Christmas with the Fam

​It was Christmas at my house today. I feel like it’s been crazy busy the last few days - semester exams, finalizing grades, trying to schedule all my classes in the gym before vacation, lunch dates with friends, appointments, shopping online, wrapping gifts, making food. The list goes on. I wondered if and how I would get it all done. I didn’t. The stocking stuffers were never finished, so I guess we will be like the Italian or Spanish and celebrate Epiphany by opening the stocking gifts in January.

Santa did make a stop and left a  business finance calculator and a NPTE prep book for my two guys. He really knows how to have fun! 😂

We had a great dinner of lasagna and cheesy bread. And that lifted our spirits after we watched the Aggies lose in the playoffs. Vikki says we can never watch an A&M game together again because they always lose when we are in the same house.

Jamie gifted the boys basketball trading cards, and they were in heaven. For a second, I had a flashback to Georgia when the boys made up games with the cards and determined winners by random lottery draws and other criteria I never fully comprehended. 

Tomorrow we are on a jet plane to an island where we will do nothing but produce vitamin D, drink cocktails, and eat great food! 

Early Christmas

​Today this arrived in the mail. 

It’s an early Christmas for us, and I say us purposefully. We are all celebrating this gift.

Friendship

​When I arrived to Campbell in 2013, my first assignment was teaching third grade at Lincoln. These ladies were my co-workers; we were partnered together on the same grade-level team. They welcomed me from day one, and we quickly became friends. We no longer work together as our assignments have since changed, but we still meet once a month for dinner, to celebrate birthdays and catch up on life. 

We celebrated Christmas this month at a restaurant in Nash. In twelve years, this is the first time we have taken a picture with all four of us. 

In 2013, our children were babies, so we have watched them grow up together, celebrated graduations together, and lived through the angst of launching them into the real world. So much has transpired since our days at Lincoln, so much could have gotten in our way to keep us from staying in touch, and yet we make a point to keep the monthly dates. 

It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

​The best part of the sun setting at 1700? 

This! 

I love the look of warm lights in a dark room. It looks like Christmas in my house! 

November

​November also included live music. Vikki and I scored $57 tickets to see Ernest at The Ryman. We couldn’t pass that up - even if was a school night. 

His opener was pretty good; I got no pics of the guy we were there to see, but it turned out ok. Two nights later I was back at The Ryman with Bella to see Ella. She brought out Ernest.

After two concerts in one week, I took my middle schoolers on a field trip to Nashville to tour the state capitol. But forget history! The real highlight of the trip was the hot chicken at the food court in The Farmers Market. Meanwhile I was so stressed worried about losing a 14 year old, making sure 14 year olds didn’t touch exhibits, and worried traffic would cause us to miss our scheduled tours. I was beyond relieved to get back on the bus headed back to school. I crashed Friday night and slept for twelve hours!

The Northern Lights made an appearance in The South. I grabbed a coat to throw over my pjs and stayed up past my bedtime to catch a few glimpses. 

The family gathered for Thanksgiving. It was really cold and the rolls were burning, so we didn’t get the best pics.

I popped in to Vikki’s house Friday night to watch football. I thought it was understood we were invited. As it turns out, our arrival was a complete surprise. 🤷‍♀️

Life in October

Life in October included live music. 

Lainey at Bridgestone

She brought out several guests, to include Ernest, Ella, and Jelly Roll.

NSC wrapped up its season.

We hosted Inter Miami in the playoffs. We were fortunate to see Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba, and De Paul play again.

Wes and I saw one of the musicals in our season pass at TPAC.

Trevecca made it to the playoffs. 

The fam met up in Nashville to cheer the team on.

Renovation # ILostCount

​After five years, we finally tore down the painted on wood blue deck and rebuilt it with composite decking. This was an event that was supposed to take one week. It turned into almost three months after we learned our ceiling panels were damaged and new ones had to be bought. We lived like the Clampetts for longer than I care to admit. 

Before

After. Love the new stairs!

It’s skirted to keep the dog out of the red clay under the deck, and hopefully it will help control the weeds that grew under the deck and into the beds. 

Fall football never looked this good.