Light the Knights

Dave took the day off of work today so we could take a family trip snow tubing . . only to find our favorite places were already full! :(  So we opted to try Light the Knights at the baseball stadium uptown.  It was supposed to be super fun with ice tubing, but we were so disappointed.

After only two runs down the ice, the kids were done.  The lines were so long it just wasn't worth the wait again.  So we took a stroll through the light displays to take a few crazy pictures and called the overpriced adventure over.

It was still fun to spend some post-holiday time together as a family, even if it wasn't quite what we had planned.

Preston has Plastic

This kid has been asking for MONTHS to open his own checking account and get a debit card.  We realized this was the age when Savannah got hers, so today was finally the day for this guy.  He was thrilled to have his own account and can't wait for the card to arrive and be put in his new phone wallet.

Christmas Day at Home

What a wonderful feeling to be home all day on Christmas!!  We started the morning by opening our Santa gifts and stockings.  Then Dave and the kids whipped up a yummy brunch.

After opening our upstairs gifts to and from each other, Dave and I decided to go for a run (even though we still didn't have hot water my sweet friend Laura said I could shower at her house).  We tried calling multiple places to get a plumber to come out but had no luck.  I put a message on our neighborhood Facebook page and was able to borrow three space heaters to use on the water heater.  We had sort of given up hope and settled in to play our new game Ticket to Ride . . and then all of a sudden the kitchen water drop started pouring.  Hallelujah!  It was a Christmas miracle!  

 So we enjoyed the rest of Christmas Day at home . . . with each other and with a new appreciation for hot water! 

Eventful Christmas Eve

Well, let's just say things didn't quite go as planned today . . 

We woke up early and discovered our hot water heater froze overnight and we had no hot water!  So Dave and I went out with a hairdryer (not even knowing what pipe to heat up) and gloves to try to defrost things.  And then the power went out!  Apparently, Duke thought it would be a good way to help with over usage to just literally shut down the grid of power for a "short time".  Argh!  So we shut off the water main and headed to Mebane, stopping for CFA chicken minis and nuggets to take for lunch.  Oh and air in my tires because apparently there was a nail in one tire.  We arrived at Denny's and got a call from the alarm company that the smoke detector upstairs was going off.  Long story short, the neighbor came over, fire department toured the house and apparently all was well.  I proceeded to get SIX more calls while we were away until finally they said they would disable the smoke detector and send a repair person Monday.

We had fun at Denny's house but realized Pawpaw forgot the coveted money jar for the annual competition.  So he headed back to the country to get the jar of coins and the kids had a blast guessing the amount of money.  This year Madison came away with the prize!!

We headed back to Charlotte to check on the hot water (still none) and then made it to the Christmas 

Eve service early . . only to sit down to start our annual Christmas Eve Chili's order (while we were waiting for church to start) and realized that they closed early.  BUMMER!

It was certainly a crazy, unexpected day, but somehow we were still able to be excited about the arrival of Christmas!!!

Christmas Festivities

We kicked off the family Christmas celebrations with Dave's family on Sunday.  After church, we traveled to Greenville, SC where Susan hosted us all for a delicious pizza dinner.  It was super fun to see everyone open all of the gifts; but unfortunately, it was a school night for Savannah and Preston so we had to head out pretty quickly.

Once school was out the kids and I ventured to Gingerbread Lane at the Ballantyne Resort to check out all of the creations.  We missed going with the Marions this year, and the display was certainly a lot smaller, but it was still a fun tradition to continue.

Preston got LED lights for his room from the Weningers and couldn't wait to put them up!

It is a super cool look for his room.

So now we are heading full steam to Christmas.  Thankfully most of the gifts are purchased and wrapped . . just a few stragglers to get ready and then Christmas will be here!

Celebrating Rockstar Savannah

 

A few weeks ago Savannah entered a contest to make her own creation at Coldstone . . and she won!!!  I think getting her name and creation "Peanut butter is oreo better" listed on the board in the store was way more exciting than the free cake she won.  Either way, she was so proud!  So tonight we went to enjoy treats to celebrate this amazing girl.

Also today the SAT official scores were released.  Savannah texted me from school sort of in shock LOL  This girl is a rockstar.  She scored a perfect math score of 800 and a super high 770 on the verbal, just 30 points away from a perfect score.  It's unbelievable to me because I remember going through the test years ago and barely being able to finish AND having to skip a ton of questions because I had no clue!  We are just beyond proud, blessed, and thankful. :)

Cotillion Parent Dance

 

Tonight was the long-awaited parent dance for Preston's cotillion class.  It was quite an adventure watching the middle school kids "break it down" on the dance floor with the shag and foxtrot. :) Nevertheless, Preston was quite the little leader and may have said "Mom, I'M supposed to lead and you follow."

It was a fun night spent with these two kiddos!

Covid Brain Purchase

 

Little did I know that I had Covid all last week . . . I just thought I had a cold that Savannah shared but on Wednesday when I lost all ability to taste and smell, I figured I better do a test.  Unfortunately, it was positive.  However, since quarantine starts the first day of symptoms, basically I only had one day left of official quarantine.  BUT, this Covid brain is a real thing.  It's insane how I literally can't remember something from 30 seconds ago!  I'm also blaming Covid brain on this Christmas purchase for the boys.  They were begging for this awful-looking Clemson Santa and I actually bought it this week.  It arrived in time for the big game today too!