Go, Go, Goers!

I thought it would be wise to start decorating the house on Thanksgiving morning (for Christmas), but I had a real issue taking down pumpkins and the fall-themed decor on Thanksgiving. Not because it's a holiday and I didn't want to work on decorating, but because it felt really off to take it down on the day of the last "fall holiday". So, I made the decision to push it off one day, and do that on Friday morning, and then decorate the tree in the afternoon. It's a weird mental block, but I've identified it and can plan better for the future. So, we enjoyed the cozy oranges and golds for one more day, and let the reds and greens take over on Friday! G helped me decorate the house in the morning (outdoor décor is up, minus the lights), and then my mom came over and threaded the ornament hooks, while I distributed the ornaments, and Ava and G put them on the tree. It was a great assembly line that we had going and were able to complete it in just a little over a...

There's a lot of debate around how early is TOO early to put up Christmas decorations. Our neighbors put up their tree last weekend, and I am a little envious of the glow of lights that I see in their living room from one of our windows. It's a lot of work getting the house decorated for the holidays, and frankly, it feels a bit strange to take down the fall-themed décor before Thanksgiving, so I came up with a compromise (with myself...no one else in our house is having opinions about decorating before or after Thanksgiving, lol.) I decided to put the tree and tree lights up on Friday this weekend. I'm going to hold on putting out the rest of the holiday décor until after turkey day, and that's when the ornaments will go on the tree, as well. But for now, that means that we get to enjoy the hygge glow of the Christmas tree lights for an extra week. It's so pretty and peaceful to sit in the living room on a dark and cold-ish (it's been nice here lately) evening ...

I took Ava for her first driving lesson last Sunday. It was just a slow drive down to our neighborhood community center's parking lot. She drove very carefully down/back from there, and when we were there, we practiced pulling into parking spots, lining up with the curbs, taking turns, etc. She did a great job for her first time out! We're using an app to track the time, as we need to have at least 50 hours of drive time by the time she's ready to take her driver's exam. We want to get closer to 100 hours, so she becomes more comfortable. Not sure I'm ready for this yet. Yikes. Once Scott got back from deer opener (no deer this time), he decided to rake the backyard and enlisted some helpers. Look at the joy on their faces! We had our final RHSMB event this past Monday...the end of season banquet. There were over 600 people present, and it was great! I helped with the setup crew, and managed to snag some seats right near the front. It was a bittersweet event as now ...

Whew, what a weekend! The RHSMB came in 5th overall at the Bands of America Super Regionals, and had their highest score EVER at the event. They did a fantastic job, and ended the season on a high note (hahaha.) We also celebrated little G's TENTH birthday on Sunday. We celebrated at home, and then at a bowling alley with 8 of his closest friends, and THEN he went to one of his BFF's house and partook in HIS birthday party there (Isaac and G share the same birthday.) Talk about cake and party overload! Last night as a 9 year old... The big 1-0! Loving his Penguin Slushy van gift! In fact, there was so much birthday-ness happening on Sunday, that we decided to carry our small family celebration through to Monday night, when we were all back together for dinner. We sang and ate a very yummy Halloween-themed cake. The next night was Halloween, and we had a Toxic Waste Hazmat person (??), a sparkly witch, and a pink dino (bonus kid!) We ate a fairly frightening-looking pepperoni pi...