November

We had a great month of November! It started out on the 1st with a fun lunch at our house with Grandma and Grandpa F. We enjoyed catching up with them! We watched an exciting Wolfpack football win over Georgia Tech from home that evening. On the 2nd, Erin and I bravely attended the BRAKES defensive driving course in Raleigh that morning. It was really helpful and fun, too! 

The girls gave tours to prospective families at school that afternoon at the annual open house. Bob went to Boston on the 3rd, followed by a train trip from there to NYC on the 5th. On the 4th, Erin had her first tutoring session with a freshman that went very well. He's now got his twin sister attending their sessions to get help, too, and she's got another student/client! The girls were off school on the 5th for a teacher workday, which they spent at the dentist, followed by a hair appointment for Anna. Anna had an 8th grade shadow student on the 6th, and I enjoyed spending some time volunteering at the Gibbons school store on the 7th. Bob and Danny watched a Wolfpack basketball victory that evening while the ladies and Joe and I watched the game from home.

Erin enjoyed a rare weekend day off on the 8th; she was originally planning to take the SAT that day, but her schedule ended up changing. We enjoyed a super fun family hike along the American Tobacco Trail that morning. 

We all went to mass at 5pm, followed by a fun dinner at the delicious new Japanese place in town, Arita. Bob headed to Atlanta on the 9th for a few days. Anna and friends spent the afternoon at Southpoint while Erin worked. I went to Adoration at Gibbons on the 10th, followed by a very nice daily mass. Erin went to StMM with Service Beakers that afternoon and had a great time! Erin had her advisory service trip on Wednesday the 12th, which was organizing and helping out at the Boys and Girls Club in Raleigh. Bob and I went to the NCSU basketball game that evening and had a great time! We had a special evening on the 13th for Erin's Junior Mass at the cathedral. It was a really nice mass with Fr. Luke (Gibbons chaplain) and each kid was called up to receive a class ring or other special jewelry item. She got a necklace from Grandma Harvey! 

Erin had the next day off school, but Anna still had to go. Erin and I enjoyed watching She Loves Me, the Gibbons fall musical with the McGees on the evening of the 14th with a froyo stop after while Bob, Anna, and Joe hung out at our house. 

On the 15th, Bob, Anna, and I had a blast at Lyla's family's "Novemberfest", which was a belated Oktoberfest celebration. The food was outstanding, and we really enjoyed catching up with church/school parent friends who we don't see as often now that the kids are in high school. I had a fun book club on the 17th and spent 2 mornings at CPO that week, Wednesday and Thursday. Thursdays are my usual day most weeks, but some people were out of town that week. Anna had another shadow on the 20th, and she stayed after school to watch the fall dance concert with her friends. Her friend Stella was in the show. I had a nice brunch with my friend Gina K. on the 21st. 

The weekend of the 22nd-23rd was pretty quiet, with just Erin working and Anna's youth group. Bob, Anna, and I did a little car research at Carmax on Sunday which ended up being wild when the gray Accord wouldn't start when we went to leave. After an interesting Uber ride back to our house (the driver had her dog in the front seat), Bob picked up a new starter at Autozone and got it replaced quickly on Monday morning. It's better than new! 

I was back to CPO on Monday the 24th. Anna and Bella went to see the new Wicked movie on Tuesday. Wednesday, we ladies went to Concord for a very fun day of Thanksgiving prep and Christmas decorating with Grandma and Grandpa A.! We also got some games in! Thanksgiving was full of delicious food and great family time. 

We had a fun visit with Tom, Jimmy, and Danny on Friday the 28th, including a yummy Mellow Mushroom dinner. Saturday, Bob and I had a fun time at the Kavanagh's Michigan/Ohio State party while Anna shopped at Southpoint with Bella and Erin worked. We watched the Wolfpack beat the Tarheels that evening! Sunday was Christmas decoration day, whew!

It was a busy month but not too crazy. We enjoyed lots of family fun and worked hard, too! Bring on the hoildays!

November

November was full of so much goodness!  We started out the month with possibly the biggest event:  Erin got her driver's license on the 1st!  She had an appointment that morning at the Cary DMV (the same place that she got her permit) since they were off school that day.  It all went smoothly, and she passed her road test!  So exciting!  She's been gradually getting used to driving alone, and is doing a great job and starting to feel more confident.  We are so proud of her.

We went to mass for the holy day that evening.  We took a cruise on the lake on Saturday morning while Anna babysat and then went ice skating with her friends.  

Erin worked at the Gibbons open house on Sunday, and Anna and I hit some stores while she was there.  The week of the 4th, everyone was here, and we were busy with the usual things.  I enjoyed going to a Hurricanes game with my friend Molly on Thursday evening.  Saturday the 9th, Bob and I cashed in his birthday (?) gift and went to the Wolfpack/Duke football game!  It was a beautiful day and we had a blast, other than the outcome not going our way.  The Pack fought hard, though.  We had a quick little tailgate and had a fun shuttle ride over in an open-top party bus.  Nothing but style for the Pack!  

Meanwhile, Anna went to Friendsgiving and a sleepover at Lyla's house with her new crew of friends from Gibbons.

Bob headed to Salt Lake city on Sunday for a work event.  We ladies had a busy and productive week, ending with attending Jeff's fall play, The Giver.  It was so good!  We caught up on things on Saturday, and Bob headed to California on Sunday morning for another work event.  We girls enjoyed Ms. Karen's annual apple cider-making party, then Erin lectored at youth Mass before youth group that evening.

The final week of school for the month was another busy one; teachers were trying to get final tests in and projects wrapped up, plus Erin is preparing for her fall dance show the week of December 2nd.  She also visited her alma mater, StMM, on Monday the 18th with her Service Beakers club, where they taught a science lesson to 4th and 5th graders after school.  Erin got to present the lesson to the group!  I had a kitchen consultation on Tuesday; we are considering renovating it, as well as the master bathroom.  I'm already concerned about all the decisions associated with that!  Erin also went to lector training at church on Wednesday evening.  She has been a busy bee lately!

Bob got back on Wednesday evening for a solid 8 days at home!  I had a busy week making dinner for 3 families - Vera had ACL surgery, Heather T. had surgery, and a family from church had a baby.  We ate better because we had the same things!  Anna babysat Friday night while Erin and I enjoyed a dance performance at Meredith College to fulfill her honors requirement for her dance class.  Saturday was pretty laid back, and Sunday, Erin and I had a blast at her Friendsgiving/Olivia & Luciano's 16th birthday party!  Monday, I took Olivia hiking and to lunch as her confirmation sponsor; we ended up doing a pretty intense 4 mile hike along the Haw River, but the weather was beautiful and nobody got hurt!  Tuesday, Erin and I worked at CPO on what was advertised to be a crazy day but in reality wasn't bad at all.  Erin did a great job and enjoyed it.  

Bella came over to hang with Anna that afternoon.  Wednesday, we girls headed to Concord for a super fun 2 days with the family!  The girls went shopping in the afternoon, then helped Grandma make pies and cranberry salad that evening.  

The California Ambrosinis arrived late that evening, and we all had a super fun sleepover!  Bob drove down on Thursday morning.  Thanksgiving was a great day, too, with family portraits, an awesome meal, football for the guys, and lots of fun family time!  We headed back that evening.  

Friday, Bob set off again, this time to Sydney for his bi-annual trip there.  He had a marathon travel schedule:  RDU to O'Hare, then to Houston, and THEN the 17.5 hours to Sydney!  He's still in the air as of writing this.  Jeff came over here Friday afternoon, and he and Erin played games, baked, and made dinner for us!  Anna managed 3 pet-sitting jobs that day, too.  Saturday, Anna is planning to shop with Bella while Erin is at Hadestown at the DPAC with Jeff's family, then she and I are going to see Pentatonix tonight!  We cannot wait!

So- November was full of lots of work, but fun too.  I've been working on the Duke/UNC applications again this year; 'tis the season!  We are so thankful for our health, family, friends, and all of our blessings!  Bring on December!  It's going to be condensed and jam-packed!

November

November was great!  We were busy and happy and enjoyed the month!  It was definitely the month of tricky schedules because the kids had different days off throughout the first two weeks.  Erin was off on the 1st, and she drove me to and from All Saint's Day mass that morning!  Anna also started a physical therapy regimen that morning to help strengthen her ankle that she injured during volleyball season.  She's had about 8 sessions and hopefully will be finished by the end of the month.  Erin went back to school Thursday and Friday that week only for Anna to be off for teacher conferences!  We all enjoyed a trip to Reynolds Coliseum for a Wolfpack volleyball game on Friday evening.  Sadly, they didn't win, but we still had a great time.  

We enjoyed a nice dinner at a new (to us) restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa F. on Saturday evening, and had a fun day on Sunday with Bob and Anna visiting the Gibbons open house while Erin and I enjoyed Friendsgiving with her friends at Olivia's house.  Erin and I went to youth group that evening, which wasn't so fun, but we are nearly 25% finished with her two years of classes at this point.  

The week of the 6th was busy for Erin, as she had 3 nights of dance rehearsals and then 3 performances over Friday and Saturday.  It was a good experience for her, and the dance was beautiful!  

Anna was off school on Election Day and made the most of it with a PT appointment and a haircut.  Friday the 10th, Bob, Anna, and I had the pleasure of going to neighbor Kate and Matt's wedding!  It was a beautiful wedding at Sacred Heart Church followed by a fun reception at City Market in Raleigh.  

Saturday, we went to Erin's dance shows and Olivia and her mom also joined us at the evening show, followed by a yummy dinner at Cava and frozen yogurt!  Bob went to California Tuesday-Friday the following week, and we ladies had more of a normal schedule before Thanksgiving break.  Erin and I enjoyed seeing the Carolina Youth Ballet Nutcracker on Friday evening, and the 3 girls all went to see the AFHS production of Clue on Saturday, where Erin's friend Jeff helped with the stage crew.  Anna had Gracie over on Sunday for some hanging out and dinner.  

I started my temporary job that weekend as well, where I am reading scholarship applications for Duke.  It is fun so far and hopefully I am doing a good enough job of rating them!  Erin and I had a piano lesson on Monday the 20th for our duet, and she had her regular lesson later that afternoon.  Hopefully her fingers were not tired after all of that piano playing!  Anna and I headed to Concord on Tuesday for a super fun 24 hours at Great Wolf Lodge with the cousins.  

Wednesday afternoon, after we were waterparked out, we went to Grandma and Grandpa A.'s for a fun and yummy taco bar, game night, and pie baking!  Erin and Bob handled a carpet measurement appointment at home on Wednesday, and then she drove them to Concord on Thursday morning.  We all had a really great Thanksgiving with lots of fun and delicious food!  We all had a great time and headed back that evening.  

Friday, we met up with Liz and David for a Mexican dinner.  Saturday, we went to a fun tailgate party for the Michigan/Ohio State game with friends the Kavanaghs and then watched our Wolfpack beat the Heels that night!

Sunday, we woke up to the sound of water running, which is never good.  Bob found the source of the problem in the crawl space.  The previous owners had spliced into a water line to add a spicket in the garage, and had only glued it together, which was not to code.  The very nice and prompt Cary Plumbing came out within a few hours and fixed it right up for us.  They'll come back on the 29th to replace the pressure regulator.  So, it ended up not being too big of a deal.  We started putting Christmas stuff up Sunday afternoon and evening, too.

Bob left that afternoon for his first-ever trip to South America - Sao Paulo!  After some drama with the first flight being delayed, being driven across the tarmac in a Jaguar in Houston to make the second flight, and then the second plane having mechanical issues that required them to all deplane and wait at the gate for a few hours, he made it to Sao Paulo on Monday morning.  He is hoping to see a little bit of the city while he is there for a relatively quick work trip (he flies back Thursday night).  

The rest of this week should be fairly routine.  We are all feeling the Christmas rush upon us!  It's going to a fun and festive month ahead!

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!

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!

November!

My favorite month is over!  So sad...it was a good one, or as good as possible considering the circumstances (Covid).  The good news coming out of this month is that 2-3 companies have promising vaccines in production/testing and are awaiting final approval to distribute them.  In fact, I saw today that the UK will begin distributing theirs within a week.  The bad news is that it will be awhile before healthy non-essential employees get them.  Also bad news is that "the numbers" are going up, though rate of fatalities isn't increasing as quickly.  So, we shall see.  It's really confusing and hard to know what to believe in the news...we hear that there are 4 million cases, yet we still only know 3 people locally (two of them are husband and wife) who had it...and we know a lot of people!  

Anyway - November.  The kids had off the 2nd-3rd for virtual parent-teacher conferences (due to time constraints, we were not contacted to have one, which is good news!).  I enjoyed going to book club on the 2nd at friend Kate's new house.  Then, the school was closed for cleaning on Wednesday the 4th after being used as a polling site.  We closed on our refinance on the 2nd - one good thing out of this is low interest rates!  Erin had her first consultation at the orthodontist on the 4th, and after getting some pictures, they said that her 12-year molars have not come in enough to start any kind of treatment.  We will go back next summer and see how things are looking.  I am still somewhat skeptical of if she really needs it, but we might see what the regular dentist says in December and possibly get a second opinion in the spring.  

Anna played futsal each Friday in November (except for the day after Thanksgiving).  At first, she wasn't sure about it because it is more fast-paced than outdoor soccer, but she now says she might like it even more than outdoor!  It looks like they are working hard on skills that will be helpful in the spring.  Erin continued ballet and piano in person and all is going well (with masks, of course).  I am swimming in Covid-19 health declaration forms between school and activities!  We invested in a forehead thermometer, and it has been worth every penny.

Anyway, the weekend of the 7th-8th was fairly low-key with the usual cooking for Bob (they are up to 36 weeks and over 17,500 meals served!).  The next week was fairly routine, including a used uniform sale at school on the evening of the 10th.  We had a fun afternoon crafting on Saturday the 14th after some morning yard work.  

On the 15th, we had the honor and pleasure of being baby Sawyer's godparents at his baptism!  It was at the beautiful cathedral, and we had a fun and yummy lunch after at Amy and Erik's house.  Sawyer is so sweet!

The 16th and 17th were fine, and then Anna woke up on the 18th with a low-grade fever and runny nose.  Here we go!  Any other year, that would be no problem at all.  However, this year is 2020.  Both kids had to stay home until they both got a negative Covid test.  They were none too pleased about getting the test, but we did get both negative results the following day.  Erin went back to school on Friday, and Anna did on Monday due to still being congested.  I can't imagine that wearing a mask would be too comfortable with a runny nose!  Thankfully, they were able to keep up with school virtually.

Anna had fun at friend Sofia's painting party on the 21st while Erin and I helped prepare tortillas with Bob's cooking crew.  Then we had a fun shopping outing before picking Anna up.  Erin was back to altar serving on the 22nd, and she did a great job with her first time on "bells"!  We had a short school week the following week, with the kids getting out at 11:30am on Tuesday.  Sarah hung out with us that afternoon, which was fun!  

Bob was off Wednesday-Monday, same as the kids, and it was great to have that time off to get house stuff done since he is normally busy either working or cooking the meals on the weekends.  We went Wednesday and got Anna a new mattress (and they disposed of her old one); he and Anna also spent some time building new roof trusses for the nativity at church.  Erin and I took Finley on a hike, as well.  Thursday, we had a great family day at home, complete with the "traditional" beef tips, spaetzle, green beans, apple pie, and ice cream sandwich pie for our Thanksgiving feast!  Yum!

Friday, Bob and Anna did more construction work and picked up our Christmas tree while Erin, Finley, and I did some house work and started baking for the weekend's meals.  Saturday was some yard work and chores, then Sunday was our fun trip to Concord for Thanksgiving!  We had so much fun and loved all the yummy food.  We had fun playing family kickball, too!  Monday was Christmas decorating day, and it is not quite finished, but almost!  Finley is still interested in the tree, but can be redirected so far (it's only been decorated for less than a day).

So, that was November.  It was a beautiful month weather-wise, though we did have a bunch of rain in the middle of the month that probably messed up our fall foliage a little bit.  We enjoyed a fairly successful Wolfpack football season, which ends this coming Saturday.  All things considered, it was a pretty good month. Now begins the Christmas fun!

November!

Well, the last day of my favorite month has come upon us, sadly.  It was a really fun month with beautiful weather and lots of good times.  We started the month out right with the beautiful feast day of All Saints, and then had a nice and busy weekend with Anna's tennis lesson, family photo session with the super talented Ms. Karen (who also happens to be our wonderful neighbor), a gymnastics birthday party for Anna, and taking care of Lily and Nina's rabbit on Saturday, then a fun lunch with Grandma and Grandpa F. and another photo session for Erin for ballet on Sunday! 





Erin is going to audition for a 2-week summer intensive ballet camp next year and needed to get photos taken.  The following week, Bob had a combo trip to Boston and Toronto and saw a little bit of snow while he was up north!  We girls had a busy but routine week with school and the usual activities, plus my book club on Monday night.  Erin had a sick day on Thursday, but was back to feeling like herself pretty quickly.

That weekend, we had a great time with family hiking/fishing at Bass Lake on Saturday, and Grandma A. came up to visit on Sunday!  We put her right to work moving furniture for the painting project!  We also all enjoyed a really good steak dinner at the Angus Barn, thanks to Ms. Karen who treated us for caring for her cats and plants while she was out of town in October.  They had their Christmas decorations up there, so we really enjoyed that as well.  Monday, Bob had a day trip to New York, then was home Tuesday and then spent the rest of the week in San Francisco.  I had fun at a neighborhood ladies' night at a sign painting place in Fuquay, and otherwise we had the usual activities.  The painters arrived on Friday and worked that day, Saturday, and the following Monday painting most all of the downstairs (minus the dining room and office, plus both stairwells and upstairs hallway.  It looks so much cleaner and is really wonderful!  After a long debate, we went with a light gray (Agreeable Gray) that the painter recommended.  It was lighter than the decorator suggested, but we (admittedly Gina) didn't want to go too dark in such a large area.  It is subtle, but definitely a change for the better.  They also patched all the holes in the walls and window trim, so we are starting with a clean slate...almost like a new house!

Finley was less than thrilled with the painters invading his house, and the timing was not good with two of the three days that they were here being rainy, but it worked out fine.  He got lots of car time and we camped out in the bonus room when we were home.  I went to a day-long autism seminar in Durham on Saturday and learned a lot, and Bob left Sunday afternoon for a week in San Diego.  After he left, Erin and I took Finley for a hike at Crowder park and Anna went to play with Enzo and Luke.

The week of the 18th was otherwise fairly uneventful...Erin's music class cantored at school mass that Thursday and did a wonderful job!  Anna and Nina earned some money in their spare time after school, selling 3 kinds of trail mix:



We had a busy weekend with having dog friend Ruby over for 3 days, Ms. Mona's 90th birthday party, lots of light fixture changing out, Erin had Olivia's sleepover party, and Anna got to play with neighbor friend Caitlin while we went out for happy hour with Caitlin's parents and Ms. Kate.  Having Ruby over kept Finley very busy! 



Sunday, Anna went to play at her friend Caroline's house after church and we all did some yard work.

The last week of the month was a short one with just two days of school.  Then we had our first-ever Thanksgiving at home with just the four of us because my family was in Indiana and Pam and John were heading to the beach.  We had a great time fixing our favorite foods (determined by a Google Form) and cooking together! 





Friday, we avoided the stores but instead got started on Christmas decorations since Thanksgiving was so late this year.  We got a tree and also played in the backyard and had a fire in the fire pit.  Saturday, Bob set up the nativity at church and we girls ventured to Walmart and painted some pottery.  Then, we finished decorating and had a yummy pizza dinner at home and are currently hoping the Wolfpack can manage to beat Carolina - while we have no hope for a bowl this year, we are hoping to keep UNC away from one by beating them tonight.



In between the regular school, dance, piano, dog walking, chores, errands, carpool, tennis, work trips, appointments, homework, volunteering, meetings, and everything else that comes up, we have slowly been trying to get the house back in order post-painting and work on redecorating.  We did order a new rug for the living room, and I've been busy trying to sell off or give away the old stuff.  It's never easy to know what to do!

That was November!  It was, as always, a gorgeous month with lots of family fun.  Now we have a jam-packed few weeks until Christmas...maybe the condensed season will be a good thing...or, will it just make it crazier?!?

November/December!

Well, I guess December was so busy that I didn't get a chance to write a post for November!  Here's a quick summary of the final two months:

November - Started out with All Saint's Day, 2 book clubs, and a fun visit with Tom, Pam, Jimmy, and Danny!  Anna went to Caroline's roller skating birthday party with Sarah on the 3rd. 



Girls were off on the 5th and 6th, so we had school conferences, two playdates for Anna, and some down time at home.  The rest of the week was the usual until my first of two solo trips to Fort Wayne, this time for cousin Meg and Brent's wedding!  The wedding was beautiful and so much fun, and I had a great time!  We even go to do some sightseeing at Sweetwater Sounds.  Bob and the girls stayed home and did some house/car work and helped at the pancake breakfast at church on Sunday.

The week of the 12th was fairly calm with our usual routine and activities, plus neighborhood bunco for me on Thursday.  Anna went to a fun painting birthday party on Saturday, and Erin went to Olivia's sleepover birthday party as well!  Erin and I went to a concert with Enzo and his mom on Sunday the 18th and saw Ms. Margaret sing some opera!  The girls just had school for two days the week of Thanksgiving, and we went to Concord that Wednesday for a fun time!  We also got to visit Cole and Cooper at their house while we were there. 



The kids were also off on the 26th and went to the dentist.  The remainder of the week was back to the normal routine, plus book club, rounding out my favorite month.  I sure do love November for its nice weather, leaves changing, Thanksgiving, and the calm before the storm (aka December)...

The busiest month of the year started out with a bang on Saturday the 1st while Bob set up the nativity at church and we ladies got ready for the lighting/blessing of the nativity that night.  Unfortunately, it rained and we didn't have a great turnout.  We all worked hard on Christmas decorating on Sunday. 





The following week was a little extra busy at school with Santa's Secret Workshop, where I went and helped the students shop for gifts for their families.  We got our fence installed that week in anticipation of a furry friend!  Third grade had the reconciliation prayer breakfast on Friday, which was really nice.  Then the kids got out at 11:30 and we had Sarah over to play before jazz class.  We attempted to make cinnamon ornaments which was kind of a fail...we need to use more glue or something next time!  Anna went to a bowling birthday party on Saturday the 8th, and then they had their holiday piano/voice mock recital that afternoon.  We were supposed to go to Concord that evening for Ben and Cole's 7th birthday party, but we had a surprise early snowfall!  We ended up with less than 2" here, and it was really wet snow, but it sure was pretty while it lasted!  We got to have extra special visitors when Olivia's house lost power...we had her, Josie, mom/Dawn, and Ginger stay for 2 nights, and we had such a great time!





Bob went to Seattle the week of the 10th, and we ladies held down the fort, including a snow day on Monday, 2-hour delay on Tuesday, and Erin being in the school Christmas pageant on Tuesday evening.  She did a wonderful job as a narrator!  Anna had a field trip to the science museum and capitol building on the 12th.  I enjoyed doing some baking for the teachers' gift exchange that week, and then I had my second trip to Indiana that Friday for Kristen and Amir's wedding!  The weather was great, and I had fun flying one leg each way with Leslie and Elliott!  He did so well on his first flights!  We enjoyed staying downtown.  The wedding was beautiful and I was so happy that I was able to go to both weddings this fall.  Bob and the kids had planned to go to the mountains while I was gone, but they were still dealing with the snow in that area, so they stayed put and helped with the pancake breakfast again and enjoyed the neighborhood holiday event/hayride.  

My room mom skills were put to the test on Monday the 17th for the fourth grade Christmas party.  It seemed to go well and the kids had fun!  Erin had her checkup that afternoon and got a good report.  The girls got out for Christmas break at 11:30 on Thursday the 20th, and then the fun really began!  Enzo and his mom and brother came over to play that afternoon, we had fun visiting the Grinch at Ms. Karen's on Friday as well as a fun outing to the Nutcracker that afternoon.  We really enjoyed the show! 



Saturday, we watched dog friend Ruby, had a home visit with the Carolina Basset Hound Rescue (we passed...fingers crossed!!!), Anna went to sleep over at Addie's, and the rest of us had a fun dinner with Liz and David.  After church on Sunday, we went to Concord for lots of Christmas fun.  We came home on the afternoon of the 24th and went to our neighbors' Christmas Eve party, then home to try to sleep!  Santa did arrive, and we had lots of fun on Christmas morning opening gifts!  We then went to church and back home to play all day. 





I was busy shopping on the 26th for gifts for Santa's Secret Workshop 2019 (we plan ahead and hit the sales!).  We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the Callaways and Flanagans on the 27th, and I hit more stores on the 28th.  Anna had a 4-day dog-walking gig over the week and enjoyed walking a neighbor dog.  She also had 2 playdates on Saturday the 29th (only Anna has a social calendar like this).  We had a super fun visit from Grandma A. and Ansley on Sunday and Monday and put them to work unloading the gifts at school that I had bought, but then we all had a yummy lunch at Moes.  We finished out the year at home for New Year's Eve crying over our poor Wolfpack Gator Bowl loss.  Maybe next year!

So, it was a very busy couple of months, but we are thankful for lots of fun and good health!  Here's to 2019!