December highlights

Happy Thursday my friends! So sorry to have taken another blogging break. There was just not enough hours in the day. I didn't mean to not blog, but between work and kids and all the extra stuff that comes in December I just didn't have time to sit down to write. But here we are in the last few days of December. I am off work until the 2nd so I have been able to get a few things done and one of the things I wanted to do was write up a recap of my busy December. 

Things that have happened this month: 

Rebecca turned 17! Ok so that happened at the end of November, but I never blogged about it. We celebrated with getting takeout from Fiesta Mexicana (as Ben was sick) and having cake. 

All three kids ended up being sick towards the beginning of the month. Not at the same time, but over the course of a couple of weeks. Thankfully, everyone is better and didn't have to miss any of their holiday functions. 

Speaking of holiday functions, we went to several. First up, Rebecca and I went to my nephew's last elementary Christmas concert. It was cute. He looked so handsome in his suit. 

We celebrated Rebecca's birthday with family. (She also had a small party with her friends as well before this.) I say she had a good birthday week. 

The same night we celebrated with family, Rebecca went to a nearby town to sing carols with her high school choir. It was a nice evening and a great way to kick off the Christmas season. 

St. Nicholas came to visit. As per tradition he left an ornament and candy. Rebecca and I both got a Mickey Mouse 2023 ornament to represent our trip to Disney. Ben got a Minecraft ornament and Jacob got a football ornament. 

The kids had their Winter/Christmas concert. This was the first time that they all 3 were in the same concert, since Ben is now in Middle School choir. They sounded lovely and I enjoyed the concert. My sister and Cecilia came and watched it with me. 

On a bad note, Murphy came to visit. My automatic van doors decided to stop working as a wire snapped on each door. It would cost $1500 PER door to fix them. When I asked if they could just make the doors manual, it was going to be $300 total for labor. So that is what I did. I also had to have my exhaust system replaced. :( (Thankfully, a friend was able to lend me a car so I wouldn't miss work!) And if that wasn't enough, Rebecca's phone died (she woke up to a screen saying she had corrupted system files...) so I had to get her a new phone (I was already going to get her one for Christmas, but just meant I had to get it earlier.) Also my phone decided to keep freezing up, so I had to get a new phone as well. So much stress, but it got dealt with without too much anger and I moved on. 

I did some baking for the holidays. I made my Great Grandmother's recipe for Irish bread. One batch makes 8 loaves or more. My arms were sore after mixing, but man it was good. It was a request from my dad for Christmas. The kids and I also made Christmas cookies. 

The kids spent Christmas Eve evening with their father. So I ordered takeout chinese food and binge watched "The Crown" while they were gone. I was sad they weren't at home, but also glad that their father was making an effort. 

After the kids got home on Christmas Eve, we tracked Santa using NORAD, and then the boys went to bed. Rebecca and I went to midnight mass at our church and it was a beautiful mass. I LOVE midnight mass. When we came home, Rebecca helped me put presents under the tree and then we headed off to bed. 

Christmas morning came bright and early as Ben was up around 7. He climbed into bed with me and somewhat patiently waited until his brother and sister were awake. We went downstairs and opened stockings and presents. The kids were thrilled with their gifts, as was I. 

 

In the afternoon, we headed out to my parent's house for our family Christmas with them. I had such a blessed, great time with them. I got to spend quality time with my baby niece, and everyone. It was wonderful. 

Christmas was truly a great day this year. Life is good. Busy, but good. The last couple days I have been puttering around. Had a nephrology appointment where she was pleased with all my blood work numbers and that my blood pressure was the best it has been. The only thing I need to work on is losing some weight as I am about the heaviest I have been in a long time (although it was understandable given the circumstances of the last 6 months or so.) 

Today I started taking down my Christmas decorations. I got my kitchen, downstairs bathroom and part of my dining room/ living room packed away. I will take down the small tree in the dining room and the big tree in our living room tomorrow. I will leave the nativity up on the mantel until the Epiphany. I have also been thinking a lot about goals for 2024. I have decided to do "challenges" instead of resolutions. I will talk about those more in the new year. 

So, again, I apologize for being quiet on this blog. I have been enjoying the month and spending time with the kids and really just appreciating the season. I hope you all had a nice Christmas (if you celebrate) and I am looking forward to reconnecting in the new year! 

My day in Bowling Green Ohio

Happy Wednesday everyone! Look at me, getting back into this blogging mojo! 

I mentioned on Sunday that I took a quick 24 hour trip to Bowling Green, Ohio. Rebecca auditioned for and was selected to be a part of Bowling Green State University's high school Falcon Chorale Festival. It was a one day workshop on Monday that culminated in a performance with BGSU's Collegiate Chorale. She had to be on campus to register at 8:30 AM. BGSU is 2 hours away from my house. That means we would have to leave no later than 6:15am and meaning we would have to get up around 5AM. Then I would have to figure out how to get the boys to school, etc. I decided instead to have the boys spend the night with my parents and have Rebecca and I go up to Bowling Green the night before. I invited my sister to come up with us as well. 

So last Sunday afternoon, I dropped the boys off and Rebecca and I headed up to Bowling Green. My sister was going to drive separately as she had to leave Monday night to head up to Avon Lake to meet with clients as she is interning as an art therapist as part of her requirements to finish up her Master's degree. We all arrived within 5 minutes of each other at the hotel. 

We decided to order dinner in and we got stuffed breadsticks from Campus Pollyeyes. 

They were recommended by several people, including Rebecca's high school choir director, and they did not disappoint. Their homemade ranch was to die for. It was so good. We enjoyed our stay at the Fairfield Inn which was right across from BGSU athletic arena. 

The next morning, after a well rested night of sleep, Rebecca and I took advantage of the breakfast bar and then headed over to campus to register her for the day. After making sure she was registered and getting my parking permit for campus, I headed back to the hotel. My sister and I chatted with her girlfriend and made plans for the day. We decided to head out to the Wood County Museum as a way to take up some of our day. 

This was an interesting museum in that it was the county poor farm. It was very interesting to read about living conditions and to see reasons people were committed, including the areas where they thought people were insane due to epilepsy. It really kind of felt haunted to me but so very interesting.

 

They also had an exhibit of wedding dresses from throughout the ages on display. 

Another exhibit that they have is one that is the story of Mary and Carl Bach, which is a story of domestic violence and the controversial preservation of evidence, including the cut off human fingers of Mary Bach. 

We didn't see a lot of the grounds as it was freezing outside but it was a very informational tour. 

After we left the museum, we decided to head to downtown Bowling Green and to visit some of the shops. One in particular I wanted to hit was "Ben's" as I wanted to take a picture of the sign to show my own Ben. It was a cool store full of lots of different things. 

We also stopped in a few more shops and I bought a Christmas ornament. 

We stopped for a late lunch at Easy Street Cafe, which was a hole in the wall diner that was really good. They had writings all over their brick walls and it was cool to see some of the things written.

 

After the yummy, late lunch, we headed over to Bowling Green's campus as I wanted to hit their bookstore to buy a t-shirt for Rebecca. Mary and I walked around campus and saw these delivery robots that were moving around campus. Apparently students and staff could order food and snacks from some of the different places on campus, and these robots would deliver them to them. Really cool.

 

After buying a shirt and a magnet for me at the bookstore, Mary and I went to Starbucks on campus and I got a peppermint mocha frappuccino. It was super yummy. We then headed over to the recital hall so that Mary could call Cecilia and I could call the boys before Rebecca's concert. I also admired some of the artwork in the hall. 

Then it was time for the concert. The 140 high school students who made up the choir sounded so good! It was a great experience for Rebecca. Her high school director made the 2 hour drive up to see her perform which was nice. 

Then it was time to head home. We said our goodbyes to Mary and headed home. First we stopped at a McDonalds to get something to drink and to get some fries for Rebecca and for me to make a goodnight phone call to the boys. They were spending the night with their father. Then it was time to hit the road and we got home at 11:02pm. We headed to bed as we had to rise early the next day for work and school.

Overall, it was a very nice little getaway. It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with my sister in a new to us place. If Rebecca does end up going to Bowling Green for college, I wouldn't complain.