I will say that Derek was probably mighty relieved not to have to participate in this tradition. Haha. It's not his favorite.
I also bought the kit, but forgot to buy any extra candy. So we raided the pantry for anything else we could use. I think that I found some new favorites!
Well, after a week of performances and competitions, now Derek has COVID. Ugh. He luckily realized it quickly and isolated in the house. I was really worried, since I'd been around him on Sunday night when he was already first having symptoms (without realizing it). So I stayed home from school as soon as he got a positive test. Ben also had to stay home from school Wed-Friday, even if we tested negative because he still isn't vaccinated (it's been hard to get an appointment or make it to the walk-in clinic). Even after I got a negative test on Thursday, I stayed home until I could get a 2nd test on Friday. Wrestling around the state has had a huge number of cases (although none of the kids that Derek has been working closely with are positive...and the girls team hasn't had any cases.) So this week went from jam packed to NOTHING. Cancelled matches and tournaments. Skipping youth wrestling, water polo and the youth activities.
Derek was pretty sick for a couple of days. He had a fever and chills and lots of cold symptoms. He was super weak. But he's on the mend now.
I wrote 3 days of sub plans (thankfully I was able to get actual subs for 2 of the three days and my principal and the instructional coach filled in for the other day). This is when project based teaching is handy. Kids had stuff they were working on and my coach said she could have just set up a Mrs. Norton cut out in the front and the kids could have run it themselves.
Anyway, the flashbacks to the confusion and frustrations to the beginning of the pandemic were very very real. But, it's only temporary I kept telling myself. Everyone but Derek tested negative. 2x. So hopefully just a few more days of Derek hiding out upstairs. We miss him!
Ben was a pretty good sport about missing so much fun at school. He entertained himself by writing this song. So, we've been hanging out. And we will still be hanging out for a couple more days. We had to cancel the caroling party (tonight) and the White Elephant Party (tomorrow night). It's going to be a very relaxed week. Just hoping Derek's clear so we can host Christmas Eve!
This week we had a chance to perform and compete. But why did all of it have to happen in the same week? And also, COVID restrictions are still yucky. Who wants to watch a choir sing with masks on? While the sound was still audible--such a bit part is watching the faces of the performers! Anyway, I guess we take what we can get!
Wednesday Night: Sarah's Choir Concert. We only got 1 ticket to the Einstein choir. Sarah choose Libby as her +1. I thought that was sweet, and since Libby sang with lots of the kids last year, I figured she'd enjoy it most. Sarah didn't bother to let us know that she had a solo! (I guess she only found out that day.). I hosted the YW for a Christmas party that the girls showed up to as they finished their performances (one of our other YW also had a performance at the other high school.)
Libby took a video.
Then on Thursday, we rushed to drop off Sarah at Water Polo and pick up Ben from Rhinos to get up to Snohomish for Libby's first official wrestling scramble (a match between a bunch of schools that have smaller girls teams). She WON both her matches. We brought Brion with us, so we had to try to hunt around for parking. We were late enough that we missed the first one. I was pretty frustrated. But I was glad she had a second match.
Friday my parents flew in to help me with the insanity of Saturday. It was so fun to have them here. Friday night we helped decorate for the church party we couldn't attend (because it was on Saturday morning.) Saturday Ben and Sarah had their Seattle Children's Chorus concert while Libby had a Drill Competition. Libby's competition times didn't end up making it possible to see both Libby and Ben's concert. So it was a more relaxed day than anticipated. It was WONDERFUL to have them here. My dad was pretty excited to see Buddy again--he asked where on the agenda was the Papa and Buddy time.
I took a video of Ben's solo, but I tried to take stills in the middle and it shut off the recording. So here's a snippet. He's singing right when the video starts. He sounds great!
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| Grandpa Brion and Alayne came to both shows. Grammy and Maren could only come to the afternoon one due to their candy making day. |
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| I told Ben he could pick anywhere for lunch--so of course, Dairy Queen. :) |
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| I didn't remember to take video of Sarah's choir. But they sounded lovely! |
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| Papa and Buddy! Papa worked on tricks with him and help me set up new gates so Buddy has access to the kitchen now too. |
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| Libby...competition ready! (They didn't place yesterday, so she was upset with the team performance. But happy with hers...so we'll take it.) |
My parents had time to come to church today, eat lunch and help me with the puzzle we started with Dave and Anna over Thanksgiving. We got really close before they had to go. I am so lucky to have such fabulous parents.
We took David and Anna to the Apple Cup. It was cold and the football was DISMAL. If you were a Husky Fan.
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| Heading from the tailgate to the game (or should I say butt kicking?) |
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| Still loyal fans. (Well David and Anna can just be glad they aren't actual Husky fans :) |
Ben loves to go to the games so he can get swag from the players at the end. He goes down to the tunnel (just down the row from our seats) and stands there for the whole 4th quarter so he can get a "good spot" to get stuff from players. I think he got 4 gloves this year.
Well, the new coach is hired. So here's to better luck next season.
It's been busy...I mean, it was already busy. Then add a dog to the mix. Add lots of appointments for various things, add in the holidays, and guests and work and then wrestling. But it's been good. I really like having a dog. He's really great. So this year, I guess I'm thankful for Buddy.
It was also such a fun Thanksgiving. Uncle Davy came and brought his new girlfriend Anna. I'm a huge fan. We had a great time! We didn't take many pics. It was raining too hard on Thanksgiving for the normal official picture. (And, shockingly--I was irritated by the time we finally got to dinner. Every year I say that I won't be...but every year I am. Ugh.)
Dinner was delish, and then we had some good game playing. The best was a 14 person game of SCUM! There was a lot of back and forth in the game, so we got to to move around the table a lot. After a brief stint in the scum seats, I stayed roughly middle of the pack.
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| I think I did win a round of my Thanksgiving standby--Rummikub |
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| We had so much dessert. I ended up throwing away a pie and a half (almost 2 whole pies) when we hadn't finished them by the end of the weekend. Next year I'll make less! |
I will say I timed out the pie making on Wed and the potato and stuffing making perfectly though. The chilled pies were chill and the hot food was hot! I was pleased with that.
Love my Norton family--and I love that anyone else we bring gets wrapped into the Norton love.
Buddy also had a great time in Maren's fenced backyard having a playdate with Spaghetti. Never knew I'd be arranging playdates for my dog. But here I am!
