November 2017

 What a fun month this was!
I'll start off with some of the little day-to-day things that made me smile this month, then work up to some of the bigger events.

Maren has developed a real love for shoes. She wants to wear every shoe she sees...at the same time. If you want to make her happy just make a big pile of shoes right on top of her. Really. The more the better! If you want to make her cry then all you have to do is remind her that there is only room on each foot for one shoe at a time. She hates that little fact of life.

Because it's too hot to do a parade and make a big deal out of Independence Day around here, instead they make a big deal about Veterans' Day. We had a marvelous time at the parade, catching candy and watching all the floats go by. I think Sharli was just a *little* excited.

 It rained! Well, it spit at us a bit and we were just happy to get what we could get. I am blown away by how dry this place is, and this is coming from someone who has lived in the desert her whole life (except for the time in Mississippi).

 The kids continue to fall asleep in hilarious ways/places. These too just want to be close to each other all the time, even if it means one of them has to sleep on the floor.

Other reasons to sleep on the floor include taking a nap on the floor, just to prove that they weren't really tired and didn't actually need a nap. It's totally convincing, right?

Cooler weather mean kids get outside to play more often, which means that the ice cream truck has started making regular runs through the neighborhood. If only my kids' Mom wasn't too mean and stingy to buy anything for them. That doesn't stop them from running to watch it drive past, EVERY SINGLE TIME he goes by.

 Sharli is still a little fashion Diva. She just wants to look great no matter what the occasion. Where on earth did this Tom Boy mommy get such a girly girl?!

 Ethan and I decided our huge living room wall was just too big and empty. We bought a sheet of foam insulation and created this painting to fill up our wall.

 We bought a bottle of bubble bath! Hooray for trips to the dollar store! And for bathtubs full of bubbles!

 Erik is getting to be a really solid reader. I love that when I'm busy and Maren brings me a book to read to her I can tell her to take it to Erik. They were both a bit shocked the first time I suggested it, but they both warmed up to the idea pretty quickly.

Another favorite dollar store purchase is puzzles. These kids love putting together puzzles and are getting pretty darn good at it.

 We took advantage of the glorious weather to get outside as a family and go for a hike at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. We've been here before, but there are so many different trails to hike we decided to go back. It's always nice to get out of the city and enjoy being surrounded by nature.

 Even though it was November, it was still pretty warm, so we took lots of breaks for water, esepcially if there was a nice place to sit or a patch of shade.

 The kids love looking for interesting rocks and plants, and of course we're always on the look out for any lizards we can find.

 Erik LOVES to climb, if there is something to scale, he will attempt it.

 He is not quite so fond of walking though. At one point in our hike Erik told Ethan, "I don't know how much more of this walking stuff I can take." Ethan tried to encourage him by saying, "Come on, you can do it! We'll be desert explorers!" Without missing a beat, Erik replied, "More like death explorers."

 Sharli wanted to try her hand at photography, so we have a rare picture with both Ethan and I together. She did a pretty good job!

 For Thanksgiving, we went over to Gilbert to celebrate with the Arnett clan. We met at a nice park and had a picnic style lunch and then turned the kids loose to play with their cousins. We had a really nice afternoon together, then headed home. And good thing too, because we'd only been home a few minutes when a neighbor came knocking on our door looking for a fire extinguisher. There was a flaming turkey fryer a few houses away, and we were able to supply the extinguisher to take care of it.
As fun as all that was, Ethan was still really craving a more traditional sit-down dinner, so for the first time ever we  made the full Thanksgiving meal for our family at our home. Ethan brined the turkey and we worked together to cook that and prepare all the other sides and desserts to go along. It was pretty yummy, and even the kids enjoyed it. 

 Well, Erik and Sharli enjoyed it. Maren started throwing up just as we were dishing up the meal, so we took turns holding the puker while the other parent ate. Oh well.

 After Thanksgiving it is, of course, officially Christmas time, so we broke out the decorations and got them put up together as a family. The kids were SO excited to FINALLY be getting close to Christmas!