Christmas happenings and ringing in the New Year - 2020

It’s a good thing that we “ran into” Santa at Great Wolf Lodge because we never made it up to the square to visit Santa.  Actually, the beautiful Santa that we have seen every year was not at the square this year – as his son is undergoing chemotherapy and he was spending additional time with him in another state.   So, the Santa that was at the hotel worked out quite nicely!!  

One thing, however, is that around Thanksgiving when we were at Great Wolf Lodge, the kids had no idea what to ask Santa for.  We had to wait 'til closer to Christmas and deliver a letter to the mailbox up at the square when they finally figured it out.

We took an afternoon on the square to check out the new Reindeer Games (visiting painted reindeer and getting clues to solve a puzzle).  Also, the kids got to find their schools’ trees that were decorated as a part of the “festival of trees.”  It was a cold, rainy day when we went up there so we did not force the kids get dressed up in their Christmas clothes.

We just delivered the letters to Santa's mailbox and headed back home for hot cocoa and decorating gingerbread houses.

It was nice to have an afternoon to just focus on Christmas traditions with our little family unit.

Christmas cards went out late (and they went out with the “other” Santa.  But, the shopping and wrapping were pretty much done in time.  We did a few extras this Christmas: 

- Todd took the kids to our church to visit the live nativity.   
-  We went out with some other parents from our church – we talked about using this time (where our kids were being watched) to shop on the square, but all decided to socialize instead at a nearby brewery.   

- I had the robotics competition mentioned on the previous blog, so I did not get to get a jump on the Marietta tour of homes that I always go to the 1st Saturday of December.  I met up with a group of girls later in the evening to tour some of the homes at night (and pop into the rest of the houses the following day). 
- Isabella and I went to a Christmas ballet.   She was excited to see some of her classmates in the show + a couple of her teachers.  It was actually nice to go and watch instead of worrying about a performance.  Usually when the kids are IN a show, they don’t get to see any of it… they’re behind the scenes back stage the whole time.   

- Afterwards, Isabella and I went straight to our church to participate in the annual Carol Sing.   
- This season, I served at a special service called “The Longest Night” which was dedicated to those who were grieving during the holidays.  It’s celebrated in conjunction with the Winter Solstice.  It was somber, but a very nice thing to offer for the community. 

- Also, Mercer's 6th grade band joined the orchestra and there was a mini-holiday concert.  It actually sounded pretty good and we were able to recognize all of the songs!  Mercer is the one wearing a Santa hat holding the trumpet.  A friend took a photo from the upper bleachers and sent to us because we did not have a good shot of him (this is why the basketball net is in the photo!)

We delayed starting our road trip by a day which allowed us to check out the reindeer games & make gingerbread houses mentioned above. But - it also let us have a little family Christmas at our house and open gifts with the kids.  Mercer is at a weird age.  

We delayed starting our road trip by a day which allowed us to check out the reindeer games & make gingerbread houses mentioned above. But - it also let us have a little family Christmas at our house and open gifts with the kids.  Mercer is at a weird age.  He is still sort of like a kid, but he’s moving into the teenage mode.  Sometimes he wants to play, but other times, he’s too-cool and doesn’t want to do juvenile things.  We got him a certificate to update his room.  Not terribly exciting, but necessary.  He will be getting a new comforter set and a comfy chair / maybe a bean bag or the like in the spot where his Thomas the Train / LEGO table is?  It’s time.   


Isabella got something for her room too:  an aquarium + a gift card for a gecko.  Yikes!  

(She was a bit more excited than he was~)   This picture of her catches her expression... she's like "seriously?  really?!"  once she reads the side of the box and realizes what is in store!


We drove to North Carolina the next day and celebrated Christmas there as well with my mom.  The kids excited to have gotten some toys since they mostly got stuff for their rooms at our house the day before~   Here, they are "flying" some hand-controlled drones.  And - Isabella was excited to have received a bingo set!  

We visited my grandmother too in the nursing home the one day we were in town.  (We would see her more on our way back after Christmas.)

The next day, Monday, we spent 11 and ½ hours travelling up to Todd’s sister’s house.  It was a long day, but glad we didn’t go up on Tuesday (Christmas Eve) as traffic would be much worse.    

At Tonia's house, we were stunned by the size of the tree.  It was almost 20' tall & touching the ceiling!  (sure makes up for us having a puny tree this year at our own house, thankfully!)

They had to decorate it with those nets of lights meant for bushes / shrubs. 

And - they did manage to get real decorations on it as well. 

Aunt Tonia sent us this hilarious picture during the set-up with a caption from her Irish husband.  (Apparently he was walking around during the set-up muttering this plus a few other choice words!)    

She kept sending us updates to help build up anticipation.






It WAS impressive... and it seemed that most everything centered around THIS tree this year!!

We tried to get a nice Christmas photo of the kids in front of the tree -- that didn't work out too well, unfortunately, to get BOTH kids on board.  

Thankfully, there were smiles at other times.    Surprisingly, Mercer gave us a smile even though he's in agony waiting for his sister who likes to sleep in!!

Christmas morning is quite a bit different there than in days past when all of Tonia, Jim & Becky, and Bobby's kids were little.  Back then when the other 8 cousins were young, it was absolute chaos!  Here, it's a bit more controlled, as there are only 2 kiddos going crazy tearing through paper.  

Isabella got a baby dragon, called Toothless.  Fitting since she is missing her 2 front teeth!!

(and - yes - everyone kept saying "I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" when they saw her!)

The big kids (now 18 yrs old and above) have joined the adult gift exchange.  Uncle Jim and his kids (Marley and Nate - one just starting / the other just finishing college) all arrived Christmas afternoon & left after Christmas dinner.  
















Luckily, we got some pictures of all of the siblings (Todd, his brothers and his sister) and 9 of the 10 cousins.  The oldest cousin was away / not able to join the family this Christmas.  




























Here's a photo of the 3 "baby girls" of the family!!

Last time we were there, Isabella was *smitten* with her two boy cousins, Zach and Sam... but especially Sam. She was by his side the whole time he was there.  It was cute 2 years ago when she was 5... and now it's a little bit funny, but it's getting to the point (now that she's 7) that it's getting a little uncomfortable.  Hopefully by the next time we see them, she'll have it out of her system?!  

Here, she's hanging out with all of the teenagers because she thinks she's one of them!  

Meanwhile, Mercer / Todd / I started a game of Monopoly.  4 1/2 hours later...  Mercer and I were the last two players -- playing well into the night (close to 1 am) waaaaay after everyone else went to bed.  Note all of my foreclosed properties in red and Mercer being declared the winner.  (Beginner's luck!!)  Humph~

One non-Christmas thing we did:  Uncle Bobby wanted to go on a hike on the beach the day after Christmas.  Yes - to get out of the house - we eagerly agreed!    He brought a big kite and a Frisbee.  

Thankfully, the weather was pretty nice the whole time we were up there -- no snow.  Whew! 

At lunch in the nearby beach town, Isabella made a comment that caused quite an uproar:  "I'm probably the smartest one in this family."  (In front of Todd, Uncle Bobby, Sam, Tara, Mercer and me.)  ummmmmmmmmm..... she may be right (one day), but holy cow that confidence!  It was pretty hilarious.  



It's always a lot of work getting up there, but when we go, it is worth it -- some fantastic memories are always made!

We headed out early the next day and - after another 11+ hours in the car... made it back to North Carolina.  We stayed a bit longer on this leg of the trip -- but not too long overall.  (Mom was gracious in allowing us not to "split the time" evenly knowing that we don't get up to NJ as often as we get to NC which definitely took off some of the stress!)

We visited grandma (great-grandma) again.  The kids played with their toys, while mom / grandma / I caught up and talked.  Isabella put on a dance show for us as well.  Mercer also snapped some 3 generation pictures for us.












We also got in a hike at a nearby park with a cool fish slide.  We saw a snake on our hike... it was so so warm!   We saw evidence of a beaver too along the path.    Lots of nature on this little hike!!

Then, we popped over to visit my Aunt Becky.   (Isabella wanted to play with dogs the whole time - which let us visit and talk with my aunt for awhile.)  


She has 2 corgis.

The following day -- on our way back home -- we stopped by my friend Cindy's house.  They just got a corgi puppy!!    As always, it's so good to see the boys... they get along sooo sooo well!   Wish we got to see them more often!

Todd got back to work the next day and I only had a couple of days off before I was back at work as well.  Pre-planning for us teachers started January 2nd.  But, we did ring in the new year with the kiddos.  

We decided to stay home and make fondue for New Year's eve.  It was going to be just us, however, a friend and her daughter stopped by (and stayed 'til after midnight).  She's friends with a neighbor of ours, so he came over too.  It turned into a little party!   (Notice, Isabella went through 3 "costume" changes.  She started out dressed and painting a picture by herself, then she changed into a fancy sequin dress, then into her ballet leotard so she could perform for our guests!  ha!)  Everyone made it past midnight.  The fireworks were going off all around us until way past 1 a.m.  

The following day, we had another fun food adventure with the kids:  making home-made ravioli.  We were trying to cram in as many fun things as we could before all of us had to get back into the swing of school, scouts, tutoring, ballet, church, home-work, grading, lesson planning, work,  etc etc etc. 

They seemed to have fun using the pasta machine, but had a little bit of a hard time taking turns.  (sigh)  We put ham and greens (spinach) in them.  Sor  

 One major thing that happened in our household in this new year: Isabella cashed in her gift card at PetCo that we gave her at Christmas!  Introducing:  Lizzie. (Izzie and Lizzie.) :)  I haven't picked her up yet, but do quite enjoy the nightly show she puts on when we feed her 7-8 live crickets. She stalks them... and a funny thing is that she shakes her tail when she's about to attack. 

We had a couple of "Soup Nights" already and the feeding show has become a part of the evening's entertainment.  (Plus Isabella dancing / putting on a performance for these guests as well - complete with costume changes of course!)

When talking about the lizard, we keep saying "she," but honestly have no idea if it's a boy or a girl. The person at the pet store didn't know either and he's an assistant manager /has 3 leopard geckos of his own.  We (Todd, the guy at store and I) all liked this one because she was the most colorful one in the cage.  She has a unique blue color above both of her eyes.

Signing off for now.... Well, we are definitely back in the swing of things!

Sincerely hoping that in this new year we experience a great deal of joy and that have a lot of adventure  / getting in some new experiences that make wonderful memories for our little family unit.

I hope too that we also experience more balance in home-life, work-life and school.

Hoping our extended friends and family find a lot of adventure and joy this year as well!!

Thanksgiving and beyond

It's hard to remember to document the "regular" things that happen.  

My mom came for Thanksgiving dinner.  We weren't going to make a bunch of food, but Todd wanted to smoke a turkey on the egg.  Then, there was a certain side-dish he wanted.... and a specific dessert.  It turned out that he (mostly) cooked all day!  I made a couple of things, but - it was definitely Todd's show.

All we got was a photo of the table before everyone dove in.











He was cooking through the Gobble Jog too.... didn't even get to go to the top of the street to cheer on the thousands of people that come through our 'hood.  It's fun because you always see someone you know in the crowd.  This year, there was even a jogging dinosaur in an inflatable costume!!  

I took mom to a couple of shops that she wanted to visit the day after Thanksgiving, but we avoided all of the major stores and crowds.  We also went to go see the "Lights of Life" - our first Christmas lights of the season.  We played some board games and had hot chocolate too.   












One of my favorite decorations are these metal pieces that you can add to a pumpkin to turn it into a turkey!  

Before Thanksgiving, the kids were in 2 days of camp.  I tackled some work around the house and errands.  I felt sort of bad that we didn't go anywhere over break, so -- we "cashed in" the monetary gift that the grandparents for Florida gave our family and put it towards an experience the day after Thanksgiving. 

We took the kids to a place called Great Wolf Lodge.  

It's a kid-themed hotel with a large water park in an attached building.









One MAJOR surprise that we had no idea about:  Santa was arriving at the hotel the night we were there... and he arrived by helicopter!!

We stepped out of the water park for awhile to go see his debut!  He was master of ceremonies at the resort's tree lighting.

  

We did not bring "fancy" clothes to see Santa, but after dinner, we did stop by to pay him a visit.

At that point, there wasn't too long of a line to see him, but Isabella was refusing.  Mercer sat with him alone, but Santa looked our way and saw that she was shy or scared to come up, so he "summoned" her to come... and she did.  (Although she refused when we were trying to prod her to go see him.)  I'm not sure what he told her, but then she did turn and smile for us to snap a photo.  

This place was a bit Disney-ish in the theme (and opportunities for paying for additional things at the resort).   Our kids really wanted these wands and to go around an play this wand-quest game.... but honestly.... we were there for only 1 day and there was PLENTY to do at the water park and the on-site events held in the lobby.

There was an area that had a wave pool.  (This is where Isabella wanted to spend the majority of her time.)

There was a lazy river.  Both kids liked this.

Then....there were these GIANT water slides.  This was Mercer's favorite part.  

We pretty much had to split up and one parent go with each (although Mercer could do the slides on his own).  Admittedly, the giant slides were pretty great!  

They definitely had fun.... even without all of the extras!  :)



Mercer has started his basketball season.  This keeps us busy on Saturday mornings.  Mercer is the tallest kid on his team again.  He's starting to handle the ball a bit better, but mostly hangs out under the basket for rebounds.

Unfortunately, I've missed some of his games because I have classes that I take every now and then on Saturdays (these are preferred instead of week night classes, but I have to take those some as well).  These are a part of the teaching certificate.  

One Saturday, I missed because I have been helping out some with my school's LEGO robotics team.  The 6th and 7th grade team are made up of former and current students.  This was their first time competing, so they learned a lot about how to earn points at this actual competition.  They did not get a lot of points on the LEGO missions, but they won an award on their presentation of the team's core values.... and they'll move on to another tournament in January. 

That took a bit of time before and after school for practices.  Another thing that has taken a bit of time before and after school -- I was planning a field trip for our STEM kids.  I took them to my old non-profit, Southface.  They were really really good.... and I think they got a lot out of it.

One weekend, we went to Cirque du Soliel for my birthday. We took the kids and then went out for Mexican afterwards.

One more thing that we were doing a bit of over the past few weeks:  cheering on our Marietta Blue Devils.  We only made it to a couple of their games because Mercer's baseball practices were EVERY Friday night during the regular season.  We went to their first playoff game @ their home stadium.  They won pretty easily.  We did not go to the next round the following Friday -- it was across town at my old high school.... Parkview!  (it was a cold and rainy day + trying to navigate across town in Atlanta traffic on a Friday? naaah!)  But, they beat Parkview and advanced to the state championship.  We went to that game - which was held downtown at the old Braves baseball stadium which was converted to the new GA State College stadium.  It was really exciting because the small "hometown" feel carried out to this game.  There were SOOOO many people that went to the game to support the team.  We ran into people who were neighbors, former co-workers, people from each of the kids' schools, etc.  There were pep rallies, parades and the kids at Isabella's school got into it making signs for the team.  (The superintendent's daughter is in her class, so there may be a little extra team spirit there??!!)

It had been 1966 & 1967 since the last time Marietta made it to state.  There were some great articles publicized that surfaced from the two games of that era - during segregation.  The players of both teams were honored during the 2019 celebrations -- the players and cheerleaders from both years (the 1966 African American Lemon Street school and the 1967 Marietta High School, the year when desegregation had took place and the students from Lemon Street were mixed with the MHS students.)


Our little home-town school was also selected to play in a tournament in Vegas this past weekend.  They won that game as well.  (Doesn't hurt that some of the top high school players in the country are all on this one team!)  It may be a little while before Marietta sees another championship.... so much excitement this fall and winter.  Even though our kids aren't old enough to be in high school, we still wanted them to be a part of it all~


There really is something about our little town of May-retta....