Survived the 1st Semester and the 1st half of a century!

There were only 3 weeks between breaks, but they were SO packed out!

The elves paid us a visit on December 1st.  There was a point just weeks earlier where we thought they were banned.  A judge in Cobb County put out a proclamation that they were not allowed in our county (ironically where the idea for the elf was borne - two Cobb County moms invented the story.) 
He said it was his gift to tired parents + it was to help with the mental health of young children by feeling like they were being watched and/or the trauma of touching the elf!   

But... he retracted the proclamation just after Thanksgiving.  (sigh)  So far - at this writing - our elves haven't done anything too crazy.  Well, one of them may have launched the other into the Christmas tree...??  

The first night, one elf was hanging on the ceiling fan pull while the other was on the blade above.

The next night, the one on the pull clearly "pulled" the chain... the fan was running when we woke up AND the other elf was in the tree!

We went to the tree-lighting at the square + watched the arrival of Santa.  Unfortunately, he was not seeing kids that night, instead, he was reading the letters they wrote him.  Isabella kept trying to get a close peek and an acknowledgement. 

He noticed her and waved.  I think that is it for us this year.  She was satisfied that she saw him and that - most importantly - he got HER wish list!  So, I suppose we will not get formal photos with Santa this year.  

Isabella ran into so many people she knew from school and from her previous elementary school - including her principal who remembered her and was so excited to see her.

One thing to notice:  the lights are FINALLY on in this last picture.  When the tree was lit, a breaker tripped and the decorative lights + gazebo lights where Santa was went out!  I saw someone I knew from the city Parks/Rec dept and she was freaking out running around trying to help figure out how to solve the lights-out issue!

So - our photos of Santa or Isabella with Santa weren't that great.... but... we get what we get this year!  Oh well.  

I was a docent this year at the Marietta Tour of Homes.  I snapped this photo from the house I was in -- because it looks familiar!  Globe Wernicke cabinets!   That was one of the features of the tours, actually.  The room I was in was their modern kitchen -- but got to see this from my post. 

And - got a free ticket where I got to go through the rest of the houses.  I met up with some ladies for brunch and went through the houses with a couple of them.   

Little did I know that after the tour, I was being "kidnapped" by some ladies I have known for 20+/- years.  One picked me up and we met a couple of others at a nail salon in Marietta.  Then we went to dinner and walked around the square!  They did this b/c I broke down driving downtown the last time I tried to meet them.... and/or because of my birthday.

What a nice treat!!!  

The following week was business as usual... school.  Isabella and I did get to see some decked out (private) homes as we were coming home from an appointment.

That week, I worked really hard to button up some things there and prepare for a sub.  We went out of town on my actual birthday -- going to the mountains!  

We rented a mountain house for several days and just spent good quality time with the family.  

The kids spent a lot of time in the basement playing ping pong.  (I did a little 'til my shoulder started hurting.)

The elves followed us!

We made a nice dinner and had birthday cake afterwards.

(the kids and Todd "made" birthday gifts)

Isabella and I made gingerbread over the course of a couple of days (making it one day, then decorating another).

We went to a neighboring town in Tennessee to look around and shop.  (This town - McCaysville GA  &   Copperhill TN - was divided by state lines!)

We put puzzles together.

I started writing letters and Christmas cards.  (often while snuggling with the dog)

We also had a gingerbread tree-decorating contest where ALL of us participated.

There were really bad rain storms and power-outages.  We had a brunch scheduled in the neighboring town of Blue Ridge.  There were devastating storms in Kentucky and Tennessee.  We just got a bunch of rain. 

The morning we were leaving, the storms passed and there was a clear view of the mountains beyond from the upper porch (the one off of the loft bedroom where Todd and I were).   

A photo from the inside of the house's loft... where I hung out sometimes looking at that tree beyond the doorway + took a nap every day!  :) 

There was a bedroom on the main level - where Isabella stayed and there was a futon on the lower level where Mercer stayed.  Everyone was happy they had their own rooms.  I loved the loft and upper porch!   The kids said they'd go back there again!  It was a really really nice get-away and a great way to ring in 5-0!    

Upon our return to the house... Todd had arranged for signs in the yard for MY big day.  The kids and I were surprised.  (He was smug.)  ha!

We had church later that evening -- the live nativity -- and then it was back to "normal" .... a full-court press to get to the end of the week, the last week, of school.  

Isabella had a fun week at school - hot cocoa and movie-watching parties, PJs at school and a class scavenger hunt.  Mercer had make-up work to do.  (Also - he has a new "friend" who he's been getting more courage over the previous couple of weeks to talk to.... but unfortunately was disappointed that he didn't get to see her at lunch during the week.  He had a little something to give to her but was not.  Maybe in the new year he can?  EEK!

I got my grading done on time for the 1st time... and left on time (!) so that I could pick up Isabella and take her to her horse lesson.  (She tacked and groomed, rode, and also got to lead the horse this time.)  

Our "break" is just beginning!