11.23.2011

november

I am feeling like many are ready to rush through November (as in the several people in our neighborhood who have had their Christmas decor up for a week already!) to get straight into the holiday season...but, I have really been trying to resist that urge and enjoy "fall" around here. As hectic as it has been, I have not found much time for blogging, but we have still been doing plenty of fun things and so I must play catch up and document some of those things.
Poor Bennett was extremely sick last Sunday through Friday and is still recovering...he had a bad fever virus, with the highest fever we have encountered in one of our children ever! Definitely makes us count our blessings that, for the most part, we have very healthy children. He was unable to go to school all last week and was sad to miss all of the Thanksgiving festivities. I had volunteered to help serve at the big Thanksgiving Feasts for both schools, and so I am very grateful that my Mom offered to keep Bennett for a little while on both Thursday and Friday so that I could still do this.
Elise's Feast was so much fun! They pushed all of their tables together and covered with a long table cloth which they had decorated. Elise's Indian name was "White Lily". The kids told us all about the First Thanksgiving, how different things were then (this was AMAZING to Elise), and about all of the rules the little pilgrim boys and girls had to follow. We also got to hear what everyone is most thankful for. It was a fun time and a great chance to get to know some of her classmates better. It went by so fast I didn't get one picture! :(

On Friday I went to Lila's feast....



I thought she was a precious little Indian. She definitely missed her brother, but made sure to bring him home all of the crafts so he wouldn't feel left out. Her Feast was a little more chaotic, as several classes were "feasting" together, but it was still fun to watch and I was thankful to be there!!


We have been enjoying our week "off" and actually have been extremely productive. We did a TOTAL clean out of the playroom. It was definitely time, as it was cluttered with many toys that the kids NEVER play with. So, it provided a good opportunity to talk about donating, sharing, and passing on. So, some needy children will be getting some toys, and some special things were placed aside for their new cousins...
We also did some closet clean outs as well, and sadly I really love doing that. I love the feeling of having it all organized and clean. (And I am by far the messiest in my family- so that is a scary thought!). Elise passed much on to Lila (she totally wants to wear "big girl" clothes now), Lila made a stack in case they are blessed with a little girl cousin, and we got rid of things that needed to be gone...The kids actually liked helping with the sorting, deciding what to keep, donate, or toss...I think they had fun too!

So, today, as a reward for all of the hard work they have done this week, I took them to see the Muppets Movie...




Notice the little group next to E that snuck into the pic!

We met our friends the Kitchens there, and had a blast! The movie was precious!!



Lila ready for the movie!

It was a fun treat to end a few straight days of productivity...

After the movie we went to visit Mimi and Grandpa since we will not have Thanksgiving with them tomorrow. We are looking forward to a low key day with SuSu and G, and Jared and Erinn...Mo and Phillip will definitely be missed, but we know she is where she needs to be and we can't wait to go visit them and the new babies (but hopefully not until the end of January!)!!

Looking forward to a day tomorrow reflecting on what all we are thankful for..shouldn't be hard because there is so much....

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

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