Asa has started his new schedule this week, and he decided to try out really front loading his week. I try and stay busy while Asa is working to maximize the time we have to hang out together- and so I've also had some crazy long days. But here we are at 3pm on Wednesday and he's worked all but 9 hours this week. Plus I've gotten SO much done too. And now it's like a four day weekend (he works 8 am to noon both Thursday and Friday, so he works, but like.. barely).
So one of the last things on my to-do list is to get caught up with the blog.
Lets rewind back to the Sunday before Thanksgiving, when Hayden started to come down with something. I put him on mini-quarentine in the family room and pulled out the couch for him to try and contain his germs (he and Peyton share a room so I was trying to keep Peyton safe from germs as well). I guess Disney Plus had good timing with Hayden's illness- he basically spent a week on the couch watching everything it had to offer.
He did miss all kinds of events at the library though, which was sad. He was looking forward to a lot of them, he even video chatted with Max and Henry and asked questions about the new D&D club they started at the library, but then he ended up missing it because he was sick.
On Tuesday night I was worried about anyonoe else getting sick for actual Thanksgiving. Hayden doesn't even care about Thanksgiving dinner- he only eats the mashed potatoes and the rolls and complains about hwo we skipped lunch. So I thought maybe it would be best to have Thanksgiving dinner early so if any of the rest of us (who actually like Thanksgiving dinner) got sick, we'd at least have gotten to have dinner. We weren't having anyone extra, so really we could have it whenever we wanted. So on Wednesday we set the table with out Thanksgiving 'table cloth' (people write on it every year- whoever happens to be with us for Thanksgiving)
Of course I had my Ainsworth family cranberry bowl too.
Hayden showed up for the picture, we gave him a roll and left.
So, I got my Thanksgiving picture, that Calib complained about having to put a shirt on for- and Peyton, though you can't see- is still in his pajamas. The next two pictures are a more accurate representation of what Thanksgiving dinner is like at my house.
And then we all wrote on the tablecoth for Thanksgiving 2019.
On real Thanksgiving, we put out a bar of leftovers, and we did also grab our traditional Thanksgiving donuts.
Calib, however, had been staying up later and later- and I told him he should fully cycle. For some reason he thought Thanksgiving would be the best day to do this. So, I chronicled his adventures of trying to stay awake. (He didn't stay awake the WHOLE day, but he did only nap enough to fully cycle. So now he's up at like 8 am.)
Of course, we still had leftover pie for real Thanksgiving too. And when you have no company, you can just park yourself with a fork and a can of whipped cream.
Although, I do make the dogs their own pup cups every now and again, and I think they've gotten used to the sound of it now.
Basically Thanksgiving was Asa and I stitting around watching football, and the dog show in picture-in-picture. Ellie was very unimpresed with the dog show.
Oh, and pro tip: put Thanksgiving leftovers on top of fries. SO yummy.
With Thanksgiving over, we're moving on to Christmas, which in the Ainsworth family can only mean one thing: it's time to start making some cookies. With my mom going to Italy this year, it's all earlier than normal. I HATE making all those cookies, but it's good my least favorite Christmas chore is all done. They've already been mailed out to The Cookie Distribution Center (aka Aunt Dawns).
It also means it's time to decorate for Christmas. We just did the porch half of the house this year- I'm saving my other lights for something special I have planned for Peyton and Hayden while Calib is gone.
And yesterday, Hayden helped me decorate inside. We cleared off the top of home school central for decorations, and all my musical animals are on the piano.
The stockings are hung, and the cabinets in the kitchen are all decorated.
And we had a few times left over for the back of the couch and such.
We've also seen the return of the Christmas punch board. I've been doing this one for years- I used to have an activity for every day in December leading up to Christmas, but in the last few years we've gone down to just "the 12 days of Christmas" to make it more managable. The last couple years most of the punches have been games, where the boys earn 'Christmas bucks' and then we have an auction on Christmas Eve of mystery presents. It's pretty fun, and something I would totaly get in on, if I wasn't the one who had to make it all. But, you know, it's cool my teenagers are still into it, and still ask for it!
Our first game is the one where they try and open a present I've wrapped (and taped!) a whole bunch of times with oven mitts. You get to try and unwrap it while the next person rolls two dice and try to get snake eyes. Once they do, it's their turn to try and get it open, and play goes around the table until the winner has finally reached the present.
The last few years the present is an advent calendar of such. This year, it's Office themed socks! (Hayden was the winner, so he got to open the first socks and got Christmas bucks for the win.
It's not always easy to get everyone together to do something all the time, but I did get everyone to go see Frozen 2, and we loved it. Peyton was the only one who thought it was better than the first one, but we all enjoyed it. This week we also bought our tickets to see the last Star Wars because we have just ONE NIGHT of overlap before Calib leaves, and we can't wait two and a half weeks to see it (and we HAVE to see it all together). Anyway, shows on the 19th were already selling out. But after some page refreshing we did get 5 seats together in the last row (our favorite) .
Hayden has gotten better, and he's made it to the library for a few events. He made a turkey towel and a lanyard.
And for the first time "Candy Bar Election" work made an appearance on the board.
He's making a file folder about the primaries (and caucus's) for each state. We'll work with these again for the general election too. I'm hoping to line up our primaries with the real ones taking place.
Because next year we have a lot going on. We've got an Olympic year, and an election year! (Plus a leap day, and I LOVE Leap Day- time for our time capsule and backwards dinner) But also, Hayden has requested we celebrate all the president's birthdays again. He was only 9/10 on our last go around, so he doesn't remember as much. I wanted to make it a little different so I wasn't just reteaching, so I decided we're going to focus in on the elections the presidents won. It is an election year after all. While I was waiting for Hayden to finish up his sewing class at the library, I started nosing around to see what I could find, and there's some awesome books out there. I've already asked Asa for some for Christmas, but our library has a good collection too!
I've been able to grab some books for our next few Finer Things Club on awesome deals too. They were selling the Scarlet Letter for just $2 at the library book fair! And Target had a buy two, get one free book deal on Black Friday, so I picked up a few.
In other news, we had a fledgling visit our yard. We found it because the dogs were chasing after it. With a little help from Allison and Google, we discovered it was Morning Dove, and those guys spend some time on the ground before they fly off.
We located the nest, and the first couple of days when the fledgling was out, we'd make a little barrier every time the dogs went out. It was a bit annoying to have to check for him every time the dogs went out, but someone had to watch out for the poor little guy.
We managed to keep him safe, and the last we saw of him he flew off into the neighbors bushes.
Asa and I have taken a few bike rides as of late. He finally leveled up enough to submit Pokestops, so we've been riding around doing that. We've also done a couple of night time trips to check out Christmas lights. I'm thinking maybe if it's not too cold we could go again this evening, since he's already about out of work. Hayden and Peyton do have teen gaming at the library though so we'll have to take them. Peyton can't miss it- they moved it to Wednesday night just so he could attend! (Since Peyton has classes on Tuesday and Thursday). Although, Peyton's last class is tomorrow night (Calib's too). They've both done well. Calib has like a 95% in Psychology, while Peyton is just holding onto an A with a 90% in American History.
Meanwhile, it's December. Did you know Florida is the only state that produces watermelon December through April? Well, they are- and I've got two of them!
However, we've had a cold snap, and I was worried about them. Upon suggestion from a friend I built a little tent around them.
At night I cover them up, and then during the day I pull back the plastic and they can get more sun and fresh air. It's actually working really well.
We didn't cover up the tomatoes though, so hopefully those didn't get stunted.
I cannot wait until it warms up though. It's seriously COLD on my mornign walks with my dogs. And yes, I've become one of *those* Floridians with a scarf, hat, and coat in 40 degrees. But you guys, that is cold for here. Also, I've lost over 40 pounds of insulation. I've been so cold at night I've been sleeping with socks, two extra blankets, and a heating pad!
But, cold weather means everyone is a bit more snuggly. I have first mornign coffee with Porkchop and Etta (while Phenom sits close by- and Ellie pouts and sighs heavily until I'm ready for her walk), and second coffee is usually with Dipper, who is fully aware I can't pet him, but he's fine to snuggle up on my blanket.
Overall, I wouldn't say they love the cold, though.
Equally as unhappy with the cold weather is Calib, who has complained so much and refused to get out of bed until it's at least 60 degrees. Also, he put some long underware on under shorts, because that's just what we do here. (Yes, we COULD turn on the heat, but it only gets to about 67 in the house- the heat comes on at 63).
Hayden has been super helpful lately too. He's in for most projects I'm undertaking. Today he even helped me make dog cupcakes.
Because it's Porkchops 9th Birthday! Asa got him for me on the one year anniversary of when my dad died (because "puppies heal hearts!), and he's been regretting it ever since. But Porkchop was amped about his cupcakes. Don't worry, he shared with his siblings. They'll be getting more cupcakes soon, too, because Etta's adoption anniversary is in just 12 days!
That's it from here. We've got accelerated Christmas plans coming up, with Calib's trip and all.
Next Up: We're headed to pick out our ugly Christmas tree this weekend. I'm looking to the Chinese food/Pizza combo!
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