Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 11/22 - 11/28)

Friday (11/22) We made it to Friday!!  The boys are feeling fine, but I feel like I am crawling to the weekend.  I got AJ and Daniel ready and dropped them both off at school then came home and got Zak and myself ready.  We headed in to school together because I was subbing again and I was in the same class that I was in yesterday.  That doesn't happen often for me, but it was nice to spend the second day with the kids.  The day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time to meet Zak and head home for the weekend.  I dropped him off at home and ran quickly to Meijer to grab a few things I need for next week that I didn't get on Wednesday.

When I got back from the store, I got Daniel ready for his play date tonight.  He headed over to Yusuf's house for dinner and a movie tonight.  His mom picked him up on her way home from work, which was nice for me to not have to go out again.  The rest of the night was very chill around here.  AJ and Zak played video games while I got a few things done but mostly watched TV, finished my book and played some Candy Crush.  I was exhausted and just not motivated to do much of anything.  Daniel was out until almost 10pm, which I was surprised about but he had a great time so it was worth it!  When he got home, I got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed for the night.  Then I cleaned up a little, finished my episode of "Married to Medicine" and headed to bed.

Saturday (11/23) We got to sleep in a little bit this morning, but not much since I had Zumba and Zak was up at 7am as usual.  I got up and moving, got every breakfast and then headed to the church to teach my last Zumba class there for the next week.  We had an awesome Zumba Toning class and got a great pre-turkey workout.  Then I came home and grabbed a quick shower before heading back out with the boys for haircuts.  We went at the start of the Buckeyes game so we were in and out and they look fantastic!!

After the haircuts, I decided to treat them to lunch wherever they wanted since they have had great behavior the past few days that Adrian has been gone.  AJ wanted Taco Bell, Daniel and Zak wanted McDonald's and everyone wanted a shake from Sonic.  So I went to all three, plus a stop at Jersey Mike's for lunch for me.  They were shocked that I did that and super excited!  When we got home, they spent the rest of the day playing video games and hanging out while I worked around the house.  I also got sucked into the Buckeyes game in the second half because it was a great game!  The day passed quickly and I got a ton of stuff done.  The boys asked to stay up late so I let them stay up until 11pm and then I got them down for the night.  I followed soon after since I was exhausted from the day too!

Sunday (11/24) We were able to sleep in a little today, but alarm clock Zak was still up at 7am this morning.  He and I got up and played a few games, Monopoly Gamer and Coconuts before his brothers got up.  By the time they got up, it was too late to go to church so we missed another week.  After a quick breakfast, the boys got dressed for the day and then started playing video games while I worked around the house.  I have been super productive while Adrian has been gone!!  I alternated between working and watching the Jets win this afternoon - what a great game!!

The day passed quickly and before long it was time to go pick up Adrian from the airport.  We did fine with him gone but we sure are glad he's back!  He had a great trip, played a lot of games, ate a ton of great food and made some new friends.  He came home with some free goodies, a few games and a new pint glass.  After we all had dinner together, we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed since it is a school night, even though it's a short week for us.  Then we watched the Cowboys game from this afternoon while we finished up a few small things around the house.  It was another great game, unfortunately it didn't go the way we wanted it to go.  Soon after the game, we headed to bed since we're both exhausted from the past few days.  Ready for a short week!

Monday (11/25) Back to our routine for a short week this week.  We all got up and moving on time and since Adrian is back, he helped me get AJ ready and on the bus before he headed to work for the day.  Then I got Daniel and Zak ready for school and dropped off on time to their schools.  I was only working an afternoon shift at school so I came back home and did a few things around the house and got ready for tonight's friends-giving with my Zumba students.  I put my turkey in the oven and left to work the afternoon in a fun 1st grade class.  The afternoon passed quickly and after getting them on the bus, Zak and I headed home for the night.

I got them quickly thru their homework, which thankfully wasn't very much and then finished up everything I needed to do for the Zumba dinner.  Adrian came home a little early so he could help me and carve the turkey.  I left with my turkey, mac and cheese and banana bread and had a fantastic dinner and fellowship with the Zumba ladies.  We had so much delicious food, drinks, laughs and good times.  I'm thankful for this amazing group of ladies who work out with me each week and have become friends.  While I was there, Adrian fed the boys dinner and then took AJ to Scouts where they finished up a few things for rank and got ready for some upcoming camping trips.  When we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed.  It was later than we wanted it to be so by the time we cleaned up and watched a little of the Monday Night Football game, it was time for us to head to bed too.

Tuesday (11/26) Last day of the week for us!  We all got up and moving pretty quickly but then AJ decided to relax instead of rushing so Adrian helped me get them ready and then headed to work.  I dropped AJ and Daniel off at school and then came home to finish getting myself and Zak ready for the day.  We headed into school together because I was subbing all day.  I started as a kindergarten teacher for the first two hours, then finished the day as the librarian.  Zak and his class were super excited to come in and see me as their teacher for library today!!  I also got to enjoy a delicious lunch of chili and desserts thanks to the potluck the teachers had today.  It wasn't a bad last day before break, although the kids were all hyped up for break.

When we got home, I got the boys settled and then Zak and I headed out to bowling for the week.  He bowled well today, and his score was consistent for both games.  After bowling, we headed back home and I dropped off Zak and picked up Daniel to drive him to a sleepover at his friend Patrick's house with 3 other feiends.  Then I came back home and the rest of us had a quick dinner before Adrian and I headed out to pick up Rocky from her week long training.  She was so excited to see us and has learned a lot while she was gone.  We have a lot of work still to do with her but her manners have really improved over the week.  After our training session to learn what she learned, we headed back home for the day finally.  It was late so we let the boys visit with Rocky for a bit and then got them down to bed for the night.  Adrian and I finally had a chance to watch last week's "Survivor" before we headed to bed for the night.  It was a long day, thankful to have some time off now!!

Wednesday (11/27) First day of Thanksgiving break and we all got to sleep in a little.  I still had to get up and moving fairly quickly to get to the Y to teach my two Zumba classes.  I had smaller than usual classes, but that's to be expected with the holiday.  We still had fun and got a great workout before the feast tomorrow.  After my classes, I went and picked up my Kroger order for the last few things that I needed for the weekend.  While I was at class, Adrian went and picked up Daniel from his friend's house so we were all home together.

The rest of the day passed quickly at the house.  We worked with Rocky on her training, prepped for Thanksgiving, put up our Christmas trees and sorted thru our lights, the boys played video games and we watched some TV.  It was a very low key day and just what we needed after the past few weeks that were so busy.  Adrian and I made the desserts for both tomorrow and Friday tonight so they are done.  We also prepped the stuffing so there is very little food prep to do tomorrow.  Since he was tired of leftovers, Adrian grilled steak for us for dinner tonight and it was delicious!  After dinner, the boys finished up their games and came down for family movie night.  We watched "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."  The boys thought it was hilarious!!  It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season.  After the movie, we got the boys down to bed and after a little bit of clean up, Adrian and I watched this week's "Survivor" before heading to bed too.

Thursday (11/28) Happy Thanksgiving!!  We all slept in this morning since we aren't really on any time schedule.  When we got up and got our coffee and breakfast, we settled in to watch the parade together.  The boys enjoyed seeing all of the floats and balloons of the characters they knew and Adrian and I enjoyed the musical numbers.  When the parade was over, I got the turkey in and then we went to work decorating the house for Christmas while watching the Lions/Bears game.  We worked quickly since it was all five of us and had both trees, the outside and most of the inside decorated in just over an hour.  Then the boys wanted to take a break from all of the holiday stuff, so they headed upstairs to play video games.

Adrian and I watched the football game and made sure the food was cooking.  When we had about an hour left in our cooking, our oven started displaying an error code and wouldn't work correctly!  Thankfully we were able to get the turkey and stuffing cooked and did everything else on the stovetop or in the instant pot.  It was a crazy scramble to get eveyrthing cooked correctly, but we made it work!  While we were cooking and eating, we watched the Cowboys game, although we were very disappointed since they didn't play well and they lost.

After dinner, Daniel wanted to play board games so we played Castle Panic with him.  Then Zak came down and said he wanted to play so we played Machi Koro with him.  After the two games, we took a break and ate dessert and watched "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."  Then the boys all wanted to play Flip Ships, so they played that with Adrian while I cleaned up some of the dinner mess.  After that game, we go the boys thru their night routine and down to bed.  Since it was late, Adrian and I watched one episode of "The Goldburgs" and then headed to bed too.  It was a small but fun and relaxing Thanksgiving for us.