November Week 1 (3-9)
This is much of the everyday with me and the kids. While Jake was gone we enjoyed lots of treat making and the kids played very well together. Audree also started folding her arms and closing eyes for prayers. What a cutie!
Audree also loved getting into my bathroom drawer and pulling out this necklace. Around this time she wanted to wear it every where. We also discovered a new "board game" to entertain the kids: dice. They loved throwing and rolling them over and over. Luckily we had enough dice and two cups to keep the both of them happy.
We continually are looking for activities to keep the kids happy indoors while it's nasty weather outside. This week I pulled out our tent, plastic balls, and slide; put them together and these kids have a party. They loved it!
We
also got a lovely visit from my mom this first week of November while
Jake was gone for interviews. The kids enjoyed reading books with her,
making spaghetti mustaches, and putting together the Christmas "jean" a.k.a.
chain that they got from Grandma.
November Week 2
Audree has grown really attached to her "blankie" during this time. She would drag it around everywhere. To keep the kids busy (and my sanity) we kept up with treats in the kitchen and fun activities indoors. One of their favorite things to make with mom is cookies. They also really enjoyed this bath paint.
I got in a freezer meal frenzy while Jake was gone. It gave me something to do and also stocked up my freezer. Just a few of the things we made this week were homemade chicken nuggets and chicken pot pies. Yummy!! I don't think I've ever seen our freezer so full. Gets me in good practice for when baby brother comes.
We also enjoyed our first big snow storm of the year during this week. We kept busy indoors with more fun activities like these bags full of homemade paints that we kept on the window for the kids to play with. We also got to play outside in the fresh snow with Aunt Janell. The kids absolutely loved it (until they got too cold). But we were able to build a snowman and Janell taught Joshie that eating snow was delicious. We had a really fun time!
I've started my preparations for baby brother's birth. I hope that things go well this time around and that I can birth quickly, naturally and hopefully at the hospital!!! No home deliveries on the kitchen floor planned this time around (not that it was planned last time around either). Ha!
We finished our week having a movie night in the front room on our mattress watching Jungle Book. Sure do love these kiddos!
Josh's favorite thing to do is "screech to a stop" on his bike. He's gotten really good at it over the fall. SO good in fact that he's started to wear a hole in his tire. Too funny!!
November Week 3 (17-23)
In anticipation of Jake coming home from his 3 week, 7,500 mile road trip to interview back east we made a "daddy chain" to count down the days until he was home. Josh was so excited to color it and make his very first counting down chain. We'd wake up every morning to see how many more days until daddy was home. These kids LOVE their daddy.
Audree was really upset to see that Josh was leaving to school with a backpack and that she didn't have one. So one morning while Josh was out at Joy School I took Audree for some retail therapy. We found this perfect little backpack for her at the thrift store and as a surprise they have a free book program through Idaho Youth Ranch. She was also able to pick out a free book and we took it home. She was so excited about her backpack that she wore it the rest of the day. It was so fun getting some one-on-one time with my little girl. She is such a fun, curious, and exciting girl. Love her to pieces!
To keep up on our indoor winter activities, I made some rainbow rice with the kids. We had some rice that was going to expire in food storage, so we put it to good use. It was super simple and only took some rice, hand sanitizer and food coloring to make it all up. These kids were so excited to play in it and were entertained for a good hour or so.
My little cuties all ready and dressed up for church. I have to say they are pretty much the cutest kids I've ever seen, but I'm a little biased. (Too bad on this particular day at church, Audree ended up puking all over the front of her dress and all over the snack table in nursery). Poor thing. We ended our church day early in trade for some good naps at home.
Joshie helped spruce up our house a little bit and welcome the fall festivities by making this fall leaf banner. It was simply made with just some wax paper and crayon shavings. He loved being able to help out.
Finished up this table runner just in time for hosting Thanksgiving next week. It was super simple, just some burlap and lace and it went perfectly with our "new-to-us" table that we bought from my parents. We are super excited to be able to have the space and ability to bring family into our home to host Thanksgiving this year. Should be lots of fun!
November Week 4
What better way to start a week than by welcoming daddy home? This trip was by far the hardest of all the trips, so we were BEYOND thrilled to have him home and this time pretty much for good. No more big trips left (except for a 10 day episode in January).
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week here at our house. We had Jake's family come to visit and the kids definitely enjoyed it. They got spoiled with so much attention they had not idea what to do with it. One of their most favorite activities when family comes is being dragged around on the blankies. Hopefully you can see how much they are enjoying it by their faces.
We had a wonderful spread of food on Thankgsiving Day and I also had a lot of fun setting up the table for hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner for family. WE had all of the traditional favorites for our family!
To help keep the meaning behind Thanksgiving alive, I printed up these I Am Thankful For... cards. At dinner everyone wrote down things that they were thankful for and we were able to read through them and have them hanging up in our house for the rest of the week. Sure enjoyed spending time with such wonderful family. All of my family, immediate & extended, is truly what I am most thankful for.
After dinner was of course filled with lots of ad searching in preparation for Black Friday, as well as Audree licking the plate clean of her Banana Cream Pie. All of the food we had was "plate-licking" good.
Audree has started to grow up from my baby to my little girl lately. She enjoys necklaces and we can now pull all of her hair up in to a ponytail. Crazy how somethings that are so little make such a difference. She was looking like quite the diva this day that me and the kids went out together to go shopping and grab a quick bite to eat at Wendy's. I'm teaching Audree the good ways of dipping in frosties. Such a special treat!!
Audree always enjoys entertaining us (in her most lady-like fashion). This time was with her spitting. Couldn't help but laugh as she did it over and over again.
Another way we've kept our sanity this winter (and while Jake has been traveling) is by visitng our local Petco to take a look at all the animals. It's like a free zoo!! The kids most favorite part is always the kittens.
A traditional game in Jake's family is Loopin' Louie. We got it for Darrell last Christmas and so anytime the siblings get a chance to play all together, we take it. This time we "taught" Josh and Audree how to play. Josh caught on pretty quickly, while Audree turned into our little "cheater". Cuties!
Audree is typically our more adventurous (and messy) eater. In this case she had one spoon with applesauce on it and the other with refried beans. What a silly little girl!
We finished out our lovely Thanksgiving week by picking up our Christmas tree at this lovely tree farm in town. The kids loved running around the farm and chasing after the kitties and we made out with a really nice tree. Love making these traditional memories with my family.
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