November Catch-Up

Where did November go!? This month just sped by for our family. In fact, I really only took pictures three different times during the month and most of those are for my preschool post which should be up this week. All of the pictures below are from Rebekah's and my annual tour of the National Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn. Just the two of us went this year. The only times that worked for Rebekah were late in the evening.  We went on a Sunday after 7 pm and it was a perfect time. The little hot chocolate shop was still open, and we were able to tour the entire hotel without any crowds. It was perfect. All of the the gingerbread creations have to be 100% edible. 

The rest of the month was consumed with working, getting everyone where they needed to be, trying to balance a peaceful, tidy home with home-cooked meals and getting ready for December, which is going to be extremely busy, fun and festive,  I will have tons to post next month.

Our favorite one was this display. The mother bear has chased Santa up a tree,
 while the baby bears go through Santa's bag of goodies. 

The fairy's braided hair and the natural candy rocks and mushrooms
were a show stopper on this gingerbread display.

 

This one won the architectural award.

The Asheville skyline from the Grove Park Inn

The beginning of the month found Rosie (our almost 5 year old cat) having dental surgery. She has genetically weak teeth.  She did really well and they managed to save all of her teeth and fix her gums.  She has been a bit sweeter since she feels more comfortable. 

Thanksgiving was a lovely and peaceful day. We had seven sides, two pies and a roasted chicken. No one around here adores turkey--so why go through the ordeal of making it? We went out to the movies Thanksgiving night to see The Glass Onion. It was excellent. 

Blessings, Dawn

What a Wonderful October!

It was a very busy month, but we had a delightful October. Rebekah didn't have a single day off without some kind of out-of-the-home commitment (work, dance or school). We were a bit worried about squeezing in all of the celebrating that we generally do in October, but it all worked out. Rebekah had a lovely birthday. She chose a tart for her birthday "cake". We went out on the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoyed the fall leaves. Rebekah also enjoyed a charcuterie board.

It was also my husband's birthday this month. We decorated the table and he had his traditional steak dinner with chocolate peanut butter cake. I must admit, I think his traditional birthday cake is my favorite each year. 

We squeezed in pumpkin carving during movie night. I was glad that Elijah decided to join in the fun. He has been a bit down lately...growing pains primarily. 

We (all but Elijah) went on the LaZoom haunted bus tour on Halloween night. It was fun, but a bit off color for our taste. We were glad to be out and about. There aren't tons of things to do as an adult for Halloween. We don't get trick or treaters in our neighborhood.

Rebekah wore a devil outfit to dance one day. She enjoyed getting to dress up. They also had spirit week at her work, but I never got any photos  of her very low key costumes. 

My nanny job is going great. I love it so much. My little guy is just a joy to work with. He is smart as can be and mostly easy going. He spent the entire month loving all things Halloween and fall. We had so much fun making leaf piles, jumping and kicking balls, taking long walks and generally drinking up the last of the warm weather. He loves to be read to, and we read at least a dozen books a day. I made him a ghost bowling set for Halloween day. He really preferred stacking them rather than knocking them down.  I also made him purple rice this month. He loves this activity so much, but we are struggling to keep the rice in the bucket. He understands the concept, but he loves to throw it and watch me sweep it up. I think it is time for a mini broom and dust pan for him. 

My blog going forward- I do intend to keep blogging, but I think it will remain a once a month catch-up post and I will be adding a preschool post each month. My little guy and I are getting ready to start some very gentle preschool curriculum. I will be drawing from Montessori, Charlotte Mason and the Before Five in a Row curricula. I am delighted I have found a way to continue teaching. This job really fell in my lap, and I am so grateful. 

Blessings, Dawn

September ~ A New Arrival, New Job, Sad Goodbye and Fall Fun

Wow, we had a lot happen in our family in the past 30 days! We finally found Rebekah a car that we could afford. It is a 2008 Subaru Impreza with about 160,000 miles on it. But it is in very good condition and was taken very good care of before coming to us. We, of course, plan to nurture it so it can have a very long life. Rebekah only drives about 40 miles a week. Having another driver and car in the house to fetch Elijah and Tim, both non-drivers, when I am at work is invaluable!

David and I  planned to go to a bed and breakfast for our anniversary a year and a half ago. We set the date and made arrangements. Then a pile of issues came up and we had to cancel. The Bed and Breakfast saved our reservation and said we had two years to set a new date. We finally made it this month. It was the first time we had a 20 hour get away from home together since becoming parents to four kids! That is a lot of years to wait. We had a lovely time exploring this gorgeous Queen Anne right in our town. At every turn there were Tiffany windows. We went out to a nice restaurant for dinner and had a lovely breakfast at the Bed and Breakfast. It was a lovely get away, and we plan to make it a yearly thing. One upside of living in a tourist town is that there are more than a dozen  B&B's to explore without being more than 20 minutes from home. 

We also enjoyed the mountain state fair. We get a smaller version than the main state fair held in the capital. Only Timothy and Rebekah wanted to go. Elijah is such a homebody and doesn't like to change his routine unless it is something really spectacular. I realized that I didn't get a single picture of him this month...but he is doing just fine. 

My new job is wonderful. I am really enjoying being a nanny. It is a bigger adjustment being away from home for 16 to 20 hours a week than I thought it would be, but all the prep work I put into place is working for the most part. The little guy I care for is so smart, and we are really enjoying getting to know each other. I brought bubbles to play with the first week, and he started calling me "Bubbles". So far the name has stuck and he has no interest in learning my real name. My family is really getting a kick out of my "new" name and like to tease me. We have fallen into a nice routine that includes playtime, crafts, lots of reading books, a long walk to the park/library/stores (depending on how far I want to walk) and naptime. He is a real sweetheart. 

Rebekah, Tim and I ran off to an apple and pumpkin patch one day this month. Rebekah only had two days off this month that didn't have any school, dance or work. I wish she had a reset/rest day each week, but so far the schedule hasn't worked that way. 

Lastly,  my husband's father passed away this month. He had a short period of suffering before passing away peacefully in his sleep. We were blessed to know him and he was a kind father, father -in-law and grandpa. My husband will be traveling to Salt Lake City for his funeral soon (we can't afford to fly all of us there). Then we will all attend his internment in his home church that he helped build (St. Andrews in Northern Virginia) sometime this winter. 

Blessings, Dawn

August Recap ~

August started off pretty relaxing. We prepared for our relatives to visit and got Rebekah squared away with back-to-work clothes, college books, and a new laptop for her college classes. We are searching for a car in which Rebekah will be the primary driver, but our budget is a bit lower than what the market is right now, so it is going to require some patience. On the driving front, Elijah is making a bit more progress with me. We are driving three to four times a week and have started driving on a four lane road near us. He sticks to the right hand lane the whole way, but he is slowly building confidence. 

My stepmother and her partner came down for a one week visit. It was nice to see them, and we did some fun activities while they were in town. We took a long walk on the riverfront one evening and played several board games. 

We spent a day at Lake Lure (some of the movie, Dirty Dancing, was filmed in this little town near us). We went in the middle of the week and pretty much had the lake to ourselves. It was lovely. We then went into town and had lunch and played a bit on the rocks in the river. My husband was there, but took the photos, and Elijah hates lake water so decided to skip this event. 

 

Sue and Rebekah

Another evening was spent at a horse show in a neighboring town. The carousel was free so we HAD to go on it. 

By the end of the month, life really started to pick up. Rebekah is taking three college classes, one in-person and the other two online. She is working on a business degree in Retail Marketing. So far, she likes the in-person a lot. The online classes are good, too, but a little bit glitchy. Hopefully, the hard parts will be straightened out soon. Ballet is going great and she is very happy in her new dance studio. Her part-time job at H&M is proving to be the hardest transition. The training is poor due to a lack of staff, plus they are understaffed and a bit desperate all the time. We will see if this works out or not. I don't want her school or dance to suffer in any way, but she does need to make money to help with her dance classes. She plans to stick it out for the 90 days that she committed to and then reevaluate. 

Our hairdresser is still doing backyard haircuts. We went to her house, and her pug insisted on sitting on Elijah's lap during his haircut. So cute. Dog therapy and a haircut all in one!

I start my new nanny job three days a week in September. I am really looking forward to it. I will be working at the child's home. We are going to have a blast!

Blessings, Dawn

What We Were Up To In July ~ Painting, Dancing and Bears

 We had a pretty busy month. Rebekah was at summer dance intensives for most of it but was home for about two weeks in the middle of the month. She spent her time at home registering for college classes, auditioning for a professional ballet program to attend in the fall, and finding a new job. She accomplished all three.  She will be working at the H&M clothing store starting next week. Rebekah passed the audition and was put in the highest level at the ballet conservatory. She will start that at the end of August, four nights a week and all day Saturday. She is excited about it, because it is right here in town and does four different shows each year with multiple performances of each. Rebekah will be taking three classes at the local community college in retail marketing. She is working toward a certificate and then perhaps a diploma or degree in Business Administration and Marketing. She is going to be very busy this fall!

The second two summer dance intensives were a wonderful experience. She absolutely loved all of the ballet at the Ballet Conservatory of Cary. The teachers were kind but made excellent corrections. She felt like she improved a great deal under their care. She was a little less thrilled with the living situation. She was in an apartment with three other girls who were a bit younger and a bit catty. They didn't really interact with her much and mostly left her to do the majority of the house work in the apartment. They reported to the conservatory for the days worth of classes and then to the "mother house" at dinner time for dinner with about 20 other dancers. It was loud and chaotic and required a few miles of walking in the extreme heat each day. However, it was  a great experience over all.

The last intensive was contemporary dance and was held at UNCSA. She got to live in the dorms and dance her heart out for about nine hours a day. She made some incredible friends and loved almost every minute of it. I am so glad she got a little taste of the nice parts of college life, since she will be going to community college instead of living at a university. They created a film that I can't wait to see. It should be edited and released by September.  She came home absolutely exhausted but happy. 

I walked around the campus the morning that I picked her up. It is a gorgeous campus filled with lots of nooks and crannies. UNCSA does a very nice job of taking care of their students. It is a really sweet place. 

This little street on the campus is all fake and used by the film students to do outdoor films. 

All the Rest ~ 

We tried out a new food place at the mall that makes carnival food.

I had the Street Corn.

We played a ton of Scrabble games in July. It seems like some combination of us played it every other night. 

We visited a cute covered bridge that is one of only two left in the state. This one was built in 1895 by four local men who read a popular book on bridge styles and went out and built it. I wish our society hadn't lost so many of those skills. 

We have had many visits from our mama bear with her youth cubs. They are getting pretty big. I think she will send them on their way into adulthood soon. 

Elijah has been busy working away at Target. He has now been there for a full year. He has made some great friends and had to say goodbye to a few who have moved on. He is doing well and keeping busy. Driving is going very slowly. I wish he would take a few lessons from a professional but he absolutely refuses to do so. We now are driving on a few back roads rather than parking lots. He is making very slow and steady progress.

I spent much of the month of July working on the rec room. I am very pleased with the results so far. We still have to save for and buy an electric fireplace and paint the bricks behind which only have a coat of Kilz primer at the moment. We had a huge multi week debate about the color of the room, and in the end the kids won. We painted it a very bright and a bit dark green. I am shocked how good it looks and creates a continuation to the green outdoors. Sometimes, you just have to throw caution to the wind. Dear Husband and I also replaced all of the baseboards so they would match,  fixed the overhead lighting shades (with parchment paper!), and painted all of the doors and trim in ultra white. My main goal for this room was to bring it all together and make it more uniform. With five different wall textures (yes, there are only four walls) and three different styles of baseboard, it looked a awful. The guys were insistent that we keep the brown cedar shake wall (from when that wall was the exterior to a previous rendition of this house), and since I could not afford to have it replaced, they won and we made it a focal point. Even the outlet covers were all different until we changed them. 

We added more floor lamps to bring in light and decided to match the outlet covers to the walls by painting them in the same color as the wall they were on. If you look carefully, there is one near the bottom of the stairs.

They guys' game table is a drop leaf and we folded it up and covered it with a table cloth when it is not in use. The mirror was a super find at the thrift store for $20. It adds so much light to the room.

The next project in this room is finishing the fireplace area. The brick used to be red and there were about six bricks missing. I couldn't find a match so I made styrofoam bricks and painted them with a primer.  We do not have to worry about heat getting to them because we are installing an electric fireplace which can go against any wall and doesn't put off heat in the back. 

Can you find the fake bricks?

The brightest white one is one of them. They will disappear completely with a final coat of paint. 

We also have really old fluorescent lights in the basement. It wasn't in the budget to replace them, but the diffusers were hideous and didn't fit right. I was looking for a budget-friendly solution and decided to use parchment paper. Once again, they are heat resistant and cover the ugliness for now. We just cut them to the right size and glued them to the frame. 

We budgeted $200 for phase one of the project (phase two is the fireplace) and came in a little bit higher at $285. Those pesky baseboards were pricey. However, I am very pleased with the results. 

I hope you all are having a fantastic summer. 

Blessings, Dawn