November by iPhone

Once again, I find that we'd have no blog if we didn't have smart phones...Either way, here are some memories I caught on camera earlier this month.  As the weather began to turn blustery, we stayed inside.  Our kids can play well together when they want to!  And don't mind Phoebe looking like Cousin It - the fact that her hair is in her face has no impact on her daily life.  It drives me insane when I can't see those cute blue eyes, but she could care less!

We got to spend some time with Auntie and Gryphon which is always a bonus!  Gryphon's visits have caused the kids to request a puppy (or two blue ones, if you're Maverick) for Christmas!

Phoebe brought home this from school.  They had to pick from a LONG list of adjectives things that described her.  This cracked us up!

Phoebe is very good with imaginative play.  Even when waiting patiently at the Container Store!

Hard to believe stores were already decorating for Christmas in early November.

But...the weather has certainly been telling us the holidays are approaching!  We tried out some peppermint marshmallows in our hot chocolate.

We quickly determined that neither child actually likes drinking the hot cocoa - they simply want the marshmallows out of it!

The first snow was actually quite pretty.

I finally got to attend one of Phoebe's school field trips.  They headed downtown to Butler's Clowes Hall to see a musical version of "Click Clack Moo!" and it was actually pretty entertaining.

We're in the final stretches of Ryan's Westfield Citizen's Police Academy classes.  Last week they did some third-person shooting at a local school.  Glad to see he was well-protected!

Last Friday, Maverick's preschool partnered with the church that it's in for a "Christmas Sing!"  It seemed way too early for it since we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving but we wouldn't miss it for the world!  And just in case we don't make it back downtown for Christmas itself, we made sure to hit one of our favorites, The Old Spaghetti Factory.  

After taking the above picture, Phoebe posed for another one making sure I caught it on camera!

We had a family in our church suffer a devastating loss of their 8-month old child the week before and I have since been soaking up time with my precious gifts.  They have no idea how much we love them.  I feel completely unworthy to be a parent at times.  If I'm being completely honest - MOST of the time, I feel like I'm failing at this assignment.   However, God has a way of gently reminding me that He's got this, even when I don't.

Phoebe was so excited to reconnect with Stinna, a friend of hers from preschool.  Her brother, Isaac, is in Maverick's class, so they had fun watching from the balcony!

We have no idea what they said or what they sang, but Maverick stayed in place and participated and that is a HUGE step forward from last year!

Saturday, Phoebe had a birthday party for a friend from school at a horse stable.  They had a great time learning how to groom a pony.

Then they each waited patiently to take turns riding.

They even went on a short hayride in between rainfalls. 

While Phoebe was busy with horses, Maverick got to hang out with Daddy and transport a trailer for work.  He was happy to tag along and do what boys do best, play with rocks!