thanksgiving week

Emmy's school had Giving Thanks Day on Tuesday.  The morning was spent doing service projects at school.  Her group was tasked with setting up and decorating the gym for lunch for 350 people.  Lots of tables and chairs were carried and they did great.  We got to mingle with a local Christian radio station while we worked. 

After a morning full of service, the whole school came together for a catered Thanksgiving meal.  It was delicious!

For the second half of the day, we left campus to help sort clothes at a local thrift store that employs recovering addicts.  Such a good cause. 

We headed to Starbucks after her fun and last day of school before break.  She had a perfect chore chart last week and was rewarded with a treat.  The chore charts have fallen to the wayside, so I really wanted to reward her for working so hard!

She enjoyed sipping on her treat while she waited after her allergy shots.  3 weeks down, 25 to go!

We went to Raleigh for Thanksgiving this year.  We haven't been since before covid, so it was nice to see everyone again.  

I told Jason I was going to hide his suit so he couldn't wear it to the country club.  

Our blended family.  This may be the first time we've all been together, ever!

Just missing a few this year. 

We went to a friend's house on Friday and Emmy played Pie Face for the first time.  She got "pied" a lot!

My mom and Paul got back from Florida yesterday just in time for Paul's birthday today.  We threw him a surprise party to celebrate this milestone birthday!

And now it's almost December!  Wow!

Turkey Tumble

Emmy had her first official meet of the season on Saturday and she was on fire.  

She is in her second year of level 6 and performing the same vault, floor and bar routines as last year.  She has been working hard on getting some kinks out of her vault and it showed at this meet.  She improved her score by 1.1 points and got her highest level 6 vault score to date!  She also got her highest bar score and placed 3rd on the event.  Her beam and floor were strong, both with 4th place finishes.  And because gymnastics scores and places are so tight with only hundredths of points difference, she came away with 2nd all around!  She was so pleased with her hard work as were we!

Turkey Tumble was a success!

 

garden glow and turkey bowl

The kids were out of school on Tuesday for election day, so it was Bryce's turn to do allergy testing.  Our poor kids are allergic to SO many things.  Lots of seasonal allergies for Bryce, but thankfully not as many day-to-day allergens for him.  He's luckily not allergic to dogs like Emmy is.  But he is allergic to cats. 

 

Emmy received an award for getting all As for the first quarter of middle school.  She's thriving at her new school!

We went to a local park on Thursday night for their Garden Glow.  It was a warm night and perfect for walking around outside.  

Love these two!

This event only runs from mid-October to mid-November (so not a Christmas event).  We squeaked in at the last minute and had a great time. 

We went to dinner first and ate outside since it was a nice night and then enjoyed walking around the gardens. 

It was cold and rainy on Friday which made for a perfect day to decorate for Christmas.  

Bryce and his friends had their 2nd annual Turkey Bowl this Saturday.  Bryce was the MVP last year and was chosen first on one of the teams this year.  Unfortunately for him, it was a team full of kids from another high school, but he still had fun playing against his buddies from his school. 

His team was the Tank Top Titans

He made some pretty clutch plays for the team, and they won!

We're enjoying our fall and gearing up for a fun holiday season.

Halloween, Friendsgiving, and a corn maze

Monday was the Halloween game for baseball.  Bryce and his buddies were baby sharks.

It was fun to watch them play in costumes.  

Tuesday was full of treats.  No tricks!

Bryce's bucket, but no Bryce.

Emmy wanted to be bacon this year.  Easy enough!

I took Emmy trick or treating with one of her friends from school. 

Bryce hung out with friends from school and the theme was "white lies".

We went to Friendsgiving on Saturday night.  

Jason and Audrey (the hostess with the mostess) coordinated outfits this year!

There were so many yummy foods!

Santa comes each year and hands out stockings for each of the kiddos (all 39 of them).  The big kids were patient until the end!

Never too big for the big guy!

We visited the country's biggest corn maze today.  

We knew the mystery maze could take 2-3 hours. 

We started off strong.

After walking in circles for a long time, Bryce started a "map my run" to help guide us.  We found our way back to the entrance after an hour or so and we were too frustrated to try and find the exit! 

There were 4 different mazes.  We went for an easier more interactive maze the second time. 

Never too big for fun!

The weather was beautiful today!