December 31

Lucy and I had one-on-one time last night. We ate at Cracker Barrel (her choice), walked around a pet store, watched a movie, and then trimmed her hair (she asked for the trim). 

Meanwhile, Clay and Julia went to the new Avatar movie, Kat was at a friend’s slumber party, and Elliott spent the night with Mamaw and Bapaw.

Bapaw won

December 30

We took advantage of the nice weather and went to the zoo for a few hours.

December 29

Happy Birthday Nonna!!!

Mamaw and Bapaw took Lucy and Abbie to Dave and Busters for Lucy’s birthday. 

I did a tiny puzzle

December 28

Not the most exciting picture. We didn’t do anything fun yesterday. We did get a lot accomplished though, including:

• Clay, Julia, and Elliott went to the Apple Store and upgraded Clay and Julia’s phones. We had planned to upgrade Clay’s and give Lucy his old phone (she needs a way to contact us if she is home alone). However, Elliott’s phone stopped being able to make/receive calls on Christmas Eve. After resetting it, etc, Clay said it was time to get a new phone. Rather than give a slightly irresponsible 13 year-old boy a new phone, we got Julia a new phone and gave Elliott her old phone. Nothing like an expensive day right after Christmas. Geesh!
• I cleaned the tub and shower. 
• Did four loads of laundry.
• Julia worked for a few hours.
• Kat and I ran errands, including: post office, UPS store (Amazon returns), lunch, and WalMart. Lucy was at our neighbor Ava’s house for a sleepover. 
• Dropped Kat off to hang out with her friend Ruth for the day.
• Finished my annual photo book.
• Organized our New Years Eve activities and made my shopping list.
• I rested and watched a movie. 
• Clay went to jiu jitsu.
• Dropped Elliott off at wrestling.
• Made dinner. 
• Lucy and I put all of the inside Christmas decorations away.
• Cleaned up the pine needles.
• Checked registration for co-op families for the Spring semester. 

Goal for today? Take it easy!

December 27

We had to reschedule our cookie making day with Mamaw and Bapaw due to bad weather. This worked out even better because Old Mamaw was able to be there too. 

December 26

Waiting patiently (sort of) for Kat to use the bathroom so they can go see their stockings.

Elliott was the receiver of the underwear this year.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Old man Gus was comfortable 

Lucy immediately got to work putting together her rolling cart.

She turned it into her nightstand 

We had a laid back Christmas. After opening gifts, we talked to the grandparents. The girls put all of their gifts away without being asked (notice I didn’t mention a certain male child). Kat even cleaned out her area of the bathroom and bedroom to make room for her new things. I was so busy getting gifts and getting food for our winter weather that I didn’t think about making a special meal for Christmas. We got Chinese takeout. Fa ra ra ra ra ra! We did play a game of Monopoly last night. Kat won, of course!

December 25

Merry Christmas!

After dropping Julia off at Raymond’s grandparents’ house, we headed to Mamaw and Bapaw’s house for a quick visit. Elliott insisted we go so Mamaw could read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. She also read Jesus’ birth story from the Bible. Then we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. Our Hispanic campus joined us. I loved hearing some verses of familiar songs sung in Spanish. It was beautiful. We grabbed McDonald’s for dinner. I took a nap, we went to church, and I didn’t have to cook. Merry Christmas to me! It was a low-key Christmas Eve and it was nice.

December 24

Clay went outside and cleared off the driveway yesterday. It felt like -29 degrees outside. Thankfully we didn’t get a lot of ice with this storm, so he was able to shovel the driveway fairly quickly. 

Due to the extreme cold, we stayed home. We finished a puzzle and watched a couple of Christmas shows. I enjoyed not having to drive anyone anywhere. The teens may feel differently.

December 23

I donated blood yesterday morning. I received two free movie passes. Clay was motivated by the movie passes to also donate. 

Clay, Lucy, and I paid a visit to Old Mamaw who recently recovered from the flu. We had a nice visit.

We ate lunch at Chuys. If you bring in a framed photo of your dog, they give you a free appetizer. Gus’s photo was on their wall! We had turned his picture in almost a year ago. 

Mother Nature isn’t playing today. Elliott says this storm is named after him because “he is so powerful”. Oy!

December 22

This is what the grocery store looks like when it’s Christmas week AND there’s a winter storm getting ready to hit. Thankfully (and surprisingly) I was able to get everything we needed.


One of Mamaw and Bapaw’s Christmas gifts to Elliott was a ticket for the KY basketball game last night. This pic is post-game. These are the people who stayed after the game for autographs.

He got a picture with Oscar Tshiebwe, last year’s National Player of the Year. He was one happy kid.

December 21

Elliott is officially taller than Mamaw!

We celebrated Christmas with Mamaw and Bapaw and everyone last night. We missed Old Mamaw, but are thankful she is recovering from the flu.

December 20

Shannon and the girls came over for our annual cookie baking day.