girls were off on Monday the 15th for a snow day makeup (they did have an ice day awhile back, but I guess it wasn't enough to make up), which was nice.  Erin and I went to a second orthodontist to try to figure out what to do, but were still super confused.  The doctor seemed very nice and had a similar plan to the one we saw in November, other than she thought they could start the braces now and end sooner.  We went to our regular dentist the week after and are still unsure if she really needs braces, but at least the dentist suggested that we wait to start treatment (if we decide to do treatment) until her 12-year molars have come in, which they have not.  So, we bought ourselves some more time to agonize over it.  

The third and final fish fry (but not the final Knights Lent cooking event...see below) was on the 19th, and it went well.  Anna's first soccer game was Saturday the 20th, and she and the team did a great job, despite coming up short of a win.  The players have had to adjust to wearing masks while they play and they are real troopers with that.  I tried to do an indoor cycle class last week and felt like I was suffocating in the mask!

The next week was more of the same, including a used uniform sale on Wednesday.  Bob and company hosted the first ever Fish Taco Night to benefit OFTN on Friday the 26th.  I don't know the final numbers, but it sounds like they did as well or better than a fish fry.  So they are happy to have some more funds to keep the program running awhile longer.  

Anna's second soccer game was on Saturday, an away game.  They won this one!  Go Breakers! 

The week of the 29th was a short one for school with a half day on Thursday and no school on Friday.  Then, they're on spring break for the following week.  We are excited to be heading to Fort Lauderdale for a few days next week to play on the beach and pool!  

So, those were the highlights of March.  It was a good month.  3 classes at school were put on quarantine for 2 weeks due to kids testing positive for covid, but so far we have dodged that bullet.  The classes being out did make the cafeteria work easier!  I got my second vaccine on March 26th, and Bob got his on the 31st.  We are happy to do our part to put this behind us!  

March

Well, March sure was a memorable month with some once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) situations!  Before that, though, it started out like any other month.  Bob went to Boston the first week of the month, and we ladies (and Finley) enjoyed having houseguest Olivia here Sunday-Friday while her parents were both out of town for work trips.  Everything went smoothly and they all seemed to have a good time.



Anna did have a slight hiccup that week with a painful elbow that had been going on for several weeks...since she has a history of the fracture last year, I took her in to see our friends at the orthopedic urgent care who took X-rays and said that there was no fracture this time - thank goodness!  This was the other elbow from the formerly broken one, but I felt so bad about ignoring her a year ago that I wanted to get it checked out.  Friday was the first (and last...see below) fish fry, which was a huge success!  Anna even missed dance class to attend.  Erin and I enjoyed some volunteer work at Brown Bag Ministry in Apex that Saturday, and we had a busy weekend with church activities and Science Olympiad meetings.



The following week was fairly routine at the beginning of the week with school, activities, book club, meetings, work, dog life, etc...until the situation surrounding the worldwide Coronavirus (COVID-19) started to escalate in the US.  The kids had school on Thursday that week, then left for an already-planned 4-day weekend.  It was announced on Friday that our school and all the others in the area/state/country (?) would be closed through March 27th, and we were to come to school on Tuesday to collect all of their books and supplies to begin virtual learning at home starting Thursday the 19th.  Oh, boy!  Sadly, the Science Olympiad tournament for the 28th was canceled as of the 12th, which was probably the most upsetting for many of us.

So, we had a fairly quiet weekend at home but were still able to leave the house for the Y, church, a hike, and a dinner out to 42nd Street Oyster Bar for the parents.  The girls also had their last dance classes on the 13th.  Monday was my last day to go to the Y before it was closed, and Bob got the official order to begin working from home.  We ladies took Finley on a few fun hikes, visited school to get their stuff on Tuesday, and had friend Caroline over on Tuesday afternoon while her mom had a medical procedure.  We got the girls' homeschool stations set up, and (thanks to Bob) got all necessary software/hardware ready for online schooling.





Places started closing right and left, and ultimately a "stay at home order" was issued statewide around the 28th-30th, depending on which county you're in.  We are supposed to stay at home except for essential activities like picking up groceries, urgent doctor visits, etc.  Restaurants can only deliver food or offer takeout, and people cannot gather in groups of more than 10 people or something like that...more recently, they are saying only immediate family should be less than 6 feet from each other.  I’m guessing the new word in the dictionary for 2020 will be the correct buzz word, “social distancing”.

So, we spent the rest of the month at home adjusting to this crazy new situation.  School has been going well so far.  I am really impressed by the level of dedication from the teachers in getting this totally new method of teaching up and running, essentially overnight.  Anna's teachers are not giving as much work as Erin's, and Anna is usually finished with her work in 2-3 hours.  Erin's teachers are doing virtual lectures, plus online tests, projects, assignments, etc.  They are basically covering everything as if they were still in school.  She is busy about 6-7 hours most days.  I think Erin secretly likes it though, now that she's got the routine down and is more familiar with the software.  There are no masses, and we have live-streamed Sunday mass at home the last two weekends.



Erin has had two virtual piano lessons via Zoom, and everything else has basically halted.  Thanks to Bob's Peloton subscription, I have been able to work out at home, and Erin has enjoyed a few video ballet classes.  Anna has really been missing her friends and has been trying to talk and video chat with them as much as possible.  Sadly, our trip to Aruba this month was canceled, but we have it rescheduled for late July (yay!).  Bob and church friends Jeff and Danny have started up a free dinner service through StMM that's connected to some other area churches to help people who may be out of work during this time.  The first weekend was a big success!

As far as the actual situation at large, I really cannot say what is going on because (a) we try not to have the news on too much because it upsets the kids, and (b) who knows what to believe from what's on tv or the internet anyway.  We don't know anyone personally at this point who has "tested positive" for the virus, and most reports that I accidentally see sound like numbers are very low at this point around here.  Larger cities seem to be affected more.  It really isn't too bad for us - weather has been good and we are enjoying not being so busy all of the time.  Who knows how we will feel if this continues until May 15th as currently stated! Below are pictures of a few of the things we have been doing during the downtime.  There has been a lot of yard work, reading, puzzles, games, TV, and dog walks.  We are trying to make the most of it and hope it's all over very soon!

March!

Well, March flew by!  We spent the month getting to know Finley and working on training him...which is a work in progress for sure.



The first weekend of the month was busy with chores, dance, Bob had an inurnment, and we had Liz and David over for a fun pizza dinner.  Bob went to San Jose for work the following week and we ladies (and Finley) held down the fort.  He started his 6-week puppy class that Monday, and it has been going well.  He is listening better and has learned a few commands.  We are far from trained, though!  Bob got back Thursday night in time for the first fish fry of the season on Friday, which was a success  and very delicious.

The weekend of the 9th was nice -we helped at church with the food pantry drive and had Grandma and Grandpa F. Over to meet Finley on Sunday.  Bob was on the road again to Chicago the following week.  Anna had a follow-up on her arm on the 11th and got the all-clear that the fracture had healed!  Yay!  It was parent observation week in dance, so I enjoyed watching all 4 dance classes.  That weekend wasn’t too busy, so we enjoyed hanging out at home and wearing Finley out.

The next week was fairly uneventful, with the second fish fry that Friday after a half day of school.  Other than a minor technical glitch, all went well again.  Saturday we had dance picture day which was a big hit with the girls.





They then both went to Enzo’s birthday party that evening and had lots of fun!  We had another treat on Sunday when the girls and I went to a Sleeping Beauty tea party at Triangle Academy of Dance.  It was so much fun to eat treats with friends Melanie and Jillian and watch the beautiful dancers, including our friend Bridget!



We enjoyed some s'mores on a warm evening that Sunday.



Both girls were off Monday the 25th for a long weekend, so they got to go to puppy class and then we went to see the new Lego 2 movie.  Erin was only off on Tuesday and we had Olivia over to play while the younger siblings were at school.  They were busy writing a book, baking a cake, and painting.  It was a fun day!  Bob was in Orlando this week for sales kickoff and got back in time on Thursday for me to go to one of my book clubs, and I also got to go to another one on Friday.  It was nice to get out a little bit after so many weeks being in puppy-land.

Saturday the 30th, Anna and I went to Concord after dance for a fun little trip to meet baby Vinnie!  He is so sweet and perfect and we are so happy for Dale, Maria, Cole, and Cooper!  It was great to get back for a little visit and see everyone.  Erin had to stay back for a dance class and we weren’t ready to take Finley anyway, so Bob held down the fort here.




So, March was a pretty great month.  We are thankful to be healthy and are looking forward to Easter, spring, and then summer fun!  We have been trying to come up with a short spring break trip but haven’t yet.  Hopefully something will end up working out!