Hustle and Bustle and Anniversaries

After being snowed in for a few days, we finally emerged from Winter Storm Diego and wrapped up the week with a couple of teacher workdays and one short student day on Friday. When I went back to work on Thursday, Emmy stayed with my parents so that she could have an extra day of one-on-one attention for potty training. Even though we have still had some accidents over the last few days (and a not-so-good morning in the church nursery...) we are celebrating that Emmy was dry all day Thursday with my parents and even dry the next day at daycare! Here is a picture of Grammy and Emmy picking out a sticker!

Emmy's teacher at daycare, Miss Jewell, was so excited that Emmy was in big girl underwear. After being at home for several days, I was nervous sending Emmy off on her own, but Miss Jewell is such a pro and has been through potty training many times before. She was happy that we went straight to underwear rather than doing Pull-ups, and she said that she would continue to put her in underwear at school. I sent along 8 pairs and a few pairs of pants, too, but to my surprise, she didn't even need them on Friday. I plan to continue to send along several extra items this week, but hopefully when we go back to school in January, Emmy will be more consistently staying dry. Miss Jewell even gave Emmy some Hershey kisses each time she went on the potty, so during the weekend, we moved away from stickers and on to candy in order to coax Emmy on to the potty. Sometimes she doesn't want to stop what she is doing, and she is also a little more defiant with Mommy and Daddy than she is with other people. Unfortunately we have experienced the most of the accidents, but I am happy that she has had some good days with my mom and with Miss Jewell.

We are enjoying all of the fun festivities that come during the month of December! On Thursday afternoon, we all convened at Grammy and Grandpa's to make Christmas cookies. It is quite entertaining as we try to corral 5-year-old Zander, 3-year-old Maddox, and 2-year-old Emmy in an effort to make something halfway resembling cookies. Emmy was awoken from her nap to make cookies so she was a little crabby, but once she figured out how to press down the cookie cutter and especially once she got a few taste tests, she was happy again. We are thankful to Grammy and Grandpa for continuing on this tradition and for sacrificing their kitchen to a mess of sprinkles, flour, and icing! 

We ended the evening with the guys joining us for pizza and watching Christmas Vacation, a true holiday classic! Boomer can quote almost every line, and we've all seen it so many times that it just gets funnier each year. At some point in the movie, all of the Houstons and Kennedys ended up crammed onto the same couch. 

Christmas cookies and Christmas movies are just a few of my favorite things about this time of year. I also love seeing all the Christmas lights, listening to Christmas radio on my way to and from work, and turning on the tree each morning and in the evening. I especially love celebrating our anniversary each year during this time. On Friday, we had a mini-getaway thanks to a raffle Boomer won several months ago. At the Forbush Hunter Safety raffle in the spring, Boomer won a free night at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Elkin. The certificate sat for a few months until I realized the December 30th expiration date, so we were quick to line up Grammy and Grandpa for a night away. Elkin is about an hour from Kernersville. After a quick trade off of Emmy and throwing a few things in a suitcase, we headed off to Elkin on Friday evening. I had heard that the hotel is very decorated for Christmas, and it did not disappoint! After checking in, we went to dinner at Skull Camp Brewery. I got the pulled chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries, and Boomer got his staple BBQ item: brisket. All of our food was so delicious, and I especially loved the biscuits - a must-have if you go to Skull Camp!

 

 

On Saturday, we enjoyed a leisurely morning working out at the hotel fitness center and then chowing down on the amazing breakfast buffet. We certainly got our money's worth out of our free stay! :) We fit in a Facetime call with Emmy before her nap time. She loved waving at Mommy and giving kisses to Daddy through the screen. 

After checking out of the hotel, we headed off to find a winery. We don't often go to wineries just the two of us, but we thought it would be a fun indoor activity on a dreary, rainy day. We struck out at our first winery, Adagio Vineyards -- they were closed because of a special Christmas event they were hosting the following day. Just a few miles away, we found a second (even better!) winery, Elkin Creek Vineyards. It had a great atmosphere right on the river with views from the side deck and the windows of the tasting room. Boomer did a tasting, while I went straight for the dessert wine, called Vino Limone. We were the only patrons there until another couple arrived about halfway through the tasting. We bought two bottles of wine to share with both of our families over Christmas. I should mention that our Elkin getaway is just the first of our anniversary celebrations...we have another special trip planned at the end of the month. Cheers to 8 years! :)