Early Christmas Gifts

 Aunt Lane and Uncle Keith sent the kids' gifts a little early, so we let them open a few days early too.  They were so happy with their surprises!

 

December Snow

 This was the ramp to get onto I-70 this morning.  If we choose to move south someday, I really don't think I'll ever miss this!

Dress-Up

 When mom tells you to clean out the dress-up box...

I think it's safe to say it's time to toss some things.  This definitely gave us a good laugh!

Student of the Month

 Congrats to Drew for earning student of the month!  He's the tall guy on the left side of the back row. :)

Puzzles

 I have always enjoyed puzzles and go through spurts where I do quite a few.  Drew enjoys them too, so we get started on them and can't do much of anything until they're done.  Alivia will help too, but not quite as long as Drew.  During the quarantine, puzzles were almost impossible to find in the stores, so I've stocked up on some just in case we are in a similar situation again.  Here are some of our favorites.

Back to Basketball

 It's going to be a challenging year for indoor sports, but basketball is back!  Warren is in the midst of a gymnasium renovation, so they're playing in the fieldhouse instead.  There are limited tickets, but we managed to get a few and enjoyed the game.  This year will look much different, but we're thankful the kids get to play.

Decorating for Christmas

 The kids have wanted a tree for each of their rooms for a few years now, so when I saw a package of two at Target, I went ahead and splurged.  And it was worth every penny!  Their smiles were so big when I told them and they loved putting them up and decorating them. I hope it brings them this much joy every year.  Yes, it's a little early to put them up, but after the year we've had, we need something to look forward to.

Substitute Teaching

 The pandemic has definitely created a shortage of subs at school this year, so I've tried to pick up some days to help.  I do think they're doing a great job to keep kids safe and it's nice to see it firsthand.  When desks are grouped together, they have dividers between them.  The kids wear their masks whenever they get out of their seats and they honestly have adapted to the changes pretty well.  The class I was in last week only had seven kids, because someone had been exposed and due to contact tracing, the teacher and students close have to stay home for two weeks.  This is actually the first instance at MCE, so that's a plus.  At the moment, schools are predicting cases will rise and we'll be on a hybrid schedule before long.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that dosen't happen.

Fridays usually provide a treat for teachers.  Today was popcorn!

Pumpkin Carving

 We finally got around to carving our pumpkins and they turned out great!

Club Volleyball Tryouts

 Have I had a chance to tell you how stressful volleyball tryout season is?  This is worth documenting!  Each fall we go back and forth about whether or not to stay at the Academy or switch it up and try a new club.  And to make things more interesting this year, we were actually asked to bring Alivia to a private tryout at a new club, Rev, before we accepted any offer.  I love watching her play, see the joy that it brings her, and recognize that she does have talent, but this is so incredibly difficult at such a young age.  And it's definitely giving me some gray hairs!

Sunday was the first day for the Academy tryouts.  They typically don't make any offers on day one.  Alivia was trying out for a setter position, because that's what she's always done, and after one day it seemed she was sitting in good position to make the top team.  Monday we were invited to Rev for a private tryout with the 13s and 14s coaches.  They then asked her to stay for the team tryout as well.  After that three hours, she rode home in tears.  She didn't feel Rev was a good fit and really preferred to play for Coach Kayla at the Academy.  The dilemma is we didn't have an offer from Kayla at this point and Rev wanted an answer right away (within 24 hours).  Once we got home we had a chance to sit and talk to Brad about it and realized there really wasn't much to discuss. Alivia had great reasons for wanting to play at the Academy and although her good friends were choosing to go to Rev, she didn't feel it was best for her to do the same.  I admire her for doing what was best for her and not following others instead.  She made a big decision that night and it paid off not long after.

We went back to the Academy on Tuesday for the 2nd tryout and saw lots of new faces.  The competition was much tougher and at one point I looked up to see Alivia wasn't even setting anymore.  They had moved her to a right side hitting spot on the top court instead.  I tried not to hover, but it's so hard not to watch.  When I would peek around to see how it was going, I saw her doing so well.  She was killing it!  And after we left, we had a phone call from Coach Kayla before we made it to the interstate.  Alivia was offered a hitting position on the top team!  She accepted and was beaming from ear to ear.  This most definitely confirmed she made the right decision and we can't wait to see how they develop her as a hitter.  Congrats, Liv!

To put this into perspective, these coaches are shuffling girls between several courts.  The Academy had nine teams for the 13 year old age group.  That's 90 girls between nine teams and Liv was one of the top ten!

Lark Ranch

 Alivia spent the afternoon at Lark Ranch with some friends for Lainey's birthday.

Gatlinburg SkyBridge

 We visited the Gatlinburg SkyLift Park while in Tennessee.  You ride the lift all the way to the top then walk across the SkyBridge.  It has such a beautiful view.  We were blessed with great weather, although it was a little cooler than we expected.  Thankfully we didn't have to fight any rain.

Scenic Route

 We spent some time just driving through the Smoky Mountains, too.  Remember, Alivia did NOT want to hike.  This was our compromise after some hiking, so we could still see some of the scenery.  It did not disappoint.

Dick's Last Resort

 This was the kids first time at Dick's Last Resort.  We stopped in Gatlinburg one day and were thoroughly entertained.  Check out our hats!  We all got quite a few laughs out of this. :)

Brad - "Generic Mr. Clean"

Alivia - "I practice kissing on my stuffed animals"

Drew - "More skidmarks than nascar speedway"

Lindsay - "My other car is a broom."

PIgeon Forge at Night

 We walked down the street to The Island in Pigeon Forge.  The kids enjoyed the ropes course and the fountain show.  It's really neat at night. Lots of people and very few wearing masks.  It's going to take me a while to feel comfortable without them.

Hiking the Smoky Mountains

 We spent some time hiking in the mountains.  Brad and Drew could do this for days.  I don't mind it, but it's not my first choice.  Alivia would prefer to never hike.  Ha!  So we hiked up a ways and took some pictures, but didn't push it too much.  The views were beautiful!  Unfortunately I lost most of my pictures, so this is all I've got. :(

Fall Break Fun

 Our plans to go to Hawaii were derailed due to covid restrictions.  Instead we spent a few days in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN.  We stayed right on the strip and spent some time exploring the area.  This was our first time there and while we enjoyed it, I think we decided the beach is our preference.  We're hopeful next fall our original plan of spending time in Hawaii will work out.  We played some putt-putt on the first night.  And as usual, Brad won.

Sharp Shooter

 We went north today to check on Mamaw and spend a little time in the combine before Papaw and Grandma head to Florida for the winter.  It's absolutely impossible for everyone to fit comfortably in the combine, so after Drew and I had our turn, we walked to Mark's so he could shoot.  I think he'd be out here for hours if we lived closer.  This set-up is pretty sweet!

Recovering

 After many months, Mamaw was finally able to have her knee replacement surgery.  It was not an easy recovery, but we're happy to report she's on the mend and spending some much needed time at home.  Just before her surgery, they opened up visitation so one person could come with her to the hospital.  I was able to join her the day of and spent some extra time with her in G-town.  We're so hopeful this will give her a better quality of life as this last year she's spent way too much time in pain.

Her physical therapist had a sweet friend that would tag along throughout each session. :)

MegaPod

 The boys picked up a game this week, which meant it was a little chilly for baseball.  Alivia and Eliana tried out the MegaPod and stayed pretty cozy during the game.  While this was a nice idea by Brad (hoping to keep me warm), I find it hard to stand still during games.  I'm usually pacing back and forth instead!

Touchdown

 A little taste of football with this kid.  He's caught on pretty quickly.

Jr. High Volleyball

This wasn't exactly what Alivia had in mind when she pictured playing with such a talented group of girls. Ten of the thirteen players play club volleyball. It's very competitive and several are playing on elite travel teams. However, Coach Zitani is all about equal playing time and having fun. Can you picture Alivia's eyes rolling? Her idea of fun is not trying to make everyone happy. But we survived and the girls had a lot of success. They won the conference and county tournaments which is definitley something to be proud of. We're hoping for an even better season next year!