November 2017

November 2017

John and Ann came to visit us!  It was so great to have them here.  They were on their way to a bridge cruise down the Mississippi, and we are all so glad they stopped here first.  Ann got me beautiful pansies to plant in the front yard, and the kids helped us plant them.  They are filling in beautifully and I love seeing the pop of color in the front.  I might not have gotten around to that without her help and I’m SO glad we did! 

We also had fun shopping for Christmas presents for the kids.  And for us =)  Lets just say everyone is going to be REALLY happy.  =)  They also got Donovan a new bike, which he zoomed around on right away. 

One day while the kids were in school, Eric, Ann, John and I went to Woodward park.  We walked around the rose garden and the Arboretum, enjoying the beautiful park and catching a fair number of Pokemon.  John likes pokemon as much as I do so we always have fun with that.  We also got to play bridge while the kids were in school, and it was nice to get to play in the middle of the day =) 

The kids got to play SO many games.  They also built with Magformers for hours.  They started asking me when Vanaema and Farfar would be coming back before they even got all the way to the airport. =) 

Other November fun… I’ve been working on class art projects.  Maia’s class did pour painting, which was an absolute blast.  I want to make some myself!  Donovan’s class painted rocks, and they turned out really cute.  I’ve sealed them enough that they could go in the garden, but we plan to get a frame and make it look like a zen garden for the auction. 

I got to go with Donovan’s class to Gilcrease Museum.  Donovan loved it and wants to go back for some of their Super Sunday activities.  He especially liked the yarn art because it was kind of like a seek and find.  They got to see a lot of the western artist that is John’s favorite.  My favorite part was watching the kids smell the “bear scent” that the docent passed around.  Great faces =)

Mom took the kids back to Build a Bear to spend their Christmas money.  We had so much fun! Maia got Rarity, so now we have all the pony bases covered.  I resisted getting myself a Fluttershy.  =)  Donovan got a Star Wars bear with a Boba Fett outfit AND a lightsaber.  So basically perfect.  Serenity picked an adorable blue reindeer she named Midnight.  The best part was seeing the three of them play with their new friends for HOURS in the following days.  Maybe my kids actually like stuffed animals now?!?  I’ve been waiting and hoping for that.  =)

We had two Thanksgivings =)  First Dad came over for traditional Thanksgiving fare.  I made a turkey and orange rolls.  Serenity and DZ pretty much JUST eat those rolls, but since they take the most work I’m pretty much ok with that.  Maia only ate turkey, but she kept singing songs about pumpkin pie with whipped cream piled up high so we had to have some of that even though I knew she probably wouldn’t actually eat it.  =) 

On Friday Mom and a bunch of my siblings and their kids came over for another Thanksgiving.  We had soup and dessert, which was perfect.  Jen made me chicken and noodles which I shamelessly begged her to make.  I made potato soup and Kelly made chili.  I also got to make several desserts, and I made them in disposable containers so I could send leftover chocolate cake away with David and Brandon.  We got to play a bunch of board games and hang out.  Barrett even spent the night!  He was busy working on making a DND character.  Carson made one too, so we might actually get to have a DND day!  Donovan has made four or five characters since that night and Serenity made a couple too!  So exciting!!!! 

Cousin selfie fun =)

Raegan had never experienced Maia's elbow addiction =)

Group Picture!

Maia wrestling with Casey for this ball was hilarious.  He kept holding it out at arm's length and she climbed all over him to get it.  At one point he was just holding it and she wedged her entire body between him and the ball to try and pop it out of his hands.  His ringing endorsement was "She's not stupid!"  It actually worked =)  Although he got the ball back in the scramble after she knocked it out of his hands.  

Maia also told Mike he was a good hair fixer man.  He braided all her pony’s manes and tails.  =)  So many fun things!  I got to show KaLynn and Blake the baby quilt I've started for them.  And they got to adjust it to suit their plans for the room, which was so fun!  I might get to make one for Brandon and Melanie's baby girl too =)  

Serenity got to go rock climbing with her Girl Scout troop!  The girls chose this activity and spent the money they had saved from cookie sales, so they really earned it.  I think they all had a blast and I was so proud of them!  A few of them were nervous about going too high, but they all went higher than they thought they could!  Donovan was a little monkey and zoomed up the wall so high!  Serenity was really fast at climbing.  She preferred not to go too high, but she was able to get to the top of the bouldering walls!  Maia is anxiously awaiting the day that she is six and can go too. 

I went to TWO anders ruff workshops this month!  They are so much fun, I bet I do it often.  The first was this great Christmas sign, and Autumn came with me and made the same one =)

The second one was for a Mom's night out =)  We had a blast crafting and then joined some other moms from Serenity's class at Kilkenney's.  Awesome night!

New sweater from Stitch Fix.  How have I never owned a cowl neck sweater before?!?

Halloween clearance rocks =)  Troll hair!

Maia helped paint her Canterlot Castle

Lights on at USOLA!  The kids were awesome.  They especially love singing the hot chocolate song.  They all did the motions, and Serenity even moved down so she could make her motions BIG

Serenity performed with her theater class!  They read and acted out a couple of Dr. Seuss stories, the Lorax and Horton Hears a Who.  Serenity got to be the Lorax.  Everyone took turns reading the story but she got to pantomime the Lorax’s part.  It was fun to watch her do all the motions to the Lorax telling off the Onceler. 

Serenity and I went to see Harry Potter in concert!  The Tulsa Symphony played all the music live while the movie played on the big screen.  It was amazing!  The music is really beautiful, and it makes such a difference to the movie, but I’ve never really noticed or paid attention to that before.  I especially love the Celesta, the instrument he used for Hedwig’s theme.  So beautiful and magical.  It was a wonderful night!  And Serenity didn’t even get too scared of the movie!