November

I got the puzzles out for Ivy one day thinking she would like them.  She did like them...but just to line the pieces up rather than to actually put them together.

Ivy and Brynn are almost 4 years apart but they have become great friends over the last few months.  Ivy is getting old enough to play with her and they are always playing house (Ivy calls it playing "family") or dress-ups or something.  Ivy tells everyone that Brynn is her "sister mom" and if she needs something from me, she'll refer to me as "real mom." They love to be twinners and wear each others nightgowns.  Brynn fits in Ivy's fairly well (they are just a little short) and Ivy wears Brynn's even though they are too long and she trips over them.  Sometimes I can talk Ivy into putting some warmer jammies under the nightgown, but not usually.

both of these nightgowns are Ivy's

I took some pictures of a beautiful sunset one evening but the pictures don't do it justice.  Molly's cute though.  We've seen  some really amazing sunsets this winter.

Ivy loved washing the breakfast dishes one morning.  I am so glad to be home with her to enjoy these little moments.  Notice how she's able to multi-task...dishes while watching a show. 

These princess dolls come out almost every single day.  Ivy loves them so much.  Look, she even lined them up!

 The mixing bowls got lined up too.  This was a nice surprise when I walked into the kitchen one day.  Ivy was the obvious culprit.

 Ali hosted a Moyes girls night for all girls and moms 8 years and older.  She said she wants the girls to know that they have so many people that love them and support them.  We had pizza and made bath bombs.

Molly, Abby, Chloe, Grace, Tessa

Ali had made some homemade facial masks and the girls loved those-especially when they got to put them on their moms!

Grace, Abby, Chloe, Molly, Tessa

 

We painted nails and then settled downstairs for a movie and sleepover.

Chloe, Molly, Tessa, Abby, Grace

In the morning we ate breakfast and then everyone headed home.  It was a fun, fun night and is bound to become a November tradition.

Brynn was pretty sad that she couldn't go (I didn't set the age restriction or I would have taken her with me) but she also had fun having a "dad-night" while Molly and I were gone.  They got dinner at McDonalds and had a movie night.

 Our wood remained in the pasture for a while-life just got busy and we weren't able to find the time to get it chopped and stacked.  But we decided we better tackle it before winter arrived...we got a little bit of snow one Friday night so we made all the kids head out and help the following Saturday. (We maybe wouldn't have been in such a rush if we would have known how little snow we would actually get over the next couple of months). Justin started chopping and the kids and I were in charge of hauling the chopped wood to the deck and stacking it.  It was definitely a family project and we were able to get lots done with everyone helping. 

 We borrowed a log splitter later on in the afternoon so Justin didn't have to split it all by hand.  I ended up doing most of the splitting during the week and Justin and the kids would help stack after school and work.  We ended up with three stacks each on both sides of the deck about window high.  We've made a dent in it but still have quite a bit left!  It was a lot of work but there is no substitute for those warm fires on cold winter days.  Nothing else can replicate the warmth and coziness of the fire and we love it.

The last couple of years I have started to get Christmas decorations out the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  I used to never, ever do this but I have so many Christmas houses now that it takes all day and I really need Justin's help to get them all set up with the lights in them.  It is such an exciting day for the kids!  Look at them all lined up waiting for Justin to hand them a house.

 Brynn loves being Justin's little helper and enjoyed helping him thread the wires through the wall for the houses.  Ivy was just happy to be on the ladder.

Some scripture time...and probably some football-watching as well.  Stockton still prefers to read the picture scriptures and that's okay with me.  He has read the Book of Mormon twice, the Old and New Testament, and is reading the Doctrine and Covenants now for the second time.

Post Thanksgiving-

I was so glad I had all the houses up because we brought home our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I spent Sunday afternoon winding lights around all the branches.  It is a task that takes awhile and I worked on it all afternoon.  I did finish it early enough that the kids were able to decorate the tree that night.  Molly took over my camera and got very creative with her photos.  All these pictures are thanks to her (except for maybe the one I took of her).  

I think next year I'll try to get some things to fancy it up a bit since it's mostly just the kids' ornaments, but I do love our big, tall tree with it's white lights.

Stockton likes to watch football.  He knows the names, positions, and teams of several players-looks like he's going to end up just like his dad in that area.