Sunday November 30

Happy Sunday.

Happy last day of November.

I cannot even believe it is December tomorrow!!!!

I took Cassi to church early for Choir practice.

I always forget about it until we get to church and they are wrapping up their practices.....

So I was happy I remembered this week.

Now I need to just keep remembering.

Especially now that they are practicing Christmas songs :)

There were some great talks given today.

I love when it feels like talks are specifically for you and what you are needing.

That's how I felt today.

It was the fifth Sunday, and they usually do a combined meeting kind of thing.

Today they had the Youth take over the primary classes so that the teachers could go, and I got to go too.

It was a great little talk/lesson about keeping your homes internet safe.

There are some great tips and simple things we were never even aware of that we can do.

It's a scary world out there, and it is our responsibility to keep these kids safe from cyber bullying, pornography, etc.

So it feels a little less daunting with this system them talked about today.

After church we relaxed and watched the 'Airplanes: Fire and Rescue'.

That's the movie we got the kids to watch while we went to the temple last night.

It was a cute one :)

Then we had a yummy dinner, if I do say so myself.

Port dubbed it 'Rice chicken-ada'.

Chicken enchilada basics, but served over rice, instead of in tortillas.

They all loved it, so I am sure it will find a way into our rotation :)

Then the kids went out to do chores together and they played some more of their games together.

It was a good day :)

*****

Oh, and it is the last day of November......

Meaning I am not sure how long the mustache will still be around.

So I needed to get a shot of it in case it gets cut off tonight.

We will wait and see ;)

 

Saturday November 29

We had a great Saturday today.

It took a while to get things going......just used to taking it easy, I guess :)

But Dad and I went and started working on getting some stuff done on the house.

We stuffed some insulation up in the dormers where we hadn't yet got to the soffitting outside.

We were getting rain and snow inside form that.

So we stuffed some plastic covered insulation until we can get to the outside soffit.

The kids played good with each other.

After a while they had some friends over.....Avery, Kyra and Cannon.

Madi came up and worked with Dad and I.

We built the closet in the entry way.

It wasn't in the original plans....because we had to move a wall that our architect didn't draw up right......

But the closet will fix things nicely.

We also built the walls around where the shower will be in the master bathroom, so our plumber can run the water run to the right spots.

It doesn't sound like much, but it was a successful day.

Plus the kids played AWESOME together while I made dinner.

You know how much I LOVE that!!!!!

We had dinner together, then Dad I went out on a date to the Temple.

It was so nice to go and spend that time together, but also to feel the peace that the Temple brings.

It was definitely something we both needed.

Like Dad said, 'That was a nice reset!'

 

 

Friday November 28

It was such a beautiful day today!

Too bad it's not gonna last.

Madi, Cassi and porter spent most of the day, not kidding, outside building a house together.

Building onto Port's playhouse form last year....the one that was by the canal, so he didn't play in it while the water was down there.....and now he is expanding :)

They had a lot of fun.

Emmy and Elsie hung out together while Emmy got ready to go.

She left a little after lunch time.

We had a sad little Elsie once Emmy was gone :(

She sure loved her Emmy time over the last few days.

We all loved having her here.

It was such a great time.

After Emmy left, we finally got to doing those piles of dishes.

And the kids played outside some more.

It was a good day.

And Emmy made it home safe and sound.

 

Missing her Emmy......  :(

Thurday November 27

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

It was such a great day today.

We did lots of fun stuff together.

But first, dad got home this morning to tell us about a fire he was up all night fighting.

So he was tired....but he was pretty pumped about the fire, so it kept him going until about 4ish, when he zonked, and he is still going strong right now at 10 :)

Hope he can feel rested tomorrow!

*****

So Madi made her pumpkin pies this morning.

She did a great job.

Cassi was busy making the place cards for our Thanksgiving table.

She found a really cute idea on Pinterest and ended up with a super cute turkey.

Madi was in charge of the center piece this year.

She had a really cute idea for our Thanksgiving tree this year.

That has become one of the things we do each year.

We have a 'tree' of some kind, and then we have things that we are thankful for written on something.

This year, they were written on cute paper leaves.

Madi made the table look just beautiful :)

Then we all worked together to get all the other stuff cooked up.

Right before we ate, we all went outside for some pictures.

A new tradition that I insist on :)

But everyone was happy and we got the pictures pretty quickly.

They will thank me for all the pictures I take....someday!!!!!

I think everyone's most favorite Thanksgiving tradition is having Emmy here with us.

Elsie is in heaven all day long :)

And we just love having her with us!

So once we got the important stuff done....we went inside and ate.

There was so much food and it was so yummy!

During dinner we talked about favorite traditions, and about things we are thankful for.

After dinner, we cleaned up a bit (dishes are still not done....rinsed, but not washed :)

Then we plopped ourselves down on the couch to watch Maleficent together.

Mid-way through, we paused and had pie.

Yummy pie!

We had Madi's pumpkin pie, Emmy's Oreo pie that Cassi helped make.

Dad's keylime pie that we bought for him, cause he loves it......

And, at my request, the Sweet Potato pie that Emmy made yesterday!

Oh my goodness!!!!!

That is a new tradition for sure!

It was so good!

I want to go sneak another piece right now!

After the pies, we went back to watching the movie.

That's when Daddy fell asleep.........

After the movie, the kids did a little treat craft......Turkey's again.

I told Elsie she was in charge of the craft and that is what she wanted to do :)

They had a lot of fun and made many many different creations.

And got full of even MORE sugar!

We also played a game of Thank-tionary.

We all wrote things we were thankful for on pieces of paper.

Then we pulled them out of a jar to draw them, and try to get everyone to guess.

It was a super fun game  for all the kids.

Elsie was so funny.

She knew that Emmy and her put 'Buffalos' on one of their cards....

So every time someone got up to draw, she would guess "Buffalo" right away.

It was pretty darn funny :)

To wind down, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving".

Then, when the kids were supposed to be in bed.....(Port was actually asleep)....we looked through the years of Thanksgivings on the blog.

I am so so Thankful that I have documented so much of our lives on this blog!

I have such a bad memory, and it makes my heart happy that I can record these things so my kids will never forget them!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday November 26

It's been a fun pre-thanksgiving day with Emmy :)

We went shopping after lunch for some last minute dinner stuff and preparations.

We, actually Emmy did, cooked up some sweet potato pies!

We have never had them.....but I am hoping they are amazing and turn into a new Thanksgiving tradition!

We had friends over.....

And Elsie stuck pretty much right by Emmy's side.

Madi and Cassi and Porter went and watched a movie at the Morgans house.

And Elsie Emmy and I went and got some dinner and got Malificent to watch.

It was a really good movie :)

Porter came home earlier than the girls because he was missing us......

So he watched with us.

After the girls came home and the little ones went to bed, we got cleaned up....I started making the rolls.

I had to run to the store for some flour.

How embarrassing!

That is something I always have on hand!!!!!

I've really fallen behind in the 'keeping groceries in stock' department......

Anyway.

It was a good day and we are ready to get this Thanksgiving thing started!!!!!!

After we get sleep......

 

Tuesday November 25

EMMY'S HERE!!!!!

She got here about dinner time.

In the morning I went and did some errand running and grocery shopping.

The kids got laundry put away and cleaned their rooms.

Then we just played and got some stuff done.

When Emmy came, we had dinner, and played games and then watched some TV before the little ones dozed off.

Elsie had a hard time leaving her Emmy :)

So she got to bed kinda late.....

More fun tomorrow!

 

Monday November 24

Dad and I headed out this morning as soon as we woke up to try and get stuff picked out......light fixtures, bathroom faucets, tubs...etc.

This by far has been the LEAST fun!

I would rather knock down walls :(

These are things I didn't think I had to pick out yet.

But to get the drains for the tubs in the right spots, and the right spacing with the light fixtures.......

AHHHH!!!!!

Driving me nuts!

Bonkers!!!!

*****

We had lots of friends over today.

Elsie had her little friend Lily over.

Such a cute girl, and a good friend.

She has a very strong personality....and gets a bit possessive of Elsie at times.

At school she will cry if Elsie wants to play with someone else or play alone.

But she always gets over it.

I told her today that she doesn't have to worry about Elsie not being her friend if she doesn't always want to play.

Just sometimes Elsie needs a little quiet time :)

But I think Lily is a good one to have around.

I think Elsie does as much for her as she does for Elsie.

She is new this year, and lives out of the school boundaries, so that makes it harder for her.

We also had some of the Morgan kids over.

Cannon, Avery and Carli.

We made some Oreo cookies.

The same ones Elsie did at PT with Katie a few days ago.

Elsie wanted to make them with Lily.

They were fun.

The kids made a plate to take to Bubbles too.

Bubbles wasn't home, but they left it for her :)

*****

I took Lily home when I took Cassi to her other friend Lily's house.

She had it planned to hang out with her and Carly.....

There are a lot of Carly's and Lily's in our lives :)

When we dropped them off, dad and I went to Lowes to do some more price comparison.

AHHHHHH (again)

When we got home, Madi went with Carli again and Stacia took them to a thrift store where she got to get a bag of shoes for $1 to donate to the shoe drive we are doing.

She also got herself an 'Ugly sweater' that she is pretty proud of :)

*****

When we all came home together, we played games for our FHE and then off to bed.

Tomorrow Emmy comes!!!!!

Yay!

Still need to get some stuff done to get ready......

But all is good :)