Our Week - The One with Fundraiser Shopping, a Day Date, and a Date Night

What a week – busy and productive it was!

Monday, November 28

Monday morning, I had a million things to do to get caught up after our week of fun and relaxation for Thanksgiving.  I hit the ground running, starting with grocery shopping.  The rest of the day consisted of getting caught up on blog stuff, catching up on life stuff, planning upcoming events, and trying to squeeze in a bit of Cyber Monday shopping in between.

After school, Olivia had dance and Jacob had piano lessons, and then when we were all home, I cooked dinner.  After dinner, I finished off our Christmas decorating with a quick chalkboard doodle, and then I got in a stair stepper workout followed by an abs workout while the kiddos got ready for bed. 

We ended the evening with an episode of The Amazing Race (well, part of one, anyway), and then B and I watched an episode of Manifest before calling it a night.

Tuesday, November 29

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then headed home for a couple of hours of work before I had to be back at the school mid-morning for a fundraiser meeting.  That lasted about an hour, and we finalized all of the details and scouted out a few things that we’ll need.  Then, my friend, Becky, and I went shopping for all of the stuff for the fundraiser. 

We’re doing a Reindeer Run during school hours, and we’re having a hot chocolate bar for the entire school + facepainting/temporary tattoos for the littles, so we had to buy all of the stuff for that.  We hit up Sam’s first followed by Walmart, and we were able to check every single thing off of our list aside from candy canes (whyyyy is everybody out already?!) and tattoos/face paint which we’re ordering from Amazon.

By the time we’d finished shopping, I had just enough time to go home and choke down a quick lunch, and then it was time to head back to the school to get in the car line.

After school, the kids and I headed home, and they worked on homework until it was time to take Olivia to her dance studio.  Once she was dropped, Jacob and I headed back home to get a few things done.  I had some leftover work to do, and he had a little bit of homework remaining.

B played tennis Tuesday evening, so he wasn’t available to pick up Olivia from dance per usual, so Jacob and I headed back out to grab her, and then we came home for a very late, light dinner.  She doesn’t get out of dance until 6:30 on Tuesdays, and since B wasn’t able to pick her up, I wasn’t able to have dinner on the table when she got home, so it was a late night.

After dinner, the kiddos got ready for bed, and I did an arms workout, and by the time we were all done, B was home from his match.

Tuesday evening, we received notification from the school that school was going to be delayed by two hours on Wednesday due to the bad weather that was expected to blow through early in the morning Wednesday.  B and I ended up staying up a little later than usual for a weeknight since we got to sleep in a bit the next morning.

Wednesday, November 30

Sure enough, we had a ton of rain and wind blow through in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday, but thankfully, we didn’t have any of the tornadoes like they had in some other states.  We did have a MASSIVE lightning strike and clap of thunder right at the end of the storm, and I’m pretty sure the lightning struck just right outside our house.  The lightning and thunder happened almost simultaneously, and it was so close that it set off our next-door neighbor’s car alarm. 

Olivia was still asleep, and she came screaming into our room.  She was so terrified, she was shaking, bless her heart.  I let her crawl into bed with me for a bit, and I held her until she finally calmed down.

The rest of the morning was leisurely since the kids didn’t have to be at school until 10.  Maui had a vet appointment at 10:15, so she and I stopped there after we dropped the kids off, and then the rest of the day was spent working at home.  I had some blog work to do as well as some work to do on an Instagram Reel, and that took up the majority of the afternoon before I had to pick up the kids.

Wednesday evening, we had nowhere to be, so I got in a good cardio workout while the kids did homework, and then I made dinner.  After that, the kids played for a while and then got showered, and once they were ready for bed, we watched some of the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center.  We didn’t get to finish it since it ended at 10, but the kids were so excited to see where we’re about to be in just a few days!!!!

Thursday, December 1

Thursday was Brian’s and my 15th wedding anniversary, so he took the day off so we could spend the day together getting all of the Christmas shopping done.  After we dropped the kids at school, we ran to vote in the runoff election, and then we grabbed Starbucks before hitting up Walmart and Target.  We were so successful that we managed to knock out all of the shopping for the kids.  The only thing left is a few gifts for others and the kids’ stockings!!!!

We got home just in time to eat a light lunch, and then I spent the afternoon updating my Christmas gifts spreadsheet and hiding all of the gifts before I the kids got home from school.

When we arrived home, the kids were super excited because their Advent calendars were waiting for them, and after they opened those and had their snacks, Olivia and I headed to voice lessons.  While she was in her lesson, I spent some time with my planner getting organized.  I swear, this time of year is just nuts!

When we got home, I got everything ready for Friday, and then B and I dropped the kids at my father-in-law’s house so he and I could sneak off for an anniversary dinner.  We hadn’t gone out to eat, just the two of us, in ages. 

We went to my very favorite restaurant in the whole city (maybe the whole world?!  Haha) and, unfortunately, they weren’t able to sneak us in early.  Fortunately, we’d made a reservation (although it was a late one because that’s all they had left when we called a couple of days before), but we had quite a lot of time to kill before our table would be ready.

We ended up walking around downtown for a bit, and we swung by our favorite local craft beer spot to pick up some goodies.  We dropped that at the car, and then spent a few more minutes walking around downtown before we were finally able to get a spot at the bar at our restaurant to have a couple of drinks before dinner.

I opted for a Lady Grey which is vodka with an Earl Grey simple syrup and a couple of other ingredients, and it was amazing.  B opted for an Old Fashioned and it was delicious, too.

We didn’t have to wait long at the bar before our table was ready, and I was thrilled that we were able to be seated upstairs by the window that looks down on all of the twinkle lights.  It was perfect. 

B and I both ordered their filet mignon with whipped potatoes and broccolini, and the entire meal was just to die for.  I paired my steak with a glass of red wine, and I ate every single bite on my plate.  If I ever had to choose a last meal, it would be that exact meal from that exact place.  It was perfection.

That restaurant is famous for its cheesecake, and B and I are always too stuffed for dessert when we eat there, but this time we decided to get some to go with the caramel topping.  We ate that at home later after the kiddos were tucked in their beds and it was a yummy ending to a great day.

 

Friday, December 2

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then met a few ladies at our church to help set up for Breakfast with Santa that was taking place on Saturday.  I stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed home to work, wrap gifts, and tie up some other loose ends for the rest of the day. 

After school, I got some more stuff done around the house, and then B picked up Mexican for dinner.  Our high school football team was playing in the state championship Friday evening, and I reeeeally wanted to go, but it was a couple of hours away and it didn’t even start until 8:40, and we weren’t feeling up to being out until 1 AM, so we opted to watch it from home. 

Thankfully, they broadcast it live, so we were able to watch it from the couch in our PJs!  We ended up winning for the first time in school history, and I can’t say that I didn’t have some serious FOMO not being there for it, but I was also really grateful when 11 PM rolled around and all I had to do was walk upstairs and get in my bed rather than drive two hours first.  Haha.

I’m just so proud of our boys and our coaches… they worked so dang hard this year and it paid off!

Friday was also Maui's 13th birthday, so we sang to her and gave her some cheese to celebrate.  ;o)

 

Saturday, December 3

Saturday morning, we slept in, and then I made homemade waffles for breakfast.  Our school hosted the first Breakfast with Santa since 2019, but we opted out because we have such a busy week coming up.  The kids didn’t seem too disappointed, thank goodness.  If they’d truly wanted to go, we would have made it work, but I was grateful to be able to sleep in and have the extra time to start prepping for our trip to NYC since this week leading up to the trip is going to be bonkers.

After breakfast, I enjoyed a cup of hot tea, and then I got up and got moving.  First up, was an hour-long cardio workout, and then I spent a couple of hours doing laundry and packing for our trip to New York City.  We have so much going on this week, that I wanted to get a jump-start on it because I know I’ll have zero time to do it this week.

We had a light lunch at home, and then I got right back to packing, getting some work done, wrapping some gifts, and stopping to play with the kids here and there.  Olivia put together a spa for me, and she rubbed my back and scratched my back and did my hair, and it was just what I needed to de-stress.  ;o)

After my spa time, I got back to work packing and working on blog stuff, and then after I showered, it was time to watch the SEC Championship game with our Dawgs.  We’d considered going, but again, with everything going on this week and then being in New York City this coming weekend, we didn’t want to be out of town two weekends in a row. 

Instead, we watched from home, and while I watched, I worked on getting Christmas cards addressed, and I also got everything planned out for the week ahead in my planner and I did my nails.  Whew.  It was a productive Saturday, indeed.

The kids played outside most of the afternoon, and then we had pizza delivered from one of our favorite local places while we finished watching the game.  Georgia won – WOO HOOOO – and we’re heading to the College Football Playoff!

 

The kiddos watched a movie upstairs while B and I watched more football after dinner, and that was our Saturday.

 

Sunday, December 4

Sunday morning, we had cinnamon rolls and then the kids played outside all morning while I did a quick arms workout and tackled some more stuff that needed to be done.  We did lunch at my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law’s to celebrate my nephew’s birthday, and then we had Sunday dinner at my parents’ house like usual. 

I was a little sad purposely missing some things this past weekend – the high school State Championship game, Breakfast with Santa, and the SEC Championship game – but it is soooo nice heading into this crazy week feeling organized and on top of things.  I know if we’d done all of those other things I’d be suuuuper behind and feeling very frazzled, so I’m definitely thanking myself today!  Sometimes you just have to take a break from all of the festivities to relax, get organized, and catch your breath!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!