November's Novel

November has flown by!! It feels like we were just celebrating Leah's birthday, and now here it is, December 1st already. My kids are SO excited for Christmas, but I can't officially move on until I know I've summed up the rest of November on the blog. 

Here's Baby Girl, at approximately 29 weeks. She's a prolific kicker, and starts the festivities around 11 p.m. on the dot. Old Faithful himself would be impressed by her constancy. I think we may have another night owl on our hands! Volunteers wanted...

I got the decorations transferred over from all things Halloween, to all things Thanksgiving, which is no small feat for a very pregnant lady. Christmas was infinitely worse, but those pictures are still to come... Half the reason I take pictures is so that next year when I can never remember where I put things, I have a reference!

For FHE one Sunday we worked on our "Thankful Tree." It's been our tradition since that first really hard year in North Carolina, and I love that it helps us focus on so many things to be grateful for! Lucy and Zach are really good at thinking about even the smallest blessings we're so lucky to have.

With November came snow, snow, and MORE snow!! I've lost count of the times it has snowed, which was probably inevitable, but in North Carolina it was such a rare and novel occurrence it's hard not to still feel that way every time it snows here. The kids were SHOCKED when it was snowing and yes, they still had to go to school, and couldn't wait to get out in it when they got home! Isn't Leah cute all decked out in her snow gear??

We took them (including our neighbor friend Savannah) to the little hill behind our house before it got dark so they could sled down a couple of times.

They LOVED it! Leah just kept saying over and over how much she loved the snow. Zach is more like me, and by day 2 of snow on the ground and 20 degree highs told me he wished we lived somewhere warm like North Carolina again. It's going to be a looooong winter buddy!

They worked VERY hard on building two little snowmen after school with what snow was left that the sun hadn't melted yet. I see them though!

I met Jon for lunch one Friday-- the grand opening weekend of Castle Rock's brand new Cafe Rio, to be exact. It was PACKED! We barely found somewhere to sit, but it was definitely worth it. It's the best Cafe Rio I've had since Utah. 

Dr. Cardon enjoying his pork salad. He was really worried about smelling like Mexican food the rest of the afternoon working up close and personal with patients!

Miss Lucy just continues to perform her piano songs left and right. She had her second piano recital Saturday afternoon, which was a "Hollywood" themed recital, and she played her Harry Potter duet with her teacher, Mrs. Wright, and her "Stormy Seas" duet with Ally. She did great!

Jon had to work, so I got stuck wrangling kids-- who were mostly good, but those recitals sometimes go on and on. Thankfully it was nice and sunny so I could take Leah out for a break. 

Lucy was chosen as Student of the Week, the week right before Thanksgiving break. She was SO excited! They get all kinds of fun special recognition, and she made this poster telling all about herself to put up in the classroom.

We woke up Tuesday morning of that week with 15 INCHES of snow!! It had been blizzard conditions all night, and into most of the morning, and the kids got school off (which is pretty unheard of around here where snow is the norm). It was a monster storm!

While Jon worked on figuring out how the heck to get to work in his little '98 Toyota Corolla, Leah and Zach enjoyed a mid-morning snack of fresh snow ice cream. Yum!

Meanwhile my little snow bunny Lucy met up with Savannah and the two went sledding behind our house!

Thankfully her mom took them so I didn't have to wade through drifts of snow and risk slipping and falling. Snow was not intended for pregnant people! She sent me these cute pictures of the girls.

Wheee! Doesn't that look fun??

Lucy's snow imprint of her cold little face, ha, ha!

We spent the rest of the week heading back to school, staying warm inside by the fire, and hoping that most of it would melt by the time Taylor was supposed to arrive on Saturday for our Thanksgiving Extravaganza! Thus. on to Thanksgiving Week!