December birthdays!

Every December we have 3 big birthdays to celebrate.  Scott's dad and my dad have the same birthday on the 15th and my niece has hers on the 16th.  We celebrate my father-in-law and niece's birthdays together and have been doing gingerbread houses for the past few years as a way to celebrate.  This year we went over to Jackie's, had Simply Fresh for dinner, Nana's usual ice cream cake, and worked on the houses.  There were more structural issues this year than normal, but it was still fun!

We also celebrated my dad's birthday this past weekend by meeting at Deadwood Bar and Grill in Northville for dinner.  It was so crowded with holiday gatherings and their igloos that they have outside, but dinner was tasty and they gave my dad free chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven for dessert.  We went over to their house afterwards for cake and to open gifts.  

Wishing them all a happy birthday!  

Life lately...

It didn't feel like there was much to report on in November when life finally slowed down with fall sports ending.  But, now that I think about it, there were some fun things in November share-worthy.  

I started the month off with our annual field trip to Mexicantown for Day of the Dead!  It was a smooth field trip with 50 students.  We froze our butts off, but the kids all said it was a lot of fun!

Evan started practicing one day a week at the new facility for his new baseball team.  He also did two fundraisers (U of M football squares and raffle tickets for gift cards) and did a fitting for their uniforms with his team.  We are very excited to see how this year goes with a new team!

Sean started wrestling with the Plymouth Canton Wrestling Club again this year.  He decided to do it with a friend, Ian, who wrestles for East.  He wants to do one tournament a month before his middle school season starts in March.  I'm excited that he's interested in doing the Club again this year! He practices two nights a week.

We had some fun outings too!  Scott and I tried brunch at The Ledger in downtown Plymouth.  It was delicious and will definitely be a place we want to try dinner at soon.  

We also went to a euchre party at Jackie's house for her birthday.  We didn't win anything, but it was fun to play cards all evening and meet different people.

Evan went to a U of M basketball game with his friend, Patrick.  They got dinner at Shake Shack after the game.  

My mom and I went to Ladies Night in Plymouth when she got home from Thailand.  We had dinner at EG Nicks and did some shopping for a bit.  It was fun!

I went and saw Wicked by myself one evening!  It was sooooo good!  I can't stop listening to the soundtrack.  

In between all of that, there's been lots of time to just slow down and hang out at home.  We decorated for Christmas, tried new recipes, and worked on a Christmas diamond art kit from Michaels together.  We cheered on the Lions each week and watched movies.  It's been nice to slow down!

Thanksgiving 2024

November is finally over!  It felt like the longest month this year with Thanksgiving so late in the month.  But, now it means we only have 3 weeks of school until Christmas break.  I'll take it!

Normally we put our tree up the first day of Thanksgiving break, but we had already put it up.  So, we spent the day cooking, baking, and cleaning in preparation for hosting Thanksgiving this year.  We went to Bearded Lamb for beer and the food truck (it was a yummy sliders truck!) and took Evan to his guitar lesson in Old Downtown.  We came home and watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as a family.  Always a pre-Thanksgiving classic!

Thanksgiving we made our usual breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and cinnamon rolls.  I did the 45 minute Turkey Burn ride on my Peloton and the kids watched the parade.  My parents came over around 1pm and we had some appetizers before dinner at 4:30pm.  Ron arrived around 3:30pm.  Everything was tasty!  We had dessert and played Uno before everyone left at 9.  

And the Lions won!!

Friday I had to be in Troy at 10:30am for a photo shoot.  The roads were horrible as we got some unexpected snow overnight.  Let's just say by the time I got back home around noon, I was exhausted.  I edited photos, decorated the rest of the house for Christmas, and just watched movies all day/evening on the couch with the boys.  We were in the Christmas spirit and the fresh snow helped!

Saturday was a fun day!  We took the boys through the woods in the morning to sled, even though there was only an inch of snow on the ground or so.  Evan went with me to drop off ski equipment to Sun and Snow for their ski swap this upcoming weekend.  Then, we went to lunch at Leo's as a family and I took the boys and their friends to Skyzone to let out some energy.  Finally, we ordered pizza and had Scott's sisters and their families over to plan our Puerto Rico trip.  It was a busy day!

Sunday was a chill day at home.  We wanted to go see Moana 2, but most of the show times were close to sold out.  So, it was just laundry, cleaning, movies, football, puzzles, and all the things inside.  We're back at work and school today with 14 more wake-ups to go before Christmas break!  It was nice to have time home together as a family this past week!