Christmas Break so far....

 The kids got out of school for Christmas Break last Friday, December 18.  Lauren said it didn't really feel like Christmas Break because they didn't actually leave school.  When she was at her school in London, the occasion was marked by a trip to Starbucks on the last day followed by a selfie to mark the occasion.  I wonder if that even happened this year.

On Friday, Drew got into a small fight with his friends and he got upset and decided to spend the night at Mum Mum's house.  (Since then, they have had made up, had another argument and made up again!)  Lauren was called back for the audition for the show at the local arts center.  She was really nervous, but she was very chatty when I collected her.  I think she needed that high that comes from doing something that you love but is also outside of your comfort zone. (We have since found out that she didn't get cast in the show, but I am SO proud of her for auditioning and I hope she will audition again for the next one.)

Saturday, the girls had their activities so I was the taxi driver for the last time this year. I accidentally thought that Drew did not have soccer....oops.  When I picked Alison up from gym, we went shopping for Christmas gifts and she also needed to get a pair of socks for the gift exchange at the gymnastics Christmas party.  And all the girls were talking about wearing their Christmas headbands and onesies!  So we searched three different stores looking for onesies with no luck.  I know that if we were still in London, we would have been spoilt for choice as they are EVERYWHERE in London.  I am sure we could have found one here if we had known in early December, but now we will know for next year.  We did find some cute PJs at Kohl's, which will have to do.  I told Alison that I showed her true love because I braved Target on the Saturday before Christmas.  It was a madhouse in there.  

Our neighbor is a senior in high school and he plays high school football.  His team was playing in the KY state championships in Lexington on Saturday night, so they asked if Lauren would be interested in helping out with their puppy while they were gone to make some money.  She did it, and she showed real responsibility!

Sunday was a low-key day, but we tried to make cakepops for the first time.  We have been watching the Great British Bake-off (which is called the Great British Baking Show in the US due to copyright of Pillsbury), and one of the challenges was to make cake pops.  They actually turned out really well and Mom came over to help us decorate them.  When we were finished, the kids decided to deliver them to a few neighbors, which actually worked out well so we didn't have so many to eat ourselves.  (Not sure that cakepops are the best thing to share during a pandemic, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

Monday, Alison had gymnastics so I took her to gym and then collected her and the girls had a sleepover at Mum Mum's.  It's amazing how simple it is with just one kid when you are accustomed to 3!  On the way home from dropping them off, Archie puked twice in the car.  Thank goodness for leather seats.  Monday night he was a bit off, and then in the early morning hours, he puked again.

Tuesday morning, after he wouldn't eat his breakfast (a major clue something wasn't right!), I called the vet first thing and took him in.  I got a call from the vet that he would need surgery to remove the "foreign body" that he had ingested......unbeknownst to us.  I don't even know how many things he has swallowed before this what turned out to be a sock, I lost count after about the third one.  The rest of them we knew about, so we were able to address it sooner, but not this time.   The vet said after the surgery that the sock was halfway through his intestine but that he did well.  We will pick him up later today.

I was finally able to unlock Drew's xbox account so he could finally play Minecraft with his friend in London again.

I was able to do an online workout with FitState, my friends in London, which was great.  And then I also got to do a pub quiz with my old team Gwen5!  For this quiz, our team name was Gwen 5 Not driving home for Quizmas given that 2/3 of the team are in London, which is now under Tier 4 restrictions meaning Do not leave home unless absolutely necessary!  It was a true team effort and I am so thankful for the quizzes we have been able to do since I left the country!  We even were able to do one with the pub where we made our start.  It was only for glory, rather than half the pot, but it was fun to be a team rather than playing against each other.

Alison had her gymnastics party, and she got Trolls socks, which she was not too happy about; but that's what happens when there are 8 year olds in your gym group.

All in all, Christmas break is going well so far.  I am looking forward to the next few days which will be the parade of Grandparents!  Mum Mum is coming tomorrow and spending the night, Granddaddy is coming Christmas Day and spending the night, and then Nana and Papa are coming on Boxing Day and spending 3 nights.  I am so grateful the kids are able to see all of their grandparents this Christmas!  

The kids have all said multiple times since we decorated for Christmas that they love Christmas, which makes me happy because I love the magic of Christmas too.