December Traditions

 Our Holiday Season is still going strong despite the pandemic.  We are still trying to keep some of our December traditions alive since most of them are socially-distanced things and some we have had to rethink and come up with new ways to celebrate.  This year the newest rage is hot cocoa bombs.  Luckily there are two bakeries in Plymouth that are selling them.  It was a lot of fun, but man...they are very rich and could have easily be shared with extra milk to spread out the amount of chocolate being consumed.  

My parents came over to help the boys with school one day last week and stayed through dinner so we could go to the Wayne County Lightfest together.  We made a simple breakfast for dinner and were in and out of the Lightfest pretty quickly!  We've got it down to a science.  Show up on a weeknight and get there 20 minutes before opening.

On Friday, we went over to Jackie and Josh's house and celebrated Pops and Sydney's birthdays.  We kept things relatively safe by doing the gathering outside on their patio.  They had pizza, salad, fruit, and veggies.  We brought some beer and White Claws to enjoy.  They had their 2 heat lamps going and a bonfire.  They also recently installed a TV outside so they were playing Christmas movies for the kids to watch.  It was definitely chilly out, but we made it work.  

The next morning we had the boys build their Gingerbread Houses.  I bought them kits from Target.  The frosting was a bit droopy for the finer details, but the kids didn't mind.  Evan was trying to eat as much candy as he could before we would catch him.  

The kids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house that night.  Scott and I went to Hermann's to sit outside on their patio by the fire and have dinner in the dark.  It was a little strange, but we were trying to enjoy a night with no kids and also to support small businesses.  Mindy and Matt kept an eye on Luna for us to be able to enjoy dinner.  

When we picked up the kids on Sunday, we hung out in Troy to celebrate my dad's birthday.  We got pizza and salad from The Alibi for a late lunch/early dinner.  It was another nice afternoon, but we had quite the busy weekend!

The kids are doing spirit week during their remote learning this week and we are all anxiously waiting for break to start!  We can't wait to have some time off from our computers and school.  Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations may look different this year with COVID, but we are still going to make the most out of it.

Thanksgiving Break 2020

 Whew!  We made it to our first school break and by the skin of our teeth.  Remote learning and teaching has been no bed of roses for us this fall.  To be completely honest, this is pretty much the hardest year of teaching (other than first year teaching) I've ever done.  So, the fact that we had 5 days off of school was worth celebrating!  

We kicked off our break with a game night!  Monopoly!  Of course we didn't finish, but Sean and Scott were in good shape at the end of the evening.  I was pretty much doomed.  Oh well! Wednesday, the only thing on our agenda, was to have a slow-paced morning and to clean out the boys' bedrooms.  Our tree was already set up (something we normally do on our first day of break, but 2020 called for decorations up early).  I went for a long walk on Hines, we took Luna for a short walk, I caught up on my pile of magazines, and Scott and I did our annual tradition of watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles after the kids went to bed.  Luna even seemed interested in the movie!

Thanksgiving morning we did our usual routine of eggs, bacon, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Scott ran out and bought the newspaper so we could all look at the sales papers.  We got ready to head to Troy to my parents' house, but first Mindy and Buddy came over for a play date outside with Luna.  It was a relaxing afternoon in Troy.  My mom outdid herself, once again, with dinner.  Luna had her first bites of turkey and gravy on her dog food.  Yum!

We took a dip in the hot tub once it was dark out with Grandpa's christmas lights on.  It was really fun!  We played memory and watched the end of Jurassic World that was on TV and had dessert.  It was a really nice day and I'm glad we were able to spend it with family, despite the pandemic.

Friday we went to downtown Plymouth to do some Black Friday shopping small.  Luna took a stroll through Kellogg Park to see the trees and Sean added his Cub Scout ornament to the Scout tree.  The boys both spent some of their own money on a toy from the Genuine Toy Company.  We did Evan's Blessing Cup meal that was sent home from church.  Normally that would have been a spaghetti dinner at the church for 2nd graders and their families, but with COVID, they sent home the meals for us to prepare and the craft to do on our own.  He enjoyed having grape juice in his wine glass!

I decided to get back into running and did my first run Friday morning partly on Ann Arbor Trail and partly on the Newburgh Lake Trail.  It was tough, but it felt good to get back out there.  I'm proud to say I've got in a run every other day for the past week.  I also made sure to do one de-cluttering/re-organizing project every day over break.  

Sunday night we ended break with a fun trip to Beacon Park and Campus Martius in Detroit with The Greens.  The guys stayed home so it was just Ashley, me, and all our boys.  We had a great time!  We stopped and got hot chocolate on the way home.  

We have two weeks left of school until Christmas break and I can't wait!  It will definitely be different this year; just like everything else.  But, it will be nice to have more time off together as a family.